HERG: A collective above and beyond the State: contemporary world-making in an Ashaninka village

UCL Anthropology’s Human Ecology Research Group (HERG) focuses, on the one hand, on the impact of resource policy and management of people’s livelihoods, health and welfare, and on the other, on the impacts of changing resource use on environment and biodiversity. Furthermore, it focuses on developing new methodologies for participatory research. The Human Ecology group includes some 25 staff, postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers working on interactions of resource use, conservation, business and development in regions ranging from Amazonia, East, Central and West Africa to Siberia and South East Asia; in ecosystems from tropical rain forest through drylands to coastal and riverine wetlands, and with a research focus ranging from single species interactions with people (e.g. great apes/large carnivores) through to broader themes such as bushmeat; fire management regimes; fishers and aquatic resources; pastoralists; corporate social responsibility; international initiatives such as REDD, carbon accounting and payments for wildlife conservation. HERG research explores the interactions of eco-system management regimes, wildlife conservation and rural livelihoods in less developed countries, and focuses particularly on ecosystem and threatened species ecology, policy interventions, household economy and livelihoods diversification.

Our research group uses a human ecological perspective, emphasising interdisciplinarity to develop new understandings and narratives of people’s interactions with the natural environment and the impact of human activities on nature. The group consists of a diverse range of contributors – from social anthropologists to ecologists  with research projects across the world.