Finding a way out of conservation conflicts

Human impact on the natural world is pervasive. The effects of historical and contemporary industrialisation, agricultural expansion and globalisation can be felt even in remote environments. Addressing anthropogenic threats to biodiversity is becoming ever more urgent, and ever more challenging. Conservationists must navigate increasingly complex problems that consider not only natural processes, but also the inextricable social dimensions of environmental change, and must do so with limited human and financial resources. The challenge is particularly great in tropical regions. These are home to the majority of terrestrial biodiversity and are facing unprecedented pressures due to expanding and impoverished human populations, urbanisation and exploitation of natural resources. Conservation strategies in the tropics increasingly recognise the need to embrace social-ecological approaches, often designed around initiatives that aim to safeguard biodiversity and the benefits provided to humans by ecosystems, and promote social progress. Yet development of monitoring techniques to better inform these strategies has lagged behind. Despite recent growth in the presence of social science theory and methods in conservation, research to characterise threats and identify conservation priorities rely heavily on traditional ecological methods. These methods have limitations, including restricted replication capacity, small spatial scales and sampling error. Perhaps more importantly, they fail to elicit the social context of human activities and behaviours. The main objective of this thesis was to critically examine and develop methods to address complex conservation problems in tropical forest contexts strongly influenced by human actions. The research is based in Brazil, a mega-diverse country experiencing turbulent economic and political times. The thesis begins in the Brazilian Amazon, where recent evidence indicates that urban consumption and commercial trade of wild-meat may be widespread, presenting an important threat to Neotropical biodiversity. Yet adequate regional data is scarce. Subsequently the first two data chapters of this thesis examine two approaches that could provide important insights into the extent and characteristics of wildlife harvest and trade across large spatial scales: expert knowledge and federal enforcement reports. First, using caiman as a model taxon, I surveyed experts across the Brazilian Amazon using a Likert-style questionnaire (Chapter 2). The results of expert responses revealed novel evidence of common and geographically widespread caiman hunting, driven in part by urban demand for meat and resulting in long-distance trade networks. Chapter 3 examines the potential of federal enforcement data to provide valuable regional information on illegal harvest and trade activities, utilising reports of enforcement events in 549 Amazonian municipalities. I also examine spatial and temporal patterns of institutional capacity of Brazil’s environmental agency to understand the efficacy of governance in tropical forests against this cryptic and hard-to-detect activity; and in turn how these realities impact our interpretations of the species data contained within enforcement reports. The analyses revealed evidence of inadequate institutional capacity and low enforcement of wildlife crime, particularly in smaller towns far from deforestation frontiers. Nonetheless, the approach yielded vital conservation information on spatial patterns and dynamics of species-level harvest and trade, including evidence of large-scale commercial trade in larger cities, and local-level harvest of vulnerable terrestrial vertebrates. The study also highlighted a potential Amazonian enforcement vacuum resulting from decentralization and institutional reforms. From here, we move to the Atlantic forest, a severely modified biome and conservation hotspot, to explore the use of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) to inform on local-scale occupancy and population trends of large-bodied mammals and birds. I conducted interviews with rural people to assess their knowledge of selected native species, and also to elicit their perceptions of social, environmental and economic processes of change. The results demonstrate that LEK can provide valuable information on species responses within severely modified tropical landscapes. Perhaps more importantly, qualitative insights from respondent interviews illustrated the inter-linked social, economic and political drivers of changing landscapes and livelihoods that have shaped contemporary species patterns. The findings of this thesis demonstrate the value of alternative and innovative research methods for eliciting important conservation-relevant information in tropical forest contexts. The research presented highlights the importance of critical and robust development and application of methods, recognizing the challenges that stem from integrating social-ecological knowledge systems and approaching complex problems at different spatial scales.

Stratégies villageoises pour la gestion des paysages forestiers du Menabe Central, Madagascar

The main reason for the forest fragmentation in most natural ecosystems in the wet zone of Sri Lanka is a result of large scale clearing of natural forests for human settlements as well as in the form of tea, rubber and cinnamon plantations. In addition, illegal logging and over-exploitation of natural resources have posed massive threats to both nature and the humans including the loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, landslides, flash floods, land degradation and increasing poverty. This paper discusses about the potential to develop the rural green economy as a result of consolidating these agricultural lands into analog forests as a sustainable land use practice in a participatory approach model. Bangamukanda Estate (BKE), a manmade analog forest in Galle District was selected for this assessment. Participatory rural appraisal methods were used to obtain information on resource utilization by the local community in nearby Bangamukanda and Liyanagamakanda villages. The past records obtained by the long term ongoing analog forestry establishment programme were also used for analysis the livelihood changes of the people in those villages due to the positive impacts of this analog forest ecosystem.Various interventions had been made in the view of addressing the issues such as encouraging local farm ers to change into sustainable community based cultivation of timber, fruits, spices and medicinal plants, paying them for the environmental services they render and enhancing their income through green employment. Crop diversification helped to stabilize the economy of the local farmers and minimize the current environmental impact that resulted from mono-crop cultivation. The introduction of new sustainable agricultural activities, such as bee keeping and planting fruits resulted in the production of value added farm products and organic fruits to be sold in the market. Through environmental based tourism activities such as providing accommodation, eco guidance, food and fruit for tourists, assisting environmental research activities, the stakeholders are earning a better income which trends to the development of the green economy of the country. Key words: Bangamukanda, analog forest, crop diversification, sustainable land use, rural green economy, green employment

Biodiversity and ecological functioning of mudflat macrofauna in the Anthropocene

Strengthening research efforts to understand the combined impacts of conservation and livelihoods in protected areas (PAs) will increase the collective contribution that PAs can make towards meeting global goals for sustainable development in the next decade. As an example of such efforts, in 2014 the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) jointly initiated the “Sustainable Management of Protected Areas in East Africa” project. This paper provides a brief overview of the project’s research background, goals and research tasks. The study is based on a look at the PA management system in East Africa and a review of the literature on the impact of PAs in the region. Results show that East African nations have expanded the coverage of PAs and established a complex set of PA management systems over the past century. The mandate for PAs in East African nations has changed recently from protecting biodiversity to alleviating poverty and supporting livelihoods. However, a combination of human activities and ecological processes inside and outside of PAs may not only impact biodiversity and ecosystem function over the long term, but also pose a threat to the capacity of PAs to maintain livelihoods and alleviate poverty in the local communities around them. The state of existing research in the field suggests there is an enormous need for additional research, the purpose of which is to help PA managers and policy-makers in East Africa understand how to achieve win-win outcomes for both ecosystems and human well-being. Against this background, the CAS-KWS-UN Environment joint research project aims to understand the dynamic interactions between ecosystems and human well-being around PAs in East Africa and identify good practices for PA management to reconcile conservation targets with the livelihood demands of local communities. It is intended that this research be shared with interested parties throughout the developing world. Significant progress has been made in the implementation of the project, in terms of data collection, exchanges of researchers, and the completion of case studies. In the coming year, success stories and examples of failures of PA management in the region will be systematically summarized and shared among scientists, managers and decision makers worldwide. Given its blueprint for building a “Beautiful China”, China can both supplement and benefit from East African knowledge and experience of PA management. This joint research effort promotes Sino-African cooperation on PA research and management.

Muthurajawela wetland. located as the west coast of Sri Lanka is the largestcoastal peal bag of the island. At present. the biodiversity of Muthurajawela isthreatened by unplanned development activities and growing human population.Therefore, an ecological survey was carried out in order to assess the presentstatus of biodiversity in Muthurajawela, and also to identify critical habitats forthe conservation and sustence of biodiversity. Field monitoring of fauna and florawas carried out at fortnightly intervals, using scientifically accepted rapidbiodiversity assessment techniques (fauna - line transects; flora - plots, Braun-Blanquet cover), The data was analysed using ecological indices(diversity/species richness), and critical habitats were identified using avifauna asa correlate of biodiversity. Ground truthing of vegetation maps was carried out todocument changes of major vegetation communities. The study enabled to identify 192 species of flora, distributed over seven majorvegetation communities at Muthurajawela; marsh, lentic flora, reed swamp, shortgrassland, scrubland, stream bank flora and mangrove swamp. The vertebratefauna documented included 40 species of fish, 14 species of amphibians, 31species of reptiles, 102 species of birds and 22 species of mammals. Among thetotal vertebrate species documented, 17 are endemic, 26 are considered asnationally threatened, while 36 are new records to Muthurajawela. The selectedinvertebrate species documented consisted of 48 species of butterflies and 22species odonates, the latter which turned out to be a useful indicator of habitatquality. The threats documented included direct exploitation (poaching, cutting oftrees), habitat degradation/modification (land reclamation, dumping of garbage,clearing of natural vegetation, pollution and eutrophication) and the spread ofseveral alien invasive species (including unmanaged domestic animals). Thenorthern part of the marsh serve as an ecotone, with a mixture of the above plantcommunities/habitat types which were relatively undisturbed. Analysis carriedout using ecological indices highlighted the northern region as a high biodiversityzone, which is critical for the conservation and future sustenance of biodiversity atMuthurajawela. Ground truthing of vegetation maps, supported with results of thevegetation survey showed that the composition of dominant flora has changedover a period of 10 years, in most places in the Muthurajawela Wetland, as aresult of human disturbances. Data on the avifauna also highlighted aconsiderable decrease in migrant birds at Muthurajawela, possibly due to habitatdeterioration.The findings have important conservation and managementimplications, in particular greater emphasis need to be placed on the more ciritcalareas of the marsh. An important policy implication would be the need

Zimbabwe is indisputably one of the foremost, volatile and vulnerable nations tainted with adverse impacts of the land degradation, poor governance of natural resources, unnecessary burning of the veld and poaching. Hence, there is the need to revisit sustainable environmental management policies and conservation initiatives starting from grassroots level. The CAMPFIRE program in Zimbabwe is one of the strategies designed to tackle environmental management. The conceptual connection of people and conservation of natural resources in Zimbabwe seemed to have evolved towards local ownership and local management. Thus limits of community ownership over natural resources have been reached. According to dominant actors on the conservation scene, the indigenous people in Zimbabwe have not been able to effectively conserve their wildlife and biodiversity and thus in their view a more enforcing style of conservation, separated from local people, is needed again. This study explores and analyses the benefits of conservation and sustainable management of natural resources including wildlife on rural livelihoods with particular focus on rural development. The methods used in this study included focus group discussions, key informant interviews and field observations.

Increasing food production without compromising biodiversity is one of the great challenges for humanity. The aims of my thesis were to define spatial priorities for biodiversity conservation and to evaluate conservation conflicts considering agricultural expansion in the 21st century. I also tested the effect of globalizing conservation efforts on both food production and biodiversity conservation. I found spatial conflicts between biodiversity conservation and agricultural expansion. However, incorporating agricultural expansion data into the spatial prioritization process can significantly alleviate conservation conflicts, by reducing spatial correlation between the areas under high impact of agriculture and the priority areas for conservation. Moreover, developing conservation blueprints at the global scale, instead of the usual approach based on national boundaries, can benefit both food production and biodiversity. Based on these findings I conclude that the incorporation of agricultural expansion as a key component for defining global conservation strategies should be added to the list of solutions for our cultivated planet.

Conservation of biodiversity is rapidly changing as a result of increased impact of human activity on the natural world. At the beginning of a new epoch - the Anthropocene - the cumulative effect of population growth and natural resource consumption has left no corner of the planet unaffected by humans. Impacts can be observed on a global scale, such as climate change, ocean acidification, and nitrification and also on a local scale including habitat destruction, community composition, and pollution. These impacts are restructuring ecosystems into novel systems that require creative approaches to conserve ecosystem processes and maintain biodiversity. Large mammalian carnivores represent a clade of organisms that has a varied ability to survive in human dominated landscapes. For my dissertation, I examined community structure, movement, and abundance of brown bears (Ursus arctos arctos), gray wolves (Canis lupus), and Caucasian lynx (Lynx lynx dinniki) in a human dominated landscape in eastern Turkey. From 2013-2016, I surveyed for all medium-large mammal species using remote cameras deployed in a fragmented forest patch near Sarikamis, Turkey. Occupancy estimates reveal a mammal community dominated by large carnivores, humans and livestock, and lacking a natural prey base. During 2011-2016, I collared 28 bears, 11 wolves and 2 lynx and used species-specific seasonal resource selection functions to assess habitat selection patterns. I found that all three species use of habitat varies between seasons and is strongly linked to elevation and slope. By identifying critical habitat for all three species, I have prioritized a specific area for conservation efforts in the future. To estimate the minimum population size of brown bears in my main study area, during 2013-2015, I used scat detection dogs to collect 1,520 bear scat samples for genetic analysis, and using 8 polymorphic microsatellite loci, I identified 27 unique multilocus genotypes and expected heterozygosity of 0.70 as a proxy of genetic diversity. I also conducted opinion surveys in 2014 and combined results with surveys conducted 2006 and 2010 to understand the perspective of the local community about large carnivores. Lastly, I propose a prioritized list of future conservation plans for large carnivore conservation in the human-dominated landscape of Sarikamis Forest, eastern Anatolia.

شاخص‏های تنوع زیستی ابزاری نیرومند برای ارزیابی پایداری نظام های کشاورزی محسوب می شوند. در این تحقیق که به منظور ارزیابی تنوع زیستی محصولات زراعی و باغی شهرستان های استان اصفهان و همچنین بررسی روابط موجود بین تنوع زیستی و عوامل اقلیمی ‏این استان صورت گرفت، سطح زیر کشت، غنای گونه ای، یکنواختی، تنوع گونه ای و تنوع آلفا و بتای محصولات زراعی و باغی محاسبه شده و مورد ارزیابی قرار گرفتند. بدین منظور، اطلاعات مربوط به سطح زیر کشت گیاهان زراعی و باغی شهرستان‏های مختلف استان اصفهان در سال زراعی 92-1391 از طریق اطلاعات سازمان جهاد کشاورزی استان و همچنین پرسشنامه‏هایی جمع‏آوری گردید. محصولات زراعی به هشت گروه غلات، حبوبات، جالیزی، سبزیجات، علوفه ای، صنعتی و دارویی و محصولات باغی به دو گروه درختان میوه معتدله و گرمسیری طبقه بندی شدند. تنوع آلفا و بتا نیز با استفاده از رابطه غنای گونه‏ای مساحت برای اقلیم‏های مختلف استان محاسبه شد. نتایج نشان داد که در گروه محصولات باغی، درختان میوه معتدله (2/76 درصد) بیشترین و در گروه محصولات زراعی غلات (36/59 درصد) و گیاهان دارویی (09/1 درصد) به ترتیب بیشترین و کمترین سطح زیر کشت را دارا هستند. شهرستان های سمیرم و برخوار و میمه به ترتیب بیشترین و کمترین سطح زیر کشت محصولات باغی را به خود اختصاص دادند. بیشترین سطح زیر کشت محصولات زراعی در شهرستان اصفهان و کمترین آن در شهرستان خوروبیابانک مشاهده شد. شهرستان-های کاشان، لنجان، و نطنز با 17 گونه گیاهی، بیشترین و آران و بیدگل با سه گونه گیاهی کمترین غنای گونه ای محصولات باغی استان را در برداشتند. بیشترین و کمترین شاخص یکنواختی محصولات باغی به ترتیب مربوط به شهرستان های اصفهان (83/0) و سمیرم (192/0) بود. شهرستان های فلاورجان، خمینی شهر، کاشان، نایین و نجف آباد دارای بیشترین شاخص یکنواختی در محصولات زراعی و شهرستان اصفهان کمترین میزان این شاخص را نشان داد. به طور میانگین بیشترین و کمترین شاخص تنوع زیستی شانون- وینر در محصولات زراعی به ترتیب مربوط به گیاهان علوفه ای (929/0) و جالیزی (442/0) بود. این شاخص برای درختان معتدله بیش از دو برابر درختان گرمسیری گزارش شد. بیشترین و کمترین میزان تنوع آلفا به ترتیب در شهرستان‏های واقع در اقلیم‏های معتدل و بیابانی گرم مشاهده شد. اقلیم بیابانی معتدل نیز بالاترین میزان تنوع بتا را شامل شد.

Wetlands are ecosystems in which water covers the land. They provide economical, ecological, societal and recreational benefits to humans. Although complete documentation is lacking, wetlands make a significant part of Ethiopia covering an area of 13,700 km2. Wetlands with a great potential for ecotourism development in the country include the rift valley lakes, the floodplains in Gambella, the Awash River Gorge with spectacular waterfalls, the Lake Tana and the Lake Ashenge, the Wenchi Crater Lake and the Wetlands in Sheko district are among others. Similarly, the Wetlands of Ethiopia are home to various aquatic biodiversity. Some of the biodiversity potential areas are the Cheffa Wetland and Lake Tana basin in the North, the rift valley lakes namely, Lake Zeway, Abaya and Chamo, and the Baro River and the Dabus Wetland in the Western Ethiopia. However, the wetlands in the country are impacted by a combination of social, economic, development related and climatic factors that lead to their destruction. Correspondingly, the wetlands holding a considerable biodiversity potential in the country lack adequate management. To address the challenges and enhance the wetland’s role in ecotourism and biodiversity, a sustainable form of wetland resource use should be developed. As a result, integrating wetlands with ecotourism and developing as livelihood option for local communities is important for sustainable conservation of wetlands. Awareness rising, empowering stakeholders involved in wetland resource conservation, enhancing stakeholders’ participation, undertaking the restoration of degraded wetlands and promoting scientific studies on wetlands of the country are crucial to conserve wetlands and at the same time promote their ecotourism and biodiversity importance. Moreover, implementing the integrated wetland resource management approach and addressing policy, management and coordination issues that arise on wetland resource conservation aids to promote the significance of wetlands in ecotourism and biodiversity conservation in Ethiopia. Key words: Wetlands, ecotourism, biodiversity conservation, implication, Ethiopia.

This study aims at contributing to the vulnerability and adaptation to climate changes (CC) analysis of bordering communities of Togodo Reserve, in order to enhance their resilience. Specifically, the present study attempted to (i) identify the climatic hazards of the WRT; (ii) determine the impacts of climate variability and change on their livelihoods; (iii) assess the socio-economic vulnerability of these communities to food insecurity in relation to CC; and (iv) identify indigenous adaptation strategies to control the effects of CC. The methodological approach used is based on a factual research and a field investigation. The investigation is conducted in two villages around the reserve, namely Deve and Gbohoule. The results showed that climate variability and change were appreciated in different indicators by the local communities living around the WRT: Droughts, flooding, high winds and temperature increase with severe consequences on the communities (famine, destruction of tangible and intangible properties, loss of human life, populations’ migration). The communities are aware that humans are responsible for these events that have become recurrent from 2007 and occur almost every year. According to them, the causes of climate changes are deforestation (due to overexploitation of timber, fuelwood and shifting agriculture), bush fires, rapid increase in population, anger of gods due to irregularities of sacrifices and violations of customs. The communities are vulnerable to main climatic hazards and suffered from food insecurity. The factorial correspondence analysis (FCA)) carried out shows that the perception of the degree of exposure of households to risks depends on their standard of livelihood. Facing these climate events, the populations develop many adaptive strategies of which most are consistent with the national orientations and strategies. These adaptive strategies must be reinforced and supported in order to reduce the vulnerability of these populations to climate changes. Key words: Climate variability and change, communities, livelihood, vulnerability and adaptation, Wildlife Reserve of Togodo.

Population increase during the mid-twentieth century as mortality declines in many developing nations were not matched with reductions in fertility, resulting in unprecedented growth rates. Concern with environmental change has come to the forefront primarily since 1970, with discernible levels of environmental degradation fueling public concern with the scope of contemporary environmental transformations and the advent of satellite imagery aiding environmental research. Rapid population growth and global environmental change are two issues that have received important public attention over the past several decades. It has become increasingly clear that human populations have a powerful effect on the environment and become a global public policy issue. Yet the exact relationship between population dynamics and the environment is complex. This paper reviews the environmental significances of population dynamics, based on current knowledge of the relationships between population factors and various aspects of the natural environment. This research is important for several reasons. • Compared with human-induced environmental changes of centuries past, the geographic scope of contemporary human-induced change is much larger. The rate of change is also much faster. The Earth's surface air temperature has increased by between 0.3 degrees and 0.6 degrees. Scientists have discovered that human activities as land-use change and fossil fuel use appear linked o increased concentrations of several atmospheric gases which warm the Earth's atmosphere and surface temperature.' As a result, humans appear partially responsible for environmental changes at the global scale-large-scale changes that have taken place in less than 200 years. • Some human-induced environmental changes have irreversible consequences. Ii is estimated that nearly 12 percent of mammals and 11 percent of bird species are currently threatened with extinction. In fact, the currently confronted episode of biodiversity loss is greater than the orld has experienced for the past 65 million years. Although some human activities, such as conservation programs, aim to preserve or enhance biodiversity, human-induced habitat destruction remains the primary cause of species decline. • The effects of contemporary environmental changes on humans are also increasing in scope. Global estimates suggest there may be as many as 25 million ”environmental refugees” -individuals who have migrated because they can no longer secure a livelihood from the land because of deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, and other environmental problems. • Human population continues to grow. In the face of rapid, large-scale, human-induced environmental change, human numbers increase each year by approximately 80 million. Those areas with continuing high fertility and resulting population growth are typically those with the least environmental resilience and those facing the greatest resource constraints. Although Earth already faces severe air pollution, water contamination, and other environmental ills, more than 90 percent of future population growth is projected to take place in these areas. This paper discusses the relationship between population and natural environmental change, the forces that mediate this relationship, and how population dynamics specifically affect climate change and land-use change and like to outline both sides of the policy debate that have emerged-those who would limit fertility and population growth in the developing world and those who need reduced consumption in the developed world. I also like to call for policymakers to pay increased attention to the role of population and forsake the search for one-step solutions to environmental problems.

[Extract] At face value, the importance of biological diversity to sustainable development is obvious. Beyond the intrinsic value we ascribe to living organisms and assemblages, biodiversity contributes to numerous ecosystem processes that support ecological, economic and social well-being. Biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems - including heavily modified ecosystems such as those found in farms, gardens, cities and towns - to cope with climatic and environmental shocks. Biodiversity supports food security by providing raw genetic material for improved crop and livestock varieties. Biodiversity provides opportunities for indigenous and other communities to cultivate market niches based on traditional knowledge and livelihood practices. Indeed, biodiversity and the ecosystem processes in which it is implicated provide a host of services to people that would otherwise require expensive technological and financial inputs. These include the purification of water and air; the provision of food, fibre, timber and fuel; the mitigation of floods, drought, disease; and so on. In more ways than we yet understand, biodiversity is central to the sustainability of human societies and economies.

The emerging concern in the last few decades for conserving 'diversity' is an impetus to conserve not only the whole spectmm of biota i.e. the total sum of genes, species and ecosystems but also indigenous culture, traditions, spiritual beliefs and values. This phenomenon is named Biocultural Diversity, which is a synthesis of both Biological Diversity (biodiversity) and Cultural Diversity. 1980 's was considered the decade of biodiversity, 1990's that of cultural diversity and 2000's a new field of Bio-Cultural diversity. In the first half of this paper the . interrelationship and interdependence between biodiversity and cultural diversity is discussed and in the second half how the modern global economic system is engulfing this diversity of life, knowledge, cultural heritage and practices are analysed The global distribution and patterns of biodiversity coincide with that of cultural diversity, therefore if languages and cultures disappear due to global pressure of homogenization we also lose knowledge about our environment leading to biodiversity depletion~ It is quite noticeable that the countries with people speaking largest number of languages; and countries with greatest number of traditional livelihoods and indigenous communities obviously have the greatest biological diversity. Thus only a sustainable approach can bridge the gap between modern visions of human beings and traditional cultural aspirations thereby ensuring holistic development.