Conservation Legislation Research Articles

The development and institutional characteristics of China’s built heritage conservation legislation

The article reviews comprehensively the emergence and development of China’s national legislative system for cultural heritage, with a particular focus on built heritage. It covers the period from the late Qing Dynasty to the present. The antiquity preservation legislation and policies from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China (ROC) era signify the initial emergence of the state-led legislative system for cultural heritage protection and management. The Interim Regulations on the Conservation and Management of Cultural Heritage, passed in 1960, represent the state’s first targeted effort to protect significant historic monuments and sites. The 1982 Cultural Heritage Protection Law (CHPL) established the mechanism for the conservation of Protected Cultural Heritage Sites (PCHS), while the 2008 Regulation on the Conservation of Famous Historic and Cultural Cities, Towns and Villages (RCFHCCTV) defined the principles for the conservation and management of historic cities. China’s current jurisdiction for the conservation of cultural heritage is underpinned by legislation such as the CHPL, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Law (ICHL), and the RCFHCCTV. This article analyses the characteristics of the current state legislative system for built heritage conservation and the challenges and constraints regarding urban conservation. It concludes with strategic guidance for improving the legislation for China’s built heritage conservation in the present era of rapid economic development and urban regeneration.

Native to Nemesis: a cultural and environmental history of the Noisy Miner 1788 - 2019

ABSTRACT 1878: “…gallant little birds” (Wagga Wagga Advertiser) 1915: “… the carol of the magpie is eclipsed by the song of the miner” (Emu) 2004: “…the mafia of the bird world” (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 2015: “I hate those f***in things” (RedditAustralia) Through the 19th Century and the first half of the 20th Century, notwithstanding its role as an agricultural pest, the Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala was considered with affection by colonial society. The species’ reputation has been severely damaged in recent decades, however, on account of its violent tendencies towards smaller woodland birds, including many of conservation concern. Aggressive exclusion of small woodland birds from potential woodland habitat by Noisy Miners was declared a Key Threatening Process under federal conservation legislation in 2014. Given that Noisy Miners, other woodland birds, and the post-ice age woodland environment have been co-evolving for at least 10 000 years, how did the natural competitive behaviour of Noisy Miners become an ecological problem? In this paper I review historical references to Noisy Miners and current research on the ecology of the species to construct a trajectory of change. Culturally, these changes include a shift in attitudes to the species from agricultural pest and popular native bird to a vilified, “overabundant” native species and nemesis of small woodland birds. Ecologically, changes have included an expansion in distribution and abundance of Noisy Miners. This has led to an increase in scale of the effects of Noisy Miner aggression on small woodland birds. The historical record contains many references to Noisy Miner aggression against other species, the first appearing within four years of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. Evidence that such aggression could affect the abundance and distribution of small woodland birds, however, appears only in the period after World War II. The changing ecological role of Noisy Miners, and the associated changes in cultural attitude to the species, appear linked to the loss, fragmentation and degradation of native woodland in eastern Australia since the introduction of European agriculture and urbanization. In particular, the change in ecological role of the Noisy Miner appears to be linked to the accelerated rates of deforestation in the post-war period. Such broadscale habitat modification has both benefitted Noisy Miners and exacerbated declines in woodland-dependent small birds.

Genetic Connectivity and Diversity of a Protected, Habitat-Forming Species: Evidence Demonstrating the Need for Wider Environmental Protection and Integration of the Marine Protected Area Network

Modiolus modiolus (horse mussel) reefs are an example of marine biodiversity hotspots of high conservation importance. Due to historical destruction and slow rates of recovery, the habitat is considered threatened and/or declining under the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic 1992, and therefore incorporated into the conservation legislation of several countries. An analysis of genetic connectivity and diversity of nine M. modiolus reefs across Scotland, both within and outside of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), was undertaken using 12 newly developed microsatellite markers. Analyses indicated moderate to high levels of genetic connectivity between all populations and significantly low genetic variance among populations. Generally, a lack of spatial genetic structure was determined though several populations were highlighted as potentially genetically separated. Structure and connectivity results were largely corroborated by network visualization which additionally identified several potentially key populations. All populations showed departure from Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) and positive inbreeding coefficients, suggesting reduced genetic diversity and/or reflecting the high frequency of null alleles observed across populations. However, allelic richness was uniformly high across all reefs compared to previously reported results for the habitat. Results broadly suggest that an open system of M. modiolus populations exists in Scottish waters and align with conclusions from prior larval dispersal modeling. Findings highlight that neither M. modiolus populations nor the MPAs where they are found should be considered discrete, independent entities and support the protection of features within MPAs in concert with non-designated areas and across varying spatial scales. It is proposed that potential for greater protection exists if all relevant Scottish MPAs, i.e., both those where M. modiolus reefs are a designated feature and those that host M. modiolus reefs, had statutory restrictions on all activities that cause damage to the sea bed. Such protection may facilitate the support of vulnerable populations by more resilient populations, particularly under climate change. Furthermore, given that a large number of unprotected M. modiolus populations may be important components in the interdependent system of reef populations, supplementary genetics studies informed by larval dispersal modeling are recommended to identify further key populations for safeguarding.

Evaluating the utility of protected area status and conservation legislation in tropical forest conservation using satellite data: a case study of the great hornbill in Thailand

Abstract Preserving wildlife and their environment from anthropogenic activities requires identification and establishment of protected areas, and monitoring of their long-term effects on wildlife and habitat. Tropical forests are one of the most at-risk habitats and many tropical species have become extinct recently due to human activity. It is imperative to monitor habitat in protected areas and without in order to identify strategies and legislative policies that optimize conservation outcomes. To this end, I quantified habitat fragmentation for the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis) in Om Koi Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, pre- and post-establishment, within and outside the protected area, from 1973, 1985, and 1992, to assess the effectiveness of the protected area status, established in 1978, and a national logging ban, established in 1989, in preserving and restoring hornbill habitat. The results demonstrate that the establishment of Om Koi Wildlife Sanctuary did not decrease the rate of hornbill habitat fragmentation relative to areas outside the protected area. While the protected area had less fragmentation to begin with, protection status did not affect the rate of loss. Fragmentation increased significantly both inside and outside the protected area between the first and second time points (p < 0.05), after the protected area was first established. However, the national logging ban policy implemented in 1985 seems to have successfully halted the fragmentation of habitat within the protected area and surrounding unprotected areas, with all areas showing no significant change (p > 0.05). While not significant, the rate of fragmentation outside the protected area was greater. This suggests that the establishment of a protected area alone may not be sufficient to stop or reverse anthropogenic damage to endangered habitat and the species that utilize these environments. The incorporation of multiple strategies for management is likely needed to increase the ability of protected areas to preserve tropical forest species and habitats. The assessment of protected areas via satellite and ground-level data is an essential tool for evaluating the effectiveness of conservation strategies and improving outcomes.

Forest cover in India: A victim of technicalities

Congruency between forest cover protection and development objectives is usually difficult to achieve. However, going strictly by the official statements and reports released by the government, much like the Indian economy, Indian forest cover also seems to be on an upward trajectory, in the recent past. This in spite of the numerous incidents wherein the government has seemingly undermined forest conservation legislation and efforts and instead favored industrial development. An inquiry into the evolution of legislation on forest protection reveals that improvements in the Indian forest cover has roots in three key technicalities while the reality is complete opposite. These are the expansion of the inclusion criteria of defining forests, reduction in Minimum Mapping Area while calculating area under forests and change in the manner of forest mapping from the earlier visual mode to a digital mode. We discuss the implications of such technicalities in preserving the forest cover.

Wildlife Conservation Legislation at a Fork in the Road

Wildlife Conservation Legislation at a Fork in the Road

Seagrass ecosystems of the Pacific Island Countries and Territories: A global bright spot

Seagrass ecosystems exist throughout Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). Despite this area covering nearly 8% of the global ocean, information on seagrass distribution, biogeography, and status remains largely absent from the scientific literature. We confirm 16 seagrass species occur across 17 of the 22 PICTs with the highest number in Melanesia, followed by Micronesia and Polynesia respectively. The greatest diversity of seagrass occurs in Papua New Guinea (13 species), and attenuates eastward across the Pacific to two species in French Polynesia. We conservatively estimate seagrass extent to be 1446.2 km2, with the greatest extent (84%) in Melanesia. We find seagrass condition in 65% of PICTs increasing or displaying no discernible trend since records began. Marine conservation across the region overwhelmingly focuses on coral reefs, with seagrass ecosystems marginalised in conservation legislation and policy. Traditional knowledge is playing a greater role in managing local seagrass resources and these approaches are having greater success than contemporary conservation approaches. In a world where the future of seagrass ecosystems is looking progressively dire, the Pacific Islands appears as a global bright spot, where pressures remain relatively low and seagrass more resilient.

From dirty to delicacy? Changing exploitation in China threatens the world's largest amphibians

Abstract Determining the dynamics and sustainability of human interactions with threatened species is essential to inform evidence‐based conservation, but data can be challenging to collect across large areas and multiple user groups. Chinese giant salamanders Andrias spp. are critically depleted across China. Wild populations were exploited during the 20th century, and more recently to support a large‐scale farming industry. However, robust data remain largely unavailable on the timing of population declines in relation to changing human pressures, on primary drivers of exploitation, or on the effectiveness of conservation legislation. We conducted a series of large‐scale interview surveys across the range of giant salamanders in China, targeting potential rural and urban user groups, and stakeholders involved with giant salamander exploitation and policy management (comprising 2,932 rural households, 66 salamander farms, 115 county government officials and 835 urban consumers). Giant salamander populations were probably declining from at least the 1980s due to exploitation for food, and negative cultural values associated with these animals have not prevented rural consumption. There has been a major escalation in exploitation following the establishment of a large‐scale giant salamander farming industry in the 2000s. Our results demonstrate wide‐scale and largely unregulated illegal hunting to stock farms at a country‐wide scale in order to support demand by urban consumers for high‐prestige rare meat. We estimate there were at least 42,000 wild‐caught breeding adult giant salamanders and 164,000 wild‐caught subadults in farms across China at the time of our survey. Salamander farming probably poses unsustainable pressure on giant salamander populations. Existing legislation has clearly proved ineffective at preventing the stocking of farms with wild‐caught animals, and our findings highlight an important gap in the effectiveness of China's conservation protection for some of its highest‐priority threatened species. Tackling this problem will likely require multiple coordinated approaches, including enforcement of legislation, increased penalties for removing giant salamanders from the wild, permanent identification of captive‐bred giant salamanders, and consumer‐focused interventions to reduce urban demand. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

A 30-year controversy over the Shanghai East China Electric Power Building: the creation and conservation of late 20th century Chinese architectural heritage*

The Shanghai East China Electric Power Building, which was completed in 1988, is widely accepted as one of the first postmodern high-rise buildings in Shanghai. Based on articles published in mass media and professional magazines, interviews with relevant stakeholders and social media debates, this paper focuses on two controversies regarding the building’s peculiar architectural form. The first occurred between 1988 and 1992, when the building’s postmodern appearance aroused heated debates among architectural professionals. The second happened between 2015 and 2018, when the building’s postmodern appearance was planned to be replaced with a slated Art Deco surface during its renovation into a boutique hotel. This paper reveals how a thirst for ‘form innovation’ emerged in the specific social and professional environment shortly after China’s opening-up, and how professional and public awareness of the value of late 20th century architectural heritage was stimulated in the early 21st century in the search for an alternative representation of urban identity other than the widely accepted Art Deco style. This paper emphasises the public meaning of architectural forms in arguing for institutional co-operation in systematic evaluation and conservation legislation for late twentieth century Chinese architectural heritage sites to maintain the historical diversity of the cityscape during urban regeneration.

Using indices of species’ potential range to inform conservation status

Assessments of conservation status are typically based on short-term extinction risk, but the value of indicators that compare the current state of species (e.g., abundance or distribution) to potential baselines is increasingly recognised. The use of baselines in conservation legislation is hindered by ambiguity in how baselines should be determined and interpreted, leading to inconsistent application. Here, we explored the use of species’ potential ranges as a consistent means of quantifying baselines for assessing species’ distributions, a key component of conservation status. Using breeding birds of Great Britain (GB) as a case study, we simulated where bird species would be expected to occur today in a modelled world without human land use. We calculated indices that contrasted these potential human-free ranges with realised ranges. Our analyses revealed that 42% of GB birds have wider realised than potential ranges and 28% have narrower realised than potential ranges. These indices could lead to reassessments of current conservation priorities. Eighteen species assigned ‘least concern’ status by the GB regional IUCN Red List had much narrower realised than potential ranges, suggesting that their ranges are in a more degraded state than currently recognised by Red List criteria. Some of these species are not under active conservation management and could be candidates for higher prioritisation. Our approach provides a systematic means of quantifying range baselines that is not reliant on variable historic data or expert opinion and, thereby, provides a step forward in resolving a major contemporary problem in conservation assessment: how to set baselines in conservation consistently. The insights produced are also of wider scientific and cultural relevance, revealing where species would likely exist today in the absence of historic human impacts. This could be used to identify areas where targeted restoration actions might lead to the return of historically extirpated species, or even to novel colonists.

Camera Hunter: George Shiras III and the Birth of Wildlife Photography by James H. McCommons

Reviewed by: Camera Hunter: George Shiras III and the Birth of Wildlife Photography by James H. McCommons Joel Greenberg James H. McCommons. Camera Hunter: George Shiras III and the Birth of Wildlife Photography. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2019. Pp. 408. Illustrations. Notes. Index. Hardcover: $34.95. George Shiras III is deserving of a biography and James McCommons has done a fine job of telling his story. I knew of Shiras for his efforts to help enact conservation legislation during the country's first great environmental movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. McCommon's title emphasizes another of Shiras's accomplishments, which was the advancement of wildlife photography as a way to draw people into an appreciation of animals without having to kill them. Both aspects and others are elaborated in detail as Shiras's life is explored. Shiras was born into a wealthy family in Alleghany, Pennsylvania, (later becoming part of Pittsburgh) in 1859. His father, George Jr., was an attorney who served on the United States Supreme Court for eleven years. Hunting and fishing comprised an important activity for males in the Shiras clan. At the age of ten, Shiras III received his first gun so that he and his brother could shoot small game along the Ohio River. A year later, he partook in another family tradition by joining relatives on a trip to the pollution-free Northwoods near Marquette, Michigan, where they would spend part of the summer. There, they sought mostly brook trout in the pristine waters and deer in the adjacent forests. It was during those times in near-wilderness that Shiras III learned to appreciate and value nature, although he evidently never developed any affection for the likes of wolves and cougars or an understanding of why they too needed to be protected. As the title suggests, a major theme of the book is Shiras's evolution as a wildlife photographer. One early attempt had him setting up his camera in the bow of a small, camouflaged boat while his assistant rowed as close to their cervine subject as possible. However, the nature of the camera proved inadequate to capture the image. Shiras bought a newer [End Page 131] type that functioned more smoothly, but the issue of distance remained. He then began attaching string to the camera, so he could release the shutter as he sat in his blind far enough way that the deer would be oblivious to his presence. Some of his most dramatic images were taken at night with a setup that involved exploding flash powder to illuminate the shocked subjects. Years later, in an article published in National Geographic (his favorite journal), he explained his growing preference for photography over killing: "every true sportsman will admit that the instant his noble quarry lies prone upon the earth, with the glaze of death upon the once lustrous eye … there comes the half definite feeling of repentance and sorrow … the time has come when it is not necessary to convert the wilderness into an untenanted and silent waste in order to enjoy the sport of successfully hunting birds and wild animals." (127) Fortunately, the author includes many of these photos. Shiras III attended undergraduate school at Cornell rather than Yale because he did not want to study Greek (a requirement at the latter) but, following in his father's footsteps, received his law degree from Yale. He served in Congress for one term and became close confidants of the leading conservationists of the day. This included such luminaries as Theodore Roosevelt, Gilbert Grosvenor (National Geographic Society), Edward Nelson (U.S. Biological Survey), Frank Chapman (American Museum of Natural History), and Gifford Pinchot (U.S. Forest Service). Shiras III drafted legislation, wrote pamphlets, authored reports, and lobbied unceasingly for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and other laws that anchor the federal effort at conservation. Indeed, this book is not just the history of one fascinating man but of the nation's first comprehensive attempt to preserve the biodiversity and sites that have so enriched future generations. Joel Greenberg The Field Museum Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum Copyright © 2021 Central Michigan University

Vegetation misclassification compromises conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in Atlantic Forest ironstone outcrops

A recent state provision allows quarzitic campo rupestre (QCR) set-asides as in-kind compensation for ironstone campo rupestre (ICR) suppression in the Atlantic Forest, which induces out-of-kind compensation. However, the recently published state provision defines no clear parameters to demonstrate “ecological equivalence” as an in-kind compensation. We evaluated whether there is ecological equivalence between and ICR and QCR in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We show marked geological, pedological, floristic, structural, and functional differences between ICR and QCR. There is evidence that the new compensation rules only partially offset loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services hosted by ICR, determining limited effectiveness of the legislation for ICR conservation in the Atlantic Forest. We conclude that the development of clear compensation parameters based on scientific evidence and quantitative indicators is a priority gap for the conservation of ICR under increasing mining pressure.

Landscape Functional Zoning of Urban Protected Areas

The article deals with the need to consider the territory landscape structure during the landscape functional zoning of urban protected areas (UPA) (by example of the Holosiyivskyi National Natural Park (NNP) in Kyiv). The study revealed the shortcomings of the UPA functional zoning procedure without applying a landscape approach, regardless of its importance for preventing nature management conflicts. According to the research goals, it is necessary to study the UPA landscape structure and transfer the functional zoning procedure to the landscape basis. Holosiyivskyi Forest, as one of the five massifs in Holosiyivskyi NNP, was chosen for the analysis. A landscape map was created and a landscape-functional zoning scheme of the Holosiyivskyi Forest territory was updated using field research findings, available digital maps and GIS tools. Moreover, the relief morphometric parameters were reflected in the digital model and a hypsometric map of Holosiyivskyi Forest was created on its basis. By providing maximum correspondence of the nature management structure in each functional zone with the existing landscape structure of the territory, traditional zoning turns into a landscape functional one. The study assessed the adverse impact of the urban environment on Holosiyivskyi Forest’s natural landscapes. The research demonstrates the imperfection of Ukrainian nature conservation legislation, the absence of the Holosiyivskyi NNP land management project and the need to define the Park’s true boundaries around its territory. Research findings are a basis for minimizing existing nature management conflicts, reducing the anthropogenic impact on the ecosystems, rationally controlling recreational flows, and planning anti-erosion and other activities to optimize functioning of protected areas in an urbanized environment.

Shifting boundaries: taxonomy and site‐based conservation

Shifting boundaries: taxonomy and site‐based conservation

Identifying and testing conservation decision thresholds in temperate montane grasslands

Conservation decision thresholds have most often been described within the context of triggering management actions necessary to maintain an ecological system within a desired state. Thresholds are also applied within conservation legislation, often as triggers to determine when certain regulations may or may not apply. In many applications, thresholds have been criticized for being subjective, inconsistent and open to bias and rather than being derived from sound and objective analysis of ecological data they can result from undocumented judgement and opinion. Although judgement and opinion may be necessary for setting decision thresholds in circumstances where appropriate data are lacking, a failure to use structured processes for obtaining, analysing and presenting these can result in contentious, unsubstantiated thresholds. This paper demonstrates how thresholds for identifying grassland conservation values, for the purposes of decision making under vegetation clearing legislation, can be estimated from simple floristic indicators after combining the judgment of multiple experts through hierarchical modelling. Using two stages of elicitation and modelling, the resulting conservation value states were found to be consistent and predictable, correlated with known paddock-level disturbance history and congruent with prior condition states that define an endangered grassland ecosystem. While the thresholds, and the underpinning coefficients, may not reflect the opinion of all grassland ecologists, they are transparent, testable and can be updated or modified to incorporate additional criteria and a greater diversity of stakeholders. The approach could be adopted to similar contexts in other vegetation types where policy or regulatory decision triggers are required.

Імплементація міжнародно-правових норм Ради Європи щодо охорони культурної спадщини у законодавство України

Україна стала членом Ради Європи в 1995 році, взявши на себе зобов’язання дотримуватися основоположних принципів діяльності організації. У сфері культурної політики наша держава активно впроваджує основні положення Ради Європи в національне законодавство.
 Метою статті є аналіз основних міжнародно-правових пам’яткоохоронних актів Ради Європи та імплементації їх норм у законодавство України у контексті сучасних викликів і загроз національній культурній спадщині.
 Наукова новизна статті полягає в аналізі міжнародно-правових норм Ради Європи щодо захисту культурних цінностей і відповідності національного законодавства України цим нормам, а також тим викликам і загрозам, які постали перед Україною та її культурними цінностями після окупації Росією Криму й початку збройного конфлікту на Донбасі.
 Висновки. Україна активно співпрацює з Радою Європи у сфері захисту культурних цінностей та є учасницею основних міжнародних конвенцій, прийнятих цією організацією. Наша держава ратифікувала Європейську культурну конвенцію 1954 р., Конвенцію про охорону архітектурної спадщини Європи 1985 р., Європейську конвенцію про охорону археологічної спадщини (переглянуту) 1992 р., Рамкову конвенцію про захист національних меншин 1995 р., Рамкову Конвенцію Ради Європи про значення культурної спадщини для суспільства 2005 р. тощо.
 Водночас українське законодавство потребує подальших змін у зв’язку з розвитком міжнародного права охорони культурної спадщини та з метою протидії руйнуванню, викраденням і знищенню об’єктів культурної спадщини в окупованому Криму та зоні збройного конфлікту на Донбасі. Серед документів Ради Європи у цьому контексті важливою є Конвенція про правопорушення, пов’язані з культурними цінностями 2017 р., яка підписана нашою державою, однак ще не ратифікована. Так само важливими для України є й документи Ради Європи рекомендаційного характеру, положення яких варто враховувати під час внесення змін до національного пам’яткоохоронного законодавства.

Legal support of the cultural heritage protection in the Ukrainian SSR (second half of the 1950s – end of the 1980s)

The research covers the development of the legislation of the Ukrainian SSR cultural heritage protection problems. The rapid development of sectoral legislation in the second half of the twentieth century was driven by the need of preservation of cultural heritage sites, damaged during the Second World War, or affected by the improper use by various institutions and organizations.The purpose of the article is to analyze the specifics of legal regulation of cultural heritage protection in the Ukrainian SSR in the second half of the 1950 s – the end of the 1980 s.Scientific novelty. The analysis of the legislative acts of the Verkhovna Rada of the USSR and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, as well as by-laws of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR revealed the specifics of the legal regulation of cultural heritage protection in the Ukrainian SSR in the second half of the 1950 s – late 1980s, which consisted of application of separate national legal terminology. The main directions of legal regulation of cultural heritage protection during the period under review are singled out.Conclusions. Soviet legislation on the protection of cultural heritage, as any sectoral legislation, was unified, and the republican special-purpose laws duplicated Union norms. The legislation of the Ukrainian SSR of the 1950s – 1980s concerning the cultural heritage protection was developed in accordance with the Union legislation, as well as the decrees and orders of the USSR Government. At the same time, both federal and republican legislation had basic international rules, including the provisions of the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, signed by the Soviet Union. The special aspect of the the Ukrainian SSR legislation was the consideration of some national traditions, including terminological ones. This could be noticed in the name of the Law of the Ukrainian SSR from July 13, 1978 «On the Protection and Use of Monuments of History and Culture», in which instead of the term «памятник» (monument) in the Russian language and the law, the term «monument» was introduced more wide term «пямятка» (site). In general, due to the consistent policy on conservation and extensive legislation, we have been able to preserve the destruction of monuments that remind the thousand-year history and culture of Ukraine.

Of Whales and Dugongs: Examining the Rise of Colonial Conservation as Development in Madagascar's Marine History

Abstract This work explores how colonial marine conservation policy in Madagascar had the dual purpose of facilitating the expansion of capital and 'civilising' the way Malagasy fishers used marine resources. I analyse how the legacy of narratives that emerged to bolster state-led conservation intervention during the colonial period are still present in current conservation and development narratives, perpetuating in some cases the coloniser-colonised relationship between conservation organisations and local resource users. These findings indicate a need to revamp certain aspects of marine conservation legislation in Madagascar and the need for conservation organisations to explicitly acknowledge this history when working with local resource users in order to avoid reproducing historical injustices.

Domestic cats and their impacts on biodiversity: A blind spot in the application of nature conservation law

Abstract Free‐ranging domestic cats Felis catus, from owned pets to feral cats, impact biodiversity through predation, fear effects, competition, disease and hybridization. Scientific knowledge regarding these impacts has recently increased, making it timely to assess the role of nature conservation legislation in this connection. We do so with particular regard to the obligations of governments around the world under international wildlife law. First, we provide an overview of current knowledge, based on a literature review, concerning the ways in which domestic cats impact wildlife; the resulting effects on native species’ populations and ecosystems; and available strategies for addressing these issues. In light of this knowledge, using standard legal research methodology, we then identify and interpret relevant legal instruments, with a particular focus on international wildlife treaties. Lastly, we identify and assess factors that may influence the implementation of relevant obligations. The outcomes of this analysis indicate that numerous legal obligations of relevance to free‐ranging domestic cats already apply under global treaties such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on Migratory Species and World Heritage Convention, and a range of regional legal instruments for biodiversity conservation. Of particular significance are obligations concerning (a) invasive alien species; (b) protected areas and (c) protected species. Many national authorities around the world are currently required, under international law, to adopt and implement policies aimed at preventing, reducing or eliminating the biodiversity impacts of free‐ranging domestic cats, in particular by (a) removing feral and other unowned cats from the landscape to the greatest extent possible and (b) restricting the outdoor access of owned cats. Factors that can influence or impair the application of these obligations include considerations of feasibility, scientific uncertainty, the interests of cat owners and the (perceived) interests of domestic cats themselves. Even if such factors may to some extent explain why many authorities have hitherto failed to take effective action to address the threats posed by free‐ranging domestic cats, from a legal perspective these factors provide little ground for justifying non‐compliance with international wildlife law. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Lack of maintenance of motorway fences works against their intended purpose with potential negative impacts on protected species

Linear infrastructure intrusions into natural ecosystems, such as motorways and high-speed railways, causes direct loss of habitat but also impacts fauna through collisions. Wildlife road mortality is well documented and extensive conservation legislation exists in many countries to minimise the negative impact of these infrastructures. However, although these measures are implemented because of legislation, these structures are often not adequately maintained. Here we present data on the functionality of perimeter fences along two motorways in Malaga province (southern Spain) erected to prevent collisions with the common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon). We sampled the fences along the 14 km of the two motorways included in the 17 1 × 1 km squares of the study area. Our results show that the reptile fence is permeable throughout at those points where the metal sheeting was absent and where the vegetation had overgrown around the fence, hence allowing chameleons to cross. Given our results, we conclude that this situation is likely to be similar in other regions of Spain and in other countries. This is because construction/concessionary companies do not consider the environmental impact of construction projects in the medium and long term, and environmental authorities do not ensure that companies comply with the legislation.