Conservation and Landscape Recovery

Question 1

What are the main issues around biodiversity?

Answer 1

• Over exploitation of species
• Invasive/alien species
• Pollution/climate change
• Habitat loss
• Land use change

Question 2

What is the conservation of biodiversity concerned with?

Answer 2

1) Preventing extinction
2) Retaining populations
3) Retaining genetic diversity
4) Retaining ecosystem functioning

Question 3

What is the history of perspectives on conservation?

Answer 3

1960/70s - Nature for itself
- Focus on protected areas, species and wilderness

1980/90s - Prioritise individual species conservation
- Red list, eco regions, IUCN protected area categories

Question 4

How is conservation driven by values?

Answer 4

• Some species we would rather no exist - small pox
• Inequalities in conservation - some species valued over others
• Different motivations - ethical, aesthetic, economic
• Benefits to nature - beneficial to us

Question 5

What are the aesthetic or recreational motivations for conservation?

Answer 5

• People like nature

- Access to nature is beneficial to health/well being

Question 6

What is the moral and ethical motivations for conservation ?

Answer 6

• Sanctity of life - right to exist

- Owe it to future generations to preserve for them what is available to us

Question 7

What are the economic motivations for conservation?

Answer 7

• Wild organisms used for economic benefit
• Agriculture
• Medicine

Question 8

Examples of conservation legislation around the world

Answer 8

• IUCN red list of threatened species - 1964
• Biodiversity plans - 1970s
• Convention on biological diversity
• FAO international treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

Question 9

What are the objectives of the convention on biological diversity (CBD)?

Answer 9

• Conservation of biological diversity
• Sustainable use of its components
• Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of using genetic resources

Question 10

What are the key achievements of the convention on biological diversity (CBD)?

Answer 10

• National action plan in 130 countries
• Protected area coverage doubled in 20 years
• Water quality in rivers improved from 80s

Question 11

How does conservation happen?

Answer 11

1) Protected areas - by conserving ecological communities, majority of species conserved
2) Interventions - interventions for individual species, localised efforts

Question 12

Define a protected area

Answer 12

Clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature

Question 13

How is a protected area selected?

Answer 13

1) Ecological uniqueness - species richness or rarity
2) Viability - likelihood a species will persist if protected
3) Threats - natural or anthropogenic threats which reduces viability
4) Feasibility - likelihood a site can be protected

Question 14

What makes a successful protected area?

Answer 14

1) Well funded and staffed
2) Environmental education and community outreach
3) Enforcement capacity
4) Community issues and sustainable use need to be considered

Question 15

Case study of on the effectiveness of protected areas

Answer 15

• Amazon deforestation
• Pressures from growing population and agriculture
• strict rotation vs managed by indigenous vs sustainable use areas
• depends on level of deforestation pressures
• depends on the intensity of government enforcement

Question 16

Example of winners and losers in protected areas

Answer 16

• Planning of wildlife corridor in Tanzania 99-02
• People relocated and compensated 02-08
• by 2010 farmers not yet resettled on substitute land
• Women and farmers worst affected
• Better farmers relative winners

Question 17

Example of an intervention approach to conservation

Answer 17

• NZ eradication and exclusion
• Islands used
• Reconstruct interacting groups of native plants and animals
• This require relocation of native species to islands
• Island needs pests and predators removed

Question 18

What is an example of killing for conservation and ethical implications

Answer 18

• CAMPFIRE programme in Zimbabwe - 1990s
• Permits locals to control elephant numbers outside of parks
• Money from shooting went to local development
• US Government put pressure to stop due to ethical reasons

Question 19

Examples of conservation failures

Answer 19

Northern white rhino, Africa

• Despite international legislation, poaching increased due to ineffective enforcement combined with poor reserve management
• decline from 2250 (60s) to 40 (03) to 3 (16)

Question 20

Why do conservation efforts fail?

Answer 20

1) Lack of local buy in - relocation of locals
2) Ignoring history
3) Lack of funding
4) Lack of clear goals
5) Lack of law and order

Question 21

How do humans cause degraded land?

Answer 21

• Reduction of habitat area
• Fragmentation of remaining areas
• Introduction of new land uses

Question 22

What is the Bonn Challenge?

Answer 22

• UN’s aim to restore 150m ha of deforested/degraded land by 2020
• 57% of the way there
• 200 million ha degraded by fire, classed for remote restoration
• 1.5 billion ha of degraded land suitable for mosaic restoration
• 0.5 billion ha suitable for wide scale restoration

Question 23

What are the aims and outcomes of effective restoration?

Answer 23

• Increase suitable food production and food security
• Restore sustainable use of ecosystem services
• Conserve wildlife
• Support green economy
• Climate change mitigation

Question 24

Example of landscape restoration

Answer 24

• Ethiopia
• Huge areas degraded due to drought, overgrazing
• Aims to restore ecological integrity and enhance wellbeing
• Whole landscape approach - mosaic/patchwork
• involves active vegetation restoration

Question 25

How was the Mediterranean conserved and restored?

Answer 25

• Mosaic of human modified environments
• Challenge to conserve cultural landscapes alongside restoring degraded ecosystem
• Key issues - soil erosion, land abandonment and resource exploitation

Question 26

Example of failed reforestation

Answer 26

• Pine plantation in med - 19th century
• used as it was fast growing, restores soil and reduces flooding
• But, large dense plantations did not achieve substantial biodiversity conservation

Question 27

Why is active grazing management used for conservation?

Answer 27

• Maintains heterogenous patch-dominated Med landscape of high habitat diversity
• Promotes biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
• Reduces homogeneity, fire risk and amenity loss

Question 28

How is motivation used as an ecological service?

Answer 28

• Monetise what nature provides for humans
• maintain ecological integrity to maintain function and services
• Increasingly services monetised to finance - protected areas