Human Ecology Research Group [HERG] - University College London [UCL]

How do Anthropology and Human Ecology fit into the study of the Natural Environment?

Few if any environments are unaffected by human activities. Where natural scientists may find evidence of human impacts at the global scale, researchers in anthropology and ecology look at the implications that local land and natural resource use have for widely held assumptions about "natural" ecosystems and ecosystem processes. For example, our understanding of the origins and maintenance of biodiversity in "pristine" rainforest and savanna environments and about processes of environmental degradation in sub-Saharan dryland ecosystems, is changing rapidly as a result of detailed studies of human ecology. New models of the role of local natural resource use patterns mean a radically different understanding of the management of tropical rainforest conservation in a number of forest areas, and of desertification issues in drylands.

The Human Ecology Research Group at UCL was set up by Anthropology staff in 1992. Members of the group are directly involved in multi-disciplinary research using anthropological, ecological, historical and GIS data in the analysis of social factors influencing land use and environmental change. The group provides a forum for post doctoral and post graduate researchers from Anthropology and other Departments to share ideas and experiences relevant to the study of the interaction between rural people in Less Developed Countries and their environment. The group promotes information sharing and communication between researchers, and provides an important opportunity for research students as well as staff to present work in progress, to receive feed-back and to develop ideas with other researchers.

As postgraduates have completed their research and gone on to work in the field outside UCL, the group has evolved into a broader association of individuals based in other institutes and agencies as well as the Department. They share a keen interest and experience in the management and maintenance of the natural environment, and concern for understanding the role of key stakeholders, from households and local communities to local, national and international development and government agencies.

Collaboration with national and international policy makers and practitioners is considered a priority by the group, given the very applied nature of the research area. Past and current members of HERG are working with a range of national and international government agencies as well as with research institutes, NGOs, charitable organisations, and consulting companies involved in environment and development, These include: the European Union - DG8; the Department for International Development (UK); the International Institute for Environment and Development (UK); the Ford Foundation (Mozambique); the World Wide Fund for Nature; CARE (Canada); the Environment and Development Group (Oxford, UK); the Harvard Tropical Forestry Field Project; SOS Sahel International (UK); and the Institute of Zoology, (London, UK).

Past and present research under the Human Ecology Research Group has focused on sub-Saharan Africa, although work is also on-going in Latin America and Asia. Research carried out by the group can be broadly grouped into research programmes and research projects. · Research programmes are studies carried out in collaboration with other universities and research institutions, primarily in Europe and Africa, involving a number of researchers from different disciplines. Research programmes carried out by the HERG include EU and DFID funded studies in Benin and Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania and Kenya. ·

Research projects are studies designed and carried out by individual researchers, usually in close collaboration with national development, conservation or research programmes in the study country. Such research projects have been carried out in Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, British Guyana & Mexico. Current post-graduates within HERG are funded by ESRC, EU, DFID, WWF, and IUCN among others.