Missing links: how individual’s can contribute to reserve policy enforcement on the example of the European Union

This comment looks at opportunities available to individuals alone or as a member of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to enforce reserve policy at the EU level to improve the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation. Based on a literature review, recent developments in certain EU policies (i.e., Nature Conservation Policy, Common Agricultural Policy, Regional Policy, Århus—Public Participation and Access to Justice) are assessed by means of a SEPO analysis. SEPO is a French acronym that stands for the successes (succès), failures (echècs), potentials (potentialités), and obstacles (obstacles). This method aims to analyse a situation from four dimensions of the past (successes and failures) and future (potentials and obstacles). The analysis shows different ways in which individuals can contribute to reserve policy enforcement (i.e., by public interest complaint based on private rights) and identifies public funding opportunities for research and management of reserves. Some of these mechanisms have just recently been introduced (e.g., Århus rights and several funding opportunities). Not surprisingly, the widest set of opportunities is provided by the Nature Conservation Policy. The other three policies (Common Agricultural Policy, Regional Policy, Århus—Public Participation and Access to Justice) touch on reserve conservation only in an additional way, either horizontally or vertically. The analysis also identifies inter-linkages between the different policies with regard to reserve conservation, which may be used by individuals to enforce policy either in a protective or cooperative way.     

The Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group as an example of how a consortium is enabling diverse zoological and botanical gardens to contribute to biodiversity conservation in Madagascar

Using the example of Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group (MFG), we look at the factors which contribute to the successful maintenance of an international consortium dedicated to the conservation of Malagasy biodiversity. We discuss the philosophy, mission and set-up of the MFG and how, over its 25-year history, it has enabled the productive collaboration of its diverse international members to achieve the common goal of helping to protect Madagascar's unique biodiversity. We explore the benefits of pooling resources to fund a stable base of personnel and infrastructure to maximise the conservation impact of contributions from organisations that might not otherwise be able to fund viable independent programmes and consider the benefits that accrue to partners in the consortium. We highlight specific examples of plant conservation projects set up as a result of the productive working relationship between MFG and Missouri Botanical Garden to reinforce the argument that like-minded organisations working in successful partnership can far exceed the conservation capacity of individual institutions.     

How much is Europe spending on invasive alien species?

Over the last 15 years, despite the lack of a specific strategy or a dedicated financial instrument to deal with invasive alien species (IAS), the European Commission (EC) has contributed to financing almost 300 projects addressing this issue, for a total budget exceeding 132 million EUR. Such figures are based on projects funded under two specific EU financial tools: LIFE and the RTD Framework Programmes. The contribution of the two programmes has been characterised by an overall positive trend over the years, in terms of both the number of projects and the budget spent. Such trend can be assumed to reflect an overall increase in both the awareness of the problem among wildlife managers and scientific institutions, and the willingness to pay by the EC institutions and the EU citizens in general. Such data might contribute to the development of a response indicator measuring ‘Trends in invasive alien species in Europe’, useful to assess progress toward the target of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010—as a part of the SEBI 2010 process. The results may also contribute to assess the economic impact of IAS in Europe—in terms of costs for reduction and/or prevention of damages—and to support policy decisions and communication campaigns. Finally, the results are encouraging and support the need for the development and the implementation of a sound EU strategy on IAS, so as to regulate and optimise the administration of the available financial resources—whenever appropriate—on the basis of specific priorities.     

Mission impossible or mission accomplished: Do zoo organizational missions influence conservation practices?

Conservation is an important organizational focus for zoos and aquariums. Organizational identity theory predicts a relationship between what is central to organizations, such as their mission statements, and their strategic activities. Based on this theory, we tested how organizational missions relate to their conservation strategies and practices. Tax forms and websites provided data from 173 zoos and 38 aquariums in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in North America. We analyzed conservation mission strength, organizational characteristics, and project features with dependent variables representing the depth of organizational conservation commitments: amount of grants zoos funded, number of partner organizations, and number of projects per zoo. On tax forms, the average amount of total conservation grants donated to partner organizations per zoo was over $650,000, while the average number of partners reported on the tax forms was two. The content analysis of websites revealed an average of 14 conservation partners and 10 projects per zoo. Negative binomial regression models were significant. The financial analysis revealed that only the number of zoo personnel, as a surrogate for organization size, significantly predicted the amount of zoos’ conservation grants. Website analyses found increasing budgets, organizational involvement, and geographic reach of the projects predicted increasing numbers of conservation projects and partnerships. However, our findings did not support the hypothesized relationship—strength of organizational mission did not predict strategy and activities. Zoos could do more to strategically activate their organizational identities and conservation missions to achieve their conservation goals.     

Towards a taxonomically unbiased European Union biodiversity strategy for 2030

Through the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and the financial investments of the LIFE projects, Europe has become an experimental arena for biological conservation. With an estimated annual budget of €20 billion, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 has set an ambitious goal of classifying 30% of its land and sea territory as Protected Areas and ensuring no deterioration in conservation trends and the status of protected species. We analysed LIFE projects focused on animals from 1992 to 2018 and found that investment in vertebrates was six times higher than that for invertebrates (€970 versus €150 million), with birds and mammals alone accounting for 72% of species and 75% of the total budget. In relative terms, investment per species towards vertebrates has been 468 times higher than that for invertebrates. Using a trait-based approach, we show that conservation effort is primarily explained by species'' popularity rather than extinction risk or body size. Therefore, we propose a roadmap to achieve unbiased conservation targets for 2030 and beyond.     

Conservation and development through medicinal plants: a case study from Ludian (Northwest Yunnan,China) and presentation of a general model

A model for community-based conservation and development is presented, potentially applicable wherever communities rely on locally collected medicinal plants. The motivational foundation for conservation offered by these plants relates to people’s interests in health support, financial income and cultural identity. The model is based on experiences in the Medicinal Plants Conservation Initiative, a four-year programme (2005–2008) of Plantlife International with national partners, involving 14 projects in 8 countries in East Africa and the Himalayas. All projects provide evidence on the question “How best can communities conserve their medicinal plants?”. One of the projects (in China) is described to illustrate the types of evidence offered by the projects. The model consists of three social elements (community groups, project teams, policy makers), the relationships between them, and types of activity suggested for each group. Not all types of activity are relevant in all contexts. It is suggested that faith-based organisations, women’s associations and indigenous people’s groups are often well placed to take the model forward in terms of practical application at the landscape scale. The (on-going) project in China is at Ludian, a Naxi community in Northwest Yunnan. There is a secondary project site at Yongzhi, a Tibetan and Lisu village. The Ludian project is notable within the modern Chinese context for establishment of the first community group concerned specifically with the conservation of medicinal plants and the first community protected areas for medicinal plants.     

The how and why of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists

In the scientific community, the importance of communication to society is often underestimated. Scientists and scientific organisations often lack the skills to organise such communication effectively. The Dutch citizen science phenology network Nature’s Calendar has been successful in communicating to the general public via numerous newspaper articles, television appearances, presentations, websites and social media. We refer to these publications as societal publications. Due to active communication to mass media, we frequently reach millions of people. This communication helped us to involve thousands of volunteers in recording the timing of phenological events like the start of flowering, leaf unfolding and bird migration, but also several health-related events like hay fever symptoms and tick bites. In this paper, we analyse and present our experiences with the Nature’s Calendar project regarding societal publications. Based on this analysis, we explain the importance of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists in general, and we show how scientists can increase the newsworthiness of scientific information and what factors and activities can increase the chances of media paying attention to this news. We show that societal publications help phenological networks by facilitating the recruitment, retention and instruction of observers. Furthermore, they stimulate the generation of new ideas and partners that lead to an increase in knowledge, awareness and behavioural change of the general public or specific stakeholders. They make projects, and scientists involved, better known to the public and increase their credibility and authority. Societal publications can catalyse the production of new publications, thereby enforcing the previous mentioned points.     

How to ensure threatened species monitoring leads to threatened species conservation

Monitoring is essential for effective conservation and management of threatened species and ecological communities. However, more often than not, threatened species monitoring is poorly implemented, meaning that conservation decisions are not informed by the best available knowledge. We outline challenges and provide best‐practice guidelines for threatened species monitoring, informed by the diverse perspectives of 26 conservation managers and scientists from a range of organisations with expertise across Australian species and ecosystems. Our collective expertise synthesised five key principles that aim to enhance the design, implementation and outcomes of threatened species monitoring. These principles are (i) integrate monitoring with management; (ii) design fit‐for‐purpose monitoring programs; (iii) engage people and organisations; (iv) ensure good data management; and (v) communicate the value of monitoring. We describe how to incorporate these principles into existing frameworks to improve current and future monitoring programs. Effective monitoring is essential to inform appropriate management and enable better conservation outcomes for our most vulnerable species and ecological communities.     

ECVAM'S activities in the EU candidate countries

ECVAM has been given a special grant for collaborative projects on alternative/advanced testing methods involving eleven Candidate Countries for membership of the European Union (Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). The project involves the promotion of the Three Rs (reduction, refinement, replacement) concept of Russell & Burch, in cooperation with appropriate individuals and national and international organisations in the Candidate Countries themselves, and elsewhere. The scope of the programme's activities covers: conferences in some of the Candidate Countries, workshops, training courses, training visits, and technology development/transfer initiatives. A database of contacts in the Candidate Countries and in relevant institutions in other countries, is being compiled.     

Conservation strategies for coastal wetlands in the Gulf of California,Mexico

Wetlands worldwide, the fisheries they support, and the communities that depend on them are threatened by habitat modification. We describe strategies being used for wetland conservation in the Gulf of California, Mexico, their effectiveness, and challenges for implementation. We base our analysis on the authors’ experience working for local environmental non-governmental organizations and available literature. The strategies discussed include public and private policy instruments such as Environmental Impact Evaluations, environmental land easements, concessions and transfer agreements, Natural Protected Areas, and international agreements such as the Ramsar convention and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. We present examples from the Gulf of California that highlight some of the challenges to wetland conservation. These challenges range from governmental failure to enforce existing environmental legislation, lack of verification of requirements for development projects, to low economic penalties for wetland modification or destruction. We found that in the Gulf of California successful conservation of coastal wetlands required a combination of policy instruments and relied on integrating science, management, and public participation through partnerships between non-governmental institutions, academic institutions, community stakeholders, and government agencies.     

The reintroduction project of Cypripedium calceolus in Switzerland

In 2013, a project to reintroduce Cypripedium calceolus in the Swiss Jura was organised between the Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Herbarium of Jany Renz, Basel, Switzerland and Anthura B.V., Bleiswijk, Holland with the approval of the Nature Conservation authorities of nine cantons in the Swiss Jura. Seed was legally collected from sites in the nine cantons and was successfully grown to flowering size by the commercial nursery in the Netherlands. Three thousand flowering sized plants were successfully reintroduced to 43 sites in the summer of 2018. Monitoring in successive years has shown a success rate of over 50% and much higher in some sites. The successful collaboration of conservation authorities, a charitable foundation (Swiss Orchid Foundation) and a commercial company (Anthura B.V.) in the conservation of an endangered plant might serve as a model of how other projects might be run. A version of this paper, in German may be found in Bauhinia.     

Malaria in the whole world and in Romania

Malaria is the world's most important tropical parasitic disease. Malaria is a public health problem today in more than 90 countries. Worldwide prevalence of the disease is estimated to be in the order of 300-500 million clinical cases each year. Malaria is endemic in a total of 101 countries and territories. In Romania, malaria does not represent an important public health problem. In 1999, there were reported a total number of 32 malaria cases in Romanian people. 78% from these recognized as etiological agent Pl. falciparum. The malaria cases imported from Turkey (5) have had as etiological agent Pl. vivax. The most affected age group is between 21-50 years and a distribution by profession shows that sailor personnel accounts for 65.6% of all cases. Africa remains the most important endemic region from where the malaria cases in Romanian people are imported. An adequate chemoprophylaxis is not, yet, easy to obtain for Romanian people who are travelling abroad in endemic countries because of the lack of specific drugs (especially for resistant forms of Pl. falciparum). Even if the Romanian Ministry of Health had elaborated orders regarding malaria and Cloroquine is the usual drug administered, as chemoprophylaxis, to Romanian people who travel abroad, in each year in our country appears around 30-60 imported malaria cases. That is the cause why Romanian Ministry of Health wants to solve this problem which is the major cause of the malaria cases in Romanian people.     

Perturbation,Restoration and Seeking Ecological Sustainability in Australian Flowing Waters

It is now accepted that most of the rivers and streams of Australia have been degraded to varying extents by European settlement. The scale and level of this degradation have been documented by State and Federal government authorities. To halt and reverse the degradation in the next two decades, it is crucial that the conservation and restoration of streams, rivers, riparian zones, and catchments become paramount in land and water management. Effective stream restoration requires a coordinated effort at the catchment level rather than at the level of many individual local sites. Monitoring, including the gathering of before-restoration data, and the setting of feasibly-attainable goals are key components of effective restoration. In planning projects and setting goals, it needs to be recognized that some goals may only be attained in the long-term. Large-scale restoration projects will require partnerships to be formed between resource managers and scientists, with other stakeholders possibly involved. Selected projects could be adaptively managed with the emphasis on gaining scientific knowledge on the effects of management interventions.     

Landscape-scale conservation in practice: lessons from northern England, UK

Landscape-scale conservation projects are now Butterfly Conservation??s main delivery mechanism to conserve the UK??s threatened Lepidoptera. Butterfly Conservation currently works or has recently worked in 79 different landscapes targeted at key areas for threatened species, all of which involve partnerships with government agencies, other conservation organisations and landowners. Broadly we utilise two approaches firstly by providing advice to landowners and encouraging or assisting with the uptake of agri-environment or woodland grant schemes and secondly by securing external funding to directly undertake habitat management under the guidance of Butterfly Conservation project officers. These are not mutually exclusive with most projects having elements of both approaches. We describe two projects from northern England which utilise the direct funding approach and provide evidence for some of the lessons learnt by Butterfly Conservation??s 10 years experience of landscape-scale conservation delivery. From County Durham we demonstrate that for the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary Boloria selene Denis & Schiff. it is possible to restore even very small fragmented landscapes. On the North York Moors we show that a non-equilibrium declining Duke of Burgundy Hamearis lucina L. metapopulation can be stabilised by carefully targeting restoration management, demonstrating the cost benefits of early intervention.     

The role of trust in restoration success: public engagement and temporal and spatial scale in a complex social‐ecological system

The social dimensions of river restoration are not well understood especially in the context of large‐scale restoration projects embedded in a complex social‐ecological system. This study used in‐depth interviews with diverse stakeholders to examine perceptions of restoration success on the Clark Fork River Superfund project in Western Montana. Trust emerged as critical to restoration success and was influenced by public engagement, and by spatial and temporal scale. At this large scale, multiple relationships between agencies, NGOs, businesses, landowners, and other stakeholders meant that building trust was a complicated endeavor. The large spatial scale and long time frame made public engagement challenging, and landowners in particular were critical of the project, expressing mistrust in both agencies and the project as a whole. However, projects focused on smaller spatial scales, such as particular stream reaches, appeared to inspire more effective collaboration. Relationships between organizations were important at this large scale, but inter‐organizational conflict affected trust across the project. Further, because trust requires accepting vulnerability, recognizing the differential vulnerability that particular groups and communities experience, based on the risks and benefits they accrue relative to the project, is important.     

Control of invasive species for the conservation of biodiversity in Mediterranean islands. The LIFE PonDerat project in the Pontine Archipelago,Italy

We present the EU LIFE PonDerat project, which is aimed at restoring the natural ecosystems of the Pontine Archipelago, a group of islands located off the western coast of Italy. The spread of invasive species is a major environmental threat on these islands, which are rich in rare habitats and endemic species and are important sites for the conservation of Mediterranean biodiversity. The project focuses on the conservation of species and habitats that are protected by EU laws but are currently threatened by introduced plants and animals. The main targets of the control measures are black rats, feral goats, mouflons and invasive plants of the genus Carpobrotus. Conservation measures focus on the shearwaters Puffinus yelkouan and Calonectris diomedea, which are endemic to the Mediterranean and are listed in Annex I of the European Bird Directive. Conservation measures also focus on island habitats of great biogeographical value, which are listed in Annex I of the European Habitats Directive and are seriously threatened by introduced herbivores and by invasive plants. The main outcome expected from this project is that the restoration of ecosystem functions will enhance the breeding success and population size of shearwaters and lead to the recovery of target habitats.     

基于赤水河流域生态补偿的政府和社会资本合作项目风险识别与分担

赤水河流域为生态脆弱区域,现行的流域生态补偿机制存在补偿资金来源单一、总量不足且持续性较差、补偿方式较为单一等问题。将政府和社会资本合作（Public-Private Partnership,PPP）模式应用于建立赤水河流域生态补偿机制,有助于拓宽补偿资金来源、增加资金总量、丰富补偿方式,推动各利益相关方收益共享、风险共担。与传统PPP项目相比,基于流域生态补偿的PPP项目具有更为复杂的风险结构,风险因素的正确识别和合理分担是成功运用PPP模式完善赤水河流域生态补偿机制的关键。识别基于赤水河流域生态补偿的PPP项目运作关键环节,甄别各环节面临的主要风险因素;基于云理论建立风险分担模型;将有关风险在政府和社会资本间进行分担。研究结果表明：（1）基于赤水河流域生态补偿的PPP项目运作过程共包括项目准备、项目实施和项目合同终结等三个阶段、共11个关键环节,各环节共面临26个主要风险因素。（2）分析了有关风险因素可能对赤水河流域生态补偿机制或PPP项目产生的不利影响,并指出了风险引致方。（3）在项目准备阶段,政府拥有绝对的资源优势,以政府为主承担主要风险;在项目实施阶段,项目风险总体上由政府承担为主向社会资本承担为主转移,80%的风险主要由社会资本承担;特许经营期满后,社会资本将项目的经营权（或所有权与经营权同时）向政府移交,在项目合同终结阶段,有关风险再次以政府承担为主。     

Institutions and incentives for biodiversity conservation

Incentive measures for biodiversity conservation cannot be evaluated and compared outside the context of institutional performance and relationships. The institutional framework for biodiversity incentives includes a variety of organizations operating on different spatial scales. The institutional actors with an impact on biodiversity include community groups, local and national governmental structures, NGOs, business enterprises and international organizations. But the positve influence of conservation-oriented organizations is often significantly outweighed by the negative influence of other sets of institutional actors who are largely unaware of biodiversity as a concept and not unduly concerned with its conservation. There are several options for improving the institutional framework for biodiversity incentives: (1) decentralization of resource management decision making to local levels; (2) engaging and reorienting government institutions; (3) establishing new national and international institutions; and (4) establishing functional linkages between key institutional actors. The role of local, national and international institutions in designing and implementing effective incentive measures for biodiversity conservation will be critical. But the dynamics within and between institutional actors influencing biodiversity conservation are complex, variable and insufficiently understood, somewhat like biodiversity itself.     

Medicen Paris Région: A world-class 'competitiveness cluster' in the Paris region incorporating a neuroscience 'subcluster'

The French public-private partnerships known as "competitive clusters" [p?les de compétitivité (PdC)] are intended to be novel and ambitious engines of regional growth, employment and biomedical innovation. Partly funded by government and local councils, they aim to capitalize on regional expertise by bringing together basic scientists, clinicians, innovative entrepreneurs and local decision-makers around specific themes that have become too costly and complex for any of these actors to tackle alone. Clusters provide the critical mass required both to underpin innovation potential and to authenticate regional claims to international competitiveness. Medicen is a biomedicine and therapeutics cluster comprising 120 partners from four broad "colleges" in the greater Paris region: major industry, small and medium-sized businesses, teaching hospitals/State research bodies, and local councils. Chief among its cooperative R&D projects is the neuroscience subcluster, in which "TransAl" the neurodegenerative disease project, counts Sanofi-Aventis, Servier and the French Atomic Energy Commission [Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA)] as key partners. One main aim is to develop an experimental model in rhesus monkeys in which a putative cause of Alzheimer's disease, intracerebral accumulation of b-amyloid peptide, is generated by impairing the peptide's clearance. The other aim, in which the nuclear medicine expertise of the CEA will be crucial, is to identify, characterize and validate markers for magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography imaging, and to source biomarkers from cerebrospinal fluid proteomics. A human biological resource centre (DNA and tissue banks) project dedicated to neurological and psychiatric disease should be up and running in 2007. Only through fundamental restructuring of resources on such a large cooperative scale are solutions likely to be found to the major problems of modern medicine, bringing healthcare and regional socioeconomic benefits in its wake.