Karl A. Didier

The Landscape Species Approach: spatially-explicit conservation planning applied in the Adirondacks, USA, and San Guillermo-Laguna Brava, Argentina, landscapes.

The Landscape Species Approach is a framework developed by the Wildlife Conservation Society for planning landscape-scale conservation based on a suite of focal species. The approach has so far been implemented at 12 terrestrial and two marine sites. We demonstrate the approach using two sites, the Adirondack Park, USA, and San Guillermo-Laguna Brava Landscape, Argentina. We describe the spatially explicit components, including steps to map the attainable (Biological Landscape), current, and future distribution of Landscape Species, human activities (Human Landscapes) and their impacts on Landscape Species, the possible impacts of conservation actions (Conservation Landscapes), and a procedure to set spatial conservation priorities. We discuss advantages and innovations of the approach, including how it incorporates both vulnerability of biodiversity and possible recovery. Finally, we discuss improvements that can be made to the approach, costs, and implications for conservation at the two sites.

A Simple, Cost-Effective Method for Involving Stakeholders in Spatial Assessments of Threats to Biodiversity

Human–nature interactions shape biodiversity and natural resources. Planning conservation and engaging stakeholders in dialogues about conservation require an understanding of indirect threats arising from socioeconomic and political conditions, plus participatory methods to build consensus for action. We present a method for spatial assessment of threats, which involves stakeholders in decision-making and planning for conservation. We developed and tested the method in wildlife conservation projects in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, and Central America. The method follows a five-step process: each participant lists the human activities that are the most damaging to biodiversity and natural resources in their region (direct threats) and the role that users, managers, and policymakers play to promote or facilitate these activities (indirect threats); all participants vote to rank the worst direct threats and to map the locations of these threats at their site. The output maps are amenable to use in GIS analysis. We show how these maps help to plan, monitor, and implement interventions in wildlife conservation projects. We thank our in-country co-hosts: Madagascar’s ANGAP, Democratic Republic of Congo’s ICCN, Glover’s Reef Advisory Committee, and Uganda’s UWA, plus the many participants in our workshops. Special thanks go to H. Crowley, C. D’Agrosa, L. Herb, S. Hoare, D. Kujirakwinja, J. Mackinnon, I. Owiunji, B. Rabemanantsoa, M. Rakotondratsima, H. Randriamahazo, S. Sesy, C. Yoc, and the staff of the Living Landscapes Program. The Belize Coastal Zone Management Authority & Institute provided some map data.

Conservation planning on a budget: a “resource light” method for mapping priorities at a landscape scale?

Conservation projects may be reluctant to attempt Systematic Conservation Planning because existing methods are often prohibitive in the time, money, data, and expertise they require. We tried to develop a “resource light” method for Systematic Conservation Planning and applied it to the Ewaso Ngiro Landscape of central Kenya. Over a 6-month preparation period and 1-week participatory workshop, we used expert assessments to select focal biodiversity features, set quantitative targets for these, map their current distribution, vulnerability, potential for recovery, and conservation costs, and, finally, map cross-feature conservation priorities. Preparation for and facilitation of the workshop required time investment by one part-time workshop coordinator, eight workshop committee members, six ecosystem experts, and two GIS technicians. Total time investment was approximately 56.5 person-weeks spread over facilitators and 40 workshop participants. Monetary costs for the workshop were approximately

Climate change and conservation implications for wet meadows in dry Patagonia

US 42,000, excluding investments made by researchers previous to this project. Costs for a similar workshop could vary substantially, depending on need to cover salaries, international travel, food and lodging, and the number of participants. To stay within our resource constraints, we completed the exercise for only four of nine focal biodiversity features and did not negotiate trade-offs between conservation and human land-uses or use planning software to identify “optimal networks” of conservation areas. These were not considered critical for conservationists to try Systematic Conservation Planning, introduce landscape-scale conservation concepts to stakeholders, and begin implementing landscape conservation strategies. Participants agreed that further work would be needed to complete and update the planning process. Due to the lack of comparative cost data from similar planning exercises, we cannot definitively conclude that our approach was “resource light”, although we suspect it is within the constraints of most site-based conservation projects.

Eastern Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii): Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 2010-2020

SUMMARY Climate change is predicted to be a major threat for biodiversity and, from a conservation prospective, it is importanttounderstandhowecosystemsmayrespond to that change. Predicted climate change effects on the distribution of meadows in the arid and semiarid Argentinean Patagonia by 2050 were assessed for changetrendsandareasofdesertificationvulnerability using species distribution models (SDM) and climatechange models. Four modelling techniques composed an ensemble-forecasting approach. Suitable areas for meadows will decrease by 7.85% by 2050 given predicted changes in climate. However, there were two contrasting trends: severe reduction of suitable areas for meadows in north-west Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego Island, and an expansion of suitable areas for meadows in the south and a small section in the north-west. Meadows in Patagonia will likely be impacted by climate change, probably due to changes in precipitation regimes, and consequently many species that rely on meadows in an arid environment will also be impacted. Given the low level of protection ofmeadowsinPatagonia,suchinformationonmeadow distributionandvulnerabilitytoclimatechangewillbe importantforincreasingandimprovingthenetworkof conservation areas through conservation planning.