Conflicts between biodiversity conservation and other human activities are multifaceted. Understanding farmer preferences for various conflict mitigation strategies is therefore critical. We ...developed a novel interactive game around farmer land management decisions across 18 villages in Gabon to examine responses to three elephant conflict mitigation options: use of elephant deterrent methods, flat-rate subsidy, and agglomeration payments rewarding coordinated action for setting land aside for elephants. We found that all three policies significantly reduced participants' inclinations to engage in lethal control. Use of deterrents and agglomeration payments were also more likely to reduce decisions to kill elephants in situations where levels of social equity were higher. Only the two monetary incentives increased farmers' predisposition to provide habitats for elephants, suggesting that incentive-based instruments were conducive to pro-conservation behavior; different subsidy levels did not affect responses. Likewise, neither participants' socioeconomic characteristics nor their real-life experiences of crop damage by elephants affected game decisions. Killing behavior in the games was 64% lower in villages influenced by protected areas than in villages surrounded by logging concessions, highlighting the need to address conservation conflicts beyond protected areas. Our study shows the importance of addressing underlying social conflicts, specifically equity attitudes, prior to, or alongside addressing material losses.
Understanding the patterns of wild meat consumption from tropical forests is important for designing approaches to address this major threat to biodiversity and mitigate potential pathways for ...transmission of emerging diseases. Bushmeat consumption has been particularly poorly studied in Madagascar, one of the world's hottest biodiversity hotspots. Studying bushmeat consumption is challenging as many species are protected and researchers must consider the incentives faced by informants. Using interviews with 1154 households in 12 communes in eastern Madagascar, as well as local monitoring data, we investigated the importance of socio-economic variables, taste preference and traditional taboos on consumption of 50 wild and domestic species. The majority of meals contain no animal protein. However, respondents consume a wide range of wild species and 95% of respondents have eaten at least one protected species (and nearly 45% have eaten more than 10). The rural/urban divide and wealth are important predictors of bushmeat consumption, but the magnitude and direction of the effect varies between species. Bushmeat species are not preferred and are considered inferior to fish and domestic animals. Taboos have provided protection to some species, particularly the Endangered Indri, but we present evidence that this taboo is rapidly eroding. By considering a variety of potential influences on consumption in a single study we have improved understanding of who is eating bushmeat and why. Evidence that bushmeat species are not generally preferred meats suggest that projects which increase the availability of domestic meat and fish may have success at reducing demand. We also suggest that enforcement of existing wildlife and firearm laws should be a priority, particularly in areas undergoing rapid social change. The issue of hunting as an important threat to biodiversity in Madagascar is only now being fully recognised. Urgent action is required to ensure that heavily hunted species are adequately protected.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Community-based conservation (CBC) aims to benefit local people as well as to achieve conservation goals, but has been criticised for taking a simplistic view of "community" and failing to recognise ...differences in the preferences and motivations of community members. We explore this heterogeneity in the context of Kenya's conservancies, focussing on the livelihood preferences of men and women living adjacent to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Using a discrete choice experiment we quantify the preferences of local community members for key components of their livelihoods and conservancy design, differentiating between men and women and existing conservancy members and non-members. While Maasai preference for pastoralism remains strong, non-livestock-based livelihood activities are also highly valued and there was substantial differentiation in preferences between individuals. Involvement with conservancies was generally perceived to be positive, but only if households were able to retain some land for other purposes. Women placed greater value on conservancy membership, but substantially less value on wage income, while existing conservancy members valued both conservancy membership and livestock more highly than did non-members. Our findings suggest that conservancies can make a positive contribution to livelihoods, but care must be taken to ensure that they do not unintentionally disadvantage any groups. We argue that conservation should pay greater attention to individual-level differences in preferences when designing interventions in order to achieve fairer and more sustainable outcomes for members of local communities.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Cyprus is recognised as a hotspot for illegal bird trapping in the Mediterranean basin. A consumer demand for the Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) is driving the use of non-selective trapping ...methods, resulting in the indiscriminate killing of millions of migratory birds. Efforts to tackle the issue have so far been characterised mostly by a top-down approach, focusing on legislation and enforcement. However, trapping levels are not decreasing and conflict between stakeholder groups is intensifying.
To understand why efforts to stop illegal bird trapping have not been effective, we used semi-structured interviews to interview 18 local bird trappers and nine representatives from the pertinent environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the governmental agencies responsible for enforcing the legislation.
We found distinct differences between the views of the local trapping community and the environmental NGOs, particularly on why trapping is occurring and its impact on the avifauna. This disparity has contributed to misrepresentations of both sides and a high degree of conflict, which is potentially proving counterproductive to conservation interventions. In addition, it appears that trappers are a heterogeneous group, likely driven by various motivations besides profit.
We argue that stakeholders interested in reducing illegal bird trapping need to develop anti-poaching strategies that aim at minimising the disparity in the views, and subsequently the conflict, acknowledging also that trappers are not a homogenous group, as often treated.
In the face of unprecedented biodiversity loss, the belief that conservation goals can be met could play an important role in ensuring they are fulfilled. We asked conservationists how optimistic ...they felt about key biodiversity outcomes over the next 10 years; 2341 people familiar with conservation in 144 countries responded. Respondents expressed optimism that enabling conditions for conservation would improve but felt pressures would continue, and the state of biodiversity was unlikely to get better. Respondents with greater general optimism about life, at early‐career stages, and working in practice and policy (compared to academia) reported higher conservation optimism. But most of our biodiversity and conservation status indicators were not associated with conservation optimism. Unbounded optimism without appropriate action would be misguided in the face of growing threats to biodiversity. However, supporting those struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel could help sustain efforts to overcome these threats.
Information on the extent of bushmeat hunting is needed to assess the likely impact on hunted species, to provide information on the opportunity cost to local people of conservation, and to judge the ...efficacy of interventions at reducing pressure. However, where hunting is illegal, or socially unacceptable, respondents may not answer honestly to direct questions about hunting or consumption of bushmeat. We adapted a specialized method for investigating sensitive behaviours (the randomized response technique, RRT) and questioned 1,851 people in Madagascar about their consumption of six species, using either RRT or direct questions. For most species at most sites RRT and direct questions returned similar estimates of the proportion of the population who had consumed bushmeat in the previous year. However, RRT resulted in significantly higher estimates of bushmeat consumption in communities surrounding a protected area, where conservation activities made such questions sensitive. RRT has been predominately used in Europe and the USA; we demonstrate that it can provide a valuable approach for studying rule-breaking among people with poor literacy in low income countries. Between 12 and 33% of people across our sites had eaten brown lemur (Eulemur spp.), and 12–29% had eaten sifaka (Propithecus spp.) in the previous year. These results add to the growing body of evidence that hunting of protected species in Madagascar is a serious problem requiring urgent action. Conservation interventions to tackle bushmeat hunting will make questions about hunting or consumption more sensitive, increasing the need for researchers to use appropriate approaches for asking sensitive questions.
There exists a wealth of philosophical, sociological and anthropological literature on environmental values; yet, few studies have investigated the values held by conservationists themselves, and how ...these shape the conservation movement.
Here, we present the first global analysis of the relationships between conservationists' values and a broad range of conservationists' characteristics, categorised into their educational and professional background, geographical context and personal experiences in childhood and adulthood. We draw on survey responses from 9264 conservationists from 149 countries to conduct the broadest analysis to date of what factors are associated with the values of conservationists.
Our results demonstrate that 13 characteristics of conservationists' personal and professional backgrounds are statistically related to their values regarding the place of people, science, capitalism and nonhuman entities in conservation. Of these characteristics, educational specialism and continent of nationality had the highest predictive power. We also draw on open‐text responses to uncover other factors that conservationists identify as having been important in shaping their values; travel and religion were the most commonly reported.
Our findings have important implications for current debates on diversity and inclusion within the conservation community. In particular, we provide broad empirical evidence that increasing personal and professional diversity in conservation organisations is likely to also increase the range of values represented. We also discuss the implications of our results for interdisciplinarity, the management of disagreement and conflict in conservation, and the training of future generations of conservationists.
Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Resumen
Existen numerosos trabajos filosóficos, sociológicos y antropológicos sobre los valores medioambientales, pero escasean los que han investigado los valores que mantienen los propios conservacionistas, y de qué manera delinean el movimiento conservacionista.
En este trabajo presentamos el primer análisis global de las relaciones existentes entre los valores de los conservacionistas y un amplio abanico de atributos y rasgos de éstos. Dichos rasgos incluyen la formación académica y profesional, el contexto geográfico y las experiencias personales en la infancia y en la edad adulta. El análisis se basa en las respuestas a una encuesta realizada a 9.264 conservacionistas de 149 países.
Los resultados muestran que 13 características personales y profesionales de los conservacionistas se relacionan estadísticamente con sus valores respecto al papel de las personas, la ciencia, el capitalismo y las entidades no‐humanas en la conservación. De estas características la formación académica y la nacionalidad tienen el mayor poder predictivo. Asimismo, nos basamos en las respuestas de texto libre para revelar otros factores que los conservacionistas identifican de importancia en la formación de sus valores, especialmente los viajes y la religión.
Estos resultados tienen importantes repercusiones en los debates actuales que la comunidad conservacionista realiza sobre la diversidad y la inclusión. En especial, proporcionamos numerosas pruebas empíricas de que el aumento de la diversidad personal y profesional en las organizaciones conservacionistas probablemente incrementa la gama de valores representados. Por último, también se analizan las implicaciones de los resultados para la interdisciplinariedad, la gestión de los desacuerdos y los conflictos en la conservación, y la formación de las futuras generaciones de conservacionistas.
The 2010 biodiversity target agreed by signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity directed the attention of conservation professionals toward the development of indicators with which to ...measure changes in biological diversity at the global scale. We considered why global biodiversity indicators are needed, what characteristics successful global indicators have, and how existing indicators perform. Because monitoring could absorb a large proportion of funds available for conservation, we believe indicators should be linked explicitly to monitoring objectives and decisions about which monitoring schemes deserve funding should be informed by predictions of the value of such schemes to decision making. We suggest that raising awareness among the public and policy makers, auditing management actions, and informing policy choices are the most important global monitoring objectives. Using four well-developed indicators of biological diversity (extent of forests, coverage of protected areas, Living Planet Index, Red List Index) as examples, we analyzed the characteristics needed for indicators to meet these objectives. We recommend that conservation professionals improve on existing indicators by eliminating spatial biases in data availability, fill gaps in information about ecosystems other than forests, and improve understanding of the way indicators respond to policy changes. Monitoring is not an end in itself, and we believe it is vital that the ultimate objectives of global monitoring of biological diversity inform development of new indicators. La meta 2010 de biodiversidad acordada por los signatarios de la Convención de Diversidad Biológica atrajo la atención de los profesionales de la conservación hacia el desarrollo de indicadores para medir los cambios en la diversidad biológica a escala global. Consideramos porqué se requieren indicadores globales de biodiversidad, qué características tienen los indicadores globales y cómo funcionan los indicadores existentes. Debido a que el monitoreo podría absorber una gran proporción de fondos disponibles para la conservación, consideramos que los indicadores deberían estar ligados explícitamente con los objetivos de monitoreo y que las decisiones sobre los planes de monitoreo merecedores de financiamiento deberían estar informadas por predicciones de tales planes para la toma de decisiones. Sugerimos que el incremento de la percepción del público y los tomadores de decisiones, la auditoría a las acciones de manejo y la notificación de las opciones de políticas son los objetivos más importantes del monitoreo global. Utilizando 4 indicadores de la diversidad biológica bien desarrollados (extensión de bosques, cobertura de áreas protegidas, Índice de la Lista Roja, Índice del Planeta Vivo) como ejemplos, analizamos las características que requieren los indicadores para cumplir con estos objetivos. Recomendamos que los profesionales de la conservación mejoren los indicadores existentes eliminando sesgos espaciales en la disponibilidad de datos, llenen huecos en la información sobre ecosistemas distintos a bosques y mejoren el conocimiento de la manera en que los indicadores responden a los cambios en las políticas. El monitoreo no es un fin en sí, y consideramos que es vital que los objetivos finales del monitoreo global de la biodiversidad biológica propicien el desarrollo de indicadores nuevos.
Climate shocks are predicted to increase in magnitude and frequency as the climate changes, notably impacting poor and vulnerable communities across the Tropics. The urgency to better understand and ...improve communities' resilience is reflected in international agreements such as the Paris Agreement and the multiplication of adaptation research and action programs. In turn, the need for collecting and communicating evidence on the climate resilience of communities has increasingly drawn questions concerning how to assess resilience. While empirical case studies are often used to delve into the context-specific nature of resilience, synthesizing results is essential to produce generalizable findings at the scale at which policies are designed. Yet datasets, methods and modalities that enable cross-case analyses that draw from individual local studies are still rare in climate resilience literature. We use empirical case studies on the impacts of El Niño on smallholder households from five countries to test the application of quantitative data aggregation for policy recommendation. We standardized data into an aggregated dataset to explore how key demographic factors affected the impact of climate shocks, modeled as crop loss. We find that while cross-study results partially align with the findings from the individual projects and with theory, several challenges associated with quantitative aggregation remain when examining complex, contextual and multi-dimensional concepts such as resilience. We conclude that future exercises synthesizing cross-site empirical evidence in climate resilience could accelerate research to policy impact by using mixed methods, focusing on specific landscapes or regional scales, and facilitating research through the use of shared frameworks and learning exercises.
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