Diana J. Pritchard

Bring the captive closer to the wild: redefining the role of ex situ conservation

In situ conservation is central to contemporary global biodiversity protection and is the predominant emphasis of international regulation and funding strategies. Ex situ approaches, in contrast, have been relegated to a subsidiary role and their direct contributions to conservation have been limited. We draw on a variety of sources to make the case for an enhanced role for ex situ conservation. We note the advances occurring within institutions specializing in ex situ conservation and stress that, although much remains to be done, many constraints are being addressed. We argue that the evidence of increasing extinction rates, exacerbated by climate change, challenges the wisdom of a heavy dependence on in situ strategies and necessitates increased development of ex situ approaches. A number of different techniques that enable species and their habitats tosurvive should now be explored. These could build on the experience of management systems that have already demonstrated the effective integration of in situ and ex situ techniques and hybrid approaches. For organizations specializing in ex situ conservation to become more effective, however, they will require tangible support from the institutions of global biodiversity governance. Resistance is anticipated because in situ conservation is entrenched through powerful groups and organizations that exert influence on global conservation policy and facilitate the flow of funding. The chasm that has traditionally divided in situ and ex situ approaches may diminish as approaches are combined. Moreover, the relentless loss of the ‘wild’ may soon render the in situ / ex situ distinction misleading, or even obsolete. Keywords Botanical gardens, captive breeding, climate

Local participation in biodiversity conservation initiatives: a comparative analysis of different models in South East Mexico.

In Mexico, biodiversity conservation is primarily implemented through three schemes: 1) protected areas, 2) payment-based schemes for environmental services, and 3) community-based conservation, officially recognized in some cases as Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas. In this paper we compare levels of local participation across conservation schemes. Through a survey applied to 670 households across six communities in Southeast Mexico, we document local participation during the creation, design, and implementation of the management plan of different conservation schemes. To analyze the data, we first calculated the frequency of participation at the three different stages mentioned, then created a participation index that characterizes the presence and relative intensity of local participation for each conservation scheme. Results showed that there is a low level of local participation across all the conservation schemes explored in this study. Nonetheless, the payment for environmental services had the highest local participation while the protected areas had the least. Our findings suggest that local participation in biodiversity conservation schemes is not a predictable outcome of a specific (community-based) model, thus implying that other factors might be important in determining local participation. This has implications on future strategies that seek to encourage local involvement in conservation.

Local understandings of conservation in southeastern Mexico and their implications for community-based conservation as an alternative paradigm.

Since the 1990s national and international programs have aimed to legitimize local conservation initiatives that might provide an alternative to the formal systems of state-managed or otherwise externally driven protected areas. We used discourse analysis (130 semistructured interviews with key informants) and descriptive statistics (679 surveys) to compare local perceptions of and experiences with state-driven versus community-driven conservation initiatives. We conducted our research in 6 communities in southeastern Mexico. Formalization of local conservation initiatives did not seem to be based on local knowledge and practices. Although interviewees thought community-based initiatives generated less conflict than state-managed conservation initiatives, the community-based initiatives conformed to the biodiversity conservation paradigm that emphasizes restricted use of and access to resources. This restrictive approach to community-based conservation in Mexico, promoted through state and international conservation organizations, increased the area of protected land and had local support but was not built on locally relevant and multifunctional landscapes, a model that community-based conservation is assumed to advance.

North Korea in the New World Order

Notes on the Contributors - Acknowledgements - Introduction - The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea: An Historical Survey C.MacDonald - A Half-century of US-Korea Policy: Inching toward US-DPRK Rapprochement D.Satterwhite - The Effects of Regional Power Factors on Inter-Korean Relations and Implications of the Nuclear Issue for the North East Asian Security Order S.Kirby - Europe and North Korea M.Hindley & J.Bridges - British Policy Towards North Korea W.Morris - North Korean Foreign Policy in the 1990s: The Realist Approach H.Smith - Recent Transitional Experiences and their Relevance for North Korea I.Roxborough - The Juche Idea and its Role in the North Korean Political Economy C.Rhodes - Economic Reform in North Korea F.Nixson & P.Collins - Juche and Culture: Whats New? K.Howard - A Seance with the Living: The Intelligibility of the North Korean Landscape P.Atkins - Index

Community-Based Biodiversity Monitoring in Mexico: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Strategies for Collaboration with Scientists

An array of social and political actors, from international to local levels, increasingly demand monitoring data on biodiversity and ecosystem functions. As elsewhere, prevalent approaches in Mexico emphasize the collection of scientific data regarding biological indicators, by professionals, for conservation planning, global targets, and biological inquiry. These are complicated, expensive, and dependent on external funding. They also fail to engage with communities, many of whom practice traditional forms of monitoring to manage their local environments and livelihoods. Community-based monitoring, an approach involving collaborations between scientists and communities, has the potential to contribute to sustainable forms of resource use management and as a cost-effective method. Efforts could develop once local rights of use and traditional knowledge systems are recognized, access to information is ensured, and a broad array of relevant environmental and social indicators are included.

The Legacy of Conflict: Refugee Repatriation and Reintegration in Central America

At first glance the large-scale repatriations occurring in recent years to Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala appear as unequivocal evidence of the consolidation of regional peace and as a symbol of the end of conflict. This view seems credible when the current is compared to that of the 1980s, when tens of thousands of uprooted Central Americans fled violence in their countries to seek refuge across international borders. However, an analysis of the experience of those refugees, the processes of repatriation and the problems arising from resettlement belie such a simplistic interpretation. This chapter explores the relationship between refuge, repatriation and resettlement and regional peace, stability and economic restructuring.

Transforming Collaborative Practices for Curriculum and Teaching Innovations with the Sustainability Forum (University of Bedfordshire)

Evolving higher education policy, and the production of guidelines and frameworks by higher education authorities, aim to support universities embed education for sustainability and reflect recognition of the need to prepare graduates for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century. Yet, advances have been limited. This chapter examines developments underway at the University of Bedfordshire, offering insights for ways forward which are distinct from prevailing institutional management processes. It presents the work of a community of practice, created by a group of academics from a spectrum of disciplines. Here, core players from this ‘Sustainability Forum’ describe their community, activities and synergies with the wider University. The authors highlight the learning opportunities they generated by their collective actions resulting in curriculum developments and enhancements. These served their own undergraduate and postgraduate students, other groups within the university community and beyond. As such the chapter serves as a case study of what can be achieved by an informal group of highly motivated academics in a new university. The authors conclude by considering the value of this model to other institutional contexts, especially in the context of the constraints imposed by expanding external performative initiatives and quality processes.

Sustainability and Employability: Alliances at the University of Bedfordshire

Reviews from across the globe note that following the UNESCO-decade of Education for Sustainable Development, advances have been limited within higher education. Emergent research seeking to understand and overcome prevailing barriers, includes attention to the constraints within institutions related to crowded curricula and competing higher education agendas. Since ‘graduate employability’ is a key policy concern of many universities in the UK, understanding how it links to, or impacts on, the promotion of education for sustainability is crucial. This paper offers insights from experiences developing at the University of Bedfordshire which has a ‘widening participation’ mission to provide for students from families which are under-represented in higher education. In these circumstances, the relative priority which university managers, academics and students assign to the delivery of commitments to education for sustainability and to enhanced graduate employability are thrown into relief. Conducting preliminary stakeholder analysis of the policies, meetings, workshops and group discussions, we examine the different perspectives and approaches of managers, academics and students regarding education for sustainability and its connections with employability; comparing the scenarios in 2013 and 2014 which represent pre- and post-coordination of efforts. Our findings document the institutional drivers, and the initiatives that these distinct stakeholder groups adopt, which effect shifts that now more closely link education for sustainability to the employability agenda. Key factors were support for academic-led proposals, student participation in co-learning activities and inter-stakeholder collaborations. This preliminary study contributes to sector wide discussions about approaches to the implementation of education for sustainability.