Conservation Non-governmental Organizations Research Articles

Protecting Britain’s wildlife laws: the need for vigilance, a saga for our times

This paper describes how numerous conservation non-governmental organisations (NGOs) became aware of significant changes being made to the eligibility criteria of species currently (and in the future) afforded protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) through the seventh Quinquennial Review (QQR7). The changes mean that an animal or plant species will be protected only when it is in imminent danger of extinction as defined by the highest categories in the IUCN red listing process, or those identified as European Protected Species, rather than being recommended for inclusion by experts either due to persecution, population decline or other threats. These changes, and the way they became known, stimulated a collaborative effort by NGOs to have the new eligibility criteria for the listing of species re-examined. This case also alarmed the conservation community over the way the U.K. government could use its new powers to review environmental legislation, following withdrawal from the European Union.

The impacts of a global pandemic on the efficacy and stability of contemporary wildlife conservation: South Africa as a case study

Conservationists speculated on potential benefits to wildlife of lockdown restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic but voiced concern that restrictions impeded nature conservation. We assessed the effects of lockdown restrictions on biodiversity conservation in South Africa, a biodiverse country with economic inequality and reliance on wildlife resources. We solicited expert opinion using the IUCN’s Threats Classification Scheme to structure a questionnaire and illustrated responses with individual case studies from government parastatal and non-governmental conservation organisations. The most highly reported threats were biological resource use, residential/commercial developments, invasive species, and human intrusions. The trends reported by 90 survey respondents were supported by case studies using environmental compliance data from parastatal conservation organisations. Lack of tourism revenue and funding were cited as hindrances to conservation. Mechanisms to prevent environmental degradation in the face of global emergencies must be implemented and ‘ring-fenced’ to ensure conservation is not a casualty during future global crises.

Survival estimates and hunter outreach are priorities for the collaborative harvest management of Emperor Goose in Alaska

Abstract Emperor Goose (Anser canagicus) harvest in Alaska was re-opened in 2017 after a 30-year closure, but goose numbers available for a sustainable harvest remain limited. We used a Delphi process, an iterative group communication technique, to elicit expert opinion across 3 successive survey rounds to identify priorities for research, harvest management, and conservation of Emperor Goose. We identified 115 potential participants representing research and management by federal and state agencies, universities, Alaska Native representation in management, and non-governmental conservation organizations. Seventy participants responded to the first survey round (response rate = 61%). We compared responses between 4 participant groups to identify diverse perspectives. All groups, except Native Management, rated the impacts of spring–summer hunting on the Emperor Goose population more highly than impacts of fall–winter hunting. In round 1, the top-rated information and research priorities focused on harvest assessment. In the following rounds, refining survival estimates and population survey methods for Emperor Goose emerged as the two top-ranked research priorities. Improving education and outreach for hunters was the top-ranked conservation and harvest management priority. Formally identifying areas of agreement and disagreement among stakeholders is key for collaborative management, especially with contentious topics, although this step is often overlooked. The Delphi process allowed us to broaden perspectives by including individuals beyond the core entities involved with Emperor Goose management. Because stakeholder groups and individuals may provide input in diverse ways and at differing rates, ensuring that management processes have complementary paths for participation and decision-making helps safeguard against the shortcomings of individual processes. This study will inform ongoing discussions in the context of the revision of the Emperor Goose management plans led by committees within the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council and the Pacific Flyway Council.

The bridging role of non-governmental organizations in the planning, adoption, and management of the marine protected area network in Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Coral reef ecosystems are among the most diverse habitats on earth, providing essential social and ecological services. Raja Ampat, Indonesia - located in the Coral Triangle, the heart of marine biodiversity - has a rich history of traditional management, which included area-based management tools akin to modern marine protected areas (MPAs). Decentralization and restoration of tenure rights in 2001 provided an opportunity for resurgence and stronger recognition of these traditional systems. Conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs), noting the remarkable biodiversity and increasing threats due to destructive fishing practices, worked with local communities to facilitate community-based MPAs as a conservation strategy. Here we employed a case study approach to assess the specific bridging strategies utilized by NGOs during the adoption, implementation and management of the Raja Ampat MPA Network. This descriptive case study included six targeted in-depth interviews and other secondary sources. Our results suggest that NGOs played different roles over time in the MPA process. Interviewees identified specific initiatives that occurred during this process, which involved multiple bridging tools. Three of these key initiatives are: the Tourism Entrance Fee System, the Raja Ampat MPA Patrol System, and the Blue Abadi Fund. The specific bridging tools employed included: linking stakeholders, co-producing knowledge, providing access to resources, facilitating community engagement, and building capacity. Recent research has pointed to social and ecological effectiveness of the Raja Ampat MPA Network, which could in part be attributed to the bottom-up approach facilitated by NGOs, including through bridging practices. However, we also note the limitations of this study in only providing an NGO-centric perspective which may be more nuanced if other stakeholder perspectives could have been obtained.

Small NGOs and Agenda-Setting in Global Conservation Governance: The Case of Pangolin Conservation

Abstract The study of global environmental governance suggests that agenda-setting power is concentrated in a handful of high-profile, leading nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The recent rise of interest in pangolin conservation constitutes a deviant case in this theoretical tradition. In order to explain the puzzle, I introduce a new theory of small NGO influence and illustrate the mechanisms through the case study of pangolin conservation. Based on in-depth interviews with conservation NGOs, I show how small NGOs raised the salience of pangolin trafficking in global conservation governance by appealing to the shared values of the people who are highly interested in conservation. Moreover, the targeting of traditional Chinese medicine as the driver of pangolin extinction, while unintentionally, helped raise the salience of pangolin trafficking by leveraging the rise of anti-Chinese sentiment in the Global North. Finally, small NGOs were able to use their expertise to guide leading NGOs and state officials in rule-making processes. The findings offer a corrective to the hierarchical view of civil society, calling for more careful evaluations of small NGOs in global conservation governance.

Crime, Security, and Illegal Wildlife Trade: Political Ecologies of International Conservation

AbstractThis article takes a political ecology approach to understanding the integration of conservation with security in tackling the illegal wildlife trade. It builds on political ecology debates on militarization by connecting it to the dynamics of global environmental politics, specifically the discursive and material support from donors, governments, and conservation nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The combined effects of a highly competitive funding environment and security concerns of governments has produced a context in which NGOs strategically invoke the idea of the illegal wildlife trade as a security threat. For donors and governments, tackling the illegal wildlife trade is a means through which they can address security threats. However, this has material outcomes for marginalized peoples living with wildlife, including militarization, human rights abuses, enhanced surveillance, and law enforcement.

Accounts of NGO performance as calculative spaces: Wild Animals, wildlife restoration and strategic agency

Whereas corporations typically share a common primary objective of generating profits for their owners, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) principally pursue a panoply of various social and/or ecological objectives. Accordingly, an NGO’s performance in pursuit of its objectives can rarely be accounted for in straightforwardly comparable quantitative terms. How then can an NGO instead construct qualitative accounts of its performance that show how it makes a difference in pursuit of its objectives? This paper examines qualitative accounts of performance against an objective to restore wildlife, which are included in the annual reports of a large conservation NGO. These accounts are conceptualised as being calculative spaces, configured by framing work being done within these accounts. Analysis of this framing work finds that these accounts identify a performance object (i.e. specific wild animal populations), establish relations that seemingly affect this performance object (i.e. threats to wild animal populations and actions to conserve these populations), and attribute the NGO with agency to make a difference to this performance object (i.e. as a strategic actor directing and co-ordinating wildlife restoration). Thus, this paper demonstrates that seeing quantitative and qualitative accounts of organisational performance in the same conceptual terms creates conditions of possibility for developing a fuller understanding of an organisation’s calculations of its own capacity to act upon society.

Rapid decline and fragmentation of the distribution of an enigmatic small carnivore, the Owston’s Civet, in response to future climate change

Indochina is known as one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, with populations of many endangered and/or endemic species dramatically declining due to a range of threats, such as illegal hunting, habitat destruction, and global climate change. Climate change is expected to alter the region’s habitat and ecosystem conditions, force contraction of species ranges, and increase the likelihood of local extinctions. Maxent is a widely used modelling approach to predict the species’ current potential distribution, project range shifts in response to climate change, and inform conservation planning. Here, we collated known records and built models for both present and future climatically suitable habitat of the Owston’s Civet (Chrotogale owstoni), an endangered and poorly studied small carnivore occurring in Vietnam, eastern Laos, and a small part of southern China. Projections of climatically suitable habitat for the civet in most climate change scenarios and timeframes suggest significant habitat loss and fragmentation within its current range as a consequence of upward contraction. We recommend that future conservation efforts for C. owstoni focus on key refugia spreading along the Annamite Range in the border area between Vietnam and Laos. To mitigate climate-related extinction risk, close cooperation between Vietnam and Laos’ governmental agencies, research institutions, and non-governmental conservation organizations will play an important role in conserving the remaining habitat of this endangered species.

Islamic Environmental Philanthropy: Lesson From Kitab al-Jidar and Kitab al-I’lan bi Ahkam al-Bunyan

Environmental philanthropy entails devoting time and resources to addressing environmental issues through non-governmental conservation organisations or community involvement. The purpose of this research is to delve into the lessons of Islamic environmental philanthropy outlined in Kitab Al-Jidar and Kitab Al-I'lan Bi Ahkam Al-Bunyan. This paper adds to the body of knowledge by focusing on environmental philanthropy in the traditional Islamic built environment, which has received little attention in the literature. To achieve the research objective, qualitative research methods were used, while content analysis was used for analysis. According to the findings of this study, the environmental philanthropy implemented in Kitab Al-Jidar and Kitab Al-I'lan is concerned with both environmental and social sustainability. It is hoped that this paper will provide new ideas and guidelines for future environmental conservation.

Socio-environmental perceptions and barriers to conservation engagement among artisanal small-scale gold mining communities in Southeastern Peru

Artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) poses threats to biodiversity and to the health and well-being of human communities. However, ASGM also economically supports several populations from lower social-economic backgrounds, especially in the Global South. In Madre de Dios (MDD), Peru, ASGM is the most significant economic activity, involving several stakeholders form different levels of governance. To protect this area’s forests and aquatic systems from further degradation, it is necessary to understand the socio-economic background and the impediments to mining formalization, as well as the local perceptions and willingness to engage in conservation. In this study, we aimed to establish the drivers of and barriers to participation in environmental conservation among communities in MDD, which economically rely on ASGM. Using a mixed method approach, we surveyed 85 households in six communities in the MDD gold corridor. Half of participants were cognizant of the effects of ASGM and concerned about deforestation and local decreases in fish and wildlife abundance, declaring willingness to take part in environmental conservation. Native participants in particular expressed concern about land degradation and the action of immigrants. However, several participants reported feeling alienated by government institutions and raised doubts about the intentions of non-governmental conservation organizations, and the purpose of protected areas. Participants in general felt that ASGM-related policies were not realistic and bureaucratic barriers were raised to prevent formalization. Our findings suggest that current policies and communication strategies may hinder efforts to transform relatively prevalent pro-environmental attitudes into matching behaviors, including participation in conservation initiatives. To achieve this goal, more efficient communication and more active involvement of local stakeholders in mining governance and conservation planning are necessary.

A partnership to build scientific capacity of Rwanda's future conservationists: The Memoirs Program.

The future of primates depends on conservationists in primate range countries having the education and opportunities needed to facilitate conservation efforts. However, most primates are found in countries where conservation is underfunded. Rwanda is home to 14 primate species, with three being listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Their remaining native habitats are scarce, highly fragmented, and surrounded by high human densities. Lacking education opportunities and the loss of qualified individuals following decades of political instability created a need for well-trained conservationists to tackle conservation challenges in Rwanda. The Memoirs Program, a science capacity-building partnership between Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (DFGF), University of Rwanda (UR), the Rwanda Development Board, and Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, aims to train the next generation of Rwandan conservationists. Annually, the Memoirs Program provides 10-12 top students from the UR Conservation Biology undergraduate program the opportunity to conduct senior research projects (Memoirs) at DFGF addressing conservation issues in and around Rwanda's protected areas. Students receive one-on-one supervision by DFGF scientists and affiliates to supplement UR mentorship, along with targeted teaching modules that reinforce and complement UR curricula. In continuation of the Memoirs Program, participants are offered professional development, employment opportunities, and support to publish their research in peer-reviewed journals. Since inception of the Program in 2003, 123 students have participated with 83% being employed or pursuing higher education degrees in conservation-related fields in Rwanda and the region. Pre- and post-training comparison of oral presentation skills, one of the teaching modules, involving 22 students demonstrated increased post-training performance. The Memoirs Program represents an effective partnership between the government, an international conservation non-governmental organization, and a public higher-learning institution in a developing country to support high-performing students to become tomorrow's conservation leaders. This model could be replicated within Rwanda and in other regions of the world.

Stakeholder perspectives on raptor conservation and falconry in North America

Global raptor conservation depends on non-governmental conservation organizations (NGCOs) and, fundamentally, members of those organizations. But while NGCOs declare a central mission, their membership may be more varied. This can pose a challenge to a NGCO in terms of developing programs and advocacy that reflects its membership’s preference and likelihood of support. Systematic assessment of members’ preferences and opinions is needed to assure alignment with an organization’s actions. Using the North American Falconers Association (NAFA) as a NGCO case study, members’ preferences and opinions on issues related to raptor conservation were assessed. Results suggest a consensus among participants that conservation should include habitats and species; prairie, sage, and wetland habitats are the most salient habitat issues and perceived declines in native game bird, waterfowl, and small game mammals are the most salient wildlife issues. Tied to these concerns of habitat and species was land access to practice falconry. Overall, results suggest participants prefer organizational resources be used to support prairie habitat and grouse species conservation. For NGCOs, systematic membership surveys can provide substantial insight for decision-making and effective allocation of membership-derived resources. Member surveys also signal an organizations willingness to listen to its constituents and act upon their views and local knowledge to coordinate conservation action.

A review of anoa conservation efforts in Sulawesi, Indonesia

Anoa is an endemic Sulawesi mammal and listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This conservation status represents the critical condition of declining population in the wild due to continuing habitat loss and poaching. This paper aims to review anoa conservation efforts both in-situ and ex-situ that have been conducted by the Government of Indonesia, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private companies, and local communities in Sulawesi. A number of 16 papers were reviewed in order to gather some information regarding the conservation efforts in Sulawesi. Several protected areas were established to protect Sulawesi biodiversity, including anoa. Local communities within the park (e.g., Toro local people) contribute to this effort by having customary laws, not to hunting anoa. The government also ratified relevant policies and regulations to support anoa conservation. Anoa Breeding Center in North Sulawesi was started in 2010 to foster research and breeding program. The center has been working together with other local conservation NGOs, Nature Resources Conservation Agency, and private sectors through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs to set up anoa sanctuaries. Also, to organize outreach activities to raise social awareness of this charismatic animal. Increasing the anoa population depends on the continuity of these concerted efforts and regional regulations should be created to improve anoa conservation programs.

Sidney Holt (1926-2019).

Influential fisheries scientist and savior of whales

Private organizations, public data: Land trust choices about mapping conservation easements

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have fewer transparency requirements than governments, yet they increasingly shape land use and protected areas. Land information disclosure by NGOs can improve coordination and accountability, but create potential privacy concerns. We focus on decisions by land conservation NGOs (land trusts) to share digital maps of conservation easements on private lands. We asked which land trusts were more likely to contribute digital maps to public databases, and what benefits and concerns with disclosure did land trust staff report? Regressions from a census of 1138 and survey of 241 land trusts showed that organizations were more likely to share digital maps when they had larger budgets, a statewide sharing norm, regional collaborations, a strategic plan for new acquisitions, higher perceptions of map usefulness, and lower privacy concerns. Key informant interviews provided depth about beneficial map uses and privacy concerns. More land trusts would likely contribute to protected areas databases if mapping capacity increased, transparency norms were reinforced, map benefits better articulated, and privacy concerns were addressed.

Evaluating the role of Farm Bill conservation program participation in conserving America’s grasslands

Grasslands are one of the most imperiled ecosystems in the world and the majority of the grassland ecosystem in the United States (U.S.) is privately owned and used for agriculture. Conversion of grasslands to row crops is expanding, fueled by commodity price increases, technological improvements, and agricultural policy. The U.S. state and federal governments and many nongovernmental conservation organizations primarily use voluntary incentive-based conservation programs to address the environmental impacts of agriculture and encourage conservation on private land. To investigate the utility of these programs to conserve grasslands, we surveyed private landowners in the Plains and Prairie Potholes Ecoregion (PPPE), one of America’s most at-risk grassland areas, about their land use, environmental attitudes and values, and reasons for or against participating in a Farm Bill Conservation Program (FBCP). Agricultural landowners with large land holdings, who value hunting, and have positive environmental values, attitudes, and behaviors, were more likely to participate in an FBCP. However, FBCP participants reported having a smaller proportion of their land in grass than nonparticipants (29% vs. 35%). Additionally, a higher percentage of FBCP participants, compared to nonparticipants, reported converting grassland to crops (26% vs. 15%) and removing wetlands (20% vs. 15%). Financial considerations and a desire for autonomy limited participation. These findings signal the need for additional research and tools other than FBCPs to conserve the PPPE grasslands.

Popular interest in vertebrates does not reflect extinction risk and is associated with bias in conservation investment.

The interrelationship between public interest in endangered species and the attention they receive from the conservation community is the ‘flywheel’ driving much effort to abate global extinction rates. Yet big international conservation non-governmental organisations have typically focused on the plight of a handful of appealing endangered species, while the public remains largely unaware of the majority. We quantified the existence of bias in popular interest towards species, by analysing global internet search interest in 36,873 vertebrate taxa. Web search interest was higher for mammals and birds at greater risk of extinction, but this was not so for fish, reptiles and amphibians. Our analysis reveals a global bias in popular interest towards vertebrates that is undermining incentives to invest financial capital in thousands of species threatened with extinction. Raising the popular profile of these lesser known endangered and critically endangered species will generate clearer political and financial incentives for their protection.

Making habitat connectivity a reality.

Although a plethora of habitat-connectivity plans exists, protecting and restoring connectivity through on-the-ground action has been slow. We identified challenges to and opportunities for connectivity conservation through a literature review of project implementation, a workshop with scientists and conservation practitioners, 3 case studies of connectivity projects, and interviews with conservation professionals. Connectivity challenges and solutions tended to be context specific, dependent on land-ownership patterns, socioeconomic factors, and the policy framework. Successful connectivity implementation tended to be associated with development and promotion of a common vision among diverse sets of stakeholders, including nontraditional conservation actors, such as water districts and recreation departments, and with communication with partners and the public. Other factors that lead to successful implementation included undertaking empirical studies to prioritize and validate corridors and the identification of related co-benefits of corridor projects. Engaging partners involved in land management and planning, such as nongovernmental conservation organizations, public agencies, and private landowners, is critical to effective strategy implementation. A clear regulatory framework, including unambiguous connectivity conservation mandates, would increase public resource allocation, and incentive programs are needed to promote private sector engagement. Connectivity conservation must move more rapidly from planning to implementation. We provide an evidence-based solution composed of key elements for successful on-the-ground connectivity implementation. We identified the social processes necessary to advance habitat connectivity for biodiversity conservation and resilient landscapes under climate change.

Reducing bycatch through a risk pool: A case study of the U.S. West Coast groundfish fishery

Voluntary collective agreements among fishermen can improve the environmental and economic performance of a fishery, particularly when local leadership, strong incentives, catch accountability, and operational support are in place. Rights-based fisheries, such as Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) systems, incentivize fishermen to act collectively to reduce fishing impacts, enhance stock health, and improve economic outcomes. However, developing cooperatives requires durable contracts, operational capacity, funding, and the ability to track, monitor, and enforce agreed-upon catches and fishing practices. This project focuses on the U.S. West Coast groundfish trawl IFQ fishery, and how the formation of a voluntary collective agreement, in the form of a bycatch risk pool (California Groundfish Collective), achieved improved fishery performance and other ancillary benefits. Up-front investment in the risk pool by a conservation non-governmental organization (NGO) provided both capacity and quota to cover transaction costs and incentivize transition to a cooperative model that was implemented across 5 ports and more than 48,000 km2 of fishing grounds off California. The challenges encountered in developing and operating the risk pool offer insights into designing and implementing voluntary collective agreements. By using spatial fishing plans and technology for collecting and sharing catch information, risk pool members reduced bycatch of overfished species relative to the fleet at large. Risk pool members were also able to use their spatial fishing data to inform a seafood sustainability rating and propose areas for Essential Fish Habitat protection, their quota pounds to support collaborative research on overfished species, and their collective membership to advocate for policy.

Assessment of the Conservation Measures Partnership's effort to improve conservation outcomes through adaptive management.

Conservation practice has demonstrated an increasing desire for accountability of actions, particularly with respect to effectiveness, efficiency, and impact to clearly identified objectives. This has been accompanied by increased attention to achieving adaptive management. In 2002, practitioners representing several prominent conservation nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) launched a community of practice called the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP). The partnership CMP has worked to establish standards of conservation practice to improve accountability of conservation actions through adaptive management. The focal organizing framework for CMP has been the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation (OS). We evaluated, through an online survey and personal interviews, the first decade of CMP and the OS. The CMP has garnered a positive reputation among agencies, NGOs, and funders and has succeeded in developing a large user base of the OS. However, CMP has not fully achieved its goal of making the OS standard operating procedure for the largest NGOs (e.g., The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund), despite it being widely used within these organizations. This lack of institutionalization is attributable to multiple causes, including an increase in the number of partially overlapping decision-support frameworks and challenges achieving full-cycle adaptive management. Users strongly believed the OS fosters better conservation practice and highly valued the OS for improving their practice. A primary objective of the OS is to assist practitioners to achieve full-cycle adaptive management to better integrate learning into improving the effectiveness and efficiency of actions. However, most practitioners had not yet achieved cycle completion for their projects. To improve the effectiveness of CMP, OS, and conservation practice in general, we recommend collaborative efforts among the proponents of multiple decision-support frameworks to foster strong institutional adoption of a common set of adaptive-management standards for conservation accountability.