University of Exeter and COP16
Biodiversity is in crisis worldwide. Up to a million species are threatened with extinction, and crucial ecosystems on land and at sea are at risk. Like all species, humans rely on the natural world for survival – but our actions are transforming the planet in dangerous ways.
The University is renowned for its environmental research and education, and is home to many of the world’s leading researchers. We now have more than 1,500 people working on the nature and climate emergency, and recently launched a new business support initiative called Green Futures Solutions.
Here is an overview of Exeter’s contributions to biodiversity research and conservation – which can help inform the vital decisions to be taken at COP16:
Exeter researchers are helping protect the natural world in a wide range of ways. Our research supported the creation of Marine Protected Areas in several West African countries, including Gabon, Congo and Ivory Coast. We are supporting projects that restore degraded coral reefs, and helping develop gadgets that emit small electrical pulses to cut the number of sharks and stingrays caught accidentally on fishing lines.
Our European Centre for Environment and Human Health is a designated WHO Collaborating Centre on Natural Environments and Health, recognising the centre’s significant contribution to science and policy-making as a result of more than a decade of interdisciplinary research.
In the UK, we are working with the National Trust on the £10m RENEW programme to renew biodiversity through a “people-in-nature” approach. Also reflecting the vital role of human behaviour, the ACCESS project uses the expertise of social scientists to tackle a range of climate and environmental problems.
This work is made possible by partnerships in academia, industry, government and beyond, and the dedication of our staff, students and many alumni supporters around the world.
Through our Exeter Marine research group, experts from multiple fields work with industry, policymakers and conservation agencies to deliver innovative solutions to real-world problems.
Our researchers have helped to define the environmental challenges facing ocean ecosystems, including the impact of plastic pollution on ocean mammals and marine embryos. We are part of major projects to cut such pollution and build a circular economy in the Eastern Pacific and Southeast Asia.
Exeter’s marine researchers are also investigating the impacts of issues such as deep-seabed mining, the impact of fishing on sharks and rays, and how climate change affects coral reefs. We take part in long-term studies of multiple species including killer whales and sea turtles, improving conservation and raising awareness of the threats they face.
We are revealing the complex interactions between the oceans and human health. Through the Convex Seascape Survey, we are investigating the role of biodiversity in how the ocean stories carbon.
Exeter’s researchers study biodiversity worldwide – including every continent and the Polar regions and their findings and recommendations make a vital contribution to conservation. Researchers at Exeter – many in the Centre for Ecology and Conservation – have helped assess the conservation status of numerous species: from sharks and oysters to chimpanzees and ladybirds.
We are helping track the spread of non-native species – and using Artificial Intelligence to stop the spread of invasive Asian hornets. AI is also used by the ADD-TREES project, which will help policymakers and large landholders decide how to restore and enhance ecosystem services (the benefits humans gain from nature).
Our researchers are world leaders in understanding the complexities of fungal pathogens, in part through our Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology. Their work is warning of devastating impacts on crops and human health, and finding new ways to tackle these challenges.
Exeter researchers are studying the causes and impacts of wildfires – and how they might be reduced. We are working on preserving and restoring peatlands, which store vast quantities of carbon. By studying monkeys in the aftermath of a hurricane, we are investigating how animal societies respond to sudden environmental change. The OPALS programme supports more sustainable human-environment interactions across Africa, promoting environmentally and economically sustainable and socially just development. In the UK, our experts are advising policymakers on reintroducing beavers, which bring multiple benefits to people and nature.
Interdisciplinary work is required to tackle complex biodiversity issues. This is exemplified at our Environment and Sustainability Institute, which brings together experts in ecology, environmental science and sustainability to drive innovative solutions both locally and globally. The interdisciplinary team at the Centre for Rural Policy Research study the social, political and economic issues at the intersection of land, the environment, farming and food systems.
A wide range of Exeter research takes place in Colombia, which is hosting COP16, and more widely across Latin America. We have worked with partners in the Colombian Amazon basin to look at ancient forest practices, understand early human colonisation of the continent, and record extraordinary early rock art. A separate study by Exeter researchers found historical evidence showing that large animals went extinct in two “waves” in the Colombian Andes.
A study in Brazil’s Cerrado savanna found that some plant species will “win” and others will “lose” as global warming forces them to move uphill, while another concluded that Brazil must protect and restore its dry forests and savannas to achieve its climate goals.
The University is involved in a range of projects in the Amazon rainforest, investigating how the “lungs of the Earth” might change in the future. A 2022 study by a team including Exeter found that the Amazon rainforest is becoming less resilient – raising the risk of widespread dieback. We are also working on a project to plant trees and give livelihoods to rural smallholders in deforested parts of Amazonia.
Our Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology has recently launched a new Latin American unit, in partnership with São Paulo University, to combat the global threat of fungal disease.
As well as working to understand the natural world, our researchers strive to understand and improve complex human systems – from finance to technology to society and individual behaviour.
Within our world-leading Institute on Land, Environment, Economics and Policy, a number of projects look to put biodiversity at the heart of business decision-making. For example, the Dragon Capital Chair aims to better understand the interdependences of wellbeing, nature and the financial system, and the RENEW programme uses a life cycle assessment approach to quantify biodiversity impacts for large organisations. Our scientists are also working with artists to create “artwork” for pollinators – making our towns and cities more pollinator-friendly. The Future Fibres Network – led by the University of Exeter – aims to bring environmental science into the heart of the UK fashion, apparel and textile sectors.
Our tipping points research – led by the Global Systems Institute – is increasingly focussed on finding and triggering positive tipping points, including those that could regenerate ecosystems. Global food systems need innovative investment if they are to truly help nature. One example of how this can happen is demonstrated at our UK sustainable king prawn project.
We understand the vital need to address our own environmental impact, and have set a target to achieve carbon net zero (including indirect “scope 3” emissions) by 2030. We have pledged to become a nature-positive university, to halt and restore any harm to ecosystems and species. We have also published our nature-positive strategy, outlining how we will examine our estate, our supply chain, our teaching and research to make them all nature positive.
On our campuses, we are acting to restore nature by enhancing grasslands, “veteranising” trees, and slowing the flow of water into local rivers, helping to protect them in heavy rainfall. We are using a student-led curriculum mapping approach to understand how we incorporate the UN Sustainable Development Goals across our education. And we are using the arts to engage people with nature with our new Biodiversity Sound Trail.