Publications

Summary of thesis: Recognitional equity in access to and planning of urban green spaces: How socio-economic deprivation shapes community values and participation in place-based governance.

Equity of access to, and planning of, Urban Green Spaces (UGS) is an area of growing interest in a period in which urban greening is intertwined with equity issues in socially diverse urban centres. While efforts to widen communities’ spatial access to UGS and procedural representation in their planning through more inclusive place-based governance arrangements have been made, little attention has been paid to the recognitional dimension of equity, here understood as recognition of communities’ lived experience of deprivation and historic relations with institutions. This thesis takes an intra- and inter-community comparative approach between three areas of Oxford with low, mid-high and high deprivation levels, and varying types of neighbourhood or regeneration plans.

Art and Nature in The Leys

A free, drop-in family-friendly event led by researchers Martha Crockatt and Mattia Troiano, developed in collaboration with Natasha Summer, a local community champion, and in partnership with the Oxfordshire African Caribbean Multicultural Society. It was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council’s Festival of Social Science.

The Screaming Sky: The strange allure of swifts. Charles Foster

Swifts inhabit the air as few other organisms do. This talk is an account of an attempt by an earthbound man to follow them there: on their migration routes to and from Africa, their winter travels, dodging African storms and hunting insects that spring up with the rains, and in their brief summer stay in the skies and eaves of Oxford

Lost Nature

Research from Wild Justice shows only 53% of on-site environmental measures legally secured through the development process are actually delivered in reality.

Read the Wild Justice Lost Nature Summary here

LCNR 2023/4 at a glance

This infographic shows the Centre’s achievements for the 2023/2024 reporting year

LCNR Annual Report

This is the Centre’s Annual Report for the 2023/2024 reporting year.

Hannah S. Wauchope, Sophus O. S. E. zu Ermgassen, Julia P. G. Jones, Harrison Carter, Henrike Schulte to Bühne and E. J. Milner-Gulland (2024). What is a unit of nature? Measurement challenges in the emerging biodiversity credit market. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Bending the curve of biodiversity loss requires the business and financial sectors to disclose and reduce their biodiversity impacts and help fund nature recovery. This has sparked interest in developing generalizable, standardized measurements of biodiversity—essentially a ‘unit of nature’. We examine how such units are defined in the rapidly growing voluntary biodiversity credits market and present a framework exploring how biodiversity is quantified, how delivery of positive outcomes is detected and attributed to the investment and how the number of credits issued is adjusted to account for uncertainties….

Nature Seminar Series: Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World

Joe Roman dives deep into the critical role animals play in shaping our world, drawing from his book Eat Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World. Discover how animals are essential to nature recovery and biodiversity, acting as key players in the nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycles. Roman highlights fascinating examples, such as seabirds that helped create a thriving grassland ecosystem on a volcanic island in Iceland, and the important research on nutrient movement by feeding and fasting whales. As global wildlife populations face unprecedented threats, Roman emphasizes the importance of conservation efforts, rewilding native species, and restoring ancient nutrient pathways for healthier ecosystems.

Leading from the front. The Role of the Public Sector in Delivering Nature Recovery

This report sets out an expert opinion on how Government should approach the issues of funding and financing nature recovery in England.

The research takes as its starting point the essential importance of nature recovery and the headwinds so far experienced in achieving it. Taking account of the growing expectation that new nature markets will play a leading role in financing nature recovery, it then looks in detail at the risks and opportunities market mechanisms present and the steps the UK Government will need to take to oversee and regulate their use. Subsequent sections consider the essential and ongoing role of the public sector in supporting nature recovery and its under utilised potential to drive change.

Commissioned by the Woodland Trust, the research is intended to draw out key issues for policy makers and to stimulate thinking and debate.

Read the report here

The inevitable loss of large mammals in Malaysia, lessons not learned, & pointers for recovery.

With nearly fifty years of experience in nature conservation, John Payne emphasises that despite the well-known challenges of habitat loss, deforestation, poaching, and climate change, the true issue is acknowledging the inevitable trajectory of endangered species toward extinction. Effective, species-specific management interventions are critical for sustaining viable populations

Understanding human-nature relations: How can we foster more collaborative and integrated solutions for tackling climate and biodiversity issues?

Achieving meaningful progress in nature recovery, conservation, and biodiversity protection demands more than technological fixes – it requires addressing the social, cultural, and political dimensions of environmental challenges. In this thought-provoking panel discussion, leading experts explore how integrating social sciences such as geography, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and economics can provide transformative solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises.

This seminar highlights the importance of fostering human-nature connections and embracing diverse perspectives, including Indigenous, community-led, and place-based knowledge systems. With insights from renowned academics like Professor Patrick Devine-Wright (University of Exeter), Dr. Beth Brockett (Forest Research), Professor Karen Jones (University of Kent), and Dr. Eric Kumeh (University of Oxford), the panel delves into innovative, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches that promote equity, well-being, and justice for both people and the planet.

Organized by Dr. Caitlin Hafferty and moderated by Professor Michael Winter OBE, this event emphasizes actionable solutions to the interconnected crises of biodiversity loss, climate change, and social inequality. Watch to uncover how collaborative, integrated approaches can create lasting impact for sustainable futures.