Module manager: Prof Tim Baker
Email: t.r.baker@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
Background knowledge of ecology, biogeography, and environmental management
| GEOG3341 | Environment and Development in South-East Asia |
| GEOG3690 | Tropical forests and sustainable development |
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Tropical forests are one of the most important ecosystems on the planet, containing approximately half of global biodiversity, 40% of terrestrial carbon stocks and providing resources that directly and indirectly support millions of people. As a result, achieving sustainable development of these regions and reducing the rate that these ecosystems are being cleared and degraded has become an emblematic struggle of the conservation movement. This module explores the geological history of tropical forests, the role these ecosystems currently play in the earth system and the threats and debates that are determining their future.
This module aims to provide students with:
(I) A detailed understanding of the role that tropical forests play in the earth system.
(II) A detailed understanding of the advantages, risks and challenges of different forms of conservation in tropical forest landscapes.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Describe the role that processes occurring on geological timescales play in determining current patterns in the biosphere.
2. Critically evaluate how climate change and human activity is perturbing tropical forest environments.
3. Explain the advantages, risks and challenges of ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ conservation in tropical forest landscapes, which involve giving a leading role to either businesses, or local communities in forest management.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
1. Reflection: Reflect on learning, especially in seminars, and use this to strengthen retained knowledge and understanding.
2. Critical thinking: Critically evaluate alternative theories, methodologies, arguments and perspectives, and develop one's own perspectives.
3. Presentation skills: Communicate clearly to fellow students, especially through oral and visual presentations in seminars.
4. Academic writing: Write effective essays, in which a coherent line of argument is supported by relevant evidence and framed by academic convention.
5. Academic language: Demonstrate an understanding of academic writing conventions, and to select appropriate and effective methods of communication in different components of the module.
6. Time management: Demonstrate the above objectives by effective planning of time, prioritizing of tasks and balancing academic and personal commitments.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 8 | 1 | 8 |
| Seminar | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Private study hours | 84 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 16 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 100 | ||
Students receive formative feedback during the four seminars spread through semester 2, which provide an opportunity to provide feedback on the ideas and arguments of students on key topics of the course. These topics from the basis for the essay questions which comprise the assessment at the end of the course.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Coursework | 80 |
| Coursework | Oral assessment | 20 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Resit format: individual presentation and reflection piece on the skills needed for effective groupwork, in terms of division and preparation of material, exchange of ideas, and sharing complementary knowledge.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 13/03/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team