Impact of a Community‐Based Payment for Environmental Services Intervention on Forest Use in Menabe,Madagascar

Abstract: Despite the growing interest in conservation approaches that include payments for environmental services (PES), few evaluations of the influence of such interventions on behaviors of individuals have been conducted. We used self‐reported changes in six legal and illegal forest‐use behaviors to investigate the way in which a PES for biodiversity conservation intervention in Menabe, Madagascar, influenced behavior. Individuals (n =864) from eight intervention communities and five control communities answered questions on their forest‐use behaviors before and after the intervention began, as well as on their reasons for changing and their attitudes to various institutions. The payments had little impact on individuals’ reported decisions to change behaviors, but it had a strong impact on individuals’ attitudes. Payments appeared to legitimize monitoring of behaviors by the implementing nongovernmental organization (NGO), but did not act as a behavioral driver in their own right. Although there were no clear differences between changes in behaviors in the intervention and control communities, the intervention did influence motivations for change. Fear of local forest associations and the implementing NGO were strong motivators for changing behavior in communities with the PES intervention, whereas fear of the national government was the main reason given for change in control communities. Behavioral changes were most stable where fear of local organizations motivated the change. Our results highlight the interactions between different incentives people face when making behavioral decisions and the importance of considering the full range of incentives when designing community‐based PES interventions.     

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Assessing the Sustainability of Freshwater Crayfish Harvesting in Madagascar

Abstract:  There is growing interest among conservation decision makers in promoting harvesting of forest products as an incentive for communities to retain forest cover. Assessments of the sustainability of existing harvests are essential for implementing such policies. Madagascar's endemic freshwater crayfish, Astacoides spp., are harvested throughout their range. Despite their importance to human communities, Madagascar's crayfish, like much of the island's freshwater biodiversity, are poorly known, and there is concern that the harvest may be unsustainable. We investigated sustainability of the crayfish harvest in and around Ranomafana National Park in eastern Madagascar, focusing on the heavily harvested A. granulimanus. Several villages around the park have traditional taboos against selling crayfish, resulting in widely varying levels of crayfish exploitation. We used two approaches to assess sustainability of the harvest. First we used participatory mapping combined with a geographic information system analysis to produce a spatially accurate map of harvesting intensity. We then carried out mark-and-recapture sampling at 74 sites across a range of harvest intensities to test whether the level of harvesting was a significant predictor of crayfish density and structure. Second, we used size-structured matrix population models to estimate the forest area necessary to provide the observed annual harvest from one harvesting village and compared this estimate with the area available to the harvesters. Our findings show that the crayfish harvest in Ranomafana may be sustainable under current socioeconomic conditions, suggesting that A. granulimanus is less vulnerable to overexploitation than previously thought. We emphasize the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to assessing sustainability involving both ecological information about the harvested species and socioeconomic data about the level and spatial pattern of the harvest.     

Use of Fatty Acid Analysis to Determine Dispersal of Caspian Terns in the Columbia River Basin,U.S.A.

Abstract: Lethal control, which has been used to reduce local abundances of animals in conflict with humans or with endangered species, may not achieve management goals if animal movement is not considered. In populations with emigration and immigration, lethal control may induce compensatory immigration, if the source of attraction remains unchanged. Within the Columbia River Basin (Washington, U.S.A.), avian predators forage at dams because dams tend to reduce rates of emigration of juvenile salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.), artificially concentrating these prey. We used differences in fatty acid profiles between Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) at coastal and inland breeding colonies and terns culled by a lethal control program at a mid‐Columbia River dam to infer dispersal patterns. We modeled the rate of loss of fatty acid biomarkers, which are fatty acids that can be traced to a single prey species or groups of species, to infer whether and when terns foraging at dams had emigrated from the coast. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling showed that coastal terns had high levels of C₂₀ and C₂₂ monounsaturated fatty acids, whereas fatty acids of inland breeders were high in C18:3n3, C20:4n6, and C22:5n3. Models of the rate of loss of fatty acid showed that approximately 60% of the terns collected at Rock Island Dam were unlikely to have bred successfully at local (inland) sites, suggesting that terns foraging at dams come from an extensive area. Fatty acid biomarkers may provide accurate information about patterns of dispersal in animal populations and may be extremely valuable in cases where populations differ demonstrably in prey base.     

The Why,What, and How of Global Biodiversity Indicators Beyond the 2010 Target

Abstract: The 2010 biodiversity target agreed by signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity directed the attention of conservation professionals toward the development of indicators with which to measure changes in biological diversity at the global scale. We considered why global biodiversity indicators are needed, what characteristics successful global indicators have, and how existing indicators perform. Because monitoring could absorb a large proportion of funds available for conservation, we believe indicators should be linked explicitly to monitoring objectives and decisions about which monitoring schemes deserve funding should be informed by predictions of the value of such schemes to decision making. We suggest that raising awareness among the public and policy makers, auditing management actions, and informing policy choices are the most important global monitoring objectives. Using four well‐developed indicators of biological diversity (extent of forests, coverage of protected areas, Living Planet Index, Red List Index) as examples, we analyzed the characteristics needed for indicators to meet these objectives. We recommend that conservation professionals improve on existing indicators by eliminating spatial biases in data availability, fill gaps in information about ecosystems other than forests, and improve understanding of the way indicators respond to policy changes. Monitoring is not an end in itself, and we believe it is vital that the ultimate objectives of global monitoring of biological diversity inform development of new indicators.     

Moving Towards Sustainable Development? Integrating Economic Development and the Environment in Local Authorities

The recent growth of interest in sustainable development has led to the incorporation of the concept into policy making at a variety of scales. In all cases particular emphasis is placed upon the local scale as the focus for the implementation of policy and initiatives and especially upon local authorities as the major contributor to this process. There has been little assessment, however, of the extent to which local authorities either can, or are, undertaking such initiatives. This paper examines: the potential role that local authorities can play in integrating economic development and the environment; the forms of response and initiatives that are currently in place, drawing upon survey evidence from urban local authorities in England and Wales; and some of the limits to local authority action.     

Adsorption of pesticides by salorthids and camborthids of Punjab,Pakistan

This study was conducted to examine adsorption of pesticides bifenthrin, carbosulfan, λ-cyhalothrin, cypermethrin, endosulfan, parathion methyl, monocrotophos and 4-nitrophenol by sandy clay loam (S.C.L) and sandy loam (S.L) soils (with varying organic content). There was no significant difference between the observed soil water partitioning coefficient values (K _d) derived from linear and nonlinear Freundlich isotherms. Adsorption of pesticides on S.C.L soils was higher than those on S.L soils. K _d values showed significant correlations (r ²?=?0.8???0.99 and 0.65???0.97) with soil organic carbon content (OC) and weak correlations (r ²?=?0.2???0.29 and 0.1???0.18) with clay contents of S.C.L and S.L soil at p?≤?0.05, respectively for all pesticides (except monocrotophos). Observed K _oc values (soil-water partitioning constants based on the organic C fraction of the soil) were in accordance with the literature values of Wauchope and Tomlin with a maximum deviation of less than 0.5 log units. Ten Quantitative Property-Property Relationships (QPPR) among water solubility, n-octanol water coefficient (K _ow) and K _oc were proposed for studied pesticides except monocrotophos. The models were considered acceptable when predicted-observed difference for log?K _ow and log?K _oc were ≤?0.3 and ≤?0.5?log units, respectively, during the validation procedure. This work indicates that the log?K _oc derived from the log K_ow, from some of existing relationships, may be a fair predictor where observed values (i.e., K _d and K _oc) are not available. Furthermore, predicted leaching potential by groundwater ubiquity scores (GUS) equation was solved by using observed K _oc values and literature reported half lives of pesticides. GUS ranked the mobility of nonvolatile compounds i.e., bifenthrin, λ-cyhalothrin, cypermethrin and endosulfan extremely low; methyl parathion very low; 4-nitrophenol low; carbofuran and monocrotophos very high in S.C.L and S.L soils, respectively. Results discussed in this paper provide background to prioritize pesticides or chemical groups that should be evaluated under field conditions with regard to their leaching potential to groundwater in arid climates.     

Local Participation in Natural Resource Monitoring: a Characterization of Approaches

Abstract: The monitoring of trends in the status of species or habitats is routine in developed countries, where it is funded by the state or large nongovernmental organizations and often involves large numbers of skilled amateur volunteers. Far less monitoring of natural resources takes place in developing countries, where state agencies have small budgets, there are fewer skilled professionals or amateurs, and socioeconomic conditions prevent development of a culture of volunteerism. The resulting lack of knowledge about trends in species and habitats presents a serious challenge for detecting, understanding, and reversing declines in natural resource values. International environmental agreements require signatories undertake systematic monitoring of their natural resources, but no system exists to guide the development and expansion of monitoring schemes. To help develop such a protocol, we suggest a typology of monitoring categories, defined by their degree of local participation, ranging from no local involvement with monitoring undertaken by professional researchers to an entirely local effort with monitoring undertaken by local people. We assessed the strengths and weaknesses of each monitoring category and the potential of each to be sustainable in developed or developing countries. Locally based monitoring is particularly relevant in developing countries, where it can lead to rapid decisions to solve the key threats affecting natural resources, can empower local communities to better manage their resources, and can refine sustainable‐use strategies to improve local livelihoods. Nevertheless, we recognize that the accuracy and precision of the monitoring undertaken by local communities in different situations needs further study and field protocols need to be further developed to get the best from the unrealized potential of this approach. A challenge to conservation biologists is to identify and establish the monitoring system most relevant to a particular situation and to develop methods to integrate outputs from across the spectrum of monitoring schemes to produce wider indices of natural resources that capture the strengths of each.     

The Importance of Taboos and Social Norms to Conservation in Madagascar

Abstract:  Informal institutions governing the use of wild species are present in many societies. A system of prohibitions known as fady is central to Malagasy culture. We examined whether fady that relate to the use of natural resources in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar play an important conservation role. Prohibitions ranged from strict taboos in which a species or area was forbidden by the ancestors to social norms that concerned acceptable behavior when harvesting wild species. Strict taboos offered real protection to threatened species, such as the lemur Propithecus edwardsi and the carnivore Cryptoprocta ferox . Taboos also reduced pressure on some economically important endemic species by preventing their sale or limiting the harvest season. Despite their value for conservation, the taboos did not appear to originate from attempts to sustainably manage resources. Nevertheless, social norms, in which the sanction was social disapproval rather than supernatural retribution, encouraged sustainable harvesting practices for tenrecs ( Tenrec ecudatus ) and pandans ( Pandanus spp.). Unfortunately, the social norms concerning methods of harvesting pandans appeared to be breaking down in villages surrounding Ranomafana National Park, and we suggest that the imposition of external conservation rules is weakening traditional management. Informal institutions are important to conservation because they suggest ways of improving cultural understanding and conservation communication. Food taboos influence societal preferences, which affect the wider demand for a species. Most important, where capacity to enforce external conservation rules is limited, informal institutions may provide the only effective regulations. Informal institutions should receive greater attention from conservation biologists so that local people's conservation roles can be acknowledged fairly and so that potential synergies with conservation objectives can be realized.     

The Sustainability of Subsistence Hunting by Matsigenka Native Communities in Manu National Park, Peru

Abstract:  The presence of indigenous people in tropical parks has fueled a debate over whether people in parks are conservation allies or direct threats to biodiversity. A well-known example is the Matsigenka (or Machiguenga) population residing in Manu National Park in Peruvian Amazonia. Because the exploitation of wild meat (or bushmeat), especially large vertebrates, represents the most significant internal threat to biodiversity in Manu, we analyzed 1 year of participatory monitoring of game offtake in two Matsigenka native communities within Manu Park (102,397 consumer days and 2,089 prey items). We used the Robinson and Redford (1991) index to identify five prey species hunted at or above maximum sustainable yield within the ∼150-km² core hunting zones of the two communities: woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha), spider monkey (Ateles chamek), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), Razor-billed Currasow (Mitu tuberosa), and Spix's Guan (Penelope jacquacu). There was little or no evidence that any of these five species has become depleted, other than locally, despite a near doubling of the human population since 1988. Hunter–prey profiles have not changed since 1988, and there has been little change in per capita consumption rates or mean prey weights. The current offtake by the Matsigenka appears to be sustainable, apparently due to source–sink dynamics. Source–sink dynamics imply that even with continued human population growth within a settlement, offtake for each hunted species will eventually reach an asymptote. Thus, stabilizing the Matsigenka population around existing settlements should be a primary policy goal for Manu Park.     

The Horticultural Trade and Ornamental Plant Invasions in Britain

Abstract:  Ornamental horticulture has been recognized as the main pathway for plant invasions worldwide. We examined the link between propagule pressure created by the presence of ornamental plants in the market and their ability to escape from cultivation and establish in the wild. A random sample of 534 non-native ornamental species on sale in nineteenth century Britain showed that 27% of these species were recorded growing outside cultivation and 30% of those were established. Species that had escaped from cultivation were more frequently on sale both in the nineteenth century and today than nonescaping species. We used logit regression models to identify biological and socioeconomic variables that affect species' abilities to escape cultivation and become established. Frequencies in the market in the nineteenth century and today were good explanatory variables that distinguished escaping from nonescaping species, whereas for the transition from casual to established status these two socioeconomic variables were either absent or only of weak significance. Biological characteristics that increased the probability that a species would escape from cultivation were species height, a European native range, and being an annual. Climbing plants and species intolerant of low temperatures were less likely to escape. In contrast, the establishment probability was greater if the species belonged to a genus native to Britain and increased as the number of continents in a plant's native range increased. Annual plants had a reduced probability of establishment. Market presence, prices, and the date of introduction are among the socioeconomic factors that have had important effects on the observed course of invasions.