Summary
Many people take pleasure from activities in forests and wild lands in the UK and others are being encouraged to participate. These inevitably incur certain risks, however, and one of the most insidious is the possibility (albeit tiny) of acquiring a disease from wild animals; for example, ticks can be vectors of the bacterial infection leading to Lyme Disease. Both diagnosis and treatment can be problematic so prevention of acquiring such disease is highly desirable.
This programme will help those involved in the countryside to understand better how to deal with diseases such as Lyme Disease, how to communicate the degree of risk effectively, and how to encourage preventative action such that the countryside continues to be a source of pleasure and well-being for its users.
Research summary (PDF-696K)
Research objectives
Surprisingly little is known about how best to warn countryside users about the potential for disease without scaring them away or spoiling their enjoyment. Answering such questions is the goal of this programme, and requires the integration of a diverse set of scientific skills including:
- Forest ecology
- Parasite ecology
- Environmental and social psychology
- Sociology and political science.
The programme also requires an understanding of the views of:
- Those who manage countryside
- Those who have contracted zoonotic diseases
- Those who access the land.
Funders and partners
The inter-disciplinary team of researchers involves staff from Forest Research, the University of Oxford and the University of Surrey.
The research is being conducted as part of the Research Councils' Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) Programme (Project: RES 229-25-0007). RELU is funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council, with additional funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department.
Additional funding for the programme is being provided by the Forestry Commission and the Universities of Oxford and Surrey.
Research activities
The work will consist of three phases:
- Understanding the present
- Identifying possible futures
- Actions for possible futures.
Within each of these phases, work will consider scenario analysis, risk analysis and risk perception:
A Project Advisory Board will provide specialist advice on aspects of the research, and a Practitioner Panel will guide the practical implementation of the findings.
Status
The project commenced on the 1st September 2007 and will last three years.
We are now in the second phase and are about to enter the third phase of work.
Events of the past year:
- Inter-disciplinary day New Forest - November 2008
- RELU Director visit - November 2008
- Project team meeting - January 2009
- Delivered second annual report - January 2009
- Presentation of results from a content analysis of warning leaflets at the Health and Recreation in Forest and Landscape International Conference, Birmensdorf, Switzerland - April 2009
- Inter-disciplinary day, Richmond Park - April 2009
- Project team meeting - July 2009
- Second project advisory board meeting - July 2009
- Presentation of results from interviews with forest managers in relation to communicating forest hazards to staff and the public at the 8th Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology, Zürich, Switzerland - September 2009
- Second project practitioners panel - October 2009.
Contacts and further information
About the research
For further information on the programme as a whole, contact:
Chris Quine
Forest Research
Northern Research Station
Roslin
Midlothian EH25 9SY
Tel: 0131 445 2176
Fax: 0131 445 5124
Email: chris.quine@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
The work on risk analysis is being led by Professor Sarah Randolph:
Sarah Randolph
Professor of Parasite Ecology
Department of Zoology,
University of Oxford
Email: sarah.randolph@zoo.ox.ac.uk
The work on risk perception is being led by Dr Julie Barnett and Professor David Uzzell:
Dr. Julie Barnett
Reader in Healthcare Research
Department of Information Systems and Computing
Brunel University
Email: julie.barnett@brunel.ac.uk
Professor David Uzzell
Department of Psychology
University of Surrey
Email: D.Uzzell@surrey.ac.uk
For information about the RELU programme in general, see www.relu.ac.uk/
About zoonotic diseases including Lyme disease
The programme team are unable to advise on specifics of Lyme disease or on any medical aspects. Further information is available at the sites listed below.
Authorative health protection advice:
Information on other aspects of zoonotic diseases:
- Health Protection Agency:
www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/zoonoses/menu.asp - Defra
www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/zoonoses/index.htm - World Health Organisation:
www.who.int/topics/zoonoses/en/ - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA
www.cdc.gov/DiseasesConditions/ - National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases (NCZVED)
www.cdc.gov/nczved/
