Global large carnivore conservation and international law
TLDR
In this article, international cooperation, including through international legal instruments, appears important for the conservation of large carnivores worldwide, due to the worrying conservation status and population trends of many large carnivore species; their occurrence at low densities, with many populations extending across various countries; and the international nature of particular threats.Abstract:
International cooperation, including through international legal instruments, appears important for the conservation of large carnivores worldwide. This is due to, inter alia, the worrying conservation status and population trends of many large carnivore species; the importance of large carnivores for biodiversity conservation at large; their occurrence at low densities, with many populations extending across various countries; and the international nature of particular threats. For the 31 heaviest species in the order Carnivora, this study (i) documents to what extent existing international legal instruments contribute to large carnivore conservation, and (ii) identifies ways of optimizing their contribution in this regard. From this dual perspective, it reviews all global wildlife conservation treaties—Ramsar Wetlands Convention, World Heritage Convention, Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)—and selected regional instruments, using standard international law research methodology. Results indicate that a substantial body of relevant international law already exists, whereas simultaneously there is clear potential for enhancing the contribution of international law to large carnivore conservation. Avenues for pursuing this include promotion of instruments’ effective implementation; clarification of their precise implications for large carnivore conservation; development of formal guidance; expansion of instruments’ scope in terms of species, sites and countries; and creation of new instruments. The CMS and CBD hold particular potential in some of these respects. The experiences being gained under European legal instruments constitute an interesting ‘laboratory’ regarding human coexistence with expanding large carnivore populations and transboundary cooperation at the (sub)population level.read more
Citations
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Global priorities for national carnivore conservation under land use change
Enrico Di Minin,Enrico Di Minin,Rob Slotow,Rob Slotow,Luke T. B. Hunter,Luke T. B. Hunter,Federico Montesino Pouzols,Federico Montesino Pouzols,Tuuli Toivonen,Peter H. Verburg,Nigel Leader-Williams,Lisanne S. Petracca,Atte Moilanen +12 more
TL;DR: It is found that land use change will potentially lead to important range losses, particularly amongst already threatened carnivore species, and innovative interventions are needed to conserve carnivores outside protected areas to compliment any proposed expansion of the protected area network.
Journal ArticleDOI
Don't forget to look down - collaborative approaches to predator conservation
Steve Redpath,John D. C. Linnell,Marco Festa-Bianchet,Luigi Boitani,Nils Bunnefeld,Amy Dickman,Ralph J. Gutierrez,R. J. Irvine,Maria Johansson,Aleksandra Majić,Barry J. McMahon,Simon Pooley,Camilla Sandström,Annelie Sjölander-Lindqvist,Ketil Skogen,Jon E. Swenson,Arie Trouwborst,Juliette Young,E. J. Milner-Gulland +18 more
TL;DR: Arguments for collaborative approaches may lead to psychological ownership, enhanced trust, learning, and better social outcomes in carnivore conservation, and research is now required to reduce uncertainty and examine the effectiveness of these approaches in different contexts.
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Border Security Fencing and Wildlife: The End of the Transboundary Paradigm in Eurasia?
John D. C. Linnell,Arie Trouwborst,Luigi Boitani,Petra Kaczensky,Djuro Huber,Slaven Reljić,Josip Kusak,Aleksandra Majić,Tomaz Skrbinsek,Hubert Potočnik,Matt W. Hayward,E. J. Milner-Gulland,Bayarbaatar Buuveibaatar,Kirk A. Olson,Lkhagvasuren Badamjav,Richard Bischof,Steffen Zuther,Urs Breitenmoser +17 more
TL;DR: The extent of the issue and concrete mitigation measures are proposed to reduce effective population size and cause mortality and obstruct access to seasonally important resources.
Journal ArticleDOI
Legal implications of range expansions in a terrestrial carnivore: the case of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Europe
TL;DR: The recent expansion of the golden jackal across the continent is reviewed, several ensuing policy and legal questions are addressed, and what countries’ conservation obligations are with respect to expanding species are addressed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science
Benjamin L. Allen,Lee R. Allen,Henrik Andrén,Guy Ballard,Luigi Boitani,Richard M. Engeman,Peter J. S. Fleming,Adam T. Ford,Peter M. Haswell,Rafał Kowalczyk,John D. C. Linnell,L. David Mech,Daniel M. Parker +12 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss six interrelated issues that currently undermine the reliability of the available literature on the ecological roles of large carnivores: (1) the overall paucity of available data, (2) reliability of carnivore population sampling techniques, (3) general disregard for alternative hypotheses to top-down forcing, (4) lack of applied science studies, (5) frequent use of logical fallacies, and (6) generalisation of results from relatively pristine systems to those substantially altered by humans.
References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a comprehensive assessment of the conservation status and distribution of the world's mammals, including marine mammals, using data collected by 1700+ experts, covering all 5487 species.
Journal ArticleDOI
Recovery of large carnivores in Europe’s modern human-dominated landscapes
Guillaume Chapron,Petra Kaczensky,John D. C. Linnell,Manuela von Arx,Djuro Huber,Henrik Andrén,José Vicente López-Bao,José Vicente López-Bao,Michal Adamec,Francisco Álvares,Ole Anders,Linas Balčiauskas,Vaidas Balys,Péter Bedő,Ferdinand Bego,Juan Carlos Blanco,Urs Breitenmoser,Urs Breitenmoser,Henrik Brøseth,Luděk Bufka,Raimonda Bunikyte,Paolo Ciucci,Alexander Dutsov,Thomas Engleder,Christian Fuxjäger,Claudio Groff,Katja Holmala,Bledi Hoxha,Yorgos Iliopoulos,Ovidiu Ionescu,Ovidiu Ionescu,Jasna Jeremić,Klemen Jerina,Gesa Kluth,Felix Knauer,Ilpo Kojola,Ivan Kos,Miha Krofel,Jakub Kubala,Saša Kunovac,Josip Kusak,Miroslav Kutal,Miroslav Kutal,Olof Liberg,Aleksandra Majić,Peep Männil,Ralph Manz,Eric Marboutin,Francesca Marucco,Dime Melovski,Kujtim Mersini,Yorgos Mertzanis,Robert W. Mysłajek,Sabina Nowak,John Odden,Janis Ozolins,Guillermo Palomero,Milan Paunović,Jens Persson,Hubert Potočnik,Pierre-Yves Quenette,Georg Rauer,Ilka Reinhardt,Robin Rigg,Andreas Ryser,Valeria Salvatori,Tomaž Skrbinšek,Aleksandar Stojanov,Jon E. Swenson,László Szemethy,Aleksandër Trajçe,Elena Tsingarska-Sedefcheva,Martin Váňa,Rauno Veeroja,Petter Wabakken,Manfred Wölfl,Sybille Wölfl,Fridolin Zimmermann,Diana Zlatanova,Luigi Boitani +79 more
TL;DR: It is shown that roughly one-third of mainland Europe hosts at least one large carnivore species, with stable or increasing abundance in most cases in 21st-century records, and coexistence alongside humans has become possible, argue the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Multiple Causes of High Extinction Risk in Large Mammal Species
Marcel Cardillo,Georgina M. Mace,Kate E. Jones,Jon Bielby,Olaf R. P. Bininda-Emonds,Wes Sechrest,C. David L. Orme,Andy Purvis +7 more
TL;DR: The disadvantages of large size are greater than generally recognized, and future loss of large mammal biodiversity could be far more rapid than expected.
Book
Megaherbivores: The Influence of Very Large Body Size on Ecology
TL;DR: The megaherbivore syndrome (MHS) was first identified in the late Pleistocene epoch as mentioned in this paper and has been identified as a major cause of extinction in humans.
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