Research

Lundy Island - photography by Kate Hind

LEEP specialises in bringing cutting edge academic research and tools to inform policy-making and implementation. We have particular expertise in the following fields:

• integrated modelling of natural, economic and social systems
• the incorporation of the natural environment within decision making     
• impacts of climate change on farming and land use                                                               
• bringing the complexities of real world locations into analyses, conservation and society; for example:
  • The relationship between the consumption of eco-friendly products such as palm oil and efforts to protect endangered species                                               

Our methods have global relevance and can be applied to land use problems and policy decisions anywhere in the world. Much of our work has been in the UK, where we are based, but we have also carried out research within the EU, Australia, the US, South East Asia and East Africa. Examples of how our methods have been applied to a range of environmental and land use issues include:

• Assessing the economic value of ecosystem services
• Increasing farming output and competiveness whilst protecting the countryside and enhancing the environment
• Design of agri-environmental schemes
• Environmental implications of society’s response to climate change
• Improving water quality; for example:
  • Reduction of pesticides in water systems