Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services

The Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (PEBES) group provides a collaborative focus for the Geography Department’s work on environmental conservation, the social (re)production of nature and resource management. It builds on two traditions in the Department: one in critical political ecology and the other a more biodiversity and policy-oriented focus on natural capital and ecosystem services mapping, monitoring and modelling.

Our interests lie within and at the interface of these and in developing a more critical approach to ecosystem services and associated concepts. New areas are bound to develop, but our research is anticipated to focus on the following key themes:

Different approaches to biodiversity conservation (e.g. ecosystem services; nature-based solutions)
Relationship between the governance and management of environmental resources and development
Political Ecology and the financialisaton of nature and natural capital

Members

Majed Akhter

Senior Lecturer in Environment and Society

James Angel

Leverhulme Early Career Fellow

Maud Borie

Lecturer in Environment, Science & Society

Sarah Bracking

Head, Department of International Development

Joshua Brian

Research Associate

Jane Catford

Reader in Ecology

Terry Dawson

Professor of Global Environmental Change

David Demeritt

Professor of Geography

Maël Ihamouchene

PhD student

Laura Kor

PhD student

Alex Loftus

Reader in Political Ecology

Katie Meehan

Reader in Environment and Society

Naho Mirumachi

Professor in Environmental Politics

Mark Mulligan

Professor of Physical & Environmental Geography

Daanish Mustafa

Professor in Critical Geography

Thomas F. Purcell

Lecturer in International Political Economy

Constance Schéré

PhD student

Kate Schreckenberg

Head, Department of Geography

Rahinatu Sidiki Alare

PhD student

Emma Tebbs

Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography and Earth Observation

Ecosystem services as the basis of community well-being

Our research explores methods of assessing ecosystem services at local, through national to global scales (Dawson, Mulligan, Tebbs), analysing who benefits from different ecosystem services to meet their well being aspirations (Schreckenberg) and how potential trade-offs and synergies can be negotiated, particularly in the context of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development (see N4SDGs project). This includes the development of policy support tools such as Co$tingNature.

Find out more about Nature4SDGS

Co$tingNature

The relationships between development and resource management

Members of the group conduct research on the relationships between development and resource management at a range of different scales. From research on the global scale impacts of climate change (Dawson, Mulligan) to transboundary water politics (Mirumachi), state-society relations (Akhter; Meehan), community-based resource management (Schreckenberg), and individual subjectivities (Mustafa) the group brings a critical approach to resource politics and policy (see Por El Paramo project).

POR EL Páramo

The financialisation of nature

Through innovative work on climate finance (Bracking; Demeritt) and on water (Purcell; Loftus), members of the group have pioneered new understandings of the financialisation of nature. Work on nature-based solutions, including natural flood mitigation, is directed at understanding nature's contributions to underwriting insurance risks (see NAIAD project).

NAIAD

Political ecology as a critical framework for understanding infrastructural futures

King’s continues to host one of the largest collections of political ecologists in the world. Recent work has applied critical political ecology to understandings of infrastructural futures in research on dam infrastructure (Akhter, Mulligan), energy democracy (Angel), plumbing poverty (Meehan), and the body (Loftus).

Nature-based solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation (Mulligan, Schreckenberg)

Our work on nature-based solutions links to the King's Climate and King's Water Hubs as well as the Risk, Hazard and Society and Physical and Environmental Geography groups. For example, we investigate natural flood management through both innovative field monitoring and sophisticated spatial modelling. We work to understand nature-based solutions that help mitigate climate change itself (through carbon storage and sequestration), mitigate the impacts of climate change or help adapt to climate change. In each case the focus is on the range of benefits and co-benefits provided by green-infrastructure solutions versus those by grey infrastructure (engineered) solutions (see ReSET project).

ReSET

Are protected areas the future of conservation?

This event takes place as part of the ESRC social science festival and will highlight different issues that are too often ignored in discourse on biodiversity conservation. At the same time it will serve to present on-going research conducted by the recently established Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (PEBES) research group.

Are protected areas the future of conservation?

Site Assessment of Governance and Equity

Site-level assessment of governance and equity (SAGE) is a tool that enables better & fairer governance of conservation areas through allowing stakeholders to assess the social impacts, governance and equity of their conservation projects.

SAGE video series

Contact us

Co-convenors:

maud.borie@kcl.ac.uk | terry.dawson@kcl.ac.uk

Communications:

laura.kor@kcl.ac.uk

Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services

Members

Majed Akhter

James Angel

Maud Borie

Sarah Bracking

Joshua Brian

Jane Catford

Terry Dawson

David Demeritt

Maël Ihamouchene

Laura Kor

Alex Loftus

Katie Meehan

Naho Mirumachi

Mark Mulligan

Daanish Mustafa

Thomas F. Purcell

Constance Schéré

Kate Schreckenberg

Rahinatu Sidiki Alare

Emma Tebbs

Ecosystem services as the basis of community well-being