Sustainable Land Management

Module Identifier: BR30420
Module Title: Sustainable Land Management
Academic Year: 2027/2028
Semester: Semester 2
Co-ordinator: Dr William Stiles
Reading List: View on Aspire
Other Staff: Professor Mariecia Fraser; Dr Ruth Wonfor; Dr Dylan Gwynn Jones; Dr Ifat Shah

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment details	Proportion
Semester Assessment	Whole farm conservation plan - critique: 2000 Words	40%
Semester Exam	Examination: 2 Hours	60%
Supplementary Assessment	Supplementary Assessment: Students must take elements of assessment equivalent to those that led to failure of the module.	40%
Supplementary Exam	Examination: 2 Hours Students must take elements of assessment equivalent to those that led to failure of the module.	60%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Identify the potential environmental impacts resulting from various agricultural practices.
From retained knowledge, critically review the evidence used to compare the environmental impacts of different agricultural systems.
Recognise the importance of scale (time and distance) in evaluating environmental impacts.
Formulate a model to assess the possible environmental impacts of a new agricultural practice.
Critically evaluate a whole farm conservation plan.

Brief description

The impacts of intensive, extensive and organic agriculture and other forms of agricultural system on the environment are examined in terms of: biodiversity, genetic diversity, habitat quality, habitat fragmentation, pollution and sustainable resource use.

Content

The full range of environmental impacts of agricultural systems are considered. Selected key impacts are explored in more depth.
A review of historical development of European and UK environmental policy will set the context for understanding current on-farm conservation practice.
The practical ability to produce a whole-farm conservation plan will be developed by critical review of existing plans and the integration of ecological science with practical agricultural knowledge.
The content of the module will be synthesized through developing spatially and temporally explicit conceptual models of land-use.

Module skills

Skills type	Skills details
Application of Number	Not a significant component of the module.
Communication	Although the assignment is underpinned by scientific understanding the students are required to present this information for a lay/agricultural audience.
Improving own Learning and Performance	Range of study techniques are encouraged, informal feedback provided during workshop sessions.
Information Technology	Not a significant component of the module.
Personal Development and Career planning	Much of the module is vocational and applied in nature and valuable training for careers in the agri-environment sector.
Problem solving	This skill is a key component of the assignments that is a critical analysis of a farm conservation plan.
Research skills	This is an integrative module that requires students to assimilate knowledge from agriculture, economics and environmental science.
Team work	Students are encouraged to discuss the assignments collectively to benefit from a wider knowledge base.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6