• Offered for Year: 2025/26

• Module Leader(s): Professor Marion Pfeifer
• Lecturer: Dr Evelyn Jensen, Dr Simon Maddock

• Owning School: Natural and Environmental Sciences
• Teaching Location: Off Campus

• Capacity limit: 18 student places

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

The overall aim of this module is to introduce the ecology, conservation and management challenges for human-modified tropical landscapes. This is a field-based module that supports students to build a foundation for research skills (theory and practice) required for investigating and managing such landscapes drawing on theory and practice from ecology, socio-ecology and conservation. It will do so by:

(1) outlining key biodiversity science questions and conservation challenges for human-modified tropical landscapes (lectures, in field group debates),

(2) exploring data needs required to understand and/or manage wildlife movements and distribution and their interactions with ecosystem and people (in field tutorials),

(3) collecting data in the field using classic field surveying techniques and sensor technology (in field data collections from different ecosystems within the managed park)

(4) interpretation of data in the context of wildlife ecology and conservation and management of rural tropical landscapes for people and biodiversity

Outline Of Syllabus

Overseas Field Course: working in a protected area in tropical country. For 2024/25: Leshiba Wilderness reserve, South Africa

The module will be taught as a combination of two lectures (delivered before the field trip), guided study to prepare material for the field trip, and a 10 day trip (overseas) to a country in the tropics: the current focus is on Leshiba Wilderness reserve, a privately managed protected area in South Africa. Alternative candidates include field stations in Tanzania (eastern Arc Mountains), South Africa or the Philippines.

Leshiba Reserve is a wilderness reserve located in the Soutpansberg mountains. Logistics (food, accommodation, transport in the reserve) will be provided by the reserve management team.

Lectures before the field trip: To be held on campus prior to the field trip. These will focus on theory and practice of modern conservation science in the context of wildlife ecology and management and protected areas for people and biodiversity. We will explain key concepts key concepts and contemporary conservation challenges relevant to humanmodified landscapes and we will outline sampling design and data collection methods and challenges following the cycle of adaptive management. We will also provide context for the key ecosystems and species found in the field site.

The field trip: Following an induction on health and safety and the history of the managed park upon arrival at the site, the students days will be structured as follows: a later afternoon group led debate on a conservation / management challenge followed by open QA session, an evening tutorial on techniques used in the next day, field data collection exercises during the day. We will collect habitat (microclimate, structure) and species data, and observe animals (e.g. giraffes) in their natural habitats. During the field course, we will work through specific topics (e.g. how to quantify animal movements to analyse potential for human-wildlife conflict) supported by guided reading. The course involves extensive walking. Throughout the interactions with students (small group sizes), we will explore topics on habitat use by wildlife, land use and land use change, land management and livelihood strategies of rural communities.

The combination of lectures, fieldwork exercises, data collection and analysis and presentations will be used to support students’ skills development. There will be a focus on how to plan and implement field research in tropical human-modified landscapes, analyse the results obtained and report them. The emphasis will be on the ecology of the study systems and the interface between wildlife and human communities.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The teaching methods are designed to align with the Learning Outcomes. Following the introductory lecture, the
students are asked to read and research one of the key challenges in biodiversity conservation in tropical human-modified landscapes using publications provided and additional literature.

The lectures during the course will provide the fundamentals of the concepts, theories and methods used when
designing conservation plans for tropical human-modified landscapes. They will be structured using a problem-centred approach with real-world examples: e.g. monitoring mammal distribution and movements as a base for
designing protected areas. Students will work in groups to engage with the material in depth using publications and teaching material provided by the supervisors. The fieldwork will give students experience in applying some of the methods, what they should consider when applying them and what the limitations of these methods are.

Students will be guided through their independent analysis of collected data and information in their final report writeup.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Exams

Other Assessment

Formative Assessments

Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assessments are aligned with the intended knowledge and skills outcomes using the competencies framework.

Group debate for formative assessment: The students will work in groups of 3-4 to present their topic as two sides to the debate introduction, i.e. introducing one contemporary conservation science approach. The students will challenge each other and then answer questions from peers and staff related to that topic.

Group presentation (assessment 1: summative, 20 %): The group will analyse and interpret a subset of data collected during the field trip – contextualising it within the taught material. Professional conduct assessment is a brief summary evaluating student attitude during fieldwork. Including: engagement in in-field activities, activities in the morning, behaving appropriately, cultural sensitivity, and health and safety. This assessment helps to make sure students do all these things.

Individual report (assessment 2: summative, 80 %). Individual Project Report. Maximum of 2500 words but please aim for 1500 words max if possible. Written up in style for National Geographic. The students will draft and submit a report on their selected topic critically examining it and reflecting on the feedback provided after the presentation. For this report, they can choose any topic that we have covered in the field. For example, they may wish to talk about the value of traditional knowledge in conservation science, weaving in information from the literature, from discussions had in the field and from their own experiences in the field going on bushwalks and talking to experts. The style of writing requires them to think about the story they want to tell and to tell the story in an a way that is accessible to a general audience. For examples: blogs written for Mongabay, Conservation Evidence and Africanconservation.org or National Geographic. The topic can be written based on their own perceptions of what they have learned and seen or it can be written as a synthesis piece critically assessing pros and cons of certain land management approaches. We provide feedback on the topic choice.

Reading Lists

• NES3313's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• NES3313's Timetable