Creating Solutions

We use our understanding of human impacts and climate change to develop policy and management responses that protect and restore biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.

Our research treats people and nature as intertwined systems. We strive to find sustainable, long-term solutions to global challenges such as biodiversity loss and climate change.

Our researchers work in inter-disciplinary networks at local, national and international scales to implement policies and changes that allow us to live in harmony with nature.

Our work supports:

• farmers from the UK and Tanzania
• the UK government
• the governments of Small Island Developing States
• the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
• the Convention on Biological Diversity
• the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Forest landscape restoration is a nature-based solution for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Our research looks at how we can optimise nature-based solutions in different landscapes. The goal is to support and enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation. This is particularly important when balancing against trade-offs between biodiversity and human wellbeing.

What to plant, when and where?

Our research considers what to plant, when and where. This helps to design integrated forest-agricultural landscapes with the most benefits. No one knows the potential for improving crops while protecting biodiversity and resources. Our research will investigate by combining advances in social and ecological methods. The aim is to understand the agricultural benefits of integrated landscapes.

Forest restoration and climate experiment

We are working to inform the restoration work of Reforest Africa. Our collaborators in this are:

• University of the Sunshine Coast
• University of York
• University of Leeds
• Missouri Botanical Garden
• Natural History Museum of Denmark
• African Wildlife Foundation
• IUCN Sustain

They are all contributing to the Forest Restoration and Climate Experiment. It aims to understand the dynamics of tropical forest recovery from human disturbance. It will also look at forest interaction with climate, topography and experimental management.

Wildlife corridor restoration

What evidence is there for wildlife corridor restoration in human-inhabited landscapes? And how do we include this in the restoration management process?

We aim to produce evidence to inform tree restoration in tropical agricultural landscapes. We are developing guidance on restoration that balances people's needs with ecological targets

Resilient ecosystems need healthy populations of species. Yet, human activities are driving species decline and increasing species extinction risk.

There are increasing political efforts to tackle this issue. Researchers have a clear role to provide knowledge that can help in a variety of ways.

Our research seeks to understand biodiversity and the causes of biodiversity loss. We assess which threats to tackle and help measure changes in species status. We also measure the impact on biodiversity of global and local interventions.

Our international partners include research institutes, non-governmental organisations and government bodies. We produce scientific knowledge to inform and advance species conservation and policy. And we aim to engage with those who are in the position to act.

Informing global conservation policy

Newcastle University hosts the IUCN Species Survival Commission Post-2020 Biodiversity Targets Task Force. It supports the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The task force supplies species data for policymakers at convention meetings. The aim is to provide helpful scientific support for species conservation targets.

Tackling species extinctions

Our work includes the development of Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR). This metric quantifies the potential of activities to reduce species extinction risk.

The metric allows anyone, from governments to individuals, to identify species conservation action. This means that all sections of society can measure their contribution towards biodiversity. STAR has been made available online for use by policymakers and businesses in the Integrated Biodiversity Assessmenet Tool.

Quantifying the impact of conservation action

Our work shows how many species extinctions have been prevented by conservation action. Such action has prevented 32 bird and 16 mammal species extinctions since 1993. This was the year that the Convention on Biological Diversity was set up. Many species remain threatened, but the extinction rate would be greater without action.

Invasive alien species are one of five main drivers of global biodiversity decline. The scale of the challenge outweighs the resources available to manage their impacts. More than 60,000 species have become established within EU environments. A further 40-60 species establish themselves in the EU each year.

Prioritising invasive alien species management

It is important to prioritise invasive alien species management. We need to develop a management framework that balances benefits, costs and feasibility.

Our researchers developed a method to test invasive alien species management. It considers the effectiveness, practicality, cost, acceptability and wider impact of management. The result is a ranked assessment of feasibility. When used with existing assessment approaches, there is great improvement in cost-effective prioritisation.

This risk management method is now incorporated into UK government policy. It informs management in Europe, USA, the Caribbean and Australia. Our work was also presented to the Convention on Biological Diversity. As a result, our risk management approach contributes to recommended global best practice.

The method supports species listing under EU Regulations. It was also used to support a UK government inquiry on invasive alien species policy.

Mangrove resilience

Mangroves are tropical, coastal ecosystems that offer critical nurseries for juvenile fish. They also provide natural coastal protection against storms and absorb and store carbon. Mangroves are under threat from coastal development, aqua-culture expansion and the impacts of climate change.

Our researchers are trying to identify sustainable restoration pathways for the Sundarban mangroves. In the Middle East, our work aims to understand the management needs of mangroves in Abu Dhabi.

On these projects, we are working with colleagues from:

• West Bengal State University
• Jadavpur University
• Aberdeen University

Sustainable agricultural systems need a balance between food production and maintenance of biodiversity.

Organic farming in temperature regions

In temperate regions there is recognition that conventional agricultural can have negative impacts. Regular ploughing, winter cereals and pesticides cause biodiversity decline and damage long-term soil health. Organic farming, with reduced soil disturbance, can ease some of these problems.

We carried out our research at Newcastle University’s Nafferton Farm. It compared invertebrate biodiversity in conventional farms and organic farming managed systems. Our findings show greater biodiversity under organic management.

A major difference in the two systems was the reduced numbers of beneficial insects. These included predators that feed on crop pests such as slugs. This reduction was because of increased soil tillage in the conventional system.

Our research provides evidence that reducing tillage increases numbers of beneficial invertebrates. It also improves soil health.

Soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa

Food insecurity is a major issue in much of sub-Saharan Africa. This is a result of unpredictable rainfall and poor soil fertility. In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, sustainable agriculture requires careful management. This protects soil for arable farmers while meeting the needs of livestock.

Attempts to increase food production have been at the expense of soil nutrients. This is because small-scale farmers can't afford commercial fertilisers. Changed rainfall patterns due to the climate emergency have produced extra farming challenges.

Integrated crop-livestock farming offers a sustainable way of increasing productivity in semi-arid areas. Our research, in the Marsabit region of Kenya, focused on livestock. Animals kept in enclosures at night produced enough manure for use as fertiliser.

Moving manure to crop fields and other smallholdings remains an obstacle. But our research provides evidence of a potential solution to improve soil fertility.

Land-based resources are under pressure from the demands of a growing global population. The ocean is often relied on to meet additional needs for food, energy, and climate protection. 

The Blue Economy relates to the use, conservation and regeneration of marine resources. It embraces economic opportunities while also protecting resources and traditional ways of life. It also aims to strengthen coastal resilience. This will reduce the effects of climate change, natural disasters and poverty.

Our researchers work with UK and International governments, including Small Island Developing States to support blue economies worldwide. Our work involves multi-disciplinary centres across Newcastle University. These include:

• Energy, Climate and Environmental Resilience
• Global Challenges Academy
• Living Deltas Hub
• Latin American and Caribbean Studies
• The Dove Marine Labratory

Sustainability of future food and fuel 

Our research ranges from fish stocks and natural marine food-webs to aquaculture systems that reduce pressure on traditional fisheries, improve food security and support blue economies. Our work:

• informs spatial management of  fisheries' 
• protects commercial stocks
• explores external drivers behaviour, and alternative fishing practices

Nature Based Solutions  

We are leaders in the conservation and restoration of marine habitats along coastlines in the UK and overseas. We aim to improve coastal protection, protect coastal livelihoods, and improve biodiversity and fisheries.   

• Our research has demonstrated the importance of seagrass for biodiversity and fisheries and investigated the resilience of coastal dunes and saltmarshes to extreme events.   
• Research in urban settings looks at using nature-based solutions instead of hard engineering for flood/storm protection   

We are supporting coral reef survival in the face of climate change, where we develop frameworks and innovative methods to restore degraded coral reefs, and test assisted evolution technology to pre-prepare reefs for future climate change.   

We develop methods to identify reefs with natural resilience and aim to understand global scale variation processes that drive reef recovery. 

Sustainable aquaculture 

We have developed low-cost approaches to farm seaweeds for food and fuels and evaluated the impact of promoting seaweed farming as an alternative livelihood.

We developed effective/cheap approaches to grow/harvest microalgae for various biotechnology applications. We also developed technologies to use algae for sustainable heat and power production.

Engaging with stakeholders in the blue economy

We work with a very wide range of stakeholders, including communities, managers and government, to understand relationships between:

• marine resource governance
• marine management
• coastal communities
• marine environment health

Our research has provided insight into Caribbean coral reef resource exploitation. It has helped to explain the drivers of coral degradation. It has also informed governments and major regional initiatives.

Newcastle University's partnerships with government agencies have provided:

• evidence about the impact of fishing on reef habitats
• explained relationships between fishing behaviour and habitat quality
• identified socio-economic, technological and environmental drivers of change