Nature Conservation Organizations Research Articles

Естественно-исторические предпосылки промысла сайгаков в Казахстане

Численность сайгаков казахстанской уральской группировки, обитающей в Волго-Уральском междуречье, в 2022 году возросла до рекордных 801 тыс. экземпляров. Местные фермеры утверждают о сильнейших потравах этими животными сельскохозяйственных полей и пастбищ и требуют искусственного сокращения поголовья. В то же время природоохранные организации предлагают их дальнейшую охрану. В работе проведен анализ литературных материалов и полученных ранее собственных результатов по сопряженному изучению динамики численности сайгаков и их весенней массовой гибели с особенностями изменения природно-климатических условий региона. Промышленный промысел уральской группировки сайгаков начался в 1954 году и с перерывами продолжался до 1994 года. Иными словами, добыча сайгаков представляла собой в это время обычное регуляторное мероприятие. Затем наступил долговременный период депрессии их численности, который связали с неумеренным отстрелом и браконьерством. Показано, что волнообразная динамика численности популяции сайгаков полностью зависит от продуктивности травостоя и обводненности мест их обитания. Глубокая и продолжительная депрессия в численности животных в 2000-х годах возникла в результате сильного сокращения мест водопоя, так как в этот период из-за 14-летнего отсутствия поверхностного стока весенних талых вод в местную гидрографическую сеть произошло повсеместное высыхание прудов и сор, обмеление озер и рек. Лишь в 2010–2011 годах началось новое пополнение открытых водоемов талыми водами, и с тех пор до 2022 года они никогда не пересыхали. Именно в это время началось интенсивное приращение численности поголовья сайгаков. Проанализированы причины весенней периодической массовой избирательной гибели сайгаков. Показано, что причиной этого явления может быть незаразная болезнь — тимпания, которая идентифицируется скоротечностью заболевания, что объясняет ее избирательный характер (гибнут, в основном, малоподвижные родившие самки). Тимпания, по-видимому, может служить триггерным механизмом запуска других второстепенных болезней в организмах животных, в том числе контагиозного пастереллеза, который постоянно регистрируют у погибших животных. Поголовье животных после массового весеннего падежа сайгаков восстанавливается через несколько лет до прежнего уровня из-за высокой плодовитости как в периоды депрессии, так и высокой численности. Поэтому нет никаких оснований для отмены промысла столь ценного самовозобновляемого ресурса с учетом динамики его численности под влиянием природно-климатических условий.

Diversity, distribution and regional conservation status of the Egyptian tree flora

AbstractThe present study aims at determining the phytogeographical distribution and economic potential and documenting the degree of risk to the extinction of tree species, and the changes these species have undergone over the past 20 years. Field surveys were conducted at many locations in Egypt between January 2017 and March 2020. From each location, GPS coordinates were taken and the number of individuals was estimated. Also, specimens and seed samples for each species were collected from different habitats as can as possible. Other data were collected through herbaria visits and existing literature. The recorded taxa were arranged alphabetically according to Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system (APG IV). Evaluation of conservation status was based on IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. In the present study, we applied Criterion B that concerns the geographical range in the form of both B1 (extent of occurrence: EOO) and B2 (area of occupancy: AOO). Calculations of both AOO and EOO and the assessment process were assisted using the GeoCAT software. Fifty‐seven taxa were recorded, and most of them occur in Elbanian sector. Among them, five alien species were recorded. Many taxa offered economic goods such as medicinal, timber and fuel values; and environmental services as shaders and phytoremediators. Fifty taxa suffered from over‐collecting and over‐cutting. Among the 52 native trees in the present study, 31 taxa are evaluated as threatened with extinction; 10 taxa are Critically Endangered, 16 are Endangered and 5 are Vulnerable. There are two taxa assessed as Near Threatened and 15 as Least Concern. On the contrary, four taxa fall in the category of Data Deficient. There are 28 in situ conserved taxa in the protected areas. Also, 28 taxa are under ex situ conservation. In conclusion, land‐use patterns, climate change and human impact lead to put about 61% of the trees in Egypt under threat of extinction. Consequently, nature conservation organisations should take an action towards the conservation of these valuable taxa.

Communicating nature during lockdown – How conservation and outdoor organisations use social media to facilitate local nature experiences

Abstract Social media impact not only our communication and social interactions but also our relationships to the natural environment. Social media can increase understanding of our environment by offering information and sharing calls to action, while at the same time, they might present a glamourised, standardised picture of nature and distract from actual outdoor interactions. The COVID‐19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to study the spaces created for interactions between the online and offline natural world, especially in countries where movement and thus outdoor activities were restricted during lockdowns. To understand these interactions, we investigated the social media communication of nature conservation and outdoor organisations by analysing Twitter posts of four prominent NGOs in Scotland. We found that during the first COVID‐19‐induced UK lockdown in spring 2020, Scottish nature conservation and outdoor organisations made distinctive efforts in supporting followers to connect with nature in the face of restrictions. Organisations showed signs of moving towards community‐building through sharing experiences often related to nearby nature, while calls for environmental action, more prominent in the previous year, receded in relative importance. Emphasis was put on sensory engagement with, and finding solace in the rhythm of, nature. References to taking action to protect nature now became linked to a green recovery from the pandemic. We conclude that NGOs used social media not as a space separate from the outdoors, but as an augmented space where online and offline interactions were interwoven and a space in which during the COVID‐19 pandemic, new avenues for engagement were being explored. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Initial involvement into birding: triggers, gender, and decade effects\u2014a mixed-methods study

Birdwatching is an increasing nature-related activity, with an important influence on data collection of citizen science programs. Initial involvement into a leisure activity is an important life event, but also of interest for nature conservation and citizen science projects. Here, we assessed the initiation into birding by an open-ended question. Based on an online survey, mainly in Austria, Germany and Switzerland we recruited 2668 participants, with 2464 people reporting a specific reason for their initial involvement. Data were analyzed by a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Initiation age was 22.90 years (±15.27). The reasons for initial involvement were in descending order: social influence, nature experience, bird-centered triggers, education (formal/informal), cognitive-emotional aspects (interest, curiosity), other emotions, involvement via other hobbies/jobs, life-course events, ecological aspects, bird clubs/groups and opportunity. Men were more influenced by males and women more by females. Men experienced birding initiation more by club/group and the venue of other activities (job/hobby). Women were more influenced by nature experience, bird experience, emotions, and life-course events. Social initiation became less important during decades, while ecological aspect, education, other activities, and life-course events became more important. The study has implications on program developers and nature conservation organizations.

Op onvruchtbare bodem?

Abstract On barren soil? Early nature reserves of Natuurmonumenten and the Dutch landscape In 1905, Natuurmonumenten (Natural Monuments Society), a Dutch NGO for nature conservation, was founded. The society aimed to preserve some uncultivated lands, such as heathlands, fens, peat bogs but also forests, which were under threat of cultivation and reclamation. Natuurmonumenten managed to acquire a number of nature reserves in the years 1905-1940 for scientific, recreational and aesthetic reasons. In this article, this collection is analyzed and compared to the reserves of other Dutch nature conservation organizations in the same period. Although Natuurmonumenten acquired mainly barren soils, it turned out to be a fruitful start of a nature preservation organization that operated nationwide, and established a strong network within Dutch society.

#ProtectNature—How Characteristics of Nature Conservation Posts Impact User Engagement on Facebook and Twitter

Social networks expand the communication tools of nature conservation. Nonetheless, to date there is hardly any scientific literature on nature conservation communication in social networks. For this reason, this paper examines 600 Facebook and Twitter posts of three German nature conservation organizations: Federal Agency for the Conservation of Nature (Bundesamt für Naturschutz, BfN), Naturschutzbund Deutschland e. V. (NABU), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Germany. Using the Mann–Whitney U method and Spearman’s rank correlation analysis, it reveals how post design affects communication success and provides respective recommendations for German conservation organizations. Communication success was divided into four indicators: reactions, comments, shares, and overall engagement as a synthesis of the three. On Facebook, the use of hashtags, images, and many characters (up to 1500) leads to higher success, whereas emojis and videos can reduce it. On Twitter, links, images, and longer posts promote user interactions. Emojis have a positive influence on comments and overall engagement, but a negative influence on reactions and shares. In addition, hashtags reduce overall engagement on Twitter. These results are discussed with reference to similar studies from other political fields in order to provide recommendations for conservation organizations. A validation and expansion of the presented results is recommended due to the growing relevance of digital nature conservation communication.

From colonial forestry to 'community-based fire management': the political ecology of fire in Belize's coastal savannas, 1920 to present

This article examines the past century of fire management of the coastal pine savanna in Belize, drawing on archival evidence,interviews, and ethnographic enquiry into an international development project in Belize. It considers contemporary approaches that seek to use prescribed fire with the participation of local communities in relation to past practices. The Belizean savanna has long been shaped by human fire use. Its flora is ecologically adapted to fire. Yet fire has been repeatedly cast as a problem, from c. 1920, by British colonial and, later, USA foresters, and, most recently, by international and local non-governmental nature conservation organizations. Informed by different schools of thought, each of these organizations has designed programs of fire management aiming to reduce wildfire frequency. Yet little has changed; Belize's diverse and growing rural population has continued to use fire, and the savannas burn, year upon year. While the planned aims and methods differed, each program of fire management has, in practice, been similarly structured and constrained by its genesis within colonial or international development. Funding and leadership for fire management has been inconsistent. Each program has been shaped by a specifically Belizean ecology and politics, in excess of its definition of the fire 'problem' and 'solutions' to it. Powerful political elites and fire users in Belize have not seen clear incentives for the fire management supported by official policy. This analysis highlights that contemporary efforts to build more ecologically and environmentally just forms of fire management must be understood in the context of broader political struggles over land and resources.

Let’s partner up! From resistance to collaboration: A strategy for regional development, or how to create partnerships between nature conservation and local companies – a success story

In the years following the foundation of the Styrian Eisenwurzen Nature Park (in 1996) and Gesäuse National Park (in 2002), both nature conservation organizations faced heavy resistance from the local population and actors in the local economy. Today things look different: the so-called Gesäuse Partners are building a strong network that brings the parties together. Our experiences can be used practically by the managers of protected areas.

Let’s partner up! From resistance to collaboration: A strategy for regional development, or how to create partnerships between nature conservation and local companies – a success story

In the years following the foundation of the Styrian Eisenwurzen Nature Park (in 1996) and Gesäuse National Park (in 2002), both nature conservation organizations faced heavy resistance from the local population and actors in the local economy. Today things look different: the so-called Gesäuse Partners are building a strong network that brings the parties together. Our experiences can be used practically by the managers of protected areas.

Environmentality, green grabbing, and neoliberal conservation: The ambiguous role of ecotourism in the Green Life privatised nature reserve, Sumatra, Indonesia

Against the background of neoliberal conservation and green grabbing, this paper investigates an ecotourism initiative through the notion of ‘multiple environmentalities’ (neoliberal, disciplinary, sovereign and truth), which concerns the governance of people for environmental causes. We apply this to the inhabitants of Batu Katak, Sumatra, Indonesia, where the Green Life Project has been established next to Gunung Leuser National Park as a Private Protected Area. An important governance strategy for Green Life is the establishment of volunteer ecotourism to generate funds and to include the local community. We argue that ecotourism can play a crucial role in legitimising the activities and increasing the power of nature conservation organisations, which, in the case of Green Life, is visible in the growth of coercive means to secure protected areas. If ecotourism is the kernel of neoliberal environmentality at Green Life, the core issue is the prevalence of truth environmentality, in which nature is often valued higher than people. This valuation led to the strengthening of disciplinary and sovereign environmentality. Arguably, ecotourism at Green Life will not establish the intended sustainable relations with the community, and this paper functions as an important lesson for practitioners to scrutinise the consequences of their governance strategies.

Funding for nature conservation: a study of public finance networks at World Wide Fund for nature (WWF)

One of the greatest challenges in nature conservation is funding. In the pursuit of new financing sources critical to fight biodiversity and ecosystem loss, nature conservation organisations increasingly aim to create networks between states, markets and civil society. Using Manuel Castells’ network theory and World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) as a case study, this article aims at understanding how large conservation NGOs utilise networking in their pursuit for funding. Apart from increasing income by attracting public funds from governments and aid agencies, around 2010 WWF’s public sector finance strategy expanded to influencing and leveraging finance—both public and private—using public funds. During WWF’s engagement with private sector financing, paradoxically its public sector financing grew at the average rate of 7.5% per year. Our network analysis shows that WWF has continuously reworked and renegotiated its position in order to stay connected to the ‘space of flows’. WWF and other large conservation organisations have to be in the right networks, speak the right language, and connect to relevant social, informational and political flows to stay relevant and connected to substantial flows of funding.

In a mental-health care setting, can nature conservation and health priorities align?

ABSTRACTThere is growing evidence that activities in nature could meet both health and nature conservation goals. Consequently, there is growing interest in collaborations between health and nature conservation organizations. However, interdisciplinary teamwork and collaborations risk failing through lack of common understanding and awareness of desired outcomes. For this project a multidisciplinary team was established and used a case study collaboration between a major conservation organization and health organization to examine perceptions of nature and assess the nature interventions desired by people in both sectors. We found a broad overlap in understanding of nature. However, there was a tendency for conservation outcomes to be overlooked, highlighting a potential risk of disengagement from the conservation partner. We recommend that health-conservation collaborations increase early communication and more strongly promote the interventions that provide tangible, physical benefits to nature.

The political economy of biodiversity in representative democracy: Between the expressive and the instrumental domain

In this paper the politics of biodiversity is analysed. Biodiversity is identified as being an ideological key symbol within the expressive space of politics. Whereas individuals express themselves, their core beliefs, their ideologies, etc. for their own sake, political parties and nature conservation organisations use biodiversity to garner seats in parliament, private donations and membership fees.The success of biodiversity in stimulating expressive benefits induces co-occurrence between nature conservation organisations in the expressive space and ordinary pressure groups on the substantive floor. Co-occurrence boosts the effectiveness of both types of organisation and adjusts the results between the expressive space and the substantive floor. As a result, nature conservation organisations receive donations from ordinary pressure groups and obtain legislative and budgetary privileges. Without co-occurrence it would be difficult to sustain the various activities of nature conservation organisations.The implications of the findings are, first, that biodiversity is input- rather than outcome-oriented; it supports democracy as an impersonal social institution helping to find the overall consensus. Second in many specific forest management decisions expressive and instrumental concerns are not clearly distinguished. Where citizens place an emphasis on instrumental values there must be a strong case in favour of robust decentralized arrangements of political choice. Third, projects with very high expressive and low instrumental values are at best provided at the voluntary arena of the expressive space.

Conflict in the air

Conservation The heather-coated uplands of the British Isles are home to two charismatic and specialized birds: the commercially valuable red grouse and its rare raptor predator, the hen harrier. These species are the focus of an often-emotional conflict after highly publicized poisonings of hen harriers. St John et al. analyzed the basis of the human confrontation and report on the results of a questionnaire answered by more than 500 members of field sport and nature conservation organizations. There was an apparently irreconcilable gulf in responses to management approaches, depending on whether the respondent was pro–grouse conservation for hunting or pro–bird conservation overall. The authors concluded that there may be some prospects for consensus if the adversaries are engaged in joint planning for the longer-term future of the British upland landscape. People Nat. 1 , 6 (2019).

How “wide green dikes” were reintroduced in The Netherlands: a case study of the uptake of an innovative measure in long-term strategic delta planning

This article describes and analyzes the reintroduction of the “wide green dike” in the Netherlands. It is a noteworthy example of implementation of an innovation in long-term strategic delta planning. The Dutch Delta Program was central herein. Pursuing its ambition to make the Netherlands climate-proof, the Delta Program invited a diverse set of actors to participate in developing a long-term adaptation plan, and also to propose innovative short-term measures to help realize that plan. The wide green dike was actively promoted by a local water board, with involvement of scientists and nature conservation organizations. A stepwise participatory process resulted in national-level recognition of the potential of the wide green dike, particularly due to its “green” and “adaptability” characteristics. Alignment of flood protection and climate adaptation goals with nature conservation objectives, as well as collaboration with new actors, were all crucial in the reintroduction of this innovation.

Value diversity and conservation conflict: Lessons from the management of red grouse and hen harriers in England

Abstract Conflicts between people over wildlife management are damaging, widespread, and notoriously difficult to resolve where people hold different values and worldviews. Cognitive approaches examining steps from human thought to action can help us understand conflict and explore strategies for their management. We focused on the conflict between hunters and conservationists over the management of red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scoticus) and hen harriers (Circus cyaneus) in the English uplands which represents a classic, persistent conflict, where human dimensions are poorly understood. Guided by conceptual frameworks from social and environmental psychology, we conducted a questionnaire‐based study to assess wildlife value orientations of key stakeholders. We quantified attitudes towards hen harriers, grouse shooting, gamekeepers, and raptor conservationists. We also measured support/opposition for harrier management strategies in England and investigated trust in the responsible government authority. We present data from 536 respondents from field sport or nature conservation organizations. Respondents were categorized according to the primary objectives of their affiliated organization: Field sport (i.e., hunters), Non‐raptor, Pro‐raptor, and Pro‐bird (i.e., organizations promoting conservation of birds excluding raptors, raptors specifically, or birds generally). Utilitarian value orientations were prominent among Field sport and Non‐raptor respondents. Most Pro‐raptor and Pro‐bird participants held mutualist value orientations, indicating they did not support shooting or management of wildlife. As suggested by the cognitive hierarchy, we found strong correlations between attitude and support for management options, our proxy for behaviour. Pro‐bird affiliates showed clear preference for less invasive management, and along with Pro‐raptor respondents did not support brood management (removal and later release of eggs/young when harrier density is high). Field sport individuals expressed a degree of support for all management types. Trust in Natural England was limited. Understanding value orientations and attitudes of stakeholders helps explain differences in levels of support for management approaches. Our study highlighted strongly divergent beliefs. Such positions are hard to change. Increasing the level of ecological knowledge alone is unlikely to facilitate conflict management. Instead, conflict management would benefit from combining such knowledge with a focus on relationships, deliberation, and trust in addition to exploring comanagement interventions. A plain language summary is available for this article.

Precambrian geological history of the Dnipro Rapids

This article provides a concise description of chronological sequence of Rapids in the Dnipro within the area between the cities Dnipro and Zaporizhia, their role in the maritime transport of the Dnipro, and the relationship between humans and the river during a number of historical epochs; it presents the role of the Dnipro Rapids, also known as the Porohy of the Dnipro, as unique natural formations in the great River Dnipro, which flows through three countries and cuts through the Ukraininan Crystalline Shield. The article analyzes the sequence of measures taken by the supporters of conservation of nature along the Dnipro Rapids area, representatives of nature-conservation organizations and all people interested in Dnipro Rapids and conservation of its unique natural heritage - beginning with founding “Dniprovski Porohy” National Geological Reserve in Zaporizhia Oblast in 1974 to organizing “Dniprovi Porohy” Regional Landscape Park on the territory between Stari Kodaky village and the border of Zaporizhia Oblast. This paper highlights the diversity of geological processes which have taken place over a long and dynamic geological history, described in the stone chronicle or rocks and minerals, and which formed the Dnipro Rapids, an object of interest of many generations to come. This article emphasizes the fact that the geological component of a valuable natural phenomenon was described for the first time only in the results of particular studies by Valerian Domger, who conducted his research for the building of Katerynynska Railway upon instructions from the Geological Committee from 1881 to 1884. The pegmatite, diabase, granite, syenite with peculiarities of their mineral composition, elements of bedding, described by V Domger for the Nenasytetsky and Lohanivsky and other Rapids and islands, were not the only phenomena which have disappeared beneath the Dnipro waters forever. The small quarries, where the young geologist described the Sarmatian limestones, left no signs of their existence and not a single outcrop of the limestone survived. Therefore, the routes of V O Domger, the discoverer of the Nikopol manganese deposits, Tomakivska fauna of the Mediterranean type and Mandrykivska fauna, one of the best preserved in the world, are of great historical value. Likewise, his field studies have still not lost their scientific significance. This paper succinctly describes the geological history of the area of the Dnipro Rapids and the oldest crystalline rocks of the Aul series and non-stratified formations of the Dnipropetrovsk and other natural complexes, involved in the formation of certain rapids.

Buy or lease land? Cost-effective conservation of an oligotrophic lake in a Natura 2000 area

Cost-effective implementation of measures to conserve biodiversity is often a major target of conservation organisations, and choosing the correct mode of governance can be important in this context. Nature conservation organisations can, in principle, choose between two distinct modes of governance to implement conservation activities: they can (1) buy desired areas of interest and implement conservation measures themselves (buy option), or (2) offer payments to landowners to incentivize them to voluntarily preserve or create habitat on their land (compensation option). In this paper we analyse the cost-effectiveness of these two modes of governance in a case study on a conservation project in a Natura 2000 area in Schleswig–Holstein, Germany. The actual costs of the buy option are compared with the potential costs of implementing the compensation option. We developed a costing framework to compare the costs of both options over time, given they generate the same ecological results on an identical project area. We find that the cost-effective solution depends, among other things, on the conservation timeframe considered and on cost components such as transaction costs, leasehold rent and land prices.

Governance von Freizeit und Erholung im Wald am Beispiel von Mountainbike-Trails

Governance of forest recreation: analysing the case of mountain bike trails In the last years, leisure and recreation activities in forests have become more important. Sustainable forest management not only fulfils the functions of protection and use, but also promotes the welfare and recreation function of forests. For this, it is not only necessary to be aware of societal demands, but also to understand how forest planning and management decisions are taken. Such questions are analysed in governance research. In this article, we use the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework to analyse the governance structures and processes in the planning of four mountain bike trails in Swiss forests. The cases show that the following governance characteristics have been decisive for the realization of the mountain bike trails: 1) the inclusion of the local actors (e.g. forest owners, hunters, nature conservation organisations), 2) the clear lead of a specific institution in the planning process and 3) the funding of the trail.

Michael Strobel, Problems and perspectives of archaeological heritage management in intensively used agricultural landscapes – best-practice models from Saxony (Germany)

Nowhere else is there a creeping and slow destruction of archaeological monuments as in intensively used agricultural landscapes. Sites are still degraded by erosion, cultivation and pollutant inputs to the soil. But the implementation of concrete measures needs more than sensitive archaeological institutions. Without the cooperation with farmers, agricultural administrations, nature conservation agencies and organisations as well as the mobilisation of agro-environmental funds archaeologists will never achieve an efficient heritage management on intensively cultivated areas. In order to protect the rural archaeological heritage in Saxony, various strategies have been developed since 2000. The paper presents best-practice models of managing monuments in intensively used agricultural landscapes. The conversion of ploughed sites into grassland alongside with the application of precision farming systems are especially effective approaches to a better conservation of archaeological remains at risk.