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Showing papers in "Oryx in 2003"


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify who in principle should pay, by comparing the spatial distribution of the costs and the benefits of tropical conservation, and conclude that the gap in funding tropical conservation should be borne largely by national and especially global communities, who receive most benefit but currently pay least cost.
Abstract: While conservation activities are underfunded almost everywhere, the gap between current expenditure and what is needed is particularly extreme in the tropics where threatened species and habitats are most concentrated. We examine how to bridge this funding gap. Firstly, we try to identify who in principle should pay, by comparing the spatial distribution of the costs and the benefits of tropical conservation. The immediate opportunity costs of conservation often exceed its more obvious, management-related costs, and are borne largely by local communities. Conversely, we argue that the greatest benefits of conservation derive from ecological services, and from option, existence, and bequest values; these are often widely dispersed and enjoyed in large part by wealthier national and global beneficiaries. We conclude that the gap in funding tropical conservation should be borne largely by national and especially global communities, who receive most benefit but currently pay least cost. In the second part of the paper we review recent developments in order to examine how in practice increased funding may be raised. There are many growing and novel sources of support: private philanthropy, premium pricing for biodiversity-related goods via certification schemes, and the development of entirely new markets for environmental services. Despite their potential, we conclude that the principal route for meeting the unmet costs of tropical conservation will have to be via governments, and will inevitably require the transfer of substantial resources from north to south. This will be enormously difficult, both politically and logistically, but without it we believe that much of what remains of tropical nature will be lost.

393 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: Reconciliation ecology redesigns anthropogenic habitats so that their use is compatible with use by a broad array of other species, that is reconciliation ecology.
Abstract: Species-area relationships (SPARs) dictate a sea change in the strategies of biodiversity conservation. SPARs exist at three ecological scales: Sample-area SPARs (a larger area within a biogeographical province will tend to include more habitat types, and thus more species, than a smaller one), Archipelagic SPARs (the islands of an archipelago show SPARs that combine the habitat-sampling process with the problem of dispersal to an island), and Interprovincial SPARs (other things being equal, the speciation rates of larger biogeographical provinces are higher and their extinction rates are lower, leading to diversities in proportion to provincial area). SPARs are the products of steady-state dynamics in diversity, and such dynamics appears to have characterized the earth for most of the last 500 million years. As people reduce the area available to wild species, they impose a linear reduction of the earth's species diversity that will follow the largest of these scales, i.e. each 1% reduction of natural area will cost about 1% of steady-state diversity. Reserving small tracts of wild habitat can only delay these reductions. But we can stop most of them by redesigning anthropogenic habitats so that their use is compatible with use by a broad array of other species. That is reconciliation ecology. Many pilot projects, whether intentionally or inadvertently espousing reconciliation ecology, are demonstrating that it can be done.

381 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors distinguish between different ideas nestled under the umbrella term of sustainable use, including direct use as an imperative or choice, keeping any use within biologically sustainable limits, and use as a possible conservation strategy that can create positive incentives, which are key where land could otherwise be converted to biodiversity-unfriendly practices.
Abstract: Discussions of sustainable use have become polarized. Welfarists oppose all use that involves killing animals. Among conservationists polarization arises in part from failure to distinguish between different ideas nestled under the umbrella term of ‘sustainable use’. These include direct use as an imperative or choice, the ideal of keeping any use within biologically sustainable limits, and use as a possible conservation strategy that can create positive incentives, which are key where land could otherwise be converted to biodiversity-unfriendly practices. People will continue to use wild living resources, which increasing human populations could further deplete. In response the conservation community can follow one of two approaches. On the one hand, it can try to stop use through the establishment of strictly protected areas and by enforcing legislation, although many would question the ethical position of imposing such an approach. On the other hand, it can work to introduce the wider management systems needed to deliver sustainable use and, if possible, incentive-driven conservation. Because most rural populations will continue using wild living resources in human-dominated landscapes, sustainable use and incentive-driven conservation should both be at the centre of the conservation agenda this century. Both species- and ecosystem-based management are likely to have a role in sustainable use. However, current enthusiasm for the ecosystem approach may throw up unexpected consequences, making the search for sustainability even more polarized. Nevertheless, direct use of species cannot provide sufficient incentives to ensure the continued delivery of ecosystem services, which need to be fully incorporated in the global accounting system.

294 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: It is crucial to address wider perceptions of the problem in order to mobilize the resources necessary for a global invasive species management programme.
Abstract: Biological invasions by non-indigenous species (NIS) are widely recognized as a significant component of human-caused global environmental change. However, the standard programme of mapping distributions, predicting future ranges, modelling species spread, assessing impacts, developing management guidelines and screening species suffers from a number of serious limitations. NIS distribution maps can often be as misleading as they are instructive. Perceptions of the intensity, scale and rate of invasion are a function of mapping resolution, and the lack of common mapping standards prevents accurate comparative assessments. Coarse resolution data may overestimate the role of climate in the invasion process relative to other variables such as land use or human population density. Climate envelopes have therefore been widely used to predict species future ranges, but often overestimate potential distributions. Without an appropriate mechanistic understanding of the invasion process, correlative approaches may misinterpret the relative risks posed by different NIS. In addition, statistical models of invasion fail to encapsulate the complexity of human-mediated dispersal, which includes such diverse processes as transatlantic timber trade, horticultural fashion and the continuing expansion of road networks. Screening tools based on species traits, taxonomy and/or invasion history can sometimes result in high discrimination rates. Yet where the cost of false positives outweighs the risks from false negatives, a higher discriminatory power is required. Certain research outputs have perhaps been counterproductive in the war against invasive species. Studies have highlighted that only a tiny proportion of NIS are invasive, that most invasions occur in human dominated rather than pristine ecosystems, that indigenous and non-indigenous species are sufficiently similar that their impacts may not necessarily be different, and that there is evidence that introduced species augment rather than reduce species diversity. It is crucial to address these wider perceptions of the problem in order to mobilize the resources necessary for a global invasive species management programme.

280 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this paper, the importance of direct, intimate encounter with places and organisms on the attitudes of the young, as well as the significance of biophilia is discussed. And the authors present a six-point program, called Nature Matrix, for an alternative social and ethical paradigm.
Abstract: Many individuals and societies are no longer connected to the more-than-human world in such a way as to ensure a sustainable future. As such connection has diminished, environmental challenges have multiplied and influences for estrangement intensified. I review the importance of direct, intimate encounter with places and organisms on the attitudes of the young, as well as the significance of biophilia. The result of the loss of contact and subsequent alienation is the Extinction of Experience: an inexorable cycle of disconnection, apathy, and progressive depletion. I describe an effort to demonstrate this effect. Small, humble habitats, especially in urban settings, can be as important as big reserves in awakening biophilia. Biophobia, abetted by the loss of such habitats, the rise of the virtual in place of actual experience, economic inequalities, and overpopulation, further feeds the downward spiral of extinction and disaffection. The climate of global corporate growth that now prevails is inimical to sustainability, as is the current state of ecological illiteracy. Radical change is therefore necessary to address both economic disparity, in the direction of minimal ownership rather than maximum consumerism, and educational reform that places nature at the centre rather than the margin of the curriculum. I present a six-point programme, called Nature Matrix, for an alternative social and ethical paradigm. Rather than a pragmatic plan for the near future, Nature Matrix is a model for essential, incremental change, a dream whose eventual adoption may enhance chances for reconnection and for ecological survival itself: at present, a deeply uncertain prospect.

238 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In fact, both poverty alleviation and property rights only yield conservation as discussed by the authors, and this perspective mirrors biodiversity conservation and poverty an earlier, equally flawed argument that clear property alleviation rights would produce conservation.
Abstract: conservation, but funds diCerent means to achieve the Contested relationships between same ends (Bojo et al., 2001). This perspective mirrors biodiversity conservation and poverty an earlier, equally flawed argument that clear property alleviation rights would produce conservation. In fact, both poverty alleviation and property rights only yield conservation The development assistance community has collectively identified poverty alleviation as one of the Millennial when tied to an explicit conservation strategy (Naughton & Sanderson, 1995). Development Goals. Ambitious, hopeful targets have been set to redress one of the most vexing problems of Current poverty alleviation perspectives resuscitate economic development strategies of the 1950s, in which our time, and the United Nations General Assembly called on 18 September 2000 for a halving of the number the gains in development were explained by greater access to markets, infrastructure support, and economies of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. With this declaration of a new global war on poverty, the United of scale. In a world far more rural than today’s, development emphasized significant increases in productivity Nations system challenges the human community on behalf of the world’s poor. However, achieving the goal of labour, land and capital. It meant agricultural credit, water, improved seed and inputs, and rationalization of of liberating half the world’s poor from their poverty by 2015 will either mark the true beginning of sustainlabour and capital in primary commodities (Meier, 1984). Now, in an increasingly urban world, the bulk of the ability or the end of biodiversity at the hands of the best-intentioned policies. Without reshaping poverty world’s rural poor struggle to increase productivity, pushed by pressures from urban consumption. With the alleviation strategies, biodiversity will pay the price for development yet again, and the human ‘‘subsidy from exception of the poorest rural countries of equatorial Africa and South-east Asia, poverty alleviation today nature’’ (Anderson et al., 1991) will tax biodiversity to death. means access to the means of consumption in urban communities, with much greater demand on a reduced This far-reaching and laudable social goal for poverty reduction is being debated within the development agriculture and a declining agricultural population. With a closed agricultural frontier in much of the world, community itself by development advocates, but missing in this dialogue are the implications of traditional minimal unclaimed fresh water, high levels of land degradation, and an increasingly skewed rural-urban poverty alleviation strategies for another millennial priority, the conservation of biodiversity. In fact, bioincome distribution, the world will demand that fewer and poorer agriculturalists produce more commodities diversity has all but disappeared from the global dialogue on sustainable development. Even the most eminent with less inputs for a rapidly growing consumer population. To call this model sustainable requires great feats spokesman of development and freedom, Amartya Sen, scarcely mentions biodiversity in his otherwise of imagination. In fact, the global community risks repeating the experience of the post-war developmentalists. It compelling proposals for the poor (Sen, 1999). The renewed focus on poverty alleviation without is no less true now than 50 years ago that ‘‘There is a real danger of the macro-models of economic developbiodiversity conservation is concomitant with a shift of interest and funding away from biodiversity conservation ment ’running on their own steam’ without any reference to the fundamental human problems of backwardness.’’ programmes and objectives. Compare the agenda and results of last year’s World Summit on Sustainable (Myint, 1954). The tremendous gains in human welfare in the postDevelopment in Johannesburg with the 1992 World Summit on Environment and Development in Rio de war decades cannot be undervalued. But neither can the huge environmental costs of this economic development. Janeiro. Prior to 1992, sustainable development married economic improvement to conservation practice, howAccordingly, the sustainable development push of the 1980s and 1990s, with its explicit conservation objectives, ever imperfectly. Frustrated by the floundering Rio process during the 1990s, developmentalists shifted the had great potential to marry human possibilities to conservation needs (Lele, 1992; Redford & Sanderson, sustainability argument to read that poverty alleviation will itself achieve many conservation goals. According 1992). Without changing the economic premises of development, the global community risks traveling back to this view, poverty alleviation does not abandon

216 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this paper, an examination of the ways in which certification may contribute to biodiversity conservation leads to the following conclusions: 1) the process of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certification generates improvements to management with respect to the value of managed forests for biodiversity.
Abstract: Forest certification provides a means by which producers who meet stringent sustainable forestry standards can identify their products in the marketplace, allowing them to potentially receive greater market access and higher prices for their products. An examination of the ways in which certification may contribute to biodiversity conservation leads to the following conclusions: 1) the process of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certification generates improvements to management with respect to the value of managed forests for biodiversity. 2) Current incentives are not sufficient to attract the majority of producers to seek certification, particularly in tropical countries where the costs of improving management to meet FSC guidelines are significantly greater than any market benefits they may receive; available incentives are even less capable of convincing forest owners to retain forest cover and produce certified timber on a sustainable basis, rather than deforesting their lands for timber and agriculture. 3) At present, current volumes of certified forest products are insufficient to reduce demand to log high conservation value forests. If FSC certification is to make greater inroads, particularly in tropical countries, significant investments will be needed both to increase the benefits and reduce the costs of certification. Conservation investors will need to carefully consider the biodiversity benefits that will be generated from such investments, versus the benefits generated from investing in more traditional approaches to biodiversity conservation.

211 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: This article investigated the conservation attitudes of two ethnic groups, horticulturalist Pimbwe and agropastoralist Sukuma, living around Katavi National Park (KNP) in western Tanzania, East Africa.
Abstract: This case study investigates the conservation attitudes of two ethnic groups, horticulturalist Pimbwe and agropastoralist Sukuma, living around Katavi National Park (KNP) in western Tanzania, East Africa. Specifically, interest in degazetting KNP was examined (as a reflection of attitude towards the Park) relative to type and extent of KNP outreach, wildlife-related problems, household wealth and residency status. Reported attitudes were then related to fuelwood extraction patterns. Attitudinal surveys showed that a lack of KNP outreach (i.e. village-level services and visits by KNP staff) and increased land wealth and shorter residency time were associated with increased interest in seeing KNP degazetted. However, after controlling for ethnicity only recognition of village-level Park services was still associated with positive attitudes towards KNP. People recognizing KNP services also demonstrated more ecologically sustainable wood extraction methods. These results suggest that while attitudinal studies seem to be a logical step towards making informed decisions about the effectiveness of protected area outreach, relating such outreach to behavioural changes in resource use through attitudinal assessment is a greater challenge, requiring a clear understanding of the relative influence of socioeconomic and cultural factors.

155 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: The issues that influence the success and failure of methods used to reduce crop damage by elephants are reviewed, and it is suggested that an integrated, community-based, low-tech approach will be the most sustainable solution to this conflict.
Abstract: Managers attempting to reduce crop damage used to reduce crop damage, and suggests that an integrated, community-based, low-tech approach will be by elephants encounter a range of complex technical and social issues. Subsistence farmers bear the costs associated the most sustainable solution to this conflict. with maintaining wild elephant populations and this can confound interventions designed to improve the Keywords Africa, crop raiding, elephants, farmers, human-animal conflict. livelihood security of farmers. We present a review of the issues that influence the success and failure of methods

150 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: It is concluded that, under current wildlife policy, conflict between people and BWCA is difficult to resolve, and co-management of wildlife involving all stakeholders, establishment of crop damage control teams, and promotion of tangible benefits to local people are suggested.
Abstract: Knowledge of conflicts between people and protected areas is required for the design of sustainable conservation strategies for the management of most protected areas. This study identifies the causes of conflicts between local people and the Benoue Wildlife Conservation Area (BWCA), which includes the Benoue National Park, in northern Cameroon. Informal interviews and questionnaires were administered to 114 households in three communities, and to 17 Park staff and seven professional hunting guides. Crop damage affected 86% of the surveyed households, with 31% of crop income lost on average, and with the damage varying significantly between communities. Elephants, baboons, patas monkeys, warthogs and green parrots accounted for 97% of crop damage, with the staple foods maize and millet being most affected. Of the respondents, 28% experienced livestock depredation, with 18% of livestock income lost on average. The civet cat was the main predator. The involvement of local people in illegal activities, their lack of access to natural resources, and damage by wildlife were identified as principal causes of conflicts. Local people, park staff and professional hunting guides had diverse and differing perceptions about the causes of the conflicts, and made various suggestions for reduction of wildlife damage including animal scaring and controlled shooting. We conclude that, under current wildlife policy, conflict between people and BWCA is difficult to resolve. To reduce conflicts and promote sustainable conservation, we suggest co-management of wildlife involving all stakeholders, establishment of crop damage control teams, and promotion of tangible benefits to local people. There may be a requirement for site-specificity inmanagement strategies.

146 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this paper, an attitudinal questionnaire survey of 202 households in four villages in south-eastern Tanzania was used to examine local perceptions of wildlife crop-damage in terms of relative impact and which wildlife species were responsible.
Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of perceived patterns of wildlife crop-damage in relation to an on-farm assessment of damage in an area bordering the Selous Game Reserve (SGR) in south-eastern Tanzania. Data from an attitudinal questionnaire survey of 202 households in four villages are used to examine local perceptions of wildlife crop-damage in terms of relative impact and which wildlife species were responsible. We explore the influence of wildlife crop-damage on attitudes to the adjacent game reserve. Data on the frequency of crop-damage events and estimated severity of impacts, recorded during a 6-month programme of crop-damage monitoring in one of the survey villages, are used to describe on-farm patterns of crop-damage. Comparison of the two data sets indicates a disjunction between the nature of the wildlife crop-damage conflict as perceived by local villagers, and as it actually occurs in the study area. This disjunction is discussed in relation to the effect of extreme damage events on local people's views, the opportunity costs involved in guarding farm plots against crop-damage, and the tenure arrangements for wildlife that define the relationship with the state wildlife management authority.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used repeated observations of 17 habituated groups and information on 15 unhabituated groups obtained during patrols to estimate the number of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes region of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Abstract: Small populations are particularly susceptible to disturbance. Routine censusing to monitor changes is important for understanding both population dynamics and the effectiveness of conservation strategies. Mountain gorillas Gorilla beringei beringei in the Virunga Volcanoes region of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been censused five times since 1970. However, due to war and political unrest in the region since 1990, no census had been conducted since 1989, when the population was thought to number 324 gorillas. In 2000 we estimated population size using repeated observations of 17 habituated groups and information on 15 unhabituated groups obtained during patrols. The minimum population was 359 gorillas, and a best-case scenario correcting for groups that might not have been counted was 395. Using the minimum population and best-case scenario respectively, this represents a 0.9% or 1.8% annual growth rate over the last decade and 1.0% or 1.3% annual growth rate since 1972. This is lower than growth estimates made in several population viability analyses, but approximately 5% of the 1989 population is known to have died due to military activity over the last decade. Different subsets of the population exhibited different responses to disturbance caused by war. We discuss conservation strategies that are likely to have contributed to an increase in the gorilla population during this time of turmoil. While the population has grown, the results should be viewed with caution, not only because all known growth during the last decade can be attributed to one subset of the population, but also because the region is still plagued by political unrest.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: Bawa et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that these constraints are unrelated to biodiversity monitoring and should be addressed by neglect of different sources of error in the estimation of strengthening the government institutions responsible for biodiversity diversity.
Abstract: ., 2002).manyexistingprogrammessuCerfromtwomajordesign One could argue that these constraints are unrelateddeficiencies: a lack of well-articulated objectives, and a to biodiversity monitoring and should be addressed byneglect of diCerent sources of error in the estimation of strengthening the government institutions responsiblebiological diversity. The paper was primarily devoted and providing additional training and funds (Bawa &to the sources of data uncertainty. While we agree Menon, 1997). However, whether we like it or not, wewith the conclusion that substantial thought should be are not likely to see significantly improved environmentalgiven to the question of design, and to ‘how’, ‘what’ and departments in developing countries for some time. By‘why’ to monitor, it is worth considering what we want neglecting these constraints and emphasizing the needto achieve by monitoring and, considering the socio- for more standardized approaches, the recommendationseconomic context, what is practically feasible. Design of Yoccoz

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: The concept of international "Peace Parks" is being promoted in many parts of the world as a way of linking biodiversity conservation with national security as mentioned in this paper, and the Convention on Biological Diversity offers a useful framework for such cooperation.
Abstract: Forests are often frontiers, and like all frontiers, they are sites of dynamic social, ecological, political and economic changes. Such dynamism involves constantly changing advantages and disadvantages to different groups of people, which not surprisingly can lead to armed conflict, and all too frequently to war. Many governments have contributed to conflict, however inadvertently, by nationalizing their forests, so that traditional forest inhabitants have been disenfranchised while national governments sell the rights to trees in order to earn foreign exchange. Biodiversity-rich tropical forests in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Indochina, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Central and West Africa, the Amazon, Colombia, Central America and New Caledonia have all been the sites of armed conflict in recent years, sometimes involving international forces. Forests have sometimes been part of the cause of conflict (as in Myanmar and Sierra Leone) but more often victims of it. Violent conflicts in temperate areas also typically involve forests as shelters for both civilians and combatants, as in the Balkans. While these conflicts have frequently, even invariably, caused negative impacts on biodiversity, peace can be even worse, as it enables forest exploitation to operate with impunity. Because many of the remaining forests are along international borders, international cooperation is required for their conservation. As one response, the concept of international “Peace Parks” is being promoted in many parts of the world as a way of linking biodiversity conservation with national security. The Convention on Biological Diversity, which entered into force at the end of 1993 and now has 187 State Parties, offers a useful framework for such cooperation.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: The long-term future of the snow leopard is under threat mainly due to retaliatory killings by farmers, and poaching for pelts and other body parts, in Baltistan and throughout its range within Pakistan's borders.
Abstract: Between 1998 and 2001 I carried out surveys in four areas in the Baltistan district of the Northern Areas of Pakistan to estimate the population of the snow leopard and to examine the threats to its future conservation. I estimate that a total of 36–50 snow leopards are present in the areas surveyed. Based on the availability of suitable snow leopard habitat and of its prey species, I estimate that 90–120 snow leopards are potentially present in Baltistan and 300–420 throughout its range within Pakistan's borders. Although this estimate is higher than extrapolations based on earlier surveys, the long-term future of the snow leopard is under threat. This is mainly due to retaliatory killings by farmers, and poaching for pelts and other body parts. Species-focused conservation policies, particularly those targeting ungulates for the promotion of trophy hunting, may constitute an additional threat to snow leopard conservation in the region. However, all forms of threats to the snow leopard in Baltistan appear to emanate from the relatively poor economic conditions of the local people.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: Data from nearby sites indicate that the epidemic was limited to the Minkebe Forest, and a catastrophic decline in ape populations in the area is believed to have been caused by a disease epidemic.
Abstract: decline in ape populations in the area. We believe that this decline was caused by a disease epidemic. The authorities have reported 43 deaths and at least 12 other cases of Ebola. These epidemics are believed to be linked period of decline corresponds with the Ebola outbreaks of 1994 and 1996 that occurred in the human population to the handling and eating of dead apes. in the same area. Deaths of gorillas and chimpanzees were associated with both Ebola outbreaks. Data from Keywords Chimpanzees, Ebola, Gabon, Gorilla gorilla, great apes, Minkebe, Pan troglodytes. nearby sites indicate that the epidemic was limited to the

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the short and medium-term responses of bird and mammal assemblages to an unprecedented wildfire that scorched the understorey of 1,100 km2 of forest in the Arapiuns-Maro river basin of central Brazilian Amazonia.
Abstract: Surface fires have recently become a widespread pantropical phenomenon that could trigger revolutionary changes in the structure and functioning of tropical forests and result in a catastrophic impoverishment of the vertebrate fauna. Here we describe the short- and medium-term responses of bird and mammal assemblages to an unprecedented wildfire that scorched the understorey of 1,100 km2 of forest in the Arapiuns-Maro river basin of central Brazilian Amazonia. Fire-induced mortality in the aftermath of this burn was high for a wide range of plant and animal populations monitored. This included an average of 36% of all large trees in eight quarter-hectare plots sampled in burnt forest, which dramatically altered the post-burn understorey light environment. The Arapiuns wildfire also resulted in significant socioeconomic costs to local forest dwellers, namely crop losses and the decimation of many forest resources, including key game vertebrate species pursued by subsistence hunters, vines and woody lianas, and many fruit species. The conservation prospects of the vertebrate fauna in fire-prone Amazonian forests are discussed with respect to the increasingly more frequent and severe El Nino-mediated dry seasons.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the poaching pressures on tigers and their prey species from confiscations of snare traps by Tiger Protection and Conservation Units (TPCU) and determined the effectiveness of TPCU patrol size from the number of arrests, and chainsaw and snare trap confiscations per patrol.
Abstract: The Sumatran tiger, categorized as Critically Endangered on the 2002 IUCN Red List, is threatened by poaching for domestic and international markets, by prey depletion from human hunting and by habitat loss from illegal and commercial logging, oil palm production, pioneer farming, mining operations and forest fires. Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP) in west-central Sumatra still has large blocks of forest that support tiger populations. In this paper we present information on photo-trapping and tiger distribution in KSNP and adjoining forest. Tigers were found to be present in all habitat types across KSNP. The poaching pressures on tigers and their prey species were evaluated from confiscations of snare traps by Tiger Protection and Conservation Units (TPCU). Poaching pressures were found to be highest for muntjac, then sambar, tiger, and serow and mouse deer. We determined the effectiveness of TPCU patrol size from the number of arrests, and chainsaw and snare trap confiscations per patrol. The success of forest patrols increased with the number of TPCU staff per patrol. We looked at general law enforcement for KSNP, which appeared to be inadequate. To reduce the threat posed by poaching and illegal logging extra TPCU staff are required for patrols, and extra patrol units are required for the northern and southern sections of the Park. In KSNP it is necessary to monitor habitat loss, establish an unambiguous scheme to mitigate human-tiger conflict, and develop a photo-trapping programme to monitor the tiger population.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: It now seems that the remnant populations of Samoana attenuata discovered only 5 years ago are the only species of partulid still surviving beyond Tahiti on the Society Island group, and Partulidae are clearly a highly threatened family of invertebrates, and in need of the most intense conservation focus.
Abstract: Following the well documented extinctions of many species of endemic tree snail (family Partulidae) throughout French Polynesia, field surveys were undertaken on four islands in the Society archipelago to provide up to date information for the international conservation programme for this group of invertebrates These surveys have confirmed the loss of all species of Partula in the wild on the Society Islands other than Tahiti Thirty-three species have been lost from Raiatea, thereby eliminating one of the most outstanding examples of island evolutionary radiation On Huahine the disappearance of P varia and P rosea, used for making lei (shell jewellery), had an economic and social effect on the local community: many of the women of the villages lost their livelihoods, and the artisan's association folded The seven species of Partula on Moorea were extinct in the wild by the mid 1980s, terminating almost 100 years of biological research It now seems that the remnant populations of Samoana attenuata discovered only 5 years ago are the only species of partulid still surviving beyond Tahiti on the Society Island group The mixed species populations in the Te Pari area of Tahiti-Iti are still extant, but the predatory snail Euglandina rosea has now spread to the last valley on the Peninsula that did not have previous evidence of predator activity On Tahiti-Nui populations of partulid, without the predator, were found near the crest of Mount Tahiti above Orofero Valley Partulidae are clearly a highly threatened family of invertebrates, and in need of the most intense conservation focus

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: Bones were obtained from the temporary camp of raffia palm fibre harvesters in the Parc National d'Ankarafantsika in north-western Madagascar as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Bones were obtained from the temporary camp of raffia palm fibre harvesters in the Parc National d'Ankarafantsika in north-western Madagascar. Based on the context of their deposition, knife-cut marks, and burn marks these animals were consumed for food. The minimum number of individuals (MNI) of wild animals represented in the sample was 49, and included turtles (MNI = 5), birds (MNI = 4), tenrecs (MNI = 4), Carnivora (MNI = 2), lemurs (MNI = 32), and bush pigs (MNI = 2). The majority of these animals are protected by Malagasy law and are endemic to the island.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: The authors in this paper estimate that up to 45,000 adult radiated tortoises are harvested each year, with the species' range having contracted by one-fifth over the last 25 years.
Abstract: To avoid the risk of misapplying conservation effort the correct diagnosis of the agent causing a population to decline requires scientific approaches. The radiated tortoise Geochelone radiata, endemic to southern Madagascar, is heavily harvested for food and for the pet trade. Fearing overexploitation, the tortoise was protected under Malagasy law and placed on Appendix I of CITES, yet scientific evidence that the radiated tortoise is declining, and that exploitation is the agent driving any decline, is lacking. Interviews with tortoise harvesters, a comparison of the size of the tortoise's range through time, and estimates of tortoise abundance at 14 sites under different levels of harvest intensity were used to seek evidence of overexploitation. In the first study to attempt to quantify the size of the illegal harvest of radiated tortoises, we estimated that up to 45,000 adult radiated tortoises are harvested each year. The species is declining, with its range having contracted by one-fifth over the last 25 years. Three pieces of evidence strongly suggest that overexploitation is driving this decline. Firstly, commercial harvesters reported travelling increasingly far, up to 200 km, to find sufficient densities of tortoises. Secondly, tortoises were either absent or at very low abundance at sites subject to commercial harvesting, but in remote, unharvested regions, tortoises persisted at densities of up to 2,500 km−2. Thirdly, tortoise abundance increased significantly with distance from urban centres of high demand for tortoise meat. If current rates of harvesting continue, the radiated tortoise will go extinct in the wild.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP) is the largest protected area in which Asian tapir Tapirus indicus occurs as mentioned in this paper, and evidence of tapirs was collected by photo-trapping, recording of tapir signs, and interviewing local people.
Abstract: Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP) is the largest protected area in which Asian tapir Tapirus indicus occurs. Data collected during 3 years of biodiversity surveys indicated that KSNP is one of the most important remaining areas for Asian tapir. Evidence of tapirs was collected by photo-trapping, recording of tapir signs, and interviewing local people. Photo-trapping was carried out in four locations, each representing a different forest type. The results showed that the Asian tapir is widespread throughout the Park and found in a variety of habitats, from montane cloud forests to the degraded fragments of remaining lowland forest. Although formerly believed to be solitary, tapirs were often photo-trapped in pairs. Repeat ‘recapture’ of the same individuals suggests that these pairings may be of long duration. Evidence of distribution and threats throughout the Park and adjacent forests was collected to produce a greater understanding of how best to safeguard the future of this species in KSNP. Deliberate hunting of tapirs in KSNP was found to be rare, and habitat loss and fragmentation poses the most serious threat.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: The Ethiopian wolf Canis simensis is endemic to the Afroalpine highlands of Ethiopia as mentioned in this paper, and its distribution, abundance and threats to all extant populations is a conservation priority for this critically endangered canid.
Abstract: The Ethiopian wolf Canis simensis is endemic to the Afroalpine highlands of Ethiopia. Half of the world population, estimated at c. 500 individuals, lives in the Bale Mountains of southern Ethiopia. Little is known, however, about the presence of wolves and suitable habitat in other Afroalpine ranges. Assessing the distribution, abundance and threats to all extant populations is a conservation priority for this Critically Endangered canid. With these objectives in mind, surveys were conducted between 1997 and 2000 in the little known regions of Arsi, Wollo, Gondar and Shoa. Suitable habitat and resident wolves were found in all regions. Outside Bale the existence of six other isolated populations, including two previously undescribed, was confirmed. All were small, estimated at no more than 50 individuals, and some with <25 individuals. Two population extinctions were documented, and habitat loss to agriculture largely explained local extinctions in small habitat patches. While Bale remains crucial for the long-term persistence of this species, the finding of several small and threatened populations highlights the need for in situ conservation actions to be expanded to other regions of the Ethiopian highlands.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: Five major shifts in perspective are described that reveal the authors' impacts to be more severe and persistent than previously appreciated, and marine ecosystems are being shifted into alternative states that are less desirable from the human perspective and may be stable.
Abstract: In the last 15 years new research findings have radically reshaped our understanding of human effects on ocean ecosystems. Here I describe five major shifts in perspective that reveal our impacts to be more severe and persistent than previously appreciated. Firstly, scientists have delved deep into the past and found that the global expansion of European nations across the planet caused the large-scale loss of marine megafauna. In the past century, expansion of industrial scale fishing has continued the process, massively reducing the biomass of exploited species. Secondly, once depleted we are finding that populations rarely rebound rapidly, contrary to a widespread belief in greater resilience of marine compared to terrestrial species. Thirdly, marine ecosystems are being shifted into alternative states that are less desirable from the human perspective and may be stable. It could be difficult, or impossible in some cases, to reverse impacts once inflicted. Fourthly, marine species are at risk of extinction. Loss of shallow water marine habitats is proceeding as rapidly as on land, many species have small geographic ranges, and many possess life history characteristics that leave them highly susceptible to overexploitation. Finally, the deep sea is not beyond harm. Depletion of shallow water fisheries and technological advances are opening up the deep to exploitation and its collateral impacts. If we are to reverse these negative trends we must establish large-scale networks of marine reserves that are off limits to damaging activities and fishing. Such reserves would protect biodiversity, and recover and sustain the world's fisheries productivity.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: Tanzanian orchids are at risk from the cross-border trade, its dynamics and its implications for Tanzanian biodiversity and the implications for Tanzania's orchid population are reported in this article.
Abstract: Kinaka or Chikanda has been eaten by people in parts of Zambia, northern Malawi and south-western Tanzania for hundreds of years. Prepared from the boiled root tubers of terrestrial orchids, and principally from species of the genera Disa, Habenaria and Satyrium, it was formerly a traditional village delicacy and did not pose a threat to orchid populations. However, the past decade has witnessed a dramatic rise in demand in Zambia, particularly in urban areas. This has triggered a burgeoning commercial market and has now prompted traders to seek tubers from Tanzania's Southern Highlands, an important centre of endemism for upland species of orchid. The resulting cross-border trade, its dynamics and the implications for Tanzanian orchids are reported here for the first time. Whilst all orchid species are in CITES Appendix II, collectors are currently harvesting between 2.2 and 4.1 million tubers per year for export to, and consumption in, neighbouring Zambia. As many as 85 species may be at risk from this trade, and there is evidence that large areas in Ufipa, Mbeya and Kipengere have already been stripped of their orchids. A decline in traditional Tanzanian consumption of Kinaka seems to be having little or no impact on harvesting volumes. Orchid collection across the Southern Highlands is now escalating at a rate that may be far from sustainable. The consequences for Tanzanian biodiversity and for one of Africa's most important areas for orchids are profound.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors carried out the first satellite tracking of flamingos in southern Africa to find out where lesser and greater flamingos go after leaving Makgadikgadi.
Abstract: The Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana are one of the most important breeding sites in southern Africa for lesser flamingos Phoeniconaias minor and greater flamingos Phoenicopterus ruber roseus. Much of flamingo migration behaviour is unknown and there has been speculation on the pattern of flamingo movements to and from Makgadikgadi and their dispersal throughout southern Africa. We carried out the first satellite tracking of flamingos in southern Africa to find out where lesser and greater flamingos go after leaving Makgadikgadi. In July 2001 five lesser and three greater flamingos were tagged. Following migration from the pans, one of the greater flamingos flew west to the coast of Namibia, the other south to a small wetland in South Africa. The lesser flamingos moved south-east from Makgadikgadi to South Africa and Mozambique. Movement by both species was nocturnal. This work shows that flamingos migrate from all over southern Africa to Makgadikgadi to breed. It also shows that, during the non-breeding season, movement is widely dispersed and nomadic among a network of wetlands around the subcontinent. Small wetlands, often unrecognized as important for conservation, provide valuable feeding sites and migration staging posts along flamingo migration routes. This highlights the need for the conservation of the network of small wetlands around southern Africa, which are often under threat from anthropogenic activities, to protect two high profile bird species in decline.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: The Sumatran orang-utan Pongo abelii is have recently caused local extinctions as mentioned in this paper and is classified as Critically Endangered on the 2002 IUCN Red List with other available information to provideRed List.
Abstract: The Sumatran orang-utan Pongo abelii is have recently caused local extinctions. We combinecategorized as Critically Endangered on the 2002 IUCN these results with other available information to provideRed List. Although several reports have suggested that a summary of the current distribution of P. abelii inthe species occurs in the region to the south of Lake Sumatra and, based on our surveys, previous populationToba in Sumatra, Indonesia, their distribution is poorly estimates, and estimates of losses, we speculate that onlyknown. In order to determine whether orang-utans still c . 3,500 orang-utans still occur in the wild in Sumatra atoccur in this region we surveyed areas in which orang- the end of 2002.utans have been reported as well as a number of otherforested areas. Orang-utan signs were found in only Keywords Indonesia, Lake Toba, orang-utan, Pongotwo areas. This indicates that habitat loss and hunting abelii , Primates, Sumatra.categorized on the 2002 IUCN Red List as EndangeredIntroductionand the Sumatran orang-utan as Critically EndangeredOrang-utans (

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors summarize information documenting the range expansion of Kirtland's warbler due to increased habitat management in the core breeding range in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan during 1990-2000.
Abstract: The threatened Kirtland's warbler Dendroica kirtlandii breeds in stands of young jack pine Pinus banksiana growing on well-drained soils in Michigan, USA. We summarize information documenting the range expansion of Kirtland's warbler due to increased habitat management in the core breeding range in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan during 1990-2000. We collected records and conducted searches for the species in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin over 1978-2000. During that time 25 males were found in Wisconsin and 90 males in the Upper Peninsula. We documented colonization of Michigan's Upper Peninsula by six ringed males from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Four ringed birds also moved back to the core breeding range, including two males that made two-way movements between the core breeding range and the Upper Peninsula. Thirty-seven females were observed with males from 1995 to 2000, all in Michigan. Nesting activities were noted for 25 pairs and at least nine nests fledged young. One male ringed as a fledgling returned to breed in two subsequent years. After a 19-year period of population stability, the Kirtland's warbler population increased four-fold during 1990-2000, most likely in response to a tripling in habitat area. This increase in sightings and documented breeding may be related to habitat availability in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and to saturation of habitat in the main breeding range. The increase in extra-limital records during 1995-1999 corresponds to the time when the population went frorn the minimum to the maximum projected population densities, and a decline in natural wildfire habitat was just offset by new managed habitat for the Kirtland's warbler.


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2003-Oryx
TL;DR: In this article, the authors collected locality information and habitat associations for 36 records of the Endangered ocelot Leopardus pardalis in the Mexican State of Sonora from 1998 to 2000 and concluded that the few ocelots reported from these habitats in the US State of Arizona were probably dispersing individuals.
Abstract: From July 1998 to July 2000 we collected locality information and habitat associations for 36 records of the Endangered ocelot Leopardus pardalis in the Mexican State of Sonora. Twenty-seven (75%) of the records for which we could determine the biotic community association were associated with tropical and subtropical habitats, namely subtropical thornscrub, tropical deciduous forest or tropical thornscrub. Only males (11.1% of the total records) have been recorded in temperate oak and pine-oak woodland, and we conclude that the few ocelots reported from these habitats in the US State of Arizona were probably dispersing individuals. Three models of ocelot distribution in Sonora, based on vegetation types, the GARP modelling system and the Adaptive Kernel home range estimator, all produced similar results, with the ocelot mostly associated with the mountainous Sierra region of eastern Sonora. Large tracts of land with a low human population density make Sonora a stronghold for the northernmost distribution of ocelots.