Managing tropical agricultural ecosystems for resistance and recovery of ecosystem processes

Lead Research Organisation: University of Cambridge
Department Name: Zoology

Abstract

Oil palm plantations have expanded rapidly over the last few decades and represent a significant threat to global biodiversity. This is largely because oil palm is a tropical crop and its increased production has often come at the expense of biodiverse tropical rainforest. However, oil palm is a extremely productive crop, producing a much higher volume of vegetable oil yield per hectare than other oil crops and contributing significantly to the economies of the countries that produce it. Maximising sustainable production is therefore a conservation as well as an economic priority, as increased production in existing agricultural areas may reduce expansion elsewhere and spare remaining forest habitats. A major concern within the oil palm sector is the effect of extreme weather events, such as current El Niño event, on oil palm productivity. This is particularly marked in Southeast Asia, where the majority of palm oil is produced, and which suffers reduced rainfall during El Niño years, reducing palm oil production.
The role of biodiversity within oil palm ecosystems has received little research attention, although it is clear that some species that live within plantations may increase production, for example by contributing to important ecosystem processes, such as pollination, decomposition and control of pests. Although oil palm houses far fewer species than the tropical rainforest it replaces, it is still complex compared to most agricultural systems, with a diverse understory of herbaceous plants and numerous epiphytes growing on the oil palm trunks. It is also a very long-lived crop, with replanting taking place approximately every 25 years. There is, therefore, considerable scope for management practices to increase biodiversity levels within oil palm plantations, with potential benefits for important ecosystem processes and crop yield. Such an increase in biodiversity may have a particular benefit in El Niño years, as this may make ecosystem processes more resistant to climatic variation and enable faster recovery following the drought.
This project investigates the impact of the current El Niño event on biodiversity, ecosystem processes and yield within oil palm plantations in Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. We also experimentally investigate the potential role of different understory management and replanting strategies in reducing the severity of changes in biodiversity and ecosystem processes, and speeding recovery times following the El Niño event. Findings from this work will be of direct relevance to both agricultural practitioners and to the conservation community and will lead to specific management recommendations for improving the sustainable production of this globally-important crop.

Planned Impact

We have identified six key groups that will directly benefit from the results of this work:

1) Oil palm industry and the wider agronomic industry - results from this work will inform management practice to increase palm oil yield and reliability in the face of future El Nino and other environmental change. These results will also be of relevance to management practice in a range of other tropical agricultural crops.
2) Oil palm workers - the estates where this work is based employs over 5100 workers and includes 7 schools (3000 pupils) and we anticipate a high-level of engagement with oil palm workers. This provides a valuable opportunity to increase public awareness of environmental issues and more sustainable management. In addition, many estate workers also have their own small-holdings, allowing further opportunity for best-practice to spread.
3) Policy makers - results of this work will directly inform sustainability guidelines for best management practice, for example the Principles and Criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) (http://www.rspo.org/) and the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) Foundation (http://www.sustainablepalmoil.org/). We also anticipate making contact with El Niño-specific organisations, such as the UN Focus Group on El Niño, Indonesia (http://un.or.id/elnino/).
4) Conservation practitioners - results from this work will be of direct relevance to conservation. More productive and sustainable oil palm reduces pressure on remaining forest areas, benefitting conservation. The placement of the project at the interface between conservation and agronomy facilitates links and collaboration between these different sectors.
5) Museums - insect specimens collected as part of this study will be deposited in national collections in Indonesia, in local collections at SMARTRI, and in the insect collection of UMZC. These will add to existing knowledge of the biological diversity of the region and will facilitate future research, by providing a record of species distributions and by acting as a voucher collection for future projects.
6) Sequencing (NGS) data depositories - data will be made openly available in a timely and responsible manner; data will be deposited in an international NGS depository (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra) and the European Nucleotide Archive (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena), allowing scientific advance outside the scope of this project.
7) UK public - the environmental issues associated with palm oil production are much discussed in the media and are a focus of public attention. However, many of the reports written about palm oil fail to discuss its high productivity per area, economic importance for the countries involved, its widespread global use, or efforts to be more sustainable, instead focussing only on its negative environmental impacts. This project is ideally placed for communicating a balanced story about the costs and benefits of oil palm. We will liaise with the existing innovative outreach work of the UMZC to achieve this.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description We have collected a substantial dataset to address the role of management practices in promoting resistance and recovery of ecosystem processes in an oil palm landscape in Riau, Indonesia. This not only includes collecting fine-scale data on a range of key taxa (including soil-surface arthropods, ants, and herbivorous lepidopteran larvae) and ecosystem processes (including soil feeding activity, leaf litter decomposition, predation, herbivory and palm oil yield) in 18 existing mature oil palm plots, but also establishing 6 new plots within recently-replanted oil palm areas. We have also used other targeted long-term datasets from the project to assess the impact of interannual variation in rainfall on key groups. Key findings, detailed in our published papers, include the negative impact of low rainfall on predators such as spiders and the relative robustness of a range of ecosystem processes within oil palm (decomposition, seed removal, pest control, herbivory) to changing rainfall over the 2015-16 ENSO event. We have also identified the importance of understory complexity in oil palm for supporting key taxa, particularly predators such as small carnivores. Our findings have direct management implications for increasing biodiversity and associated ecosystem processes in tropical agricultural landscapes and can be used to inform more-sustainable agricultural practices. These results will be particularly relevant to Indonesia and Malaysia, the two largest palm oil producing countries in the world. To facilitate this, we communicated our results to our industry partners through regular meetings and progress reports over the course of the project. We have also presented results of our project at industry conferences and to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). We have also worked to communicate results and forge links between researchers working on related topics in the region through a study tour and associated workshop, that brought researchers from our project partner organisation in Indonesia, as well as related projects in Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, in touch with other local research centres, the oil palm industry, and the RSPO.
Exploitation Route Our findings are already being used by our local collaborators in Indonesia to inform their plantation management strategies. We anticipate that in the future our findings will help to inform the development of the Principles and Criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, the premier organisation for the accreditation of more sustainable oil palm development. We have presented results of our work to the RSPO and have worked with the organisation in the development of best practice guidelines for river management. We anticipate that our findings will contribute to the development of more-sustainable oil palm management practices, benefiting growers in Indonesia and Malaysia. We have recently received a BBSRC grant to apply outcomes from our understory project in a smallholder context in Malaysia and Indonesia (started in February 2021).
Sectors Agriculture

Food and Drink

Environment

 
Description We have ongoing non-academic impacts from this grant. These include the continued development of our research partnership with Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology Research Institute (SMARTRI), based in Riau, Indonesia, including sharing of information and expertise on data collection in collaborative projects and contributions to research publications, which continue to be published from this project. Although the original project plots have now been replanted, our ongoing collaboration has supported the experimental project being reestablished in immature oil palm by SMARTRI. We have hosted extended visits from five early-career Indonesian research staff (three male, two female) to Cambridge, supporting their career development, including two more researchers from SMARTRI who visited Cambridge in March 2023 to collaborate on research publications continuing from this work and to share knowledge. The collaborative study tour run as part of this project, for researchers from Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea from NERC El Nino-funded projects in the region, helped to develop links between early-career researchers. Our schools project disseminated results of the work and engaged school children in conservation activities (see details in relevant sections). The study tour included a mix of female and male early-career researchers from Indonesia and Malaysia, supporting their career development. This work has enhanced training and increased conservation awareness of researchers from our partner organisation in Indonesia. The project has also supported the development of new projects investigating best management options for restoring river margins in oil palm, and a BBSRC-funded project (BB/T012366/1) translating results from this project to smallholder systems. This project has now itself resulted in four additional grants to support further engagement with industrial and smallholder plantations in Malaysia, Indonesia and Liberia. In 2021 and 2022, the BBSRC-funded project resulted in research assistants talking to >100 smallholder farmers in Malaysia and Indonesia about this project, sharing results as an accessible printed handout that smallholders can keep (in Malaysian or Indonesian), and running day-long workshops discussing findings from the work and more-sustainable understory management practices in plantations. Both postdocs on our project were early-career female researchers who have gone on to gain posts in academia, one initially in another postdoc position but now as a permanent PI, and the other as a PI. Findings from our work address aspects of more sustainable food production and biodiversity conservation in agricultural systems and are therefore particularly relevant to Sustainable Development Goals 12 and 15. We have worked hard to disseminate results of our work to inform best management practice, through contributions to oil palm industry conferences and direct liaison with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, including hosting a stand at the Roundtable on Sustainable Oil Palm Conference with Wild Asia in November 2023. In the last year, we have continued to make use of this project through online talks to schools and university undergraduate groups in the UK and internationally.
First Year Of Impact 2021
Sector Agriculture, Food and Drink,Education,Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural

Societal

Policy & public services

 
Description Changing management practices in industry collaborators
Geographic Reach Asia 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
Impact Throughout the project we have worked closely with our industry partners in Indonesia (SMARTRI), based in Riau, Indonesia, to disseminate results of our work and to help deliver knowledge exchange to industry partner staff and researchers and to inform plantation management across Golden Agri Resources Estates. Over the course of the wider project, this has already led to changes in land-management in oil palm estates managed by our industry partners, including a marked increase in the use of beneficial plants (part of Integrated Pest Management activities) within local estates in Riau, Indonesia. This close collaboration has also resulted in the development of a project investigating the best management methods to restore forest in riparian areas; the first time that such large-scale restoration management has been trialed in oil palm to our knowledge. Over the course of 2017, we also hosted four early career Indonesian industry partner staff for a month in Cambridge, where they received training in academic writing and analysis. This visit has resulted in a research paper which has been published in a peer-reviewed journal (doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2019.00051).
 
Description Co-author on two related white papers for Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) best management practices
Geographic Reach Asia 
Policy Influence Type Citation in other policy documents
URL https://www.rspo.org/key-documents/supplementary-materials?utm_source=RSPO+Secretariat&utm_campaign=...
 
Description Additional Institutional Support Funding to support international partnerships, through University of Cambridge
Amount £7,081 (GBP)
Funding ID G118588 
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 12/2022 
End 03/2023
 
Description Addressing environmental impacts of oil palm expansion in Liberia/Africa - Seedcorn funding
Amount £100,994 (GBP)
Funding ID NE/Y003136/1 
Organisation UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 11/2023 
End 11/2025
 
Description Ecological management to benefit ecosystem services and sustainable production in smallholder oil palm systems in Malaysia and Indonesia
Amount £252,697 (GBP)
Funding ID BB/T012366/1 
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2021 
End 11/2022
 
Description Identifying options for restoring river systems in smallholder and industrial oil palm plantations in Indonesia
Amount $35,000 (USD)
Funding ID #2022-73445 
Organisation David and Lucile Packard Foundation 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United States
Start 02/2023 
End 03/2024
 
Description Matched funding for industry support (£84,196) of research project (the Riparian Ecosystem Restoration in Tropical Agriculture (RERTA) Project)
Amount £39,225 (GBP)
Organisation University of Cambridge 
Department Isaac Newton Trust
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2017 
End 12/2019
 
Description ODA GCRF and Newton Consolidation Accounts Research Award
Amount £72,697 (GBP)
Funding ID G118358 
Organisation United Kingdom Research and Innovation 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 12/2022 
End 03/2023
 
Description Travel and Networking Fund: Building links and capacity for more sustainable oil palm management in Indonesia
Amount £14,994 (GBP)
Funding ID G 102642 
Organisation United Kingdom Research and Innovation 
Department Global Challenges Research Fund
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 07/2019 
End 07/2020
 
Title A new whole-ecosystem method for experimentally suppressing ants on a small scale 
Description We developed a new small-scale, whole-ecosystem method to suppress ants as a means of assessing their impact on other taxa and ecosystem processes in oil palm plantations. Methods were developed in oil palm agroforestry systems in Sumatra, Indonesia and used targeted poison baits, a physical barrier and canopy isolation to suppress ants in a 4 m radius around oil palm trees over 18 months. Our most intensive suppression was highly successful and lowered ant abundance by 92%. These new methods were published in a peer-reviewed journal to support similar work elsewhere (Hood et al. (2021) A whole-ecosystem method for experimentally suppressing ants on a small scale. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13774 ). 
Type Of Material Biological samples 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact None yet. 
URL https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13774
 
Title Complexity within an oil palm monoculture: the effects of habitat variability and rainfall on adult dragonfly (Odonata) communities. 
Description Recent expansion of oil palm agriculture has resulted in loss of forest habitat and forest-dependent species. However, large numbers of species - particularly insects - can persist within plantations. This study focuses on Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies): a charismatic indicator taxon, and a potentially valuable pest control agent. We surveyed adult Odonata populations biannually over three years within an industrial oil palm plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia. We assessed the effects of rainfall (including an El Niño Southern Oscillation-associated drought), the role of roadside ditches, and the importance of understory vegetation on Odonata populations. To assess the impacts of vegetation we took advantage of a long-term vegetation management experiment that is part of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) Programme. We found 41 Odonata species, and communities varied between plantation core and roadside edge microhabitats, and between seasons. Abundance was significantly related to rainfall levels four months before surveys, probably indicating the importance of high water levels in roadside ditches for successful larval development. We found no significant effect of the BEFTA understory vegetation treatments on Odonata abundance, and only limited effects on community composition, suggesting that local understory vegetation structure plays a relatively unimportant role in determining communities. Our findings highlight that there are large numbers of Odonata species present within oil palm plantations, and suggest that their abundance could potentially be increased by maintaining or establishing waterbodies. As Odonata are predators, this could bring pest control benefits, in addition to enhancing biodiversity within intensive agricultural landscapes. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL http://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.c59zw3r3v
 
Title Data from: Simplifying understory complexity in oil palm plantations is associated with a reduction in the density of a cleptoparasitic spider, Argyrodes miniaceus (Araneae: Theridiidae), in host (Araneae: Nephilinae) webs 
Description Expansion of oil palm agriculture is currently one of the main drivers of habitat modification in Southeast Asia. Habitat modification can have significant effects on biodiversity, ecosystem function, and interactions between species by altering species abundances or the available resources in an ecosystem. Increasing complexity within modified habitats has the potential to maintain biodiversity and preserve species interactions. We investigated trophic interactions between Argyrodes miniaceus, a cleptoparasitic spider, and its Nephila spp. spider hosts in mature oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia. A. miniaceus co-occupy the webs of Nephila spp. females and survive by stealing prey items caught in the web. We examined the effects of experimentally manipulated understory vegetation complexity on the density and abundance of A. miniaceus in Nephila spp. webs. Experimental understory treatments included enhanced complexity, standard complexity, and reduced complexity understory vegetation, which had been established as part of the ongoing Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) Project. A. miniaceus density ranged from 14.4 to 31.4 spiders per square meter of web, with significantly lower densities found in reduced vegetation complexity treatments compared with both enhanced and standard treatment plots. A. miniaceus abundance per plot was also significantly lower in reduced complexity than in standard and enhanced complexity plots. Synthesis and applications: Maintenance of understory vegetation complexity contributes to the preservation of spider host-cleptoparasite relationships in oil palm plantations. Understory structural complexity in these simplified agroecosystems therefore helps to support abundant spider populations, a functionally important taxon in agricultural landscapes. In addition, management for more structurally complex agricultural habitats can support more complex trophic interactions in tropical agroecosystems. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Results from this project have been presented at multiple international meetings, including to the oil palm industry. 
URL https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.4g9g0
 
Title Data supporting "Maintaining understory vegetation in oil palm plantations supports higher assassin bug numbers" 
Description Dataset includes - site information, assassin bug counts and rainfall measurements. Research Project Data relates to a study that tested the effect of three alternative herbicide spraying regimes and associated vegetation complexity treatments on numbers of two species of assassin bugs (Cosmolestes picticeps and Sycanus dichotomus). The treatments encompassed a range of understory vegetation management practices used in oil palm plantations and include removing vegetation only in areas key to harvesting ("Normal"), removing all understory vegetation ("Reduced"), and allowing native vegetation to regrow naturally ("Enhanced"). Both the long-term (18 months) and short-term (within 2 weeks) effects of treatments were assessed following herbicide spraying. Study Site Data was collected in industrial oil palm plantations in Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia (N0 55.559, E101 11.619). The region has a wet tropical climate, with an average annual rainfall of 2,350 mm. Data was collected across two neighbouring plantation estates (Ujung Tanjung and Kandista). These estates were planted between 1988 and 1993, meaning oil palms were mature (aged 20 - 27 years) at the time of data collection in 2013, 2014 & 2015. Across the two estates, oil palms were planted in staggered rows at a density of 136 palms/ha, or approximately 8 m apart. Project sites consisted of eighteen plots, arranged into six triplets. Each plot measured 150 × 150 m and was made up of a central 50 × 50 m core section and an outer buffer region. The three plots within each of the six triplets were randomly allocated to one of three understory treatments. Collection Methods Adult assassin bugs (Reduviidae) of the species Cosmolestes picticeps and Sycanus dichotomus were surveyed along transects in the core of each study plot. Transect walks consisted of a recorder walking at a steady pace, counting any adult C. picticeps or S. dichotomus that were visible or flew up in front of the recorder (without deliberately disturbing vegetation) within a 5-m-sided cube of space in front of them. The transect was 200 m in length and followed the edge of the central 50 x 50 m core section within each plot. Transects were walked between 9:00 and 17:00 and were not conducted when it was raining. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Results from this project have been presented at multiple international meetings, including to the oil palm industry. This includes to large-scale plantations, as well as to a network of >100 smallholders. 
URL https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/358877
 
Title Datasets on biodiversity and ecosystem functions within BEFTA plots 
Description We have collected a range of high-quality data on aspects of biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and yield from our study plots between April 2016 to September 2017 in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia (N0 55.559, E101 11.619). Data collected every ~ 4 months unless otherwise stated. Biodiversity datasets: Ground-active insect samples; collected using combination traps used in related projects (www.safeproject.net); identification still ongoing; Canopy invertebrates, collected from a single tree in each plot; identification ongoing; Herbivorous Lepidoptera and canopy-foraging ants collected from 3 focal palms trees in each plot; identification ongoing; Ecosystem process data: Soil biological, chemical and physical properties: including bulk density, moisture content, carbon content, soil nutrients (NPK), collected in April 2016 and June 2017; Soil feeding rates, using bait laminar strips, recorded in April 2016 and January 2017. Leaf litter decomposition, using mesh bags, recorded between August 2016 and June 2017; Soil temperature (ibutton dataloggers), recording every 3 hours in all plots; Herbivory data: leaf area damage recorded from 3 focal oil palm trees per plot; Predation data: Simulated herbivore predation; removal of mealworms over a 24hr period; Seed predation data: Standard seed removal (shelled sunflower seeds) recorded over a 24hr period. Oil palm yield: Number and weight of fresh fruit bunch (FFB), collected every month. Meteorological data: Daily meteorological data: rainfall; humidity (daily mean, max and min); temperature (daily mean, max and min); solar radiation (hourly average, hourly max); evapotranspiration; air pressure; and wind speed and direction: from 3 meteorological stations across the site, recorded daily. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Not at this stage - database now being completed and being used for ongoing analysis. 
 
Title Mealworm predation rates in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) plots, Kandista and Ujun Tanjung estates, Indonesia 
Description Data comprise mealworm predation rates measured after 24 hours exposure to invertebrates in mature oil palm (2014), and mature and replanted oil palm (2016-2017) plots as part of a large-scale ecological experiment programme (the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture project, established in 2013). Eighteen plots were examined across three estates - plots in Ujung Tanjung and Kandista estates were planted in 1987 to 1992 and are mature or over-mature oil palm, while Libo plots (2016-2017 dataset only) were replanted in 2014. Plots were organised in triplets and in in Ujung Tanjung and Kandista, for each triplet one plot was assigned to each of three vegetation treatments: Reduced vegetation cover, normal vegetation management and enhanced vegetation cover. Freshly-killed mealworms (larvae of darkling beetles, Tenebrionidae sp.) were glued onto oil palm fronds trimmed so that ca. 10 cm of each of six leaflets remained. Exclusion and stratum treatments in factorial combinations were applied: caged and uncaged, canopy and ground. The cage exclusion treatments were designed so that most invertebrates could access the fronds but vertebrates could not. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/03d36ac4-4cf4-46d9-a608-866ba0aab458
 
Title Oil palm frond litter decomposition rates in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) plots, Kandista and Ujun Tanjung estates, Indonesia 
Description Data comprise weight (grams) of dried oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) frond litter remaining in a variety of litter bags after 10, 30, 60 and 90 days buried under the litter layer in oil palm plantations located in Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. The bags all initially contained four grams of dried oil palm frond cut into 2 cm sections and the bags were oven-dried at 70oC to a constant weight. The plantations consisted of mature oil palm (data from 2014), and mature and replanted oil palm (data from 2016-2017) plots which are part of a large-scale ecological experiment programme (the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture project, established in 2013). Eighteen plots were examined across three estates - plots in Ujung Tanjung and Kandista estates were planted in 1987 to 1992 and are mature or over-mature oil palm, while Libo plots (2016-2017 dataset only) were replanted in 2014. Plots were organised in triplets and in Ujung Tanjung and Kandista, for each triplet one plot was assigned to each of three vegetation treatments: reduced vegetation cover, normal vegetation management and enhanced vegetation cover. There were three types of litter bags: fine mesh, 2mm mesh, and fine mesh with four 1 cm holes. Decomposition was measured six times from 2013 to 2017, including a reduced protocol in May 2016 at the peak of an El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) related drought. The project 'Managing tropical agricultural ecosystems for resistance and recovery of ecosystem processes' was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council under NE/P00458X/1. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/592051e6-016f-49c6-9ef9-799a0f842100
 
Title Palm frond damage from herbivory in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) plots, Kandista and Ujun Tanjung estates, Indonesia 
Description Data comprise counts of damage to palm fronds in mature oil palm (2013-2015), and mature and replanted oil palm (2016-2017) plots as part of a large-scale ecological experiment programme (the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture project, established in 2013). Herbivory was measured 17 times in total (every 3-4 months) between April 2013 and August 2017. Eighteen plots were examined across three estates - plots in Ujung Tanjung and Kandista estates were planted in 1987 to 1992 and are mature or over-mature oil palm, while Libo plots (2016-2017 data only) were replanted in 2014. Plots were organised in triplets; in Ujung Tanjung and Kandista, for each triplet one plot was assigned to each of three vegetation treatments: Reduced vegetation cover, normal vegetation management and enhanced vegetation cover. The data contain damage estimated in three ways: by eye for the whole crown, by eye for the 17th frond, and by image processing for 20 leaflets of the 17th frond. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/c2fbd22c-1ce9-4435-b4b0-e333addef346
 
Title Removing understory vegetation in oil palm agroforestry reduces ground-foraging ant abundance but not species richness 
Description Ants are known to provide valuable ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes, including oil palm plantations. Their communities are less diverse and more uneven in oil palm compared with forest, and this may increase their vulnerability to disturbance. This study quantifies ant communities in oil palm agroforestry and experimentally tests their robustness to a common-practice high-disturbance management intervention: removing understory vegetation. Fieldwork was based at the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) Understory Vegetation Project in Sumatra, Indonesia, where three treatments varying in their degree of understory vegetation management were established in 2014: (1) widespread herbicide was applied removing all understory vegetation (Reduced); (2) herbicide was applied to the harvesting paths and circles, and other vegetation was allowed to grow (Normal - control); (3) no herbicide was applied (Enhanced). We measured ground-foraging ant communities before and after the treatments were implemented, using pitfall traps over 324 trap-nights (a trap-night is one trap set for one night). We investigated how ant abundance, species richness, species evenness, beta diversity, and community composition differed between the treatments. We found 3507 ants across 68 species or morphospecies. Seven of these were highly abundant and accounted for 78% of individuals. Post-treatment ant abundance was lower in the reduced treatment (mean per plot: 84) than in the normal (159) and enhanced (131) treatments, which did not differ from each other. Species richness, species evenness, beta diversity and community composition were not affected by the vegetation treatments. We recommend that oil palm growers maintain understory vegetation in oil palm plantations to support ground-foraging ants. Though not tested here, this may also improve ant-mediated ecosystem services, such as pest control, seed dispersal, nutrient redistribution, and the maintenance of soil health. This study demonstrates that enhancing habitat complexity through management practices can support biodiversity in monocrop landscapes. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Results from this project have been presented at multiple international meetings, including to the oil palm industry. 
URL http://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.zcrjdfnf2
 
Title Research data supporting "Simplifying understory complexity in oil palm plantations is associated with a reduction in the density of a cleptoparasitic spider, Argyrodes miniaceus (Araneae: Theridiidae), in host (Araneae: Nephilinae) webs" 
Description Database accompanying publication: Spear M, Foster WA, Andreas Dwi Advento, Mohammad Naim, Caliman J-P, Luke SH, Snaddon JL, Sudharto Ps & Turner EC (2018). Simplifying understory complexity in oil palm plantations is associated with a reduction in the density of a cleptoparasitic spider, Argyrodes miniaceus (Araneae: Theridiidae), in host (Araneae: Nephilinae) webs. Ecology and Evolution 8(3),1595-1603. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3772 Information on cleptoparasite spider density in host Nephila spider webs in oil palm plantation sites in Riau, Indonesia. Column headings include Plot (oil palm area plot number), Treatment (understory management treatment - E is enhanced, N is normal, and R is reduced), Date (date of survey), Time (time of survey), Weather (weather at time of survey), Spider Height (height of spider in web), Spider size (length of Nephila spider), Web L (total length of web), Web W (total width of web), # cleptos (number of Argyrodes spiders in web), # males (number of male Nephila spiders in web). 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Results from this project have been presented at multiple international meetings, including to the oil palm industry. 
 
Title Research data supporting "Simplifying understory complexity in oil palm plantations is associated with a reduction in the density of a cleptoparasitic spider, Argyrodes miniaceus (Araneae: Theridiidae), in host (Araneae: Nephilinae) webs" 
Description Information on cleptoparasite spider density in host Nephila spider webs in oil palm plantation sites in Riau, Indonesia. Column headings include Plot (oil palm area plot number), Treatment (understory management treatment - E is enhanced, N is normal, and R is reduced), Date (date of survey), Time (time of survey), Weather (weather at time of survey), Spider Height (height of spider in web), Spider size (length of Nephila spider), Web L (total length of web), Web W (total width of web), # cleptos (number of Argyrodes spiders in web), # males (number of male Nephila spiders in web). 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Results from this project have been presented at multiple international meetings, including to the oil palm industry. 
 
Title Research data supporting 'Spiders in canopy and ground microhabitats are robust to changes in understory vegetation management practices in mature oil palm plantations (Riau, Indonesia)' 
Description These data are from the manuscript "Spiders in canopy and ground microhabitats are robust to changes in understory vegetation management practices in mature oil palm plantations (Riau, Indonesia)", which has just been accepted for publication in Basic and Applied Ecology. In the manuscript, we make use of a before-after control-impact experiment, the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture Understory Vegetation Project (BEFTA-UVP), to examine how three different understory vegetation management strategies affect spiders in oil palm plantations in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia. We specifically study spiders in the canopy (sampled using canopy fogging) and on the ground (sampled using pitfall traps), assessing the influence of the three understory vegetation management strategies on the abundance of all spiders, adults only, and juveniles only; spider species richness; and spider species-level composition. We also include datasets from a sensitivity analysis, in which we assessed the influence of canopy openness on canopy-dwelling spiders. In total, we upload 9 datasets that include information on: - Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on abundance of canopy spiders - Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on richness of canopy spiders - Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on composition of canopy spiders - Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on abundance of ground spiders - Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on richness of ground spiders - Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on composition of ground spiders - Effects of canopy openness on abundance of canopy spiders - Effects of canopy openness on richness of canopy spiders - Effects of canopy openness on composition of canopy spiders 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Results from this project have been presented at multiple international meetings, including to the oil palm industry. 
URL https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/340011
 
Title Sunflower seed predation rates in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) plots, Kandista and Ujun Tanjung estates, Indonesia 
Description Data comprise sunflower seed predation rates (i.e. number of seeds remaining) after 24 hours under different treatments in 18 experimental plots plots established in 2013 as part of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) programme. Eighteen plots were examined across three estates - plots in Ujung Tanjung and Kandista estates were planted in 1987 to 1992 and are mature or over-mature oil palm, while Libo plots were replanted in 2014. Plots were organised in triplets and in Ujung Tanjung and Kandista, for each triplet one plot was assigned to each of three vegetation treatments: Reduced vegetation cover, normal vegetation management and enhanced vegetation cover. The project 'Managing tropical agricultural ecosystems for resistance and recovery of ecosystem processes' was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council under NE/P00458X/1. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/1256d475-f321-4a9b-b4ed-927e5b825d3f
 
Description Collaboration between the BEFTA Project and researchers from NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology to investigate the impacts of oil palm management on GHG emisions. 
Organisation UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution The BEFTA Project provided the experimental framework for the NERC CEH team to investigate the impacts of understory management on GHG exchange in established oil palm plantations, as well as support for the project with postdoc time from Cambridge (CEH Ref: project NEC06452. NERC Grant Ref: AP-GRO NE/R005214/1). Our project industry partners provided significant in-kind support in the form of accommodation, board and lodging, local transport and research assistants. Funding to Cambridge covered the cost of a postdoc for a month to allow time to liaise with the CEH team in the field. We also shared our long-term data from the plots on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning to allow an assessment of how these aspects of the environment are linked to GHG emissions.
Collaborator Contribution The CEH team set-up and quantified gas flux from the different understory management treatments represented by the BEFTA Project. Our Industry Partners in Indonesia benefitted from staff training in methods for GHG collection in the field.
Impact Project now completed as plots being replanted. No publications yet, but preliminary results from project partners. Training of project partner staff in Indonesia.
Start Year 2018
 
Description Collaboration between the University of Cambridge, UK and The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology 
Organisation UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Leading on funding bid and designing methodology for project, which this collaboration supports - ODA GCRF and Newton Consolidation Accounts Research Fund, supporting the Translation award grant (BB/T012366/1). Project started in December 2022. Advising field team on survey methods and ongoing remote support for fieldwork. Leading on analysis and write-up of general ecological and social findings.
Collaborator Contribution Design of methodology for project. Remote training of researchers in Indonesia and Malaysia to collect field data. Sharing of greenhouse gas monitoring equipment from previous research. Support of field teams to collect greenhouse gas measurements. Full involvement in discussions related to data interpretation and write-up of findings. Leading on analysis and write-up of greenhouse gas components of project.
Impact 1. None yet - field data collection complete, but dataset not yet submitted. 2. This partnership has continued beyond this project including collaborating on a successful NERC seedcorn funded project (NE/Y003136/1) to carry out more related work in Liberia.
Start Year 2022
 
Description Collaboration between the University of Cambridge, UK and Universiti Putra Malaysia 
Organisation Putra Malaysia University
Country Malaysia 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Leading on funding bid and designing methodology for project - Translation award grant (BB/T012366/1) - due to the impacts of COVID, this project only started in February 2021. Applying for and gaining full University ethics approval for the project. Advising field team on survey methods and ongoing remote support for fieldwork. Leading on data analysis and write-up of findings.
Collaborator Contribution Data collection by field team of both ecological and social data from 24 collaborating smallholders. Full involvement in discussions related to data interpretation and write-up of findings.
Impact 1. Completed social and environmental data collection from 24 smallholders in Banting, Peninsular Malaysia. Data collection included both ecological and social data from collaborating smallholders. 2. Benefits - information fed back to all individual smallholders involved, in the appropriate language for feedback. We used some of this information to interpret results in research publications, ensuring smallholders also had a voice in publications, as well as all collaborative organisations. This bespoke information will allow smallholders to be better informed about their own management and alternative options. 3. This partnership has continued beyond this project including collaborating on a successful ODA GCRF and Newton Consolidation Accounts Research Fund Award (G118358), and collaborating on a NERC DTP student project.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Collaboration between the University of Cambridge, UK and Wild Asia, a Malaysia based NGO 
Organisation Wild Asia
Country Malaysia 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Leading on funding bid and designing methodology for project, which this collaboration supports - ODA GCRF and Newton Consolidation Accounts Research Fund, supporting the Translation award grant (BB/T012366/1). Project started in December 2022. Advising field team on survey methods and remote support for fieldwork. Leading analysis and write-up of findings.
Collaborator Contribution Contact provided with substantial existing network of smallholder farmers. Data collection by field team of both ecological and social data from 49 collaborating smallholders. Full involvement in discussions related to data interpretation and write-up of findings.
Impact 1. Finished data collection from 49 smallholders in Peninsular Malaysia. Data collection included both ecological and social data from collaborating smallholders. Data archived (see relevant section): https://doi.org/10.5285/81b02484-a87e-4a49-baba-678654059091 2. Benefits - information fed back to all individual smallholders involved, in the appropriate language for feedback. We used some of this information to interpret results in research publications, ensuring smallholders also had a voice in publications, as well as all collaborative organisations. This bespoke information will allow smallholders to be better informed about their own management and alternative options. 3. This partnership has continued beyond this project including collaborating on a successful ODA GCRF and Newton Consolidation Accounts Research Fund Award (G118358), and Wild Asia acting as a Case Partner on a submitted NERC DTP PhD project.
Start Year 2022
 
Description Collaborative agreement between the University of Cambridge, UK and Centre for Ecology and Hydrology 
Organisation UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Leading on funding bid and designing methodology for project - Translation award grant (BB/T012366/1) - due to the impacts of COVID, this project only started in February 2021.
Collaborator Contribution Design of methodology for project. Remote training of researchers in Indonesia and Malaysia to collect field data. Sharing of greenhouse gas monitoring equipment from previous research. Will involve ongoing support of field teams to collect greenhouse gas measurements.
Impact GHG emissions collected from smallholder farmers in Perak, Malaysia.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Collaborative agreement between the University of Cambridge, UK and IPB University, Indonesia 
Organisation IPB University
Country Indonesia 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Leading on funding bid and designing methodology for project, which this collaboration supports - ODA GCRF and Newton Consolidation Accounts Research Fund, supporting the Translation award grant (BB/T012366/1). Project started in December 2022. Advising field team on survey methods and ongoing remote support for fieldwork. Leading data analysis and write-up of findings.
Collaborator Contribution Visits to 46 smallholder farmers in Riau, Indonesia, to set-up new research permission agreements, and collect novel social, environmental and ecological data. Full involvement in discussions related to data interpretation and write-up of findings.
Impact 1. Finished data collection from 46 smallholders in Riau, Indonesia. Data collection included both ecological and social data from collaborating smallholders. Data archived (see relevant section): https://doi.org/10.5285/b61a12a2-d091-41af-b451-a14de4f4a3c3 2. Benefits - information fed back to all individual smallholders involved, in the appropriate language for feedback. We used some of this information to interpret results in research publications, ensuring smallholders also had a voice in publications, as well as all collaborative organisations. This bespoke information will allow smallholders to be better informed about their own management and alternative options. 3. This partnership has continued beyond this project as part of multiple follow-up awards (most significantly our Lucile and David Packard Foundation-funded project).
Start Year 2022
 
Description Collaborative agreement between the University of Cambridge, UK and Wild Asia, a Malaysia based NGO 
Organisation Wild Asia
Country Malaysia 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Leading on funding bid and designing methodology for project - Translation award grant (BB/T012366/1) - due to the impacts of COVID, this project only started in February 2021. Applying for and gaining full University ethics approval for the project. Advising field team on survey methods and ongoing remote support for fieldwork.
Collaborator Contribution Co-writing and designing methodology. Facilitating contact with smallholder oil palm farmers, including those involved in a large-scale oil palm sustainability initiative (http://oilpalm.wildasia.org/spiral/small-producers/wags/). Dissemination of findings from previous work to 50 smallholder farmers and novel data collection on social, environmental and biodiversity characteristics of plantations.
Impact A socio-ecological project, involving use of questionnaires to collect data on smallholder demographic information, management information, and perceptions of the environment, and field data collection on environmental characteristics and biodiversity data from plantations. Completed social data collection from 50 smallholders, and environmental data collection from 48 smallholders in Perak, Malaysia.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Collaborative agreement with Sinar Mas Ago Resources and Technology Research Institute (SMART Research Institute), Indonesia 
Organisation SMART Research Institute
Country Indonesia 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Leading on funding bid and designing methodology for project - Translation award grant (BB/T012366/1) - due to the impacts of COVID, this project only started in February 2021. Applying for and gaining full University ethics approval for the project. Advising field team on survey methods and ongoing remote support for fieldwork.
Collaborator Contribution Providing staff time and guidance in identifying smallholder plantations that already received management advice from SMARTRI in Riau, Indonesia. Significant logistical, transport and accommodation support in the field. Advice and input into development of methods and approaches throughout the project. Full involvement in discussions related to data interpretation and write-up of findings. The exact amount this in-kind support sums to is difficult to determine, but is considerable.
Impact 1. The long-term collaboration with SMART Research Institute has resulted in numerous academic and industry publications and presentations, and changes in plantation management within SMART Research Institute plantations. However, I report here only those related to the current project. Finished data collection from 46 smallholders in Riau, Indonesia. Data collection included both ecological and social data from collaborating smallholders. Data archived (see relevant section): https://doi.org/10.5285/b61a12a2-d091-41af-b451-a14de4f4a3c3 2. Benefits - information fed back to all individual smallholders involved, in the appropriate language for feedback. We used some of this information to interpret results in research publications, ensuring smallholders also had a voice in publications, as well as all collaborative organisations. This bespoke information will allow smallholders to be better informed about their own management and alternative options. 3. This partnership has continued beyond this project including collaborating on a successful ODA GCRF and Newton Consolidation Accounts Research Fund Award (G118358), and for Lucile and David Packard Foundation funding for more work with smallholder farmers.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Collaborative agreement with the University of Essex 
Organisation University of Essex
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Amendment agreement established for soil metagenomic work on the project established between the University of Cambridge and the University of Essex - £38256.80 NERC contribution. Access to established field sites and sharing of relevant data to support research.
Collaborator Contribution Training of Indonesian-based SMARTRI researchers in collection of field data by Essex team and analysis of genomic samples in Essex lab.
Impact Training of Indonesian researchers in methods for field collection of soil samples for metagenomic work and DNA extraction.
Start Year 2018
 
Description Donation agreement between the University of Cambridge and SMARTRI 
Organisation SMART Research Institute
Country Indonesia 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Bilateral agreement between the University of Cambridge and Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology Corporation Research Institute (SMARTRI), based in Riau Indonesia, for matched funding and in-kind support for a project investigating best management strategies for river margin restoration. This project is now in its fourth year and has strengthened the existing collaboration between SMARTRI and the University of Cambridge. We have established a large-scale experiment investigating river margin restoration strategies in existing oil palm landscapes. The project has significant input from Cambridge, including a full-time postdoc working on the project for three years, as well as a PhD student from 2018-2021 and two masters students in 2018.
Collaborator Contribution The agreement is between the University of Cambridge and Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology Corporation Research Institute (SMARTRI), our project partners on this grant. SMARTRI has contributed a significant amount of staff time and direct funding to this project, including towards the Cambridge-based postdoc position, a full-time SMARTRI staff member working on the project, and covering the full costs of laboratory facilities and initiation of restoration practices in the field.
Impact All field plots established and data collected. Publication describing the project and methodology published (doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2019.00075). Ongoing training and support for SMARTRI staff from Indonesia working on the project.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Blog desicribing the activities of a two-week study tour and related school outreach projects 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Blog describing the study tour and school outreach activities to disseminate the activities to a wider public audience - see https://fieldworkadventures.wordpress.com/
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://fieldworkadventures.wordpress.com/
 
Description Brief printed material to allow participants at the Heart of Borneo Conference in Kota Kinabalu and the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil annual meeting to learn more about the four El Nino Projects 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Brief postcards were produced that could be picked up by participants at both meetings. These were designed to be easily accessible and to give key results about the projects and where to find more information.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Day-long research symposium in Pekanbaru, Riau, focussed on the synergostic impacts of habitat and climate change. Delegates from across El Nino-funded projects in Southeast Asia presented to an audience of industry professionals, a representative from the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil, and academics from both Malaysian and Indonesian Universities 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact A series of presentations on key findings related to El Nino Projects from funded projects from across the region. The day finished with a panel of experts and feedback from the audience that identified key future areas of research and future collaboration opportunities.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Day-long training workshop run in the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge in December 2017 on the use of novel imagery sources in museum outreach for partner El Nino project staff and museum professionals 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact A day-long training workshop in the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge including inputs from experts on the use of novel imagery sources in museum outreach and discussion between participants.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Design and development of a new museum display in the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge on the development of more sustainable oil palm plantations 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This museum display forms part of a permanent display on more sustainable oil palm management in the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. Although this hasn't yet reopened following redevelopment (opening late March 2018), I anticipate that this will reach an audience of many thousands.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Development of a bespoke display in the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact We have developed a small permanent display in the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge illustrating the impacts of forest conversion to oil palm on biodiversity and the importance of more sustainable oil palm management. Since the Museum reopened in 2018, it has received over 100,000 visitors.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019
 
Description European Conference on Tropical Ecology, Brussels presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation by Sarah Luke: Managing oil palm plantations to maximise biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and yield. Helped to inform the wider tropical ecology community about our research project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.soctropecol-2017.eu/
 
Description Four-day insect training course in August 2017, held at the project fieldsite in Riau, Indonesia, to train local collaborators and local government staff in insect identification and ecology 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact A four-day training course in insect identification and the role of biodiversity in supporting ecosystem functioning. Attendees practiced a range of survey methods and were given the chance to identify insects with the help of experts.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Gatsby Plant Science Summer School presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact An online talk about ongoing oil palm research in our group and oil palm sustainability as part of the Gatsby Plant Science Summer School.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Guest talk to Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, biology undergraduates on tropical research 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Guest lecture for 23 undergraduate students from Anglia Ruskin University on carrying out tropical research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Invited speaker at the Linnean Society, Talk about oil palm 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Invited speaker at the Linnean Society for talk about oil palm research. Multiple questions from audience and request to run a webinar on oil palm.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Invited talk at University of Copenhagen, discussing research to make oil palm plantations more sustainable. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity: Presentation for 15 staff and postgraduate students at the University of Copenhagen. Discussion of ways that oil palm ca be managed more sustainable. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards.
2. Relevant participant countries: Denmark
3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity: University of Copenhagen, 15 staff and postgraduate students, academic.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Keynote Twitter presentation within University of East Anglia Environment/Ecology Twitter conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation of a Twitter thread showing results from the project and oil palm sustainability more generally as part of the Twitter Conference. The overall reach of the whole conference was 961,000 people (number of Twitter accounts in which the conference hashtag would have appeared), 48,000 impressions (Twitter users who saw a Tweet with the conference hashtag in), 4500 interactions (likes, comments and re-tweets of tweets from the conference), 505 mentions (number of times the hashtag was used) achieved all together across the 18 'speakers' within the conference.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Oil palm: good crop/bad crop. Talk to Cambridge Local Group of the Wildlife Trust 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Online talk to Cambridge Local Group of the Wildlife Trust - a local wildlife interest group. Received good levels of engagement and multiple questions after the event.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.wildlifebcn.org/events/2021-02-22-online-talk-good-crop-bad-crop-can-oil-palm-become-mor...
 
Description Oil palm: good crop/bad crop. Talk to volunteers at the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Online talk to engage volunteers at the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. Aim to give more information to volunteers working in the Museum, with Q&A afterwards. Positive feedback from volunteer coordinator and good number of questions from volunteers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Overview of understory management work in Liberia and related projects to Golden Veroleum Liberia (and oil palm company) executives and CEO 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity: Overview of understory management work in Liberia and related projects to Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL) (an oil palm company - https://goldenveroleumliberia.com/) executives and CEO, by postdoctoral researcher. Talk helps to consolidate ongoing collaboration with the company.
2. Relevant participant countries: Liberia.
3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity: GVL, 5 board members and CEO, Industry
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Participation in the RSPO Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil RT17, Bangkok. 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Participation in the RSPO Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil RT17, Bangkok, Thailand. Discussed project with key representatives from the RSPO Biodiversity and HCV Working Group. Meetings and discussion has sparked interest in more presentations and dissemination of information from the project to the RSPO working group.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://rt14.rspo.org/
 
Description Presentation and activities at University of Cambridge Primary School, Eddington, Cambridge. 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity: Presentation and activities by postdoctoral researcher, at University of Cambridge Primary School, Eddington, Cambridge, in association Cambridge-Zero for 60 primary school students.
2. Relevant participant countries: UK only
3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity: University of Cambridge Primary School, 60 pupils, school-level
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Presentation at International online seminar series - Faculty of Sciences, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Toluca, Mexico. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity: Online presentation as part of organised seminar series, attended by 25 postgraduate students and staff. Title "Managing tropical ecosystems for insect biodiversity". Questions and discussion afterwards.
2. Relevant participant countries: Mexico
3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity: Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Toluca, Mexico, 25 postgraduate students and staff, academic.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Presentation at NatSCA conference on 'Across the Continents' project 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentation at NatSCA conference on 'Across the Continents' project by public engagement specialist from the Museum of Zoology, using public engagement work stemming from the grant as an example of best practice in engaging schools in research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Presentation at University of Hull "Managing ecosystems for insect diversity". 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity: Presentation at University of Hull as part of organised seminar series "Managing ecosystems for insect diversity". Approximately 30 people attended, with multiple questions and discussion after.
2. Relevant participant countries: UK only
3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity: University of Hull, 30 staff, academic.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Presentation at the EFForTs symposium in Bali - an international meeting of scientists working on oil palm sustainability 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presenting findings of ongoing research in oil palm plantations testing the effects of management practices for increasing biodiversity, ecosystem function, and yield, and therefore increasing the long term sustainability and resilience of production. The audience included postgraduate students from Germany and Indonesia, and allowed sharing of research findings across related projects, and discussion of plans for future collaboration.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Presentation at the European Conference on Tropical Ecology, Brussels 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation by PhD student, Amelia Hood: The role of ants and termites in supporting ecosystem functioning in oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia. Helped to inform the wider tropical ecology community about our research project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.soctropecol-2017.eu/
 
Description Presentation at the European Conference on Tropical Ecology, Brussels 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation by Jake Snaddon: Soil biodiversity and ecosystem processes associated with habitat complexity, soil management and replanting in oil palm plantations. Helped to inform the wider tropical ecology community about our research project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.soctropecol-2017.eu
 
Description Presentation at the European Conference on Tropical Ecology, Brussels 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation by Edgar Turner: Managing for predators: the role of understory complexity in oil palm. Helped to inform the wider tropical ecology community about our research project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.soctropecol-2017.eu/
 
Description Presentation on oil palm environmental impact including BEFTA results to SWECO Norge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Presentation on oil palm environmental impact including BEFTA results to SWECO Norge, by former postdoc on the project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Presentation on oil palm work to Wolfson College Science Society, University of Cambridge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation on oil palm work to Wolfson College Science Society- multiple questions afterwards, demonstrating engagement.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Presentation to Entomology and Agroforestry students, Univeristy Putra Malaysia on oil palm research 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation to Entomology and Agroforestry students, Univeristy Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia on oil palm research. Multiple questions from audience and development of a new collaboration with researcher from UPM.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Presentation to Monash, Kuala Lumpur Campus, on oil palm research 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation to undergraduate biology class at Monash, Kuala Lumpur Campus, Malaysia, on oil palm research. Positive feedback and questions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Presentation to Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) , Kuala Lumpur on oil palm research 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Presentation to Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) , Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on oil palm research. Request for further information about research outcomes.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Presentation to Sinar Mas oil palm company estate managers, and Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology Research Institute (SMARTRI) researchers, Indonesia 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Presenting findings of ongoing research in Sinar Mas oil palm plantations testing the effects of management practices for increasing biodiversity, ecosystem function, and yield, and therefore increasing the long term sustainability and resilience of production. Discussing upcoming plans and gathering the managers opinions on these. The presentation prompted discussion and questions, and management and researchers were very interested in results so far, and upcoming plans.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Presentation to a member of the senior management of Sinar Mas oil palm company, and Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology Research Institute (SMARTRI) researchers, Indonesia 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Presenting findings of ongoing research in Sinar Mas oil palm plantations testing the effects of management practices for increasing biodiversity, ecosystem function, and yield, and therefore increasing the long term sustainability and resilience of production. The presentation prompted discussion and questions, and management and researchers were very interested in results so far, and upcoming plans.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Presentation to adult group on rainforests and group research 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Presentation to local WI group on rainforests and group research - positive feedback from the audience and questions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Presentation to local interest group 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Presentation to local interest group, Cambridge Natural History Society. Edgar Turner presented a talk: The environmental impacts of oil palm: good crop/bad crop? Lots of interest and questions from audience.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Presentation to postgraduate students at the University of East Anglia 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presenting findings of ongoing research in oil palm plantations testing the effects of management practices for increasing biodiversity, ecosystem function, and yield, and therefore increasing the long term sustainability and resilience of production. The audience included postgraduate students and other academics from the University of East Anglia. The presentation led to questions, and discussions about oil palm sustainability.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Presentation to postgraduate students at the University of Goettingen, Germany 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presenting findings of ongoing research in oil palm plantations testing the effects of management practices for increasing biodiversity, ecosystem function, and yield, and therefore increasing the long term sustainability and resilience of production. The audience included postgraduate students who work on related projects in oil palm palm in Indonesia, and so prompted discussion of plans for future collaboration.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Presentation to primary school 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Presentation to local primary school (St Matthew's Primary School) by Edgar Turner on Sumatran rainforests. Featured discussion about what it was like to work in Sumatra. Lots of questions and engagement by pupils and teachers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Presentation to school students visiting Clare College, Cambridge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Presentation to Year 12/13 students at Clare College, Cambridge by Edgar Turner on 'Tropical rainforest research'. Excellent level of engagement and lots of questions from students and teachers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Presentation to school teachers 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Invited talk to the NUCLEUS group of learned societies, Biology in the real world series, ASE conference, Reading. Edgar Turner, Sponsored by the Linnean Society, delivered an talk 'Biodiversity and tropical agriculture', which featured the project and sparked interest and questions from biology teachers present.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.ase.org.uk/ase-regions/anglia/events/2017/01/04/1732/
 
Description Presentation to secondary school students online about biodiversity, as part of Caius College, Cambridge outreach activities. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity: Presentation to 116 secondary school students online about biodiversity, as part of Caius College, Cambridge outreach activities. Multiple questions afterwards. Outreach officer reported high level of engagement and positive feedback from students.
2. Relevant participant countries: UK only
3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity: Secondary schools from across the UK, 116 pupils, secondary school-level
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Presentation to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Kuala Lumpur 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Presenting findings of ongoing research in oil palm plantations testing the effects of management practices for increasing biodiversity, ecosystem function, and yield, and therefore increasing the long term sustainability and resilience of production. The RSPO were very interested in our findings so far, and in our plans for future work, and the presentation prompted substantial discussion.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Presentations to RISTEK (the Indonesian Government research permit authority) scientists and decision makers 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Presenting findings of ongoing research in oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia, testing the effects of management practices for increasing biodiversity, ecosystem function, and yield, and therefore increasing the long term sustainability and resilience of production. The presentations prompted discussion and questions, and the committee were interested in the work. They granted permission for continuing our research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019
 
Description Presention about research and insect conservation to Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Roman Road and Fleam Dyke, Cambridge. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Invited talk. A general presentation about my research at the SAFE and BEFTA sites and the importance of insect conservation in maintaining healthy ecosystem functioning. Good engagement from the audience and questions about the research. Overview of the talk written up in group newsletter.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Rainforest talk to year 6 class visiting Cambridge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Interactive talk about rainforests and habitat change to thirty year six students visiting Clare College, Cambridge. The importance of biodiversity and maintaining healthy ecosystems highlighted.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Rainforest talk to year 6 class visiting Cambridge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Interactive presentation on rainforests to two groups of 30 year six students on rainforests and the importance of biodiversity and conservation.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Research Seminar on sustainable oil palm - University of Liberia 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity: Research Seminar on sustainable oil palm at University of Liberia, by postdoctoral researcher. Questions and discussion afterwards, supporting existing collaboration.
2. Relevant participant countries: Liberia.
3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity: University of Liberia, 30 Masters students and faculty members from Liberia. Academics
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Research talk on undergraduate field course (Borneo) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Presenting findings of ongoing research testing the effects of management practices for increasing biodiversity, ecosystem function, and yield in tropical agriculture, and therefore increasing the long term sustainability and resilience of production. The presentation prompted discussion and questions from the students.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Research talk on undergraduate field course (Devon) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Presenting findings of ongoing research testing the effects of management practices for increasing biodiversity, ecosystem function, and yield in tropical agriculture, and therefore increasing the long term sustainability and resilience of production. The presentation prompted discussion and questions from the students.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Research talk to undergraduate fieldcourse participants 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Research talk by postdoctoral researcher on project to undergraduate fieldcourse participants.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Resources produced for KS1 and KS2 schools 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Resources produced as part of grant used in KS1 and KS2 school sessions as part of ongoing Museum of Zoology public engagement activities.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019
 
Description School engagement visits to schools in Cambridge, UK and Kandis, Indonesia and the development of a school partnership between countries. 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact We have developed and implemented a school outreach programme by working closely with an outreach professional from the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. This programme involved targeting primary schools near our study site in Riau, Indonesia, as well as schools in Cambridge and setting up a link between schools from these two countries. School visits in both countries have taken place and students will exchange pictures of local wildlife. At both sets of schools we also developed games to explain the importance of biodiversity and conservation to pupils. Researchers from El Nino funded projects in Malaysia, Indonesia and PNG were also trained and practiced delivering this material, so that school visits disseminating the importance of this work can be rolled out to more schools across the region.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description School visit (King's Ely) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Approximately 30 students (ages 13-18) attended a talk about oil palm sustainability, which included sharing information about our past and ongoing research projects. The students asked a range of questions immediately after the talk, which prompted interesting discussion about how best to balance the needs of crop production and environmental protection, and challenged many of the ideas that they had previously held about oil palm.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description School-aged engagement activity as part of the National Science Festival, Steinkjer KlimaKafe, Norway 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact We developed several activities for schools as part of the project, including a habitat game and 'ecological jenga' that were designed to increase school pupil engagement with biodiversity and the important role that species play in supporting ecosystem functions. These activities were used by Amy Eycott as part of the National Science Festival, Steinkjer KlimaKafe, Norway, where Amy is now a faculty member.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Talk "Investigating management options for more sustainable oil palm" Annual Tropical Agriculture Association Seminar - invited speaker 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Online talk as invited speaker to the Annual Tropical Agriculture Association Seminar. Good level of engagement and multiple questions from audience. Talk written up as a brief report for the organisation.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://taa.org.uk/branches/uk-branch-reports/
 
Description Talk about rainforests and oil palm research to volunteers at the Museum of Zoology Cambridge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Talk about rainforests and oil palm research to volunteers at the Museum of Zoology Cambridge. Multiple questions and positive feedback. Volunteers use information from talks from researchers in the Museum to engage with members of the public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Talk about research for HE plus students, Coventry. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Research talk associated with HE plus, held at hub school in Coventry, UK for students from 4 participating schools.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://myheplus.com/
 
Description Talk and panel discussion for World Wildlife Day "Forests and livelihoods: sustaining people and the planet" Cambridge University Nature Society. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact online talk and panel discussion for World Wildlife Day "Forests and livelihoods: sustaining people and the planet" organised by the Cambridge University Nature Society. Good level of engagement from audience with several questions related to the project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.facebook.com/events/1094053504354066
 
Description Talk for Anglia Ruskin University undergraduate module - Tropical Ecology & Management, including details of wider project 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity: Invited presentation to 15 undergraduate students at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge about tropical research "Ecological Research in SE Asia". Extensive questions and discussion afterwards. Talk and ongoing work resulted in Lecturer at ARU and myself applying for a joint research studentship (not successful).
2. Relevant participant countries: UK only
3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity: Anglia Ruskin University, 15 undergraduate students, academic.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Talk for Anglia Ruskin University undergraduate module - Tropical Ecology & Management, including details of wider project 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity, outcomes and impacts.
- Talk for ARU undergraduate module - Tropical Ecology & Management.
- The talk focussed on the role of research and large-scale experiments in understanding tropical land-use change.
- No known impacts, but several questions from attendees afterwards.

2. Participant countries involved
NA

3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity
University of Cambridge

o Activity / workshop location - Cambridge, UK
o Number of participants - 15
o Types of stakeholders engaged - undergraduate
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Talk for International Conference on Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, Indonesia - talk online 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity, outcomes and impacts.
- Talk for International Conference on Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (Indonesia - talk online).
- Questions asked from audience, showing engagement.

2. Participant countries involved
Indonesia

3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity
University of Cambridge, IPB University, SMART Research Institute

o Activity / workshop location - Bogor, Indonesia
o Number of participants - 50
o Types of stakeholders engaged - academic and industry
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://icnrec.pusakakalam.com/
 
Description Talk for Loyola University New Orleans - trip to the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Talk about research including BEFTA project to Loyola University New Orleans, during visit to the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Talk for group of international students for Bettersky Travel - Winter Programme: Sustainability and Agroecology series, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity: Talk to a group of 25 international students for Bettersky Travel - Winter Programme: Sustainability and Agroecology series, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Presentation discussed ways to manage tropical crops more sustainably. Multiple questions and discussion after.
2. Relevant participant countries: International
3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity: Bettersky Travel, 25 international students, academic.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Talk to 6th form students from Canterbury 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Talk to 6th form students (16-18 year olds) and their teachers about the research undertaken in the Insect Ecology Group, including our work on the effects of logging and oil palm plantations in SE Asia. The aim was to give them information about what it's like to to work as a scientist, and also specific information about tropical ecology topics that they were unlikely to have heard about before. Students engaged well with the talk and asked questions at the end.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Talk to Museum of Zoology volunteers about oil palm/group research 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Talk to Museum volunteers about oil palm/group research by PhD student in the group. Good feedback from volunteers, who often use information from these talks to engage members of the public in the Museum.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Talk to Universiti Putra Malaysia - Forestry Series 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Online talk about ongoing oil palm research to Universiti Putra Malaysia undergraduate group (plus some postgraduate students and staff as part of their Forestry Series.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Undergraduate Student and Graduate Student Seminar in IPB Bogor 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity, outcomes and impacts.
- Lab meeting led by IPB Research Assistant
- Discussed plant protection with students at the IPB University biological control laboratory.
- BEFTA work discussed including collaborative studies with the University of Cambridge and SMART Research Institute.

2. Participant countries involved
Indonesia

3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity
IPB University

o Activity / workshop location - IPB University
o Number of participants - 17
o Types of stakeholders engaged - undergraduate and postgraduate students
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022,2023
 
Description University talk (University of Neuchatel) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation about this project's results and our oil palm sustainability research more widely which was attended by an audience of ~50 undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and faculty at the University of Neuchatel. Although many had a background in ecology and conservation, they were not necessarily familiar with the topic of oil palm sustainability, or the work of our research project. The talk prompted a range of interesting questions and discussion.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Verrall Lecture, at the Natural History Museum, London for Royal Entomological Society 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Invited talk for Verrall Lecture, hosted yearly by the Royal Entomological Society, at the NHM, London. Audience included RES members and Fellows, both in-person and online. Lots of questions afterwards and article being written about the talk for Antenna (journal of the Royal Entomological Society).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.royensoc.co.uk/event/verrall-lecture-2023/
 
Description Webinar on oil palm 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Webinar on oil palm for Institute of Environmental Sciences.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://www.the-ies.org/events/webinar-tropical-agriculture
 
Description Workshop for smallholder farmers, coordinated by IPB University and SMART Research Institute, Riau, Indonesia 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity, outcomes and impacts.
- Workshop held for smallholders participating in Project (BBT012366/1), organised by IPB University and SMART Research Institute, Riau, Indonesia.
- Talks from University of Cambridge, IPB, Wild Asia, CEH.
- Overview results from project disseminated in a series of talks, including on-line and in person, and results discussed.
-Overview of BEFTA project also presented
- Smallholders highly engaged in project and reported being keen to participate in further research. #
- Participants received certificate for engagement in project.

2. Participant countries involved
Indonesia, Malaysia

3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity
SMART Research Institute, IPB University, Wild Asia, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, University of Cambridge

o Activity / workshop location - Kandis, Riau, Indonesia
o Number of participants - 34
o Types of stakeholders engaged - smallholder farmers
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Workshop for smallholder farmers, coordinated by Wild Asia, Selangor, Malaysia 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact 1. Brief description of the activity, outcomes and impacts.
- Workshop held for smallholders participating in Project (BBT012366/1), organised by Wild Asia.
- Talks from University of Cambridge, IPB, Wild Asia, UPM, CEH.
- Overview results from project disseminated in a series of talks, including on-line and in person, and results discussed.
- Field visit to exemplar plots.
- Smallholders highly engaged in project and reported being keen to participate in further research.
- Participants received certificate for engagement in project.

2. Participant countries involved
Malaysia, Indonesia

3. The names of organisations and sectors engaged in the activity
Wild Asia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, IPB University, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, University of Cambridge

o Activity / workshop location - Selangor Malaysia
o Number of participants - 20
o Types of stakeholders engaged - smallholder farmers
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Young Verrall Lecture, Stoke on Trent. Royal Entomological Society and Amateur Entomological Society. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Young Verrall talk at Stoke on Trent, UK, organised by the Royal Entomological Society and Amateur Entomological Society, presenting results from research. Multiple questions from the audience afterwards, including requests for more information.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.royensoc.co.uk/event/young-verrall-lecture-2023/