School of Geography and the Environment

Carbon forestry, in the form of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and aforestation/reforestation (AR), can be used to maintain or increase the amount of carbon stored in natural systems with side benefits including biodiversity conservation, landscape restoration and improved livelihoods. This research analyses the barriers and opportunities to carbon forestry on a threatened Peruvian Amazonian frontier. Comparative and fundamentally interdisciplinary in its approach, this PhD adopts social, economic and natural science methodologies in its examination of local- and landscape-scale characteristics in the buffer zones of two National Parks, Yanachaga-Chemillen and Manu. This research is funded by a joint NERC/ESRC interdisciplinary studentship.

Joel completed a BSc (Hons) in Biology with Oceanography and a MSc in Integrated Environmental Studies at the University of Southampton. He has advised BAA on reducing the environmental impacts of the aviation industry, and worked as a field-based marine biologist in Fiji. More recently, he worked for the Environment Agency in a river monitoring and reporting capacity, followed by a position in the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) support team.

See Joel being interviewed by the BBC about an offsetting project in Peru. (In Spanish)