DNA reveals the past and future of coral reefs
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
From 2005 to 2022, the main node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies was headquartered at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland (Australia)
Abstract: A perfect wave of land use conflicts is emerging in many tropical developing countries. This has major implications for conservation investments. Conservationists will have to make hard choices and these should be based upon evidence and not emotion. There is a need to switch from threat-based to outcome-based strategies. Examples will be given from current strategic studies being conducted by Cairns-based faculty on potential impacts of expansion of mining infrastructure and changes in agricultural development patterns. I will argue that trade-offs and synergies can best be addressed at the landscape scale. I will illustrate these arguments with examples from Central Africa and Eastern Indonesia.
Biography: Jeff Sayer has worked throughout the tropics managing conservation and development programmes. He spent many years in Africa and South-East Asia where he worked for FAO and IUCN. He was the first head of the Forest Conservation Programme at IUCN in Switzerland and subsequently Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) from 1993 until 2001. He held the Prince Bernhardt Chair of International Nature Conservation at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. He is now Professor in the College of Marine and Environmental Sciences at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia where he has established a graduate programme in Conservation and Development Practice. His research focuses on conservation and development trade-offs and on integrated, landscape approaches to reconciling conflicting development agendas. He is currently focussing on ways in which we can feed the world’s future populations and satisfy its demand for minerals without destroying the environment.
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
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Abstract: The past few years have seen unprecedented coral bleaching and mortality on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) but the consequences of this on biodiversity are not yet known. This talk will expl
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