Project IPPET (Integrating Past and Present Ecologies, and Traditional Knowledge for Effective Biodiversity Management into the Future) is a newly funded program by the UK Research and Innovations (UKRI), led by Dr Matthew Adeleye, to conduct research on the application of palaeoecology (the study of past ecology) to wetland and wetland-related ecosystems conservation in different parts of the world. By working closely with local communities and ecosystem managers, the project aims to integrate local/Indigenous knowledge and different ecological methods to develop robust palaeoecological baselines tailored to inform conservation and management frameworks.
The project will involve the analysis of peat/mud cores retrieved from wetlands and wetland-related systems (e.g., swamp forest) for dating, geochemistry, micro- and macro-fossils to investigate changes in floristic composition and diversity, human land use and fire, wetland hydrology, and accumulated carbon over centuries to millennia. Working closely with land managers and/or locals, result interpretation and presentation will be aligned with local conservation and management needs/goals, and collaboratively develop a framework for the use of the palaeoecological results in ongoing conservation and management efforts. Local knowledge of the history of cultural and socioeconomic use of ecosystems, as well as lived experiences, will also be incorporated into result interpretation to better account for potential Indigenous/traditional roles in shaping ecosystems in ancient times, and what we can be learnt from this deep cultural interraction to inform future usage.
This project invloves ecosystem sites in the UK, Channel Island, Africa, Australia and Canada in collaboration with conservation authorities, such as the Wildlife Trusts in the UK and Alderney, Cambridge City Council Nature Reserve, Celtic Rainforest Wales, Cradle Coast Natural Resource Management in Tasmania, Ghana Wildlife Society, and Nottawasaga Valley Authority in Ontario.
Learn more about some of the project sites where work has already commenced by clicking on sites: The Fens I Cambridge City Nature Reserve I Skiddaw Forest I Snowdonia
