Threatened species listing as a trigger for conservation action

Legislative listing schemes, under which the listing of a species as threatened automatically triggers command regulation and/or recovery planning, raise significant issues for policy makers. In this paper, we explore strategies for factoring considerations beyond the empirical assessment of a species’ conservation status into the resource allocation decisions that flow from listing. Even in threatened species legislation that appears to prioritise species conservation over socio-economic considerations by creating an automatic nexus between listing and conservation response, there are significant pressure valves that allow the latter to exercise a significant influence on decisions in practice. We critically examine two other techniques currently used in legislation that allow a broader range of considerations to be factored into resource allocation decisions: abandoning the automatic triggering of resource allocation by listing; and taking into account a broader range of considerations in the listing decision itself. We conclude by outlining the framework for a strategic approach to the allocation of conservation resources. This has three limbs to it: recovery plans that identify what needs to be done to bring about recovery, in addition to what available resources will allow us to do; a system for prioritising between the implementation of recovery plans; and the integration of threatened species conservation into strategic land use planning processes.     

南中国海地区红树林的利用和保护

南中国海具有丰富的浅海和热带的生物多样性,是全球红树林分布的中心之一.南中国海地区红树林面积大约占全球的28%,该区红树植物的多样性为世界最高,共有46种真红树分布于此.由于受人口增加和经济发展的巨大压力,南中国地区红树林资源破坏严重,退化趋势明显.虽然南中国海周边国家过去都实施了相应的海洋环境保护行动计划,然而缺乏区域协调措施大大降低了这些行动的有效性.本文在对南中国海地区红树林资源的利用现状和退化原因进行分析的基础上,提出南中国海地区红树林资源保护与管理的建议,以期能在双边或区域的层面上共同协作,采取适当的措施去扭转南中国海地区红树林生境退化趋势.     

The threat of abandonment in socio-ecological landscapes: Farmers’ motivations and perspectives on high nature value grassland conservation

Future sustainability of the conservation management of socio-ecological landscapes is typically reliant on on-going agricultural management. Such management may be threatened by changes in the drivers of management and the fragility of the stakeholder networks that deliver management. This study examined evidence for the risk of abandonment in a series of case study high nature value (HNV) grassland sites. The work found that the motivation of farmers to participate in the conservation management was typically limited and often marginal. Landowners and conservation stakeholders who relied on partner farmers to manage such sites often struggled to recruit and retain their participation, leading to increased turnover among managing farmers and to some sites being under-managed. Primary reasons for difficulty of recruitment and farmer turnover included a lack of candidate farmers in the local landscape, and the marginal and fluctuating economics of grassland management. A trend towards greater financial incentivisation of farmers was evident, which policy-makers responsible for agri-environment schemes should note, and elsewhere some conservation organisations were seen to be bringing grassland management in-house. Farmers’ motivations to participate in conservation management of such systems may continue to weaken and abandonment may therefore become a significant risk to the successful conservation of such systems. Conservation stakeholders need to foster good relations with their farmer-manager partners and not further depress their limited motivations to participate, as well as consider carefully whether farmer stakeholders are being adequately compensated for their efforts.     

Framing the private land conservation conversation: Strategic framing of the benefits of conservation participation could increase landholder engagement

How conservation messages are framed will impact the success of our efforts to engage people in conservation action. This is highly relevant in the private land conservation (PLC) sector given the low participation rates of landholders. Using a case study of PLC schemes targeted at Australian landholders, we present the first systematic analysis of communication strategies used by organisations and government departments delivering those schemes to engage the public. We develop a novel approach for analysing the framing of conservation messages that codes the stated benefits of schemes according to value orientation. We categorised the benefits as flowing to either the landholder, to society, or to the environment, corresponding to the egoistic, altruistic and biospheric value orientations that have been shown to influence human behaviour. We find that messages are biased towards environmental benefits. Surprisingly, this is the case even for market-based schemes that have the explicit objective of appealing to production-focussed landholders and those who are not already involved in conservation. The risk is that PLC schemes framed in this way will fail to engage more egoistically oriented landholders and are only likely to appeal to those likely to already be conservation-minded. By understanding the frame in which PLC benefits are communicated, we can begin to understand the types of people who may be engaged by these messages, and who may not be. Results suggest that the framing of the communications for many schemes could be broadened to appeal to a more diverse group (and thus ultimately to a larger group) of landholders.     

城市拓展中湿地的综合保护与发展

在简单回顾世界城市发展过程中对沿海湿地的威胁和影响上,以广州南沙地区为例,对其城市拓展和生态规划中的湿地综合保护与发展进行了探讨。从南沙地区规划中的功能定位出发,分析了该区的湿地类型和分布特征,对其重点湿地进行了确定,从湿地的功能与价值、湿地资源的稀缺性上分析了湿地保护的重要性,重点对湿地的稀缺性进行了论证。基于相似性理论,特别对十九涌湿地、大虎岛东岸湿地和龙穴岛东岸湿地进行了替代性和补偿性分析,充分论述了建立湿地保护小区的重要性和解决关键联系的必要性。初步对湿地保护小区的功能区进行了划分,提出了湿地优先保护行动。     

市场经济与自然保护的关系

市场经济为自然保护事业的更好发展注入了新的活力,客观形势迫切要求自然保护战线以改革的精神,主动适应国家建立社会主义市场经济体制的新形势,积极培育自然保护新机制,更好地调动全社会积极因素,吸引全社会力量广泛参与,促进自然保护工作深入发展,为国家实施持续发展总体战略目标做出新贡献。     

Advancing indigenous self-determination through endangered species protection: Idaho gray wolf recovery

As part of the right of indigenous cultures to self-determination, several international bodies have recognized and addressed the role of indigenous communities in natural resources management, including the conservation of biodiversity. In the United States, disagreements regarding the application of the federal Endangered Species Act to Native American tribes have hindered the relationship between the federal and tribal governments on endangered species recovery. Our research examines the efforts of one Native American tribe, the Nez Perce, and the United States federal government to collaborate on federal gray wolf recovery in central Idaho. We interviewed members of the Nez Perce Tribe and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to characterize their relationship and explore the context in which the recovery program was implemented. Respondents attributed the success of the biological aspects of wolf recovery to the robustness of the wolf as a species and to close interagency coordination at the operational level. However, differences of opinion existed between the Tribe and Service concerning program funding, policy planning, and the rights and role of the Tribe in wolf management via co-management and cooperative management regimes. Respondents from both governments noted a clear hierarchical relationship at the strategic level, where policy planning and decision-making rested with the federal government. Lessons drawn from this case study can be applied across the international spectrum to improving partnerships, particularly at the strategic level, between indigenous and non-indigenous governance structures for protecting endangered species.     

水土保持工作中存在的问题及对策

我国一直以来就是一个水土流失大国,治水保土工作一直备受重视。当前在我国经济快速发展,环境问题日益突出的情况下,合理开发和保护水资源,充分做好水土保持工作已经是各级政府部门和社会各界面临的一个重要课题。     

关于区域生物多样性保护研究的若干问题

区域生物多样性保护研究是一项基础性很强的应用研究,应为保护行动计划提供有理论依据的可操作性的保护措施和技术。在生态系统多样性、物种多样性和基因多样性的三个层次上,以物种多样性保护为核心,即以保护和调控生态系统的多样性,来保护与发展物种的多样性,并由此保护和保存生物遗传基因的多样性。同时,它也是一项社会性很强的实际研究,需要通过对代表性地区或优先重点地区的具体研究来实现。本文还提出了应研究的内容、应提交的成果和综述了需要在研究中思考、探讨和验证的理论问题,为区域生物多样性保护的研究提供了可参考的技术路线。     

苏浙皖珍稀濒危植物保护规划的研究

本文在进行全面野外调查和资料收集的基础上,研究了三省珍稀濒危植物的保护规划。根据人为保护现状和植物的分布及多度等,将该地区65种国家保护植物分为几组,并提出几种类型的保护规划。在就地保护方面,提出增建6个自然保护区、2个国家公园和40多个自然保护点;在迁地保存方面,提出建立一个由地区迁地保存中心、三个省级保存繁殖基地和若干小型引种园圃组成的多层次迁地保存网。本文还提出“就地-迁地”保存规划,这是一种结合了就地和迁地保存优点的规划方法。此外,本文还特别强调了“归化自然”的规划,“归化自然”要求将人工繁育的珍稀濒危植物种群归化到它们原先的生境中去。     

Climate change is predicted to negatively influence Moroccan endemic reptile richness. Implications for conservation in protected areas

The identification of species-rich areas and their prognosticated turnover under climate change are crucial for the conservation of endemic taxa. This study aims to identify areas of reptile endemicity richness in a global biodiversity hot spot (Morocco) under current and future climatic conditions and to investigate the role of protected areas in biodiversity conservation under climate change. Species distribution models (SDM) were performed over the distribution of 21 endemic reptiles, combined to estimate current species richness at 1?×?1 km resolution and projected to years 2050 and 2080 according to distinct story lines and ensemble global circulation models, assuming unlimited and null dispersion ability. Generalized additive models were performed between species richness and geographic characteristics of 43 protected areas. SDM found precipitation as the most important factor related to current species distributions. Important reductions in future suitable areas were predicted for 50 % of species, and four species were identified as highly vulnerable to extinction. Drastic reductions in species-rich areas were predicted for the future, with considerable variability between years and dispersal scenarios. High turnover rates of species composition were predicted for eastern Morocco, whereas low values were forecasted for the Northern Atlantic coast and mountains. Species richness for current and future conditions was significantly related to the altitude and latitude of protected areas. Protected areas located in mountains and/or in the Northern Atlantic coast were identified as refugia, where population monitoring and conservation management is needed.

     

“半个地球”愿景下的保护地识别——基于全球主要优先保护模块

设立保护地是保护生物多样性的最有效举措。“半个地球”愿景提出将50%的面积纳入保护地,并有效保护85%的物种,是全球生态保护的目标。IUCN保护地分类系统是国际通用的标准,一系列优先保护模块研究则对保护地的识别进行着探索。本文旨在通过对这些模块的保护目标、识别标准等进行分析,为保护地科学识别提供合理参考。主要结论如下:（1）物种、栖息地与人类活动是各模块的主要考虑要素,识别标准包括物种丰富度、生境转变率、人类活动强度等;（2）各模块对生境转变率的考虑有“亡羊补牢”和“未雨绸缪”两种思路,对人类活动强度的考虑有直接和间接之分;（3）各模块分布面积占比在5.77%~25.32%之间,总范围占全球陆表的55.59%,超过了“半个地球”愿景的目标比例。     

Ecosystem and biodiversity conservation planning in Hiroshima City,Japan

１ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＵｒｂａｎｉｚａｔｉｏｎｉｓａｂｉｇｐｒｏｂｌｅｍｎｏｔｏｎｌｙｉｎｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｅｄｃｏｕｎｔｒｉｅｓｂｕｔａｌｓｏｉｎｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｉｎｇｃｏｕｎｔｒｉｅｓ．Ｔｈｉｓｉｓａｍｏｄｅｒｎａｎｄｕｒｇｅｎｔａｆａｉｒｉｎｔｈ...     

Characterization of maspardin, responsible for human Mast syndrome, in an insect species and analysis of its evolution in metazoans

Mast syndrome is a complicated form of human hereditary spastic paraplegias, caused by a mutation in the gene acid cluster protein 33, which encodes a protein designated as “maspardin.” Maspardin presents similarity to the α/β-hydrolase superfamily, but might lack enzymatic activity and rather be involved in protein–protein interactions. Association with the vesicles of the endosomal network also suggested that maspardin may be involved in the sorting and/or trafficking of molecules in the endosomal pathway, a crucial process for maintenance of neuron health. Despite a high conservation in living organisms, studies of maspardin in other animal species than mammals were lacking. In the cotton armyworm Spodoptera littoralis, an insect pest model, analysis of an expressed sequence tag collection from antenna, the olfactory organ, has allowed identifying a maspardin homolog (SlMasp). We have investigated SlMasp tissue distribution and temporal expression by PCR and in situ hybridization techniques. Noteworthy, we found that maspardin was highly expressed in antennae and associated with the structures specialized in odorant detection. We have, in addition, identified maspardin sequences in numerous “nonmammalian” species and described here their phylogenetic analysis in the context of metazoan diversity. We observed a strong conservation of maspardin in metazoans, with surprisingly two independent losses of this gene in two relatively distant ecdysozoan taxa that include major model organisms, i.e., dipterans and nematodes.     

日本琵琶湖流域生态系统的修复与重建

琵琶湖流域生态系统的修复与重建着眼于全流域及中长期目标的实现. 在《琵琶湖综合保全整备规划》基础上,滋贺县政府提出了流域生物生息空间网络化构筑的长期构想,在全流域划定了16个重要生物生息空间及10条重要河流作为生态回廊;从上游的森林建设、内湖重建、河流治理到湖滨带芦苇群落的保护等开展了一系列的流域修复工作,如针对湖滨带修复,制定了芦苇群落保护条例与规划,划定了琵琶湖湖岸及周边内湖的芦苇群落保护与恢复区域,面积达138 hm2,其中芦苇带栽植面积达15 hm2,收割等维护管理每年达30 hm2等. 琵琶湖修复与重建工程的开展使生物多样性逐渐提高,生态系统功能得到恢复. 与之相比,我国湖泊流域生态修复存在的问题主要体现在生态修复缺乏流域整体的长远规划以及在湿地修复、低污染尾水的生物处理、湖滨带修复等领域存在一定的理念差异.      

植物遗传资源保护与利用的市场化机制和国际制度

随着植物物种资源的不断减少和因生物技术迅猛发展对植物遗传资源需求的不断增加 ,植物遗传资源正逐步由公共物品转变为稀缺物品。坚持《生物多样性公约》所确立的遗传资源效益公平分享原则 ,完善现有国际多边体系 ,促进以“遗传编码功能”价值概念和遗传资源保护效应“内部化”与“补偿”方案为基础的植物遗传资源市场化保护与利用机制的形成 ,建立“植物遗传资源交易所”和“生物多样性合作社” ,将有助于提高世界各国尤其是发展中国家保护植物遗传资源的积极性 ,实现全球植物遗传资源的可持续利用     

The Nature Conservancy's approach to prioritizing conservation action

Like many conservation organizations and federal and state agencies, The Nature Conservancy is in the process of large-scale planning and prioritization efforts. To improve the efficiency of these planning efforts, the Conservancy has developed a methodology for these efforts. The results of these planning efforts will be a conservation blueprint which identifies the conservation areas necessary for conserving biodiversity and a subset of those areas where the Conservancy will focus its immediate efforts over the next 10 years. The subset of all the conservation areas identified in the planning process help The Nature Conservancy determine where it will work. This subset of areas (referred to as action sites) is selected using a tool which ranks key criteria for each conservation area. These criteria include the current conservation status of each area, complementarity to other areas selected, the diversity and viability of targets at the area, the urgency and degree of threats to the targets, the feasibility or opportunity to abate the threats at the area and the leverage potential of working at a conservation area. Taken together, these criteria help planners to select the areas where they will focus their conservation efforts.     

山西壶关峡谷国家地质公园地质遗迹保护方法初探

随着旅游地学研究的深入和地质公园建设的不断完善,作为地质公园建设核心的地质遗迹保护工作越来越显得重要和迫切。本文是作者几年来从事壶关峡谷国家地质公园地质遗迹保护的总结,主要目的是在对地质遗迹保护进行系统分类的基础上,通过对公园地质遗迹保护的现状分析,找出存在的问题和不足,并制定出科学的对策与措施,实现公园的健康和可持续发展。     

Flow control regulations to gain waste disposal self sufficiency

In a recent ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that solid waste flow control regulations are unconstitutional. Many states have established some form of flow control. As an example, the state of New Jersey has implemented a long-term plan to gain waste disposal self-sufficiency by the year 2000. The success of this plan hinges on the flow controls implemented by the state. Almost two billion U.S. dollars of debt has been incurred by the twenty-two solid waste districts in New Jersey to build the state-of-the-art facilities necessary to reach these goals. An analysis has been performed on the most recent data available of the state’s solid waste generation and management system, at a time when New Jersey must restructure its solid waste management plan. The New Jersey solid waste management model is of interest to other states. The consequences, facts, and alternatives of flow control are examined.     

美国有害废弃物污染防治对策的动向

美国现有2.4亿人口,每年约产生2.5亿吨有害废弃物。近年来有害废气物产生量不断增加,所造成的危害成了重大的社会问题。为此,美国制定了资源保护再生法和风险基金法,依法进行管理和处理。在两法的基础上,美国环保局(EPA)实施了废弃物削减计划和风险基金技术评价(SITE)计划。下面就其主要内容加以介绍。 1 资源保护再生法资源保护再生法的最终目标是,保障人体健康和保护环境;减少废弃物量,合理使用能源和保护自然资源;削减有害废弃物的产生量。资源保护再生法所指的废弃物是,从家庭排出的厨房垃圾,商业和工业的碎屑,上下水处理设施和大气污染防治设施产生的污泥和其它废弃物。工业、商业、矿业、农业等产生的固体、液体和含有气体的废弃物。它不包括家庭污水和水质净化法控制的产业排水。有害废弃物是指具有易燃性、腐蚀性、反应性和浸出毒性较强的固体废弃物。