Scientific Reviews

Exploring experiences of the Ecosystem Approach [7] (PDF file: 1,455 KB)
This report summaries the findings of a review of 24 natural resource management projects which used the term 'ecosystem approach' in their description. The review looked at how the projects understood the term 'ecosystem approach', to what extent they used the 12 'Malawi Principles' defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity [8], and what challenges and opportunities they encountered. More information can be found on the project page. [9]

Governance and policy analysis for the Aberdeenshire Regional Land Use Pilot [10] (PDF file: 1,521 KB)
This review, carried out to help inform the implementation of the Regional Land Use Pilot (RLUP) in Aberdeenshire, explores how well existing policy objectives fit with the Scottish Government's Land Use Strategy [11]. It aims to identify the institutional and governance-related barriers to aligning the Land Use Strategy with an Ecosystem Approach, assess how well these objectives correlate, and to examine how stakeholders could contribute to the delivery of the RLUP and the Ecosystem Approach.

How can we exploit above–belowground interactions to assist in addressing the challenges of food security? [12]
Can above–belowground interactions help address issues of food security? This review of the intersection of above–belowground interactions and food security proposes that these interactions could address two strategies identified by Godfray et al. (2010): reducing the Yield Gap by manipulating the interactions to reduce losses to pests and increase crop growth; and Increasing Production Limits by the use of intercropping and breeding for specific traits, as well as breeding mutualistic organisms to improve their provided benefit.