Announcement of Opportunity: Ecosystems Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) Programme

Programme background:
The Ecosystems Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) Programme is a £40.5 million Department for International Development (DFID), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) research programme. ESPA is launched under the umbrella of the Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) partnership and presents a unique opportunity to build strong links between the natural, social and economic sciences and international development. ESPA aims to deliver high quality and cutting-edge research that will improve our understanding of ecosystems in terms of the services they provide for poverty reduction and inclusive growth processes. It will provide the evidence and tools to enable decision makers and end users to manage ecosystems sustainably and in a way that contributes to poverty reduction. The two-year process to design the programme and strengthen research capacity is completed and full details of the ESPA scope and implementation plan have been ratified by all the partners in the ESPA Programme Memorandum.

ESPA will be delivered through a series of competitive calls for a range of research activities, including research into use and capacity building. The six research themes are:
·        Water theme: Impacts of climate variability and change on the water cycle
·        Health theme: Ecosystem services, disease ecology and human well-being
·        Forests theme: Forests, Land Use Change and Ecosystem Services
·        Biodiversity theme: Biodiversity and ecosystem services - ensuring a sustainable flow of goods and services to enhance human well-being
·        Coasts theme: Strengthening the management of coastal ecosystems to support sustained ecosystem service delivery for reduced poverty and vulnerability in coastal zones.
·        Political Economy theme: The political economy of sustainable ecosystem services for poverty reduction and sustainable growth

Countries covered: South Asia

Please find more information of the ESPA research programme on the NERC website.