Conservation and Landscape Recovery Flashcards
(28 cards)
What are the main issues around biodiversity?
- Over exploitation of species
- Invasive/alien species
- Pollution/climate change
- Habitat loss
- Land use change
What is the conservation of biodiversity concerned with?
1) Preventing extinction
2) Retaining populations
3) Retaining genetic diversity
4) Retaining ecosystem functioning
What is the history of perspectives on conservation?
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
How is conservation driven by values?
- 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
What are the aesthetic or recreational motivations for conservation?
- People like nature
- Access to nature is beneficial to health/well being
What is the moral and ethical motivations for conservation ?
- Sanctity of life - right to exist
- Owe it to future generations to preserve for them what is available to us
What are the economic motivations for conservation?
- Wild organisms used for economic benefit
- Agriculture
- Medicine
Examples of conservation legislation around the world
- 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
What are the objectives of the convention on biological diversity (CBD)?
- Conservation of biological diversity
- Sustainable use of its components
- Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of using genetic resources
What are the key achievements of the convention on biological diversity (CBD)?
- National action plan in 130 countries
- Protected area coverage doubled in 20 years
- Water quality in rivers improved from 80s
How does conservation happen?
1) Protected areas - by conserving ecological communities, majority of species conserved
2) Interventions - interventions for individual species, localised efforts
Define a protected area
Clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature
How is a protected area selected?
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
What makes a successful protected area?
1) Well funded and staffed
2) Environmental education and community outreach
3) Enforcement capacity
4) Community issues and sustainable use need to be considered
Case study of on the effectiveness of protected areas
- 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
Example of winners and losers in protected areas
- 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
Example of an intervention approach to conservation
- 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
What is an example of killing for conservation and ethical implications
- 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
Examples of conservation failures
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)
Why do conservation efforts fail?
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
How do humans cause degraded land?
- Reduction of habitat area
- Fragmentation of remaining areas
- Introduction of new land uses
What is the Bonn Challenge?
- 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
What are the aims and outcomes of effective restoration?
- Increase suitable food production and food security
- Restore sustainable use of ecosystem services
- Conserve wildlife
- Support green economy
- Climate change mitigation
Example of landscape restoration
- 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
