The new global biodiversity framework (GBF) being developed under the Convention on Biological Diversity must drive action to reverse the ongoing decline of the Earth's biodiversity. Explicit, ...measurable goals that specify the outcomes we want to achieve are needed to set the course for this action. However, the current draft goals and targets fail to set out these clear outcomes. We argue that distinct outcome goals for species, ecosystems, and genetic diversity are essential and should specify net outcomes required for each. Net outcome goals such as “no net loss” do, however, have a controversial history, and loose specification can lead to perverse outcomes. We outline seven general principles to underpin net outcome goal setting that minimize risk of such perverse outcomes. Finally, we recommend inclusion of statements of impact in action targets that support biodiversity goals, and we illustrate the importance of this with an example from the draft GBF action targets. These modifications would help reveal the specific contribution each action would make to achieving the outcome goals and provide clarity on whether the successful achievement of action targets would be adequate to achieve the outcome goals and, in turn, the 2050 vision: living in harmony with nature.
Alternative livelihood project (ALP) is a widely used term for interventions that aim to reduce the prevalence of activities deemed to be environmentally damaging by substituting them with lower ...impact livelihood activities that provide at least equivalent benefits. ALPs are widely implemented in conservation, but in 2012, an International Union for Conservation of Nature resolution called for a critical review of such projects based on concern that their effectiveness was unproven. We focused on the conceptual design of ALPs by considering their underlying assumptions. We placed ALPs within a broad category of livelihood-focused interventions to better understand their role in conservation and their intended impacts. We dissected 3 flawed assumptions about ALPs based on the notions of substitution, the homogenous community, and impact scalability. Interventions based on flawed assumptions about people's needs, aspirations, and the factors that influence livelihood choice are unlikely to achieve conservation objectives. We therefore recommend use of a sustainable livelihoods approach to understand the role and function of environmentally damaging behaviors within livelihood strategies; differentiate between households in a community that have the greatest environmental impact and those most vulnerable to resource access restrictions to improve intervention targeting; and learn more about the social-ecological system within which household livelihood strategies are embedded. Rather than using livelihood-focused interventions as a direct behavior-change tool, it may be more appropriate to focus on either enhancing the existing livelihood strategies of those most vulnerable to conservation-imposed resource access restrictions or on use of livelihood-focused interventions that establish a clear link to conservation as a means of building good community relations. However, we recommend that the term ALP be replaced by the broader term livelihood-focused intervention. This avoids the implicit assumption that alternatives can fully substitute for natural resource-based livelihood activities. El término proyecto de subsistencia alternativa es utilizado ampliamente para las intervenciones que buscan reducir la prevalencia de las actividades señaladas como dañinas para el ambiente al sustituirlas con actividades de subsistencia de menor impacto que proporcionan por lo menos beneficios equivalente. Estos proyectos se implementan comúnmente en la conservación, pero en 2012, una resolución de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza pidió una revisión crítica de dichos proyectos con base en la preocupación por la falta de pruebas de su efectividad. Nos enfocamos en el diseño conceptual de proyectos alternativos de subsistencia al considerar sus conjeturas subyacentes. Colocamos los proyectos alternativos de subsistencia dentro de una categoría amplia de intervenciones enfocadas en la subsistencia para entender de mejor manera su papel en la conservación y sus impactos intencionales. Analizamos minuciosamente tres suposiciones erróneas sobre los proyectos de subsistencia alternativa con base en las ideas de sustitución, comunidad bomogénea y escalabilidad del impacto. Las intervenciones basadas en las suposiciones erróneas de las necesidades de las personas, aspiraciones y los factores que influyen en la elección de la subsistencia tienen poca probabilidad de alcanzar objetivos de conservación. Por lo tanto, recomendamos el uso de una estrategia de subsistencias sustentables para entender el papel y la función de los comportamientos dañinos para el ambiente dentro de las estrategias de subsistencia; diferenciar entre los hogares de una comunidad que tienen el mayor impacto ambiental y aquellos más vulnerables a las restricciones de acceso a los recursos para mejorar la selección de intervenciones; y aprender más sobre el sistema socio-ecológico en el cual están embebidas las estrategias de subsistencia de los hogares. En lugar de usar las intervenciones enfocadas en la subsistencia como una herramienta directa de cambio de comportamiento, puede ser más apropiado enfocarse en mejorar las estrategias existentes de aquellos más vulnerables a las restricciones de acceso a los recursos impuestas por la conservación o en el uso de las intervenciones enfocadas en la subsistencia que establecen un vínculo claro con la conservación como medio de construcción de buenas relaciones comunitarias. Sin embargo, recomendamos que el término proyecto de subsistencia alternativa sea remplazado por el término más general de intervención enfocada en la subsistencia. Esto evita la suposición implícita de que las alternativas pueden sustituir por completo a las actividades de subsistencia basadas en los recursos naturales.
Results of many studies show unsustainable levels of bushmeat hunting across West/Central Africa. Nevertheless, these results are usually derived from snapshot sustainability indices in which ...critical parameters are often taken from the literature. Simple, more informative tools for assessing sustainability are needed. We evaluated the impact of bushmeat hunting across a range of temporal, spatial, and taxonomic scales in a comparison of different measures of sustainability. Over 15 months in 2002-2004 in and around a village close to Equatorial Guinea's Monte Alén National Park, we collected data via a village offtake survey, hunter-camp bushmeat-consumption diaries, hunter interviews, and following hunters during hunts. We compared 2003 data with a previous offtake survey (1998-1999) and interview reports back to 1990. In the past 14 years, average distance from the village at which hunters operated remained constant, with hunters switching back and forth between long-established camps, although trapping effort increased. In the past 5 years, overall offtake and number of active hunters did not change substantially, although catch per unit effort (CPUE) decreased slightly. Although the proportion of the two most commonly trapped species (Cephalophus monticola and Atherurus africanus) and gun-hunted primates increased in the offtake, species presumably less robust to trapping decreased slightly. Apparent sustainability in economic terms may be masking gradual local extirpation of more vulnerable species before and during this study. Our results suggest that changes in prey profiles and CPUE may be the most accurate indicators of actual sustainability; these indices can be monitored with simple village-based offtake surveys and hunter interviews to improve community management of bushmeat hunting.
Economic development in Africa is expected to increase levels of bushmeat hunting through rising demand for meat and improved transport infrastructure. However, few studies have tracked long-term ...changes in hunter behavior as a means of testing this prediction. We evaluated changes in hunter behavior in a rural community in Equatorial Guinea over a period of rapid national economic growth, during which time road access to the regional capital greatly improved. We conducted offtake surveys (Supporting Information) over 3 7-week periods at the same time of year in 1998, 2003, and 2010 and conducted hunter and household interviews (Supporting Information) in 2003 and 2010. We tested whether relations existed among catch, hunting effort, hunting strategy, and income earned through hunting and other livelihoods in 2003 and 2010. Although village offtake increased from 1775 kg in 1998 to 4172 kg in 2003, it decreased in 2010 to 1361 kg. Aggregate catch per unit effort (i.e., number of carcasses caught per hunter and per trap) decreased from 2003 to 2010, and the majority of hunters reported a decrease in abundance of local fauna. Although these results are indicative of unsustainable hunting, cumulative changes in offtake and catch per unit effort were driven by a contraction in the total area hunted following an out-migration of 29 of the village's hunters, most of whom left to gain employment in the construction industry, after 2003. Hunters operating in both 2003 and 2010 hunted closer to the village because an increased abundance of elephants posed a danger and because they desired to earn income through other activities. Our study provides an example of national economic development contributing to a reduction in the intensity and extent of hunting. Se espera que el desarrollo económico de África incremente los niveles de consumo de carne de animales silvestres mediante el incremento de la demanda de carne y mejoras en la infraestructura de transporte. Sin embargo, pocos estudios han seguido los cambios a largo plazo en el comportamiento de cazadores como un medio para probar esta predicción. Evaluamos los cambios en el comportamiento de cazadores en una comunidad rural en Guinea Ecuatorial a lo largo de un período de rápido crecimiento económico, durante el cual mejoró significativamente el acceso por carretera a la capital regional. Realizamos muestreos de captura (Información de Soporte) en 3 períodas de 7 semanas en la misma época del año en 1998, 2003 y 2010 y realizamos entrevistas con cazadores y sus familias (Información de Soporte) en 2003 y 2010. Probamos si existían relaciones entre la captura, el esfuerzo de cacería, estrategia de cacería e ingresos obtenidos mediante la caza y otras formas de vida en 2003 y 2010. Aunque la captura a nivel de aldea incrementó de 1775 kg en 1998 a 4172 kg en 2003, decreció en 2010 a 1361 kg. La captura agregada por unidad de esfuerzo (i.e., número de carcasas por cazador y por trampa) decreció de 2003 a 2010, y la mayoría de los cazadores reportó un decremento en la abundancia de la fauna local. Aunque estos resultados son indicativos de cacería no sustentable, los cambios acumulativos en la captura y captura por unidad de esfuerzo fueron dirigidos por una contracción en el área cinegética total después de la emigración de 29 de los cazadores de la aldea, la mayoría de los cuales salió para buscar empleo en la industria de la construcción, después de 2003. Los cazadores tanto en 2003 y 2010 cazaron más cerca de la aldea porque un incremento de la abundancia de elefantes representaba un peligro y porque deseaban obtener ingresos mediante otras actividades. Nuestro estudio proporciona un ejemplo de la contribución del desarrollo económico nacional a la reducción en la intensidad y extensión de la cacería.
Bushmeat is an important component of the informal economy throughout West and Central Africa. In order to formulate effective policy to ensure the sustainability of bushmeat hunting for both ...development and conservation reasons, there is a need to understand its position within the wider rural economy. We conducted interviews with households and hunters over a 15-month period in a village in continental Equatorial Guinea which supplies substantial quantities of bushmeat to the urban market, to evaluate (1) whether hunting is predominately for income or consumption and through choice or necessity, and (2) the factors influencing household production of and consumption and expenditure on bushmeat. Hunting for trade to urban markets is a major component of household incomes, carried out by around 60% of poor-to-middle income households, while richer households have other income-generating activities. The greater a hunter's bushmeat offtake, the higher the proportion sold. Bushmeat forms a minor component of household expenditure and is less widely consumed than alternative protein sources. It is a necessity good, with consumption and expenditure on bushmeat related less than proportionately to income. While they prefer the security of a regular wage, hunting is an important source of fall-back income for men in the absence of preferable alternative livelihood opportunities.
The okapi is an endangered, evolutionarily distinctive even-toed ungulate classified within the giraffidae family that is endemic to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The okapi is currently under ...major anthropogenic threat, yet to date nothing is known about its genetic structure and evolutionary history, information important for conservation management given the species' current plight. The distribution of the okapi, being confined to the Congo Basin and yet spanning the Congo River, also makes it an important species for testing general biogeographic hypotheses for Congo Basin fauna, a currently understudied area of research. Here we describe the evolutionary history and genetic structure of okapi, in the context of other African ungulates including the giraffe, and use this information to shed light on the biogeographic history of Congo Basin fauna in general. Using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis of mainly non-invasively collected samples, we show that the okapi is both highly genetically distinct and highly genetically diverse, an unusual combination of genetic traits for an endangered species, and feature a complex evolutionary history. Genetic data are consistent with repeated climatic cycles leading to multiple Plio-Pleistocene refugia in isolated forests in the Congo catchment but also imply historic gene flow across the Congo River.
Indicators for wild animal offtake Ingram, Daniel J.; Coad, Lauren; Collen, Ben ...
Ecology and society,
01/2015, Letnik:
20, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Unsustainable exploitation of wild animals is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and to millions of people depending on wild meat for food and income. The international conservation and ...development community has committed to implementing plans for sustainable use of natural resources and has requested development of monitoring systems of bushmeat offtake and trade. Although offtake monitoring systems and indicators for marine species are more developed, information on harvesting terrestrial species is limited. Building on approaches developed to monitor exploitation of fisheries and population trends, we have proposed two novel indicators for harvested terrestrial species: the mean body mass indicator (MBMI) assessing whether hunters are relying increasingly on smaller species over time, as a measure of defaunation, by tracking body mass composition of harvested species within samples across various sites and dates; and the offtake pressure indicator (OPI) as a measure of harvesting pressure on groups of wild animals within a region by combining multiple time series of the number of harvested individuals across species. We applied these two indicators to recently compiled data for West and Central African mammals and birds. Our exploratory analyses show that the MBMI of harvested mammals decreased but that of birds rose between 1966/1975 and 2010. For both mammals and birds the OPI increased substantially during the observed time period. Given our results, time-series data and information collated from multiple sources are useful to investigate trends in body mass of hunted species and offtake volumes. In the absence of comprehensive monitoring systems, we suggest that the two indicators developed in our study are adequate proxies of wildlife offtake, which together with additional data can inform conservation policies and actions at regional and global scales.
Any near-term gains in reducing extreme poverty will be maintained only if environmental sustainability is also achieved.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are designed to inspire efforts to ...improve people's lives by, among other priorities, halving extreme poverty by 2015 (
1
). Analogously, concern about global decline in biodiversity and degradation of ecosystem services (
2
) gave rise in 1992 to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD target “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss” was incorporated into the MDGs in 2002. Our lack of progress toward the 2010 target (
3
,
4
) could undermine achievement of the MDGs and poverty reduction in the long term. With increasing global challenges, such as population growth, climate change, and overconsumption of ecosystem services, we need further integration of the poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation agendas.
Bushmeat hunting is threatening wildlife populations across west-central Africa, and now poses a greater threat to primates than habitat loss or degradation does in some areas. However, species vary ...in their abilities to withstand hunting, either because hunters target them differentially or they vary in their vulnerability to a given level of hunting. We studied the impact of current levels of gun-hunting on diurnal primate species in the little-studied Monte Mitra area of Monte Alén National Park, continental Equatorial Guinea. Most bushmeat is currently trapped, but gun-hunting is increasing as shotguns become more available and affordable, allowing targeting of arboreal as well as terrestrial prey. We collected data over 15-mo, via hunter interviews, gun-hunter follows, an offtake survey recording 9374 individuals, and primate surveys covering 408 km of line transects in 2 sites with differing gun-hunting histories. Inside the park, where gun-hunting pressure was recent and light, we found high primate diversity, density, and biomass, with black colobus (
Colobus satanas
) particularly abundant at 57 individuals/km
2
. However, around the village, where gun-hunting was longer-established, though other species such as the guenons still persisted (albeit at lower densities),
Colobus satanas
were virtually absent. Being slow and large-bodied,
Colobus satanas
are preferred and susceptible prey, and an early indicator of overhunting. Monte Alén National Park is currently an important stronghold for primates, particularly
Colobus satanas
, but regulation of the trade and enforcement of hunting bans in the park are urgently needed to safeguard their future and that of other vulnerable species.
The upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting, and adoption of the new Global Biodiversity Framework, represent an opportunity to transform humanity's relationship with nature. ...Restoring nature while meeting human needs requires a bold vision, including mainstreaming biodiversity conservation in society. We present a framework that could support this: the Mitigation and Conservation Hierarchy. This places the Mitigation Hierarchy for mitigating and compensating the biodiversity impacts of developments (1, avoid; 2, minimize; 3, restore; and 4, offset, toward a target such as "no net loss" of biodiversity) within a broader framing encompassing all conservation actions. We illustrate its application by national governments, sub-national levels (specifically the city of London, a fishery, and Indigenous groups), companies, and individuals. The Mitigation and Conservation Hierarchy supports the choice of actions to conserve and restore nature, and evaluation of the effectiveness of those actions, across sectors and scales. It can guide actions toward a sustainable future for people and nature, supporting the CBD's vision.
The adoption of the new Global Biodiversity Framework requires mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation into society. The Mitigation and Conservation Hierarchy places the Mitigation Hierarchy (1, avoid; 2, minimize; 3, restore; and 4, offset biodiversity impacts) within a broader framing encompassing all conservation actions. We illustrate its application by national governments, sub-national levels, companies, and individuals. This integrated framework supports the choice of actions to conserve and restore nature, and evaluation of their effectiveness, across sectors and scales.
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