DICE success with Darwin Initiative awards

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has just announced that the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), based in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kent, has been awarded four grants by the Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species.

The Darwin Initiative, announced by the UK Government at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, aims to assist countries rich in biodiversity but poor in financial resources to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity through the funding of collaborative projects that draw on UK biodiversity expertise. Since 1992, the Darwin Inititiave has invested £65.3 million in 602 projects in 145 countries. DICE has been among the main recipients of Darwin Initiative funding, for projects as varied as conserving axolotls in Mexico to reintroducing paradise flycatchers in the Seychelles.

Round 16 of the Darwin Initiative awards has just been announced to coincide with celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. In this round, DICE has succeeded with three out of the 30 new project awards and one out of 13 post-project awards. Its new projects are:

In Madagascar, Dr Richard Griffiths, Dr Alison Rosser and their team will examine the dynamics of the international trade in species of chameleons that occur nowhere else in the world. Their project aims to assess the conservation status of all 70 species of Malagasy chameleons, and determine whether a sustainable trade can provide incomes that will ultimately benefit conservation of these animals and their habitats. Its main partners will be Madagasikara Voakajy and the University of Antananarivo.

In Sumatra, Professor Stuart Harrop and his team wll examine how Islamic religious beliefs and local customary practices can be integrated with sustainable management of globally important rainforests. The project's main partners include the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, the University of Andalas, the British Council, QBar, Conservation International, Fauna and Flora International, the Indonesian Department of Forestry and Greenlaw Indonesia.

In Vietnam, Professor Nigel Leader-Williams, Dr Douglas MacMillan, Dr Alison Rosser and their team will study local hunting patterns of the ungulates that occur nowhere else but the Annamaite Mountains of Vietnam and Laos. Their project aims to determine if local hunting, particularly of the critically endangered saola, an unique species of primitive ox, that was only discovered for science in 1993, can be reconciled. The main partners of the project will be WWF Greater Mekong, Vinh University and Forest Protection Department.

Its post-project award will allow Dr Richard Bodmer and his team to consolidate their Peru-based programme to certify that peccaries are harvested from sustainably hunted sources, and add value to pelts used to produce high-end leather products in Europe. The main partners of the project continue to be the Wildlife Conservation Society, FundAmazonia, the National University of the Peruvian Amazon and INRENA, the government authority for managing wildlife trade in Peru.

Professor John Baldock, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Kent, said: 'Following the recent announcement that 55% of research carried out in DICE is world leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*), this news of DICE's success in Round 16 of the Darwin Initiative is most welcome. Especially so in a year when the University has good reason to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth.'

Contact: mediaoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 3:10pm 5 March 2009