BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:talks.ox.ac.uk
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:The tropical peat swamps of Southeast Asia - carbon\, conflict and
  compromise - Prof Susan Page (University of Leicester)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20190215T161500Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20190215T183000Z
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/4532a19e-4e8a-4339-b60c-980ccf7061ed/
DESCRIPTION:Oxford Centre for Tropical Forests seminar followed by drinks 
 - all welcome\, booking required\n\nPeatlands are important terrestrial ca
 rbon stores and vital components of global carbon soil-atmosphere exchange
  processes. In this regard\, tropical peatlands are important because they
  are some of the planet’s most carbon-dense ecosystems. Knowledge of the
  extent of tropical peatlands across the globe is still uncertain\, nevert
 heless there is growing recognition of their significance for carbon stora
 ge\, climate mitigation\, biodiversity support and other ecosystem service
 s\, and of the ecological and biogeochemical consequences of land use chan
 ge. In Southeast Asia\, where the largest area of tropical peatland is loc
 ated\, there is almost no intact peat swamp forest remaining. Over the las
 t two decades\, rapid socio-economic development has been accompanied by t
 he transformation of vast areas into plantations\, producing palm oil and 
 pulpwood\, and smallholder agriculture\, while remnant fragments of forest
 ed peatland have been degraded by logging\, drainage and fire. Simultaneou
 s with these developments\, scientific knowledge of the consequences of pe
 atland development has strengthened\, providing a narrative that links the
  deforestation and drainage of peatlands to loss of carbon storage potenti
 al\; high emissions of greenhouse gases\; increased risk of fire\, resulti
 ng in extreme air pollution episodes that adversely impact on human health
  and economic activity\; increased risk of flooding\; loss of habitat for 
 vulnerable\, rare and endemic species\; and reduced human livelihood oppor
 tunities. Yet at the same time as our scientific understanding has improve
 d\, those advocating for more responsible peatland management have often f
 ound themselves in conflict with the agents of peatland development. Sue's
  presentation reviews this scientific narrative using examples from her ow
 n research journey to explore the carbon costs of land use change on tropi
 cal peatlands and the disjunct between those promoting the benefits of sho
 rt-term socio-economic development against those advocating for longer-ter
 m maintenance of ecosystem resilience. It concludes by outlining recent op
 portunities for improved peatland management practices that attempt to int
 egrate scientific\, land use practice and policy aspirations to mitigate n
 egative ecological and economic consequences of peatland development.\n\nS
 ue Page studied at the University of Nottingham for a BSc in Biological Sc
 iences followed by a PhD in wetland ecology\, focusing on wetlands in the 
 Peak District National Park. She followed this with a post at the Universi
 ty of Leicester where she now holds a personal chair in the School of Geog
 raphy\, Geology & the Environment. For the last 25 years\, Professor Page
 ’s research has focused on the ecology and carbon dynamics of tropical p
 eatlands\, with a main focus in Southeast Asia. She has been a partner in 
 several European Union and UK research council funded research programmes 
 investigating the ecology and carbon dynamics of these under-studied ecosy
 stems\, involving collaborations with UK\, European and Southeast Asian pa
 rtners.   When Professor Page commenced her research studies\, most tropic
 al peatlands were still in a pristine\, forested condition\, but over the 
 last two decades she has seen significant changes in land use\, with vast 
 areas of peat swamp forest deforested\, drained and converted to large and
  small scale agricultural enterprises and extensively damaged by wildfires
 .  These events have provided Professor Page with a rapidly changing backd
 rop for her research activities that\, in turn\, have led to advisory role
 s to government bodies and NGOs\, consultancy work with plantation compani
 es\, and a Lead Author role for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Cha
 nge. She has authored more than 100 journal papers\, books\, book chapters
  and technical reports\, and has supervised more than 20 PhD students. She
  is also the recipient of the Busk Medal 2013 awarded by the Royal Geograp
 hical Society-Institute of British Geographers and the 2015 Theodore Sperr
 y Award of the Society for Ecological Restoration.\n\nSpeakers:\nProf Susa
 n Page (University of Leicester)
LOCATION:Dyson Perrins Building (Herbertson Room)\, off South Parks Road O
 X1 3QY
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/4532a19e-4e8a-4339-b60c-980ccf7061ed/
BEGIN:VALARM
ACTION:display
DESCRIPTION:Talk:The tropical peat swamps of Southeast Asia - carbon\, con
 flict and compromise - Prof Susan Page (University of Leicester)
TRIGGER:-PT1H
END:VALARM
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR