Skills and Services

We help organisations prioritise and deliver effective action for nature. Each project is tailored to our clients' needs and combines expertise from across DICE's internationally recognised conservation research community. Our service offerings and expertise are listed below, but please contact us to discuss any other conservation-related work, or to understand how this can fit within your organisation’s aims.

We help organisations decide where and how to act for nature. We identify spatial priorities for nature across landscapes and develop decision-support tools that balance environmental, social and other land-use objectives. Our expertise includes systematic conservation planning, connectivity analysis and decision science.

We help organisations turn biodiversity ambitions into policy-aligned frameworks and action. We review policies, legislation and management plans, identify opportunities and gaps, and develop frameworks that support implementation at local, national and international scales.

We help organisations make evidence-informed decisions for nature. We undertake interdisciplinary research, evidence reviews and evaluations to answer complex biodiversity questions. Combining ecological, spatial and social science approaches, we deliver independent analysis tailored to each project's objectives.

We help organisations build the skills, partnerships and knowledge needed to deliver conservation action. We provide bespoke training and organise collaborative workshops and events that strengthen organisational capacity for spatial planning and nature recovery.

Key Expertise

Close all

Our team is internationally recognised as a leader in SCP. We apply decision science and spatial analysis to help organisations identify where conservation action can deliver the greatest benefits for biodiversity, people and climate.

Supporting protected areas and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) through evaluation, policy development and implementation.

Developing evidence-based tools and frameworks that help organisations prioritise conservation action under multiple objectives.

Connecting policy with conservation science to support implementation.

Supporting evidence-based approaches that deliver benefits for biodiversity and people.

Designing participatory approaches for effective conservation.

Case Studies

Habitat management in the University of Kent

We delivered training and undertook mapping and condition assessments to design a woodland management plan on the University of Kent campus.

Expanding habitat protection in Guyana

We worked with governmental and NGO stakeholders to develop a protected area expansion plan in Guyana.

BBOWT Nature Recovery Network

We worked with the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust to identify a strategic regional plan using systematic conservation planning.

Midlands Forest Network (MFN)

We led on evidence and analysis for the MFN, applying systematic conservation planning to identify the best sites for woodland creation and restoration to deliver interdisciplinary benefits.

Publications

The work we do is rooted in our team’s strong research and scientific backgrounds. Here are some relevant scientific papers from our Innovation and E3 Teams, with more available on our research profiles.

Spatial conservation planning

Giakoumi, S., Richardson, A. J., Doxa, A., Moro, S., Andrello, M., … , Smith, R. J., Bastardie, F., Stelzenmüller, V., Possingham, H. P., & Katsanevakis, S. (2025). Advances in systematic conservation planning to meet global biodiversity goals
Plumptre, A., Hayes, J., Baisero, D., Rose, R., Holness, S., von Staden, L., & Smith, R. J. (2024). Strengths and complementarity of systematic conservation planning and Key Biodiversity area approaches for spatial planning
Kor, L.., and Diazgranados, M. (2023) Identifying Important Plant Areas for useful plants in Colombia
Smith, R. J., Cartwright, S. J., Fairbairn, A. C., Lewis, D. C., Gibbon, G. E. M., Stewart, C. L., Sykes, R. E., & Addison, P. F. E. (2022). Developing a nature recovery network using systematic conservation planning
Smith, R. J. (2019) The CLUZ plugin for QGIS: designing conservation area systems and other ecological networks. Research Ideas and Outcomes

Habitat connectivity and remote sensing

Struebig, M.J., Wenzler, M., Runting, R.K., Law, E., Budiharta, S., Seaman, D. and Kramer-Schadt, S. (2024) Connectivity conservation to mitigate climate and land-cover change impacts on Borneo
Kor, L., O’Hickey, B., Hanson, M. and Coroi, M., (2022) Assessing habitat connectivity in environmental impact assessment: a case-study in the UK context
Seaman, D.J.I., Voigt, M., Bocedi, G. et al. (2021) Orangutan movement and population dynamics across human-modified landscapes: implications of policy and management
Pfeifer M, Kor L, Nilus R, … & Ewers R. (2016) Mapping the structure of Borneo’s tropical forests across a degradation gradient

Nature-based solutions

Rampling, E. E., zu Ermgassen, S. O. S. E., Hawkins, I., & Bull, J. W. (2024) Achieving biodiversity net gain by addressing governance gaps underpinning ecological compensation policies
Fisher, J. C., Dallimer, M., Irvine, K. N., Aizlewood, S. G., Austen, G. E., … and Davies, Z. G. (2023). Human well-being responses to species’ traits
Kor, L., Homewood, K., Dawson, T.P. and Diazgranados, M. (2021) Sustainability of wild plant use in the Andean Community of South America
Holland J, Douma J, Crowley L, James L, Kor L, Stevenson D, Smith B (2017) Semi-natural habitats support biological control, pollination and soil conservation in Europe

Community-based conservation

Kor, L., Fernández-Lucero, M., Granados Flórez, D.A., Dawson, T.P. and Diazgranados, M. (2024). Bridging local and scientific knowledge for area-based conservation of useful plants in Colombia
Morgans, C. L., Jago, S., Andayani, N., Linkie, M., Lo, M. G., Mumbunan, S., … and Struebig, M. J. (2024). Improving well‐being and reducing deforestation in Indonesia’s protected areas
Lo, M.G., Morgans, C.L., Santika, T., … Davies, Z.G. and Struebig, M.J., (2024). Nickel mining reduced forest cover in Indonesia but had mixed outcomes for well-being