Global Research and Conservation Strategy
The vast majority of science programmes that deliver key research outcomes are characterised by short-term funding with restricted aims and bio-geographical ranges. Long term projects covering large bio-geographical scales and that incorporate more than one ecosystem are rare. The Operation Wallacea programme provides the opportunity to consider science and conservation of key ecosystems from a global perspective. Opwall is able to draw upon researchers from a wide range of different disciplines and academic institutions to address major issues related to the sustainable management and conservation of some of the world's most diverse but threatened environments.
A global research and conservation strategy has been developed and is applied in 4 stages at each of the sites. After a site has been identified as a potential future research site, an initial assessment of the biological value of the site is carried out (stage 1). If this initial assessment highlights a need for more detailed work, the site is accepted into the Opwall programme and an ecosystem monitoring programme is established to determine the direction of change (stage 2). This involves the collection of temporal data on ecosystem health and function and, if it reveals a continuing decline, a programme for monitoring socio-economic change in adjacent communities is established to determine how these communities interact with the study site (stage 3). Once data from stage 2 and stage 3 are obtained, funding applications are submitted to establish a best practice example of conservation management and the success of these programmes are then monitored (stage 4).
There is obviously considerable overlap between these stages and stage 1 projects can be running at the same time as a stage 4 programme in order to add data to understanding the ecosystem requirements of target species or adding to the overall species lists for previously un-worked taxa.
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