Anna Lawrence | University of the Highlands and Islands - UHI (original) (raw)

Papers by Anna Lawrence

Research paper thumbnail of Learning from Monitoring & Evaluation–a blueprint for an adaptive organisation

Learning is an essential characteristic of an adaptive organisation. Monitoring and evaluation (M... more Learning is an essential characteristic of an adaptive organisation. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) provide important data and experiences that can contribute to such learning.

Research paper thumbnail of Community wildlife sites in Oxfordshire: an exploration of ecological and social meanings for green spaces

International Journal of the Commons, 2009

The paper explores the experiences and meanings that participants attribute to community wildlife... more The paper explores the experiences and meanings that participants attribute to community wildlife sites, a new kind of space created through the initiative and commitment of local residents, often without any wider organisational involvement. The study focuses on six case studies in ...

Research paper thumbnail of Climate Impacts and Adaptations in Forest Management

Research paper thumbnail of Mapping information flows

A case study of communities on the island of Leyte in the Philippines found that farmers were usi... more A case study of communities on the island of Leyte in the Philippines found that farmers were using a wide range of technologies to try to stop environmental degradation. The studies focused on the role of the agricultural information system in helping farmers to cope with change and improve sustainability. It turned out to be easier to understand this when a visual mapping method was developed. The author reports on this mapping experience. Farmers in the remote upland communities of Matalom, Leyte, grow maize and rootcrops in a shortened fallow cycle, with some lowland rice in the valley bottoms. They have stayed more or less isolated from the Green Revolution. Although seed of new varieties has found its way into the villages from relatives in other areas, farmers do not buy seed or use chemical inputs, and visits from extension workers are almost unknown. Men and women all say the soil fertility has decreased dramatically and soil erosion has increased over the last thirty years...

Research paper thumbnail of Forest Restitution in Romania and the Impacts on Rural Communities: Cultural Dimension

Résumé. Les caractéristiques de la relation communauté–foret dans le contexte du processus de rét... more Résumé. Les caractéristiques de la relation communauté–foret dans le contexte du processus de rétrocession des propriétés forestières en Roumanie: la dimension culturelle. L'évolution de la société humaine s'est avérée être extrêmement rapide durant ces derniers siècles, nécessitant des modifications extrêmes au milieu naturel, son empreinte bien définie étant représentée par son milieu entropique avec des caractéristiques modifiées en profondeur. Le développement socio-économique puissant et rapide a affecté dans un mode extrême la relation entre deux milieux, naturel et entropique, éléments de base du milieu géographique. L'analyse de la relation existante entre les communautés humaines et la forêt, met en exergue la corrélation étroite entre les deux sous-systèmes de base du système géographique. Cette communion, qui souligne le caractère unitaire du système, tend actuellement à se transformer (comme suite de l'apparition du processus de rétrocession des terrains ...

Research paper thumbnail of Adapting extension goals to sustainability and environmental goals in Asia

Research paper thumbnail of 4. Adapting participatory methods to meet different stakeholder needs: Farmers’ experiments in Bolivia and Laos

Learning from Change, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of The personal and political of volunteers' data: towards a national biodiversity database for the UK

Participatory Biodiversity Assessment for Policy, Planning and Practice, 2010

(Bell et al., this volume). This chapter examines an attempt to harness the data for a wider rang... more (Bell et al., this volume). This chapter examines an attempt to harness the data for a wider range of purposes, and the ways in which different actors have perceived and responded to this. Many of the volunteers have a strong personal attachment to their data, and to the ...

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction: learning from experiences of participatory biodiversity assessment

Participatory Biodiversity Assessment for Policy, Planning and Practice, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of From Rationalism to Reflexivity? Reflections on Change in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan

Reflexive Governance for Global Public Goods, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Participatory improvement of soil and water conservation practices in hillside production systems in the Andean Valleys of Bolivia

Research paper thumbnail of Private landowners’ approaches to planting and managing forests in the UK: What's the evidence?

Land Use Policy, 2014

Woodland expansion and sustainable forest management are key features of forest policy in the UK.... more Woodland expansion and sustainable forest management are key features of forest policy in the UK. Because a large majority of land and forests is owned privately, these policies need the involvement of private landowners. Studies of owners' attitudes and decisions in the UK are at a disadvantage as there is no complete database of land or forest ownership. This paper is based on a Rapid Evidence Assessment which identified 42 relevant studies. The predominant narrative reflects a low level of interest and management activity. There are many exceptions to this, and land management decisions are more differentiated within the socio-cultural, multipurpose landscape than has perhaps been previously acknowledged. A wide cultural gap between farming and forestry is often noted, in contrast to the international literature. Many woodland owners see themselves as managing their woodlands, in contrast to official perceptions and statistics. The evidence also reports generally negative attitudes towards woodland creation. The predominant policy tools are grants and advice. Grant uptake across England, Wales and Scotland is not currently as high as governments would like. A combination of amount offered, fit with owners' objectives, amount of paperwork and interaction with professionals are cited to explain low grant uptake. Information and advice is an important and neglected factor in the equation. A focus on both content and process of interactions with advisors, knowledge exchange and application, and outcomes, is lacking in the UK. Given the centrality of private landowners in delivering public policy, we see a need to go beyond this body of evidence and focus on innovative approaches, including engagement via social networks, knowledge exchange processes which build on existing relations and link with land managers' existing objectives, and the contextualisation of woodland within the wider land use sector.

Research paper thumbnail of The politics of numbers in forest and climate change policies in Australia and the UK

Environmental Science & Policy, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Community wildlife sites in Oxfordshire: new ecological and social meanings

Our paper explores the social and cultural relations underlying 'community wildlife sites&#x... more Our paper explores the social and cultural relations underlying 'community wildlife sites', a new type of commons emerging in England which appear to symbolise people's need to connect with place and 'nature'. England benefits from a long history of nature ...

Research paper thumbnail of Local values for harvested forest plants in Madre de Dios, Peru: Towards a more contextualised interpretation of quantitative ethnobotanical data

Biodiversity and Conservation, 2005

This study builds on earlier quantitative ethnobotanical studies to develop an approach which rep... more This study builds on earlier quantitative ethnobotanical studies to develop an approach which represents local values for useful forest species, in order to explore factors affecting those values. The method, based on respondents' ranking of taxa, compares favourably with more time-consuming quantitative ethnobotanical techniques, and allows results to be differentiated according to social factors (gender and ethnic origin), and ecological and socio-economic context. We worked with 126 respondents in five indigenous and five immigrant communities within a forest-dominated landscape in the Peruvian Amazonia. There was wide variability among responses, indicating a complex of factors affecting value. The most valued family is Arecaceae, followed by Fabaceae and Moraceae. Overall, fruit and noncommercialised construction materials predominate but women tend to value fruit and other non-timber species more highly than timber, while the converse is shown by men. Indigenous respondents tend to value more the species used for fruit, domestic construction and other NTFPs, while immigrants tend to favour commercialised timber species. Across all communities, values are influenced by both markets and the availability of the taxa; as the favourite species become scarce, others replace them in perceived importance. As markets become more accessible, over-exploitation of the most valuable species and livelihood diversification contribute to a decrease in perceived value of the forest.

Research paper thumbnail of Black poplar and the diversity of biodiversity action plans.-Report on a survey of LBAPs

eci.ox.ac.uk

Page 1. 1 Black poplar and the diversity of biodiversity action plans. - Report on a survey of LB... more Page 1. 1 Black poplar and the diversity of biodiversity action plans. - Report on a survey of LBAPsAnna Lawrence and Star Molteno ... Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Rd, OXFORD OX1 3QY, United Kingdom. Email: anna.lawrence@eci.ox.ac.uk, smolteno@eci.ox.ac.uk ...

Research paper thumbnail of Little Wittenham Wood: a management plan for 1991-1995

ABSTRACT Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Oxford, 1990. Cover title.

Research paper thumbnail of Participatory assessment, monitoring and evaluation of biodiversity: the art and the science

A background paper for the ETFRN …, 2001

Summary............................................................................................. more Summary.....................................................................................................................3 Introduction ....... ......................................................................... ... ... This background paper was prepared by Anna Lawrence (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, UK) and Bianca ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reluctant citizens? The disjuncture between participatory biological monitoring and environmental governance

International Sociology Association Conference ' …, 2005

Participatory environmental governance relies on both information about the environment, and part... more Participatory environmental governance relies on both information about the environment, and participants whose values and motivations lead them to take part in governance. It is commonly assumed that participation in data collection, such as environmental monitoring, can be ...

Research paper thumbnail of Going with the flow or an uphill struggle? Directions for participatory research in hillside environments

Mountain Research and Development, 1999

... 3, 1999, pp. 203-212 GOING WITH THE FLOW OR AN UPHILL STRUGGLE? DIRECTIONS FOR PARTICIPATORY ... more ... 3, 1999, pp. 203-212 GOING WITH THE FLOW OR AN UPHILL STRUGGLE? DIRECTIONS FOR PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH IN HILLSIDE ENVIRONMENTS Anna Lawrence Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Department, University of Reading RG6 6AL, UK ...

Research paper thumbnail of Learning from Monitoring & Evaluation–a blueprint for an adaptive organisation

Learning is an essential characteristic of an adaptive organisation. Monitoring and evaluation (M... more Learning is an essential characteristic of an adaptive organisation. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) provide important data and experiences that can contribute to such learning.

Research paper thumbnail of Community wildlife sites in Oxfordshire: an exploration of ecological and social meanings for green spaces

International Journal of the Commons, 2009

The paper explores the experiences and meanings that participants attribute to community wildlife... more The paper explores the experiences and meanings that participants attribute to community wildlife sites, a new kind of space created through the initiative and commitment of local residents, often without any wider organisational involvement. The study focuses on six case studies in ...

Research paper thumbnail of Climate Impacts and Adaptations in Forest Management

Research paper thumbnail of Mapping information flows

A case study of communities on the island of Leyte in the Philippines found that farmers were usi... more A case study of communities on the island of Leyte in the Philippines found that farmers were using a wide range of technologies to try to stop environmental degradation. The studies focused on the role of the agricultural information system in helping farmers to cope with change and improve sustainability. It turned out to be easier to understand this when a visual mapping method was developed. The author reports on this mapping experience. Farmers in the remote upland communities of Matalom, Leyte, grow maize and rootcrops in a shortened fallow cycle, with some lowland rice in the valley bottoms. They have stayed more or less isolated from the Green Revolution. Although seed of new varieties has found its way into the villages from relatives in other areas, farmers do not buy seed or use chemical inputs, and visits from extension workers are almost unknown. Men and women all say the soil fertility has decreased dramatically and soil erosion has increased over the last thirty years...

Research paper thumbnail of Forest Restitution in Romania and the Impacts on Rural Communities: Cultural Dimension

Résumé. Les caractéristiques de la relation communauté–foret dans le contexte du processus de rét... more Résumé. Les caractéristiques de la relation communauté–foret dans le contexte du processus de rétrocession des propriétés forestières en Roumanie: la dimension culturelle. L'évolution de la société humaine s'est avérée être extrêmement rapide durant ces derniers siècles, nécessitant des modifications extrêmes au milieu naturel, son empreinte bien définie étant représentée par son milieu entropique avec des caractéristiques modifiées en profondeur. Le développement socio-économique puissant et rapide a affecté dans un mode extrême la relation entre deux milieux, naturel et entropique, éléments de base du milieu géographique. L'analyse de la relation existante entre les communautés humaines et la forêt, met en exergue la corrélation étroite entre les deux sous-systèmes de base du système géographique. Cette communion, qui souligne le caractère unitaire du système, tend actuellement à se transformer (comme suite de l'apparition du processus de rétrocession des terrains ...

Research paper thumbnail of Adapting extension goals to sustainability and environmental goals in Asia

Research paper thumbnail of 4. Adapting participatory methods to meet different stakeholder needs: Farmers’ experiments in Bolivia and Laos

Learning from Change, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of The personal and political of volunteers' data: towards a national biodiversity database for the UK

Participatory Biodiversity Assessment for Policy, Planning and Practice, 2010

(Bell et al., this volume). This chapter examines an attempt to harness the data for a wider rang... more (Bell et al., this volume). This chapter examines an attempt to harness the data for a wider range of purposes, and the ways in which different actors have perceived and responded to this. Many of the volunteers have a strong personal attachment to their data, and to the ...

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction: learning from experiences of participatory biodiversity assessment

Participatory Biodiversity Assessment for Policy, Planning and Practice, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of From Rationalism to Reflexivity? Reflections on Change in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan

Reflexive Governance for Global Public Goods, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Participatory improvement of soil and water conservation practices in hillside production systems in the Andean Valleys of Bolivia

Research paper thumbnail of Private landowners’ approaches to planting and managing forests in the UK: What's the evidence?

Land Use Policy, 2014

Woodland expansion and sustainable forest management are key features of forest policy in the UK.... more Woodland expansion and sustainable forest management are key features of forest policy in the UK. Because a large majority of land and forests is owned privately, these policies need the involvement of private landowners. Studies of owners' attitudes and decisions in the UK are at a disadvantage as there is no complete database of land or forest ownership. This paper is based on a Rapid Evidence Assessment which identified 42 relevant studies. The predominant narrative reflects a low level of interest and management activity. There are many exceptions to this, and land management decisions are more differentiated within the socio-cultural, multipurpose landscape than has perhaps been previously acknowledged. A wide cultural gap between farming and forestry is often noted, in contrast to the international literature. Many woodland owners see themselves as managing their woodlands, in contrast to official perceptions and statistics. The evidence also reports generally negative attitudes towards woodland creation. The predominant policy tools are grants and advice. Grant uptake across England, Wales and Scotland is not currently as high as governments would like. A combination of amount offered, fit with owners' objectives, amount of paperwork and interaction with professionals are cited to explain low grant uptake. Information and advice is an important and neglected factor in the equation. A focus on both content and process of interactions with advisors, knowledge exchange and application, and outcomes, is lacking in the UK. Given the centrality of private landowners in delivering public policy, we see a need to go beyond this body of evidence and focus on innovative approaches, including engagement via social networks, knowledge exchange processes which build on existing relations and link with land managers' existing objectives, and the contextualisation of woodland within the wider land use sector.

Research paper thumbnail of The politics of numbers in forest and climate change policies in Australia and the UK

Environmental Science & Policy, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Community wildlife sites in Oxfordshire: new ecological and social meanings

Our paper explores the social and cultural relations underlying 'community wildlife sites&#x... more Our paper explores the social and cultural relations underlying 'community wildlife sites', a new type of commons emerging in England which appear to symbolise people's need to connect with place and 'nature'. England benefits from a long history of nature ...

Research paper thumbnail of Local values for harvested forest plants in Madre de Dios, Peru: Towards a more contextualised interpretation of quantitative ethnobotanical data

Biodiversity and Conservation, 2005

This study builds on earlier quantitative ethnobotanical studies to develop an approach which rep... more This study builds on earlier quantitative ethnobotanical studies to develop an approach which represents local values for useful forest species, in order to explore factors affecting those values. The method, based on respondents' ranking of taxa, compares favourably with more time-consuming quantitative ethnobotanical techniques, and allows results to be differentiated according to social factors (gender and ethnic origin), and ecological and socio-economic context. We worked with 126 respondents in five indigenous and five immigrant communities within a forest-dominated landscape in the Peruvian Amazonia. There was wide variability among responses, indicating a complex of factors affecting value. The most valued family is Arecaceae, followed by Fabaceae and Moraceae. Overall, fruit and noncommercialised construction materials predominate but women tend to value fruit and other non-timber species more highly than timber, while the converse is shown by men. Indigenous respondents tend to value more the species used for fruit, domestic construction and other NTFPs, while immigrants tend to favour commercialised timber species. Across all communities, values are influenced by both markets and the availability of the taxa; as the favourite species become scarce, others replace them in perceived importance. As markets become more accessible, over-exploitation of the most valuable species and livelihood diversification contribute to a decrease in perceived value of the forest.

Research paper thumbnail of Black poplar and the diversity of biodiversity action plans.-Report on a survey of LBAPs

eci.ox.ac.uk

Page 1. 1 Black poplar and the diversity of biodiversity action plans. - Report on a survey of LB... more Page 1. 1 Black poplar and the diversity of biodiversity action plans. - Report on a survey of LBAPsAnna Lawrence and Star Molteno ... Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Rd, OXFORD OX1 3QY, United Kingdom. Email: anna.lawrence@eci.ox.ac.uk, smolteno@eci.ox.ac.uk ...

Research paper thumbnail of Little Wittenham Wood: a management plan for 1991-1995

ABSTRACT Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Oxford, 1990. Cover title.

Research paper thumbnail of Participatory assessment, monitoring and evaluation of biodiversity: the art and the science

A background paper for the ETFRN …, 2001

Summary............................................................................................. more Summary.....................................................................................................................3 Introduction ....... ......................................................................... ... ... This background paper was prepared by Anna Lawrence (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, UK) and Bianca ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reluctant citizens? The disjuncture between participatory biological monitoring and environmental governance

International Sociology Association Conference ' …, 2005

Participatory environmental governance relies on both information about the environment, and part... more Participatory environmental governance relies on both information about the environment, and participants whose values and motivations lead them to take part in governance. It is commonly assumed that participation in data collection, such as environmental monitoring, can be ...

Research paper thumbnail of Going with the flow or an uphill struggle? Directions for participatory research in hillside environments

Mountain Research and Development, 1999

... 3, 1999, pp. 203-212 GOING WITH THE FLOW OR AN UPHILL STRUGGLE? DIRECTIONS FOR PARTICIPATORY ... more ... 3, 1999, pp. 203-212 GOING WITH THE FLOW OR AN UPHILL STRUGGLE? DIRECTIONS FOR PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH IN HILLSIDE ENVIRONMENTS Anna Lawrence Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Department, University of Reading RG6 6AL, UK ...