Syagrus coronata (Mart.) Becc. (Arecaceae), known as licuri, is a palm tree widely distributed throughout the Brazilian semi-arid, being currently vulnerable to extinction. Its fruits are exploited by both humans and animals, representing high sociocultural, economic, and ecological relevance. This palm tree is found in areas under different management intensity and land use; therefore, both medium and long-term ecological monitoring programs are essential to verify the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on the dynamic of their populations. Information on population structure and growth (λ) from 2018 to 2021 was obtained in 40 plots of 20 × 20 m (1.6 ha). Population matrix models based on five life stages (seedling, sapling, juvenile, immature adult, and reproductive adults) were obtained, in addition to information on fruit productivity and harvesting intensity. Individuals from the seedling stage predominated in both pasture and natural habitats. The populations from two habitats were stable (Pasture λ = 1.00 and Natural λ = 1.01); however, no transition occurred from earlier up to later stages. The population in the pasture was characterized by a low transition rate (recruitment of juveniles onwards), caused mainly by the pressure exerted by cattle. Our results suggest that the adult reproductive and seedling stages are the most important for the survival and growth of the populations. Harvest intensity had no effect on population growth, and only 16.65 % of the fruit annual production was collected. Therefore, fruit harvesting is sustainable, but the type of pasture management might compromise the future of the population. Management strategies ought to reduce the pressure exerted by livestock to increase the transition between stages and maintain the S. coronata populations over several years.

In the Anthropocene, fostering a more sustainable relationship between humans and nature is paramount. National parks, as successful global models of conservation, promote coexistence between humans and the natural world. This study examines the complex interplay between human well-being, connection to a national park, and pro-environmental actions among community residents. Employing a community survey within Wuyishan National Park in China, we collected and analyzed 285 valid questionnaires. Using a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), our findings reveal significant positive correlations between both objective and subjective well-being, place attachment, and pro-environmental intention and behavior. Our results further indicate that human well-being influences pro-environmental intention and behavior in complex ways, with place attachment acting as a mediating factor. These findings suggest that strengthening community-park bonds and enhancing residents' well-being are crucial strategies for promoting the sustainable conservation of protected areas.

Community Conserved Areas are an example of harmonious interaction between people and nature, and they enhance the ecological environment and biodiversity conservation. However, social disturbances are threatening their sustainability. Taking Xishuangbanna as an example, We explore the social-ecological system resilience of Community Conserved Areas at the regional level, taking the disturbances caused by human social activities as the entry point, and construct a resilience evaluation index system based on the pressure-state-response model, evaluating its resilience, and analyzing in depth the factors influencing it. The level of resilience of Xishuangbanna’s Community Conserved Areas varied greatly between regions, with the proportion of townships with a high to low resilience index in the following order:20%, 23%, 20%, 27%, 10%. Key social factors affecting the resilience of the Xishuangbanna Community Conserved Areas include the following in order of decreasing pressure: economic development, urbanization and population growth. The status hierarchy is largely dependent on the quality of resources and environmental conditions. Within the response hierarchy, factors such as education, traditional culture and forest conservation are key. Additionally, each influencing factor does not work independently and needs to be considered in an integrated manner to achieve better results. Our study extends the socio-ecological resilience of Community Conserved Areas to the regional scale, clarifying the importance of management systems in building social-ecological system resilience, and providing a basis for regional conservation and management.

Amidst the global decline in biodiversity, there are growing calls for more ambitious conservation targets and practices, including a renewed focus on protecting and restoring natural processes. However, little is known about suitable areas for process-oriented conservation and its different strategies. In this paper, we identify priority areas for process-oriented conservation following an ecoregion-based approach. Using the Alpine Space programme area as a pilot study area, a Wilderness Quality Index is calculated and mapped based on spatial indicators reflecting variations in naturalness, human impact, remoteness, and ruggedness. To identify priority areas for process-oriented conservation, the 10% of areas with the highest wilderness quality are identified for each ecoregion (‘ecoregional approach’) and compared with the identification of the 10% wildest areas of the entire study area (‘conventional approach’). The results show significant differences in priority areas between the two approaches, with those identified by the ecoregional approach being of lower wilderness quality, more dispersed across the study region and different elevation classes, and smaller in size. The ecoregional approach results in a greater coverage of ecosystem- and species-level diversity, yet it highlights a greater need for complementing the protection of wilderness in less modified regions with rewilding initiatives and the expansion of the protected area network in ecoregions with significant human activity. Based on these findings, we discuss the potential and challenges that an ecoregion-based identification of priority areas brings for biodiversity conservation, protection and restoration practice, and local communities. The ecoregion-based approach and the findings of this study can inform initiatives under the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, in particular the target to ‘strictly protect’ 10% of the EU’s land and sea.

The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is one of the most endangered felids in the world, and a high proportion of its populations occur in hunting grounds managed for red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) and wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), both game species of high socio-economic value and the latter a key prey species for the lynx. In this case study from south-eastern Portugal, we evaluated the game management practices, the abundance of partridges and rabbits (expressed as Kilometric Abundance Index), and the occurrence of mesocarnivores in four hunting grounds, two with and two without breeding lynx. In all grounds game management was conducted but in those where lynx occurred, full-time gamekeepers were employed and hunting was the major source of income. The results showed that grounds with breeding lynx had higher KAI values for partridges and rabbits, together with reduced mesocarnivores occurrence (particularly red fox Vulpes vulpes and stone marten Martes foina), compared to those without breeding lynx. Our results confirm that lynx occurrence fits within the management traits of those hunting grounds in Iberia aiming to increase partridges and rabbits for sustainable hunting, as they act as ‘natural’ gamekeepers. This could be considered as a ‘win-win’ situation; successful for lynx’s establishment and small game conservation.

The existing methodologies to measure management effectiveness of protected area have often been focus on identifying weaknesses and strengths to set priorities in terms of policy intervention, resource distribution and adaptive management. It is not adequately captured the extent of protected area sustainability as a conservation site even though management effectiveness is influenced by the interaction of environment, socioeconomics and governance, which are pillars of sustainability. Thus, the objective of this study was to propose a methodology based on sustainability pillar indicators to evaluate management effectiveness, using three protected areas in Peninsular Malaysia as case studies: Sungai Dusun, Bukit Kutu and Klang Gate wildlife reserves. In this study, a questionnaire survey was used to evaluate the management effectiveness of the study sites. The evaluation framework of the questionnaire was based on six components of management effectiveness and indicators from three sustainability pillars or aspects: environment, socioeconomics and governance. Respondents of the survey consisted of local residents in each study site and management staff involved in the management of the protected areas. Each indicator from different aspects of evaluation was assigned a selected parameter to be rated by the respondents from ‘1’ (strongly disagree) to ‘5’ (strongly agree). Based on the rating values the percentage of optimum value was calculated to determine the overall management rating for each study site which interpreted according to five management levels from ‘unsatisfactory’ to ‘very satisfactory’. The percentage of optimum values revealed that the environment and governance aspects of all study sites had moderately satisfactory while for socioeconomic only Klang Gate had moderately satisfactory but satisfactory for Bukit Kutu and Sungai Dusun. The overall percentage of optimum revealed that the management effectiveness level of all reserves was moderately satisfactory. However, Sungai Dusun had the highest percentage of optimum (71.3%), followed by Bukit Kutu (67.7%) and Klang Gate (66.5%). In conclusion, the sustainability level of the reserves is still functioning as intended despite deficiencies especially in governance aspect. Thus, the proposed methodology is simple and has adoptable way to measure both management effectiveness and capture the sustainability of the protected areas.

Bubalus mindorensis (tamaraw) and Sus oliveri (Mindoro warty pig) are emblematic of Mindoro Island as a faunal biodiversity hotspot in the Philippines. However, these endemic, red-listed mammals are of socioecological concern due to pressures within their contracting home ranges. Conservation efforts are logistically hindered by their elusive yet aggressive behavior and coexistence with indigenous tribes. This study aims to identify high conservation value areas (HCVAs), sites where both species are highly suitable. Ensemble species distribution modeling (SDM) based on nine algorithms was performed. For each species, three ensemble SDMs were calibrated following three proposed approaches in decreasing hyperparameter-based model complexity: standard, tuned, and limited. Across ensemble SDMs, complexity and True Skill Statistics (TSS)-based accuracy are positively associated. Still, the limited ensemble SDM of tamaraw (TSS = 0.740) and Mindoro warty pig (TSS = 0.855) retain good discriminatory performance. These coincidingly predict that known occurrence sites are areas of high suitability, which are spatially fragmented into four patches across the Mindoro Mountain Range: Mt. Calavite Wildlife Sanctuary, Upper Amnay Watershed, Aruyan-Malati, and Mts. Iglit-Baco National Park. In total, these prospective HCVAs cover 405.17 km2 (3.83%) of Mindoro Island, which represent areas of priority for the ongoing Mindoro Island Biodiversity (BD) Corridor Project. This study substantiates the need for strategic management of these HCVAs. Despite overarching study-specific limitations and uncertainties, this study advocates the informed use of ensemble SDMs for reserve selection, conservation planning, and wildlife-related policymaking in Mindoro Island.

Interdunal wetlands of the Medinipur coastal plain provide various agroecosystem services (AES). Local populace had been found to utilize these wetlands for subsistence livelihood since time immemorial. However, many of these wetlands have become degraded by extensive land use conversions along with increasing apathy among young farmers to continue wetland based traditional livelihood practices in the recent years. In this regard, the present study attempts to assess the willingness to pay (WTP) of the local wetland dependent populace towards restoration and management of the various AES of a regional interdunal wetland complex using contingent valuation (CV) method. The CV survey was conducted among 229 households from 14 villages associated to the wetland complex. Four Landsat images from 1990 to 2020 and several ancillary spatial datasets were analysed to detect the current as well as future status (2030) of land use covers using the artificial neural network algorithm. Results showed that socio-economic factors such as age, level of education, monthly income per person, ownership of wetlands, and availability of AES primarily determined the average WTP (US$ 0.30 per month) of surveyed households. Thus, the total economic value of the wetland complex, calculated as the aggregate WTP, was remarkably as low as US$ 11568.64 per year, thereby indicating towards lesser environmental awareness and widespread poverty among the respondents. This perilous condition is also manifested in the present and future projected LULC patterns from 1990 to 2030. If the same trend of mismanagement prevails in the imminent years, a drop of more than 50% in areal coverage of interdunal wetlands is anticipated. Based on the findings, it was suggested that the vicious cycle of ‘lesser awareness-low WTP-wetland loss-degrading provision of AES’ could only be replaced through a three-pronged approach comprising environmental education, technological dissemination, and legislative cum ecotourism interventions.

Forests are considered to be the planet's green lungs to regulate the air and protect human health. With trade development, deforestation for agricutlural production will affect the natural environment. However, the effect of trade development and digitalization on individual perceptions of forest roads in agricultural production and nature conservation has yet to be identified. Therefore, this study aims to find how trade development affects nature conservation through the individual perception of forest roads for agriculture. Accordingly, four factors are investigated in these effects (digitalization, deforestation, emissions, and health concerns). The qualitative approach was employed to validate the measurement scale, while the quantitative approach was used to test the proposed hypotheses through a survey of 975 citizens in Vietnam. The results found that trade development indirectly impacts the individual perception of forest road expansion through increased emissions. In contrast, digitalization is found to be an insignificant influence on the individual perspective of road expansion. Moreover, the increase in emissions has the highest impact on individuals’ opposition towards forest roads, followed by deforestation. Trade development helps a transition economy shorten the gap with developed countries by receiving advanced technology from other countries. However, this raises concerns about increasing environmental pollution and increasing emissions. Therefore, transition economies that want to encourage the development of international trade must comply with regulations on nature conservation under the free trade agreements in which they participate.

Accidental introductions of invasive alien species (IAS) are increasingly prevalent and costly. Anthropogenic activities, including fieldwork activities of researchers, pose a risk for the unintentional spread of IAS. However, specific biosecurity policies and measures to prevent accidental introductions and the secondary spread of IAS are lacking in many European countries, primarily relying on researchers’ awareness of the issue. This study aimed to evaluate the biosecurity practices of researchers in Croatia during their fieldwork activities through an anonymous online survey distributed to over 63 institutions. The survey was completed by 172 respondents from 45 institutions and aimed to assess their knowledge of IAS and awareness of biosecurity risks they can pose. The results showed that even though more than half of the participants worked in the field of biology and had at least some knowledge of IAS, the majority used only the most basic and least efficient cleaning approaches for fieldwork equipment, clothes, and footwear, which are not sufficient for preventing unintentional IAS introductions. Moreover, vehicle cleaning was the most neglected biosecurity measure in our study, with up to 60 % of respondents never performing it and only 12 % always performing at least some type of vehicle cleaning. Respondents with the best knowledge of IAS posed a significant risk during their fieldwork activities but at the same time demonstrated the best understanding of biosecurity measures and had the best biosecurity performance. Furthermore, students were identified as a high-risk group since they visited the highest number of locations during fieldwork and used the equipment most often but cleaned it the least frequently. Based on obtained results, we discuss potential interventions that could help manage accidental IAS introductions at the national and EU levels.