Ewa Grabska‐Szwagrzyk, Michał Jakiel, William Keeton, Jacek Kozak, Tobias Kuemmerle, Kamil Onoszko, Krzysztof Ostafin, Mahsa Shahbandeh, Piotr Szubert, Anna Szwagierczak, Jerzy Szwagrzyk, Elżbieta Ziółkowska, Dominik Kaim
The EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 aims to better protect natural ecosystems with high biodiversity and climate change mitigation potential. To achieve this goal, it is crucial to identify forests worth protecting, such as those characterized by long continuity and old age. Here, we propose a robust approach that combines historical maps from the mid‐19th century with remote sensing data to identify areas that have been forested for over 150 years, aiming to reduce the need for detailed and time‐consuming field investigations in potential conservation areas. We tested this approach in a 20,000 km2 region in the Polish Carpathians, an area likely containing many unprotected forests of high conservation value, where historical maps from the mid‐19th century are representative of much of Central Europe. Our results showed that an area of approximately 4200 km2 has been continuously forested since at least the mid‐19th century. Currently, 50% of these forests are outside protected areas, representing an important conservation opportunity. More generally, our approach can support the identification of valuable forests worth protecting before they are lost and provide useful insights for policymakers and stakeholders in the ongoing debate on the challenges of improving forest conservation in the Carpathians, and Europe more widely.
{"title":"Historical maps improve the identification of forests with potentially high conservation value","authors":"Ewa Grabska‐Szwagrzyk, Michał Jakiel, William Keeton, Jacek Kozak, Tobias Kuemmerle, Kamil Onoszko, Krzysztof Ostafin, Mahsa Shahbandeh, Piotr Szubert, Anna Szwagierczak, Jerzy Szwagrzyk, Elżbieta Ziółkowska, Dominik Kaim","doi":"10.1111/conl.13043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13043","url":null,"abstract":"The EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 aims to better protect natural ecosystems with high biodiversity and climate change mitigation potential. To achieve this goal, it is crucial to identify forests worth protecting, such as those characterized by long continuity and old age. Here, we propose a robust approach that combines historical maps from the mid‐19th century with remote sensing data to identify areas that have been forested for over 150 years, aiming to reduce the need for detailed and time‐consuming field investigations in potential conservation areas. We tested this approach in a 20,000 km<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> region in the Polish Carpathians, an area likely containing many unprotected forests of high conservation value, where historical maps from the mid‐19th century are representative of much of Central Europe. Our results showed that an area of approximately 4200 km<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> has been continuously forested since at least the mid‐19th century. Currently, 50% of these forests are outside protected areas, representing an important conservation opportunity. More generally, our approach can support the identification of valuable forests worth protecting before they are lost and provide useful insights for policymakers and stakeholders in the ongoing debate on the challenges of improving forest conservation in the Carpathians, and Europe more widely.","PeriodicalId":157,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141597227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Roberto J. Correa, Peter A. Lindsey, Rob Critchlow, Colin M. Beale, Jonas Geldmann, Andrew J. Plumptre
Protected areas have been gazetted to protect natural resources and biodiversity, but evaluations of effectiveness rarely include measures of species population change. We compiled annual site-level spending and elephant population data for 102 protected areas conserving either savannah (Loxodonta africana) or forest (Loxodonta cyclotis) elephants, which showed a median annual population decline of −0.78% across the protected areas. Site-level population change was strongly associated with funding and government effectiveness. Annual funding deficits occurred in 78% of the protected areas, and when comparing necessary levels of annual spend to stabilize elephant populations, we estimate a US$1.5 billion annual funding deficit across all the protected areas. While financial investment can improve elephant conservation outcomes, there is still a need to identify where and how to best finance elephant poaching interventions, requiring a global commitment to improve the socioeconomic impacts of protected areas on local communities and reduce ivory demand.
{"title":"Performance of protected areas in conserving African elephants","authors":"Roberto J. Correa, Peter A. Lindsey, Rob Critchlow, Colin M. Beale, Jonas Geldmann, Andrew J. Plumptre","doi":"10.1111/conl.13041","DOIUrl":"10.1111/conl.13041","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Protected areas have been gazetted to protect natural resources and biodiversity, but evaluations of effectiveness rarely include measures of species population change. We compiled annual site-level spending and elephant population data for 102 protected areas conserving either savannah (<i>Loxodonta africana</i>) or forest (<i>Loxodonta cyclotis</i>) elephants, which showed a median annual population decline of −0.78% across the protected areas. Site-level population change was strongly associated with funding and government effectiveness. Annual funding deficits occurred in 78% of the protected areas, and when comparing necessary levels of annual spend to stabilize elephant populations, we estimate a US$1.5 billion annual funding deficit across all the protected areas. While financial investment can improve elephant conservation outcomes, there is still a need to identify where and how to best finance elephant poaching interventions, requiring a global commitment to improve the socioeconomic impacts of protected areas on local communities and reduce ivory demand.</p>","PeriodicalId":157,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/conl.13041","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141597256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sifan Hu, Kaiwen Zhou, Zhijian Liang, Tien Ming Lee, Diogo Veríssimo, Xiangdong Ruan, Amy Hinsley
Consumer behavior change is a key priority to address the illegal wildlife trade, but evaluation of these interventions is lacking. We used surveys and randomized controlled trials to assess the effectiveness of three types of messages, which were codesigned with key stakeholders, with 2496 potential consumers and nontarget consumers in China. We found a 23% decrease in intention among potential consumers to use wild animal medicinal products by health-related messages, and a 14% decrease by legality-related messages, compared with the control group, though the effect size was small. Furthermore, we revealed that the effect of health-related messages occurred indirectly by increasing health risk perceptions associated with improper utilization of wild animals. Yet, we did not find a clear effect pathway of the legality-related messages. Regarding the nontarget consumers, information of whistleblowing platforms and incentives improved willingness to report illegal wildlife use directly, as well as indirectly through adding messages to increase perceived legality risk of using wild products and improve self-efficacy in identifying legal products. Our findings can inform future larger scale efforts to influence wildlife consumption.
{"title":"Testing an intervention codesigned with stakeholders for altering wildlife consumption: Health messaging matters","authors":"Sifan Hu, Kaiwen Zhou, Zhijian Liang, Tien Ming Lee, Diogo Veríssimo, Xiangdong Ruan, Amy Hinsley","doi":"10.1111/conl.13040","DOIUrl":"10.1111/conl.13040","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Consumer behavior change is a key priority to address the illegal wildlife trade, but evaluation of these interventions is lacking. We used surveys and randomized controlled trials to assess the effectiveness of three types of messages, which were codesigned with key stakeholders, with 2496 potential consumers and nontarget consumers in China. We found a 23% decrease in intention among potential consumers to use wild animal medicinal products by health-related messages, and a 14% decrease by legality-related messages, compared with the control group, though the effect size was small. Furthermore, we revealed that the effect of health-related messages occurred indirectly by increasing health risk perceptions associated with improper utilization of wild animals. Yet, we did not find a clear effect pathway of the legality-related messages. Regarding the nontarget consumers, information of whistleblowing platforms and incentives improved willingness to report illegal wildlife use directly, as well as indirectly through adding messages to increase perceived legality risk of using wild products and improve self-efficacy in identifying legal products. Our findings can inform future larger scale efforts to influence wildlife consumption.</p>","PeriodicalId":157,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/conl.13040","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141561376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hannah Moersberger, Jose Valdez, Juliette G. C. Martin, Jessica Junker, Ivelina Georgieva, Silke Bauer, Pedro Beja, Tom D. Breeze, Miguel Fernandez, Néstor Fernández, Lluís Brotons, Ute Jandt, Helge Bruelheide, W. Daniel Kissling, Christian Langer, Camino Liquete, Maria Lumbierres, Anne Lyche Solheim, Joachim Maes, Alejandra Morán‐Ordóñez, Francisco Moreira, Guy Pe'er, Joana Santana, Judy Shamoun‐Baranes, Bruno Smets, César Capinha, Ian McCallum, Henrique M. Pereira, Aletta Bonn
To achieve the goals of the 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework, the European Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU Green Deal, biodiversity monitoring is critical. Monitoring efforts in Europe, however, suffer from gaps and biases in taxonomy, spatial coverage, and temporal resolution, resulting in fragmented and disconnected data. To assess user and policy needs in biodiversity monitoring, we employed a four‐step user‐centered stakeholder engagement process with over 300 stakeholders including a public stakeholder workshop, online survey, interviews, and a meeting with experts from 18 EU member states, the European Commission, and the European Environment Agency. The stakeholders identified policy needs, current challenges, and potential solutions. Based on the policy and stakeholder assessment, we recommend establishing a European Biodiversity Observation Coordinating Centre to optimize existing observation efforts, harmonize data, and enhance our ability to predict and respond to key challenges related to biodiversity loss in Europe.
{"title":"Biodiversity monitoring in Europe: User and policy needs","authors":"Hannah Moersberger, Jose Valdez, Juliette G. C. Martin, Jessica Junker, Ivelina Georgieva, Silke Bauer, Pedro Beja, Tom D. Breeze, Miguel Fernandez, Néstor Fernández, Lluís Brotons, Ute Jandt, Helge Bruelheide, W. Daniel Kissling, Christian Langer, Camino Liquete, Maria Lumbierres, Anne Lyche Solheim, Joachim Maes, Alejandra Morán‐Ordóñez, Francisco Moreira, Guy Pe'er, Joana Santana, Judy Shamoun‐Baranes, Bruno Smets, César Capinha, Ian McCallum, Henrique M. Pereira, Aletta Bonn","doi":"10.1111/conl.13038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13038","url":null,"abstract":"To achieve the goals of the 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework, the European Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU Green Deal, biodiversity monitoring is critical. Monitoring efforts in Europe, however, suffer from gaps and biases in taxonomy, spatial coverage, and temporal resolution, resulting in fragmented and disconnected data. To assess user and policy needs in biodiversity monitoring, we employed a four‐step user‐centered stakeholder engagement process with over 300 stakeholders including a public stakeholder workshop, online survey, interviews, and a meeting with experts from 18 EU member states, the European Commission, and the European Environment Agency. The stakeholders identified policy needs, current challenges, and potential solutions. Based on the policy and stakeholder assessment, we recommend establishing a European Biodiversity Observation Coordinating Centre to optimize existing observation efforts, harmonize data, and enhance our ability to predict and respond to key challenges related to biodiversity loss in Europe.","PeriodicalId":157,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141489480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wenji Luo, Qian Tang, Balaji Chattopadhyay, Kritika M. Garg, Frank E. Rheindt, Alison K. S. Wee
Tropical and subtropical trees provide key ecosystem services but are facing global population decline due to logging, habitat degradation, land conversion, and climate change. Vatica guangxiensis used to be a characteristic timber species of China's tropical forests but is now terminally endangered (280 individuals) and fragmented into three relictual populations in southwest China. Generating genome-wide DNA for ∼82% of all living tree individuals of this species complex, we found evidence for a late Pliocene division into two species-level lineages that have not had gene flow for approximately 3 million years. All three relictual populations exhibited a loss of genetic diversity and recent bottlenecks. In addition, forward simulations indicated a likely population collapse in all three populations within the next century. Our study generates a model framework for the integration of genomic evidence—including evolutionary history, current genetic variation, and future projections—into conservation planning.
{"title":"The last stand: Demographic and population genomic analysis reveals terminal endangerment in tropical timber species Vatica guangxiensis","authors":"Wenji Luo, Qian Tang, Balaji Chattopadhyay, Kritika M. Garg, Frank E. Rheindt, Alison K. S. Wee","doi":"10.1111/conl.13036","DOIUrl":"10.1111/conl.13036","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Tropical and subtropical trees provide key ecosystem services but are facing global population decline due to logging, habitat degradation, land conversion, and climate change. <i>Vatica guangxiensis</i> used to be a characteristic timber species of China's tropical forests but is now terminally endangered (280 individuals) and fragmented into three relictual populations in southwest China. Generating genome-wide DNA for ∼82% of all living tree individuals of this species complex, we found evidence for a late Pliocene division into two species-level lineages that have not had gene flow for approximately 3 million years. All three relictual populations exhibited a loss of genetic diversity and recent bottlenecks. In addition, forward simulations indicated a likely population collapse in all three populations within the next century. Our study generates a model framework for the integration of genomic evidence—including evolutionary history, current genetic variation, and future projections—into conservation planning.</p>","PeriodicalId":157,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/conl.13036","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141489500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nicholas Ford-Learner, Jane Addison, Patrick Smallhorn-West
To ensure the protection of both people and nature, conservation practitioners have a responsibility to integrate human rights considerations into their conservation policies and practices. Here, we (i) develop a human rights-based scoring framework for international conservation organization (NGO) policy commitments and (ii) use this to conduct a gap analysis of policy commitments for nine NGOs, which collectively contribute approximately $1.86 billion USD annually to the global conservation budget. While progress has been made, critical gaps remain in commitments to certain rights and recognizing local groups' rights and knowledge, particularly around social development and decent work, recognitional equity, and commitments to implement human rights-based approach principles. Given the influence of these organizations in global public discourse, more comprehensive public commitments to human rights will likely increase compliance with international law, drive organizational change, and help rebuild trust with vulnerable communities.
{"title":"Conservation and human rights: The public commitments of international conservation organizations","authors":"Nicholas Ford-Learner, Jane Addison, Patrick Smallhorn-West","doi":"10.1111/conl.13035","DOIUrl":"10.1111/conl.13035","url":null,"abstract":"<p>To ensure the protection of both people and nature, conservation practitioners have a responsibility to integrate human rights considerations into their conservation policies and practices. Here, we (i) develop a human rights-based scoring framework for international conservation organization (NGO) policy commitments and (ii) use this to conduct a gap analysis of policy commitments for nine NGOs, which collectively contribute approximately $1.86 billion USD annually to the global conservation budget. While progress has been made, critical gaps remain in commitments to certain rights and recognizing local groups' rights and knowledge, particularly around social development and decent work, recognitional equity, and commitments to implement human rights-based approach principles. Given the influence of these organizations in global public discourse, more comprehensive public commitments to human rights will likely increase compliance with international law, drive organizational change, and help rebuild trust with vulnerable communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":157,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/conl.13035","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141448889","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Although widely regarded as the go-to for comprehensive wildlife trade data (Eskew et al., 2020; Watters et al., 2022), short comings of the US Fish & Wildlife (USFWS) Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS) have been noted for decades (GAO, 1994; Reaser & Waugh, 2007). Most recently, Weissgold (2024) recommended measures to improve LEMIS quality controls necessary for accurate scientific interpretation and policy application. The temptation to improve LEMIS for such aims is laudable yet inconsistent with its intended function. LEMIS is a law enforcement information system managed by law enforcement staff. It was never envisioned as a platform for advancing scientific goals and it is unlikely to be reprogrammed for such purpose due to limitations of authority and administration. There is substantial need to improve LEMIS data quality to better its regulatory function. Consequently, this can improve scientific application potential, but substantial analytical limits will remain.