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Join us for Camels in a Cloud Forest: the Social Drivers and Ecological Impacts of Pastoralism in the Dhofar Mountains of Oman.
The regionally endemic cloud forests of Dhofar have sustained camel, cattle, and goat pastoralism for millennia. In this research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Lawrence examines why rural communities in Dhofar continue to keep livestock despite rising husbandry costs, modernization, and social change. Extensive botanical surveys identified several previously undescribed forest variants and revealed the impacts of livestock pressure on vegetation structure and species composition. Drawing on methods from community ecology and geospatial science, Lawrence’s research highlights the fragility of Dhofar’s cloud forest which persists at the very edge of its ecological limits, vulnerable to climate change and environmental degradation.
About the Speaker
Dr Lawrence Ball is a conservation scientist with over 20 years’ experience in research and practice. He is Co-founder at the Dhofar Centre for Wildlife Research and a Visiting Researcher at the Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent. Lawrence’s research has primarily focused on biodiversity conservation in the Dhofar region of Oman, where he has documented the status of the endemic cloud forest and the challenges surrounding modern pastoralism and environmental sustainability. He is a British Exploring Society expedition leader, a Royal Geographical Society fellow, and an advocate for Conservation Evidence and Conservation Standards.
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