Biodiversity is a modern term which simply means “the variety of life on earth". This variety can be measured on several different levels. Biodiversity brings enormous benefits to mankind from direct harvesting of plants and animals for food, medicine, fuel, construction materials, and other uses to aesthetic, cultural, recreational and research values Extinction is a fact of life. Species have been evolving and dying out ever since the origin of life.
However, species are now becoming extinct at an alarming rate, almost entirely as a direct result of human activities. Large-scale habitat and biodiversity losses mean that species with potentially great economic importance may become extinct before they are even discovered. The vast, largely untapped resource of medicines and useful chemicals contained in wild species may disappear forever. Evidence suggests that we are currently living in the midst of a global biodiversity crisis. Species extinction is occurring at a higher rate than at any time in evolutionary history, primarily as a result of human activity. The conservation of biodiversity is therefore one of the major environmental challenges currently facing humanity
Two linked issues which are currently of great ecological concern include world-wide deforestation and global climate change. Average global temperatures have been showing a steadily increasing trend. Snow and ice cover have decreased, deep ocean temperatures have increased and global sea levels have risen by 100 - 200 mm over the last century. Rising sea levels which could drown many of our major cities, extreme weather conditions resulting in drought, flooding and hurricanes, together with changes in the distribution of disease-bearing organisms are all predicted effects of climate change.
As pressures on the natural environment intensify, there is a growing need for skilled professionals in the areas of biodiversity conservation. The importance of biodiversity has gained increasingly wide international attention. The demand for highly skilled post graduates with a good knowledge and understanding of biodiversity and conservation has increased not only in resource management, conservation, research and education, but also in a broad range of professions including the financial industry, forensic science, regional planning, journalism, law, and bioethics.
The course include the subject Geoinformatics which plays a crucial role by providing the data sets needed to explore spatial and temporal changes in the environment, and by generating the outputs needed to inform policy and practice.
This programme aims to:
develop an advanced understanding of the underlying principles and concepts which may be applied to the; conservation of genes, species, habitats and landscapes; and management of biodiversity;
provide the conceptual, practical and analytical framework for research and employment in ecology;
provide a critical appraisal of the role of theory and the application of scientific strategies in the management of a range of global ecosystems;
develop the ability to write-up a substantial piece of original research.
However, species are now becoming extinct at an alarming rate, almost entirely as a direct result of human activities. Large-scale habitat and biodiversity losses mean that species with potentially great economic importance may become extinct before they are even discovered. The vast, largely untapped resource of medicines and useful chemicals contained in wild species may disappear forever. Evidence suggests that we are currently living in the midst of a global biodiversity crisis. Species extinction is occurring at a higher rate than at any time in evolutionary history, primarily as a result of human activity. The conservation of biodiversity is therefore one of the major environmental challenges currently facing humanity
Two linked issues which are currently of great ecological concern include world-wide deforestation and global climate change. Average global temperatures have been showing a steadily increasing trend. Snow and ice cover have decreased, deep ocean temperatures have increased and global sea levels have risen by 100 - 200 mm over the last century. Rising sea levels which could drown many of our major cities, extreme weather conditions resulting in drought, flooding and hurricanes, together with changes in the distribution of disease-bearing organisms are all predicted effects of climate change.
As pressures on the natural environment intensify, there is a growing need for skilled professionals in the areas of biodiversity conservation. The importance of biodiversity has gained increasingly wide international attention. The demand for highly skilled post graduates with a good knowledge and understanding of biodiversity and conservation has increased not only in resource management, conservation, research and education, but also in a broad range of professions including the financial industry, forensic science, regional planning, journalism, law, and bioethics.
The course include the subject Geoinformatics which plays a crucial role by providing the data sets needed to explore spatial and temporal changes in the environment, and by generating the outputs needed to inform policy and practice.
This programme aims to:
develop an advanced understanding of the underlying principles and concepts which may be applied to the; conservation of genes, species, habitats and landscapes; and management of biodiversity;
provide the conceptual, practical and analytical framework for research and employment in ecology;
provide a critical appraisal of the role of theory and the application of scientific strategies in the management of a range of global ecosystems;
develop the ability to write-up a substantial piece of original research.
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