Chris Sandbrook MA MSc PhD

Lecturer in Conservation Leadership at UNEP-WCMC and Fellow of Darwin College

I carry out research on biodiversity conservation and its relationship with society.

Biography

Career

2002-2006: PhD Student, Department of Anthropology, University College London & Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London
2006-2007: Independent Consultant, International Gorilla Conservation Programme, Uganda
2007-2008: Lecturer in Vertebrate Biology, School of Human and Life Sciences, University of Roehampton
2007-2008: Independent Consultant, International Institute for Environment and Development
2008-2009: ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
2009-2010: Independent Consultant, International Institute for Environment and Development
2010-present: Lecturer in Conservation Leadership, UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre and affiliated lecturer at the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge

Qualifications

MA Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge
MSc Integrative Biosciences, University of Oxford
PhD Anthropology, University College London

Research

I am a political ecologist with diverse research interests around a central theme of biodiversity conservation and its relationship with society. My current research activities can be divided into two categories: (i) investigating trade-offs between ecosystem services at the landscape scale in developing countries and (ii) investigating the role of values and evidence in shaping the decisions of conservationists and their organisations.

Under the first theme I am a partner in two three-year collaborative research projects running from 2013-16:

Sustainable Poverty Alleviation from Coastal Ecosystem Services (SPACES). Funded by ESPA. This project, led by colleagues at UEA and the University of Exeter, is investigating trade-offs between ecosystem services on the coasts of Kenya and Mozambique. I am leading the tourism research component.
The New Agrarian Change. Funded by DfID. This project, in collaboration with colleagues at CIFOR and ANU, is investigating the impacts of linked conservation and agriculture interventions in landscapes in six different countries.

Under the second theme I have ongoing research interests in the values held by conservationists, particularly with respect to the use of market-based mechanisms in conservation, and the role of evidence in conservation, including evidence for biodiversity-poverty linkages (funded by an ESPA Evidence and Impact Research Grant). I am also interested in the challenge of interdisciplinary and intersectoral communication in conservation - an issue particularly important to me having made the transition from natural to social science during my career.

A cross-cutting theme in much of my work is the role of market-based instruments in conservation. This began with my PhD, which investigated the impacts of nature-based tourism at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. I continue to have an interest in tourism, and I have also worked on REDD+. I am now planning new research into the reasons that conservation organisations have embraced market-based approaches.

Alongside these main research themes, I have also done some work on the implications of digital games for conservation. I co-founded the Games for Nature platform, building on a Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) small grant. A short article explaining the project is available here

I am also strongly committed to building capacity in conservation, particularly among future conservation leaders. I contribute to this process through my work on the Masters in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge, and through an applied capacity building project funded by CCI.

PhD supervision

I welcome approaches from potential PhD students with research plans relevant to my current interests as outlined above. Please prepare a 2-3 page outline research proposal before contacting me.

Publications

Sandbrook, C., Fisher, J. & Vira, B. (In press) What do conservationists think about markets? Geoforum
Adams, W. M. & Sandbrook, C. (In press) Conservation, Evidence and Policy. Oryx
Sandbrook, C. (2013) Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation: What constitutes good evidence? Poverty and Conservation Learning Group Discussion Paper No10
Ahebwa, W., van der Duim, R. & Sandbrook, C. (2012) Private-community partnerships: Investigating a new approach to conservation and development in Uganda. Conservation and Society, 10(4), 305-317
Roe, D., Elliott, J., Sandbrook, C. & Walpole, M. (Eds.) (2012) Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation: Exploring the Evidence for a Link. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK
Sandbrook, C. & Roe, D. (2012) Species Conservation and Poverty Alleviation - The Case of Great Apes in Africa. In Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation: Exploring the Evidence for a Link, Eds. Roe, D., Elliott, J., Sandbrook, C. & Walpole, M. pp 173-190. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK
Roe, D., Elliott, J., Sandbrook, C. & Walpole, M. (2012) Linking Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation: What, Why and Where? In Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation: Exploring the Evidence for a Link, Eds. Roe, D., Elliott, J., Sandbrook, C. & Walpole, M. pp 3-18. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK
Roe, D., Elliott, J., Sandbrook, C. & Walpole, M. (2012) Tackling Global Poverty: What Contribution Can Biodiversity and Its Conservation Really Make? In Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation: Exploring the Evidence for a Link, Eds. Roe, D., Elliott, J., Sandbrook, C. & Walpole, M. pp 316-328. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK
Sandbrook, C. & Adams, W. M. (2012) Accessing the impenetrable: the nature and distribution of tourism benefits at a Ugandan National Park. Society and Natural Resources, 25(9), 915-932
Ahebwa, W., van der Duim, R. & Sandbrook, C. (2012) Tourism Revenue Sharing Policy at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP), Uganda: A Policy Arrangements Approach (PAA). Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 20
Sandbrook, C., Scales, I., Vira, B. & Adams, W. (2010) Value plurality among conservation professionals. Conservation Biology, 25(2), 285-294
Sandbrook, C., Nelson, F., Adams, W. & Agrawal, A. (2010) Carbon, Forests and the REDD Paradox. Oryx, 44(3), 330-334
Sandbrook, C., Roe, D. (2010) Linking Conservation and Poverty Alleviation: the case of great apes. IIED Poverty and Conservation Learning Group Discussion Paper, International Institute for Environment and Development.
Blomley, T., Namara, A., McNeilage, A., Franks, P., Rainer, H., Donaldson, A., Malpas, R., Olupot, W., Baker, J., Sandbrook, C., Bitariho, F. & Infield, M. (2010) Development AND gorillas? Assessing fifteen years of integrated conservation and development in south-western Uganda. Natural Resources Issues No. 23, International Institute for Environment and Development.
Sandbrook, C. (2009) The local economic impact of different forms of nature-based tourism. Conservation Letters, 3(1), 21-28
Roe, D., Nelson, F. & Sandbrook, C. (eds.) (2009) Community Management of Natural Resources in Africa: Impacts and Experiences. Natural Resource Issues series, International Institute for Environment and Development.
Sandbrook, C. (2008) Putting leakage in its place: the significance of retained tourism revenue in the local context in rural Uganda. Journal of International Development, 22(1), 124-136
Sandbrook, C. & Semple, S. (2006) The rules and the reality of mountain gorilla Gorilla beringei beringei tracking: how close do tourists get? Oryx, 40(4), 428-433
Sandbrook, C. (2012) Book review of Community Forest Monitoring for the Carbon Market: Opportunities Under REDD, edited by Margaret Skutsch. Oryx, 46(1), 154

External activities

I write a blog on conservation, Thinking Like a Human, with my colleague Bill Adams.

As well as doing formal research, I have a strong interest in applying research recommendations through project work. In 2006 I helped to establish Bwindi Advanced Market Gardeners' Association (AMAGARA), a farming cooperative which aims to increase the access of local farmers living around Bwindi to the market for produce provided by the tourist lodges in the area. Further details of the project are available on request.