Stuart R. Harrop

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

Field sports and conservation in the United Kingdom

Many natural habitats exist on privately owned land outside protected areas, but few governments can afford to enforce or subsidize conservation of this biodiversity. Even in some developed countries, conservation subsidy schemes have only achieved limited success. Fortunately, some landowners may be willing to accept management costs in return for other benefits, although this remains controversial when it involves the killing of charismatic species. For example, participants in British field sports, such as fox hunting and game-bird shooting, may voluntarily conserve important habitats that are required by quarry species. Here we report results from a multidisciplinary study that addressed this issue by focusing on three sites across central England. We found that landowners participating in field sports maintained the most established woodland and planted more new woodland and hedgerows than those who did not, despite the equal availability of subsidies. Therefore, voluntary habitat management appears to be important for biodiversity conservation in Britain. Current debates on the future of field sports in Britain, and similar activities globally, may benefit from considering their utility as incentives to conserve additional habitat on private land.

European Health Regulations and Brazil nuts: Implications for biodiversity conservation and sustainable rural livelihoods in the Amazon

Abstract The Brazil nut industry comports with the principal objectives of European policy on development co‐operation (poverty reduction linked with environmental protection) and forest conservation (maintaining forest cover). However, European Regulation 1525–98 EC, which decreases acceptable levels of aflatoxins in Brazil nuts to 4 parts per billion, may cause a crash in the Brazil nut trade. Thus, European policies on food quality, development co‐operation and forest conservation are likely to operate a cross‐purposes. Brazil nut producer countries have questioned the legal basis of the Regulation in terms of scientific justification for the stricter limits on aflatoxin content and lack of conformity with international standards set by Codex Alimentarius. The EC has countered by invoking the precautionary principle. This article documents the debate in the context of the World Trade Organisations Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement and discusses the implications for the relationship between agendas of trade, environment and sustainable development.

Practise what you preach: a faith-based approach to conservation in Indonesia

Abstract Faith-based teachings on the environment have been identified as a potentially effective form of conservation outreach but one that remains largely untested. Indonesia contains 10% of the world’s tropical rainforests and is the most populous Muslim country. A faith-based approach to conservation could therefore yield significant conservation benefits here. Within Islam several key principles in the Qur’an underpin and outline the role of humans in nature conservation. Here, we report on a Darwin Initiative project component that sought to assess the applicability of Islamic teachings to conservation action inWestSumatra.Wedevelopedwater-conservation-themed sermons that were delivered by project-trained religious leaders in 10 mosques and nine Islamic boarding schools during the holy month of Ramadan. We conducted entry– exit questionnaire surveys to assess levels of concern, awareness and intent to act amongst male (n5 389) and female (n5 479) worshippers. The results revealed that greater attention should be paid to raising awareness of the linkages between Islam and conservation rather than on conservation principles alone, which were already adequately understood. This study provides the first insights into the important role that women could play within a faith-based project. Female respondents demonstrated greater knowledge and understanding of Islamic teachings about the environment and the services provided by watershed forests. They were also more likely to contribute to conservation activities, suggesting that future projects should seek to involve this often marginalized stakeholder group fully, as well as provide practical ways for men and women to transform words into action. Keywords Biodiversity, customary law, deforestation, ecosystem services, Indonesia, Islam, REDD, religion

The agreements on international humane trapping standards ‐background, critique and the texts

Two new agreements, the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards between the European Community, Canada and the Russian Federation and the International Agreement in the form of an Agreed Minute between the European Community and the United States of America on humane trapping standards Standards for the humane trapping of specified terrestrial and semi-aquatic mammals, may be regarded as the first international agreements concerned exclusively with animal welfare. The former agreement, although negotiated with the involvement of the United States, was concluded in December 1996 between the European Community, Canada and the Russian Federation. The latter, in the form of an agreed minute with virtually identical text to the first agreement, was finalised one year later by the EC and the United States of America. Prior conservation treaties had dealt, in a minor way, with animal welfare issues but such diversions have been either accidental or incidental. The focus of CITES, for instance, is on the conservation of species that are endangered or threatened through the impact of trade but the Convention also has several provisions that regulate the welfare of animals in transport. Similarly the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Berne Convention) deals primarily with the conservation of threatened species and habitats but its prohibition of indiscriminate capture methods is an animal welfare provision.

Wildlife management, the multilateral trade regime, morals and the welfare of animals 1

Abstract Various states (and groups of states such as the European Community) have adopted legislation designed to raise standards of animal welfare in many areas including agriculture, companion animals, experimentation and testing, transport, and hunting and trapping methods. Much of this legislation has resulted from extensive lobbying and intense political wrangling. Where the legislation affects animals as products (or animal derivative products such as their pelts or their meat), legislators frequently resort to external facing trade measures to support the moral stance taken in the legislative instrument. At this point potential conflicts with the precepts of the multilateral trade regime operated by the World Trade Organisation arise. The extent to which the relevant provisions in the WTO portfolio of agreements (and the predecessor text of the GATT 1947) assist the cause of animal welfare is limited by both the texts themselves and the narrow interpretation of those texts by WTO/ GATT dispute pan...

Comparing different national regulatory approaches to the practice of hunting wild animals with dogs

The current debate concerning the practice of hunting with hounds in the UK and the argument for the regulation or banning of the practice invites consideration of the position beyond the UK. However, the UK form of hunting is not precisely replicated in many countries because of a number of factors ranging from the cultural to the ecological. Indeed, many countries do not have a concept of the use of dogs in hunting that is comparable to hunting with hounds as it is understood in the UK. Nevertheless, various forms of hunting assisted by dogs (whereby dogs are used to locate and direct target animals to hunters which animals are then usually killed by shooting) are widespread in Europe and many other territories in the world. Since the controversy in the UK only concerns hunting with hounds at the present time, it is important, to distinguish between hunting with hounds as a pack organised to chase and kill or assist the kill of the target animal and the more widespread practice of hunting assisted by dogs. It will be seen, however, that important as the difference between these two forms of hunting may be for the purpose of the debate, this distinction is a fine one in some respects. In the light of this and in the context of relevant European and selected other countries this article specifically considers the legal context, practice and nature of:

Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems: An Examination of Their Context in Existing Multilateral Instruments Dealing with Conservation and Land Tenure

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO) is examining mechanisms to protect the diversity of traditional agricultural systems operating around the world. The project is entitled GIAHS—Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems. This article, being the first of two dealing with GIAHS, is based on a report written by the author for the UN FAO in August 2005.2 It analyzes the international legal and policy matrix to assess the level of existing support for GIAHS and to ascertain the gaps in that support. This article focuses on conservation and land tenure and the second will examine intellectual property rights, trade issues, and potential mechanisms to secure the persistence of GIAHS. The approach taken is to deal with particularly relevant aspects of the international regulatory regime rather than to iterate comprehensive details that might, perforce, encompass considerable quantities of text concerned with marginally relevant instruments. Further, there are a number of soft instruments that are not mentioned or dealt with in any detail herein but which support the concept of GIAHS. These are not ignored through lack of value; rather, they have given rise to other expressions of their principles in subsequent instruments, which are dealt with herein. An example of this is the World Charter for Nature,3 which contains text supportive of the concept of GIAHS and which has acted as the foundation for development of an enlightened international approach to the human relationship with the natural world. There are also many instruments functioning at the regional level that are beyond the scope of this analysis.4 For the present, it is appropriate to indicate that regional law and policy will be relevant in context-specific cases as GIAHS sites are established and prior analysis of regional and national laws and policies will be required in each case.