Research

Our Research Themes

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Climate Mitigation & Adaptation

Nature is integral to every pathway towards net-zero. Our natural ecosystems are vital for the reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and as carbon sinks. Nature-based solutions can also help us respond appropriately to the effects of climate change and reduce our vulnerability to its impacts.

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Biodiversity Conservation

Biodiversity loss and climate change are interconnected planetary crises. Slowing down the decline and disappearance of biodiversity will slow down climate change too. Southeast Asia is a biodiversity hotspot, and the region faces multiple challenges in preserving nature.

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Quantitative Sustainability

Data and mathematical models play a crucial role today in the assessment of society. They can be applied to the field of environmental preservation and management as well and generate evidence-based decisions which promote sustainable development and outcomes.

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Geospatial Science

Remote sensing and geospatial technologies allow for environmental analysis of our natural ecosystems at the next level. Spaceborne, airborne and ground-based instruments assist in measurements that unlock a whole new level of understanding of our environment.

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Applied Ecology and Biology

Ecological principles and biological concepts can be integrated with practical applications to address environmental issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Taking this science-based approach can lead to potential solutions that benefit both people and planet.

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Finance, Policy & Governance

Finance, policy and governance are significant considerations when dealing with environmental problems like climate change and biodiversity loss. They can be instruments for implementing change and ensuring the long-term viability of solutions, plans and strategies.

Our Labs

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AEC

Prof. Koh Lian Pin leads the Applied Ecology & Conservation (AEC) Lab. Their research focuses on developing policy-relevant science and science-based decision support tools to help reconcile humanity’s needs with environmental protection, particularly in the developing tropics.
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PEEB

Asst. Prof. Lim Jun Ying leads the Plant Ecology, Evolution and Biogeography (PEEB) Lab. They study the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape plant biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics, to inform the conservation of tropical ecosystems and biodiversity.
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SpEARS

Asst. Prof. Hao Tang leads the Spatial Environmental Analytics and Remote Sensing (SpEARS) Lab. They employ various remote sensing and geospatial techniques to map, analyse, and understand tropical environmental change.
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LAPIS

Assoc. Prof. Adrian Loo leads the Lab for Advancing Protection of biodiversity with Innovative Solutions (LAPIS). Their research focuses on harnessing conservation technology to tackle challenges like the illegal wildlife trade and biodiversity discovery.
General_TidalFlats

AEC

Prof. Koh Lian Pin leads the Applied Ecology & Conservation (AEC) Lab. Their research focuses on developing policy-relevant science and science-based decision support tools to help reconcile humanity’s needs with environmental protection, particularly in the developing tropics.
spears logo confirmed

SpEARS

Asst. Prof. Hao Tang leads the Spatial Environmental Analytics and Remote Sensing (SpEARS) Lab. They employ various remote sensing and geospatial techniques to map, analyse, and understand tropical environmental change.
Bioacoustics_Tree

PEEB

Asst. Prof. Lim Jun Ying leads the Plant Ecology, Evolution and Biogeography (PEEB) Lab. They study the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape plant biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics, to inform the conservation of tropical ecosystems and biodiversity.
IMG_4658

LAPIS

Assoc. Prof. Adrian Loo leads the Lab for Advancing Protection of biodiversity with Innovative Solutions (LAPIS). Their research focuses on harnessing conservation technology to tackle challenges like the illegal wildlife trade and biodiversity discovery.

Explore Our Work

  • Climate co-benefits of tiger conservation

    Aakash Lamba, Hoong Chen Teo, Rachakonda Sreekar, Yiwen Zeng, Luis Roman Carrasco, Lian Pin Koh

    Nature Ecology & Evolution

    Biodiversity conservation is increasingly being recognized as an important co-benefit in climate change mitigation programmes that use nature-based climate solutions. However, the climate co-benefits of biodiversity conservation interventions, such as habitat protection and restoration, remain understudied. Here we estimate the forest carbon storage co-benefits of a national policy intervention for tiger (Panthera tigris) conservation in India. We used a synthetic control approach to model avoided forest loss and associated carbon emissions reductions in protected areas that underwent enhanced protection for tiger conservation. Over a third of the analysed reserves showed significant but mixed effects, where 24% of all reserves successfully reduced the rate of deforestation and the remaining 9% reported higher-than-expected forest loss. The policy had a net positive benefit with over 5,802 hectares of averted forest loss, corresponding to avoided emissions of 1.08 ± 0.51 MtCO2 equivalent between 2007 and 2020. This translated to US$92.55 ± 43.56 million in ecosystem services from the avoided social cost of emissions and potential revenue of US$6.24 ± 2.94 million in carbon offsets. Our findings offer an approach to quantitatively track the carbon sequestration co-benefits of a species conservation strategy and thus help align the objectives of climate action and biodiversity conservation.

    Published May 2023
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  • Gains in biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services from the expansion of the planet’s protected areas

    Yiwen Zeng, Lian Pin Koh, David S. Wilcove
    Science Advances

    Protected areas safeguard biodiversity, ensure ecosystem functioning, and deliver ecosystem services to communities. However, only ~16% of the world’s land area is under some form of protection, prompting international calls to protect at least 30% by 2030. This paper models the outcomes of achieving this 30 × 30 target for terrestrial biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and nutrient regulation.

    Published June 2022
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  • Nature-based climate solutions for expanding the global protected area network

    Rachakonda Sreekar, Yiwen Zeng, Qiming Zheng, Aakash Lamba, Hoong Chen Teo, Tasya Vadya Sarira, Lian Pin Koh
    Biological Conservation

    Protected areas (including other effective area-based conservation measures) are a cornerstone of biodiversity conservation. Many countries are increasingly committed to expanding protected area coverage to 30%, which requires an increase in global annual spending from $24b to ~$140b (between $103b and $177b). Our results point to the largely untapped potential of nature-based climate solutions to accelerate protected area expansion, thereby conserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change.

    Published May 2022
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  • Co-benefits of forest carbon projects in Southeast Asia

    Tasya Vadya Sarira, Yiwen Zeng, Rachel Neugarten, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Lian Pin Koh
    Nature Sustainability

    Forest carbon projects can deliver multiple benefits to society. Within Southeast Asia, 58% of forests threatened by loss could be protected as financially viable carbon projects, which would avoid 835 MtCO2e of emissions per year from deforestation, support dietary needs for an equivalent of 323,739 people annually from pollinator-dependent agriculture, retain 78% of the volume of nitrogen pollutants in watersheds yearly and safeguard 25 Mha of Key Biodiversity Areas.

    Published February 2022
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  • A metric for spatially explicit contributions to science-based species targets

    Louise Mair, Hugh P. Possingham, Lian Pin Koh, et al.
    Nature Ecology and Evolution

    The Convention on Biological Diversity’s post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will probably include a goal to stabilize and restore the status of species. Its delivery would be facilitated by making the actions required to halt and reverse species loss spatially explicit. This paper developed a species threat abatement and restoration (STAR) metric that is scalable across species, threats and geographies.

    Published June 2021
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  • Southeast Asia as one of world’s primary sources of biotic recolonization following Anthropocene extinctions

    Şerban Proches, Syd Ramdhani, Alice C. Hughes, Lian Pin Koh
    Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

    The plight of Southeast Asia’s animals, plants and ecosystems in the face of unsustainable exploitation and habitat destruction has been illustrated in several recent studies, despite often falling outside the global discourse on global conservation priorities. This paper collated biogeographic and phylogenetic information to argue that this beleaguered region is one of world’s primary macrorefugia, and possibly its best chance of regaining its natural biodiversity distribution patterns after the current Anthropocene upheaval.

    Published March 2021
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  • Carbon prospecting in tropical forests for climate change mitigation

    Lian Pin Koh, Yiwen Zeng, Tasya Vadya Sarira, Kelly Siman
    Nature Communications

    Carbon finance projects that protect tropical forests could support both nature conservation and climate change mitigation goals. Global demand for nature-based carbon credits is outpacing their supply, due partly to gaps in knowledge needed to inform and prioritize investment decisions. This paper shows that at current carbon market prices the protection of tropical forests can generate investible carbon amounting to 1.8 (±1.1) GtCO2e yr−1 globally, and financially viable carbon projects could generate return-on-investment amounting to $46.0b y−1 in net present value. However, ~80% (1.24 billion ha) of forest carbon sites would be financially unviable for failing to break even over the project lifetime. From a conservation perspective, unless carbon prices increase in the future, it is imperative to implement other conservation interventions, in addition to carbon finance, to safeguard carbon stocks and biodiversity in vulnerable forests.

    Published February 2021
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