The need for data.
A recent Natural England report into carbon storage using natural habitat regeneration (https://naturalengland.blog.gov. uk/2021/04/20/natural-england-publishes-major-new-report-on- carbon-storage-and-sequestration-by-habitat/) made clear the need for scientific data to help us prove the true potential of a “nature first” approach to carbon, and set the challenge for us to fill the gaps in our collective knowledge with hard evidence.
We have raised funding from the private sector to do just that and in partnership with the University of the West of England we are aiming to begin our research in September 2021.
Our scientific study:
In this project we will be assessing soil carbon by measuring the short-term emission of greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide and methane - between and within different regeneration sites.
The intended outcomes will provide GHG, carbon and biodiversity data for future validation of carbon storage within a wide variety of UK restored ecosystem types for our partner Wild Carbon. It will provide empirical evidence of accurate proxies and predictors of GHG flux and carbon storage, and it will provide an assessment of alternative methods for evaluating carbon sequestration or emissions reductions in restored ecosystems.
In the long-term, these project outcomes will be essential to the development of sensors and methods to allow accurate and cost-effective validation of carbon storage by a wide range of stakeholders involved in natural regeneration and nature-based solutions.
Sheepdrove Organic Farm
Case Study: We're excited to be monitoring this small but strategic natural regeneration site on Sheepdrove Organic Farm, it was a low yield field and now it has a new purpose.
DR SAM BONNET
Sam is a Senior lecturer in Environmental Science in the Department of Applied Sciences at UWE. He is a process ecologist with an interest in plant-soil interactions and soil microbial functions in natural and anthropogenic ecosystems.
In his own words “My research is aimed at improving our mechanistic understanding of ecological and biogeochemical processes so we can manage ecosystems to enhance the provision of ecosystem services in the face of human impacts and climate change in the Anthropocene Era.
DR MARK STEER
Mark is a Senior lecturer in ecology and conservation at UWE.
In his own words “I am a practical conservation biologist who answers questions of direct importance to conservation organisations, industrial stakeholders and volunteer organisations. My interests lie in the conservation and restoration of ecological processes in the UK.
My current research include the use of eDNA techniques in the targeted survey of particular species and includes the potential for new technologies in monitoring change
and altering land use; the impacts of agriculture on ecosystem services and biodiversity and ecological networks.”
