Biodiversity Professionals

First International Conference of the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence

Wed, 04 May 2016 13:24:36 +0000

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden.

We are incredibly excited about the First International Conference of The Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE). Our theme for this inaugural event is “Better Evidence. Better Decisions. Better Environment.”

CEE is an open collaboration with a global mission to provide the best available evidence to inform decision making in the environmental sector. We are witnessing the beginning of a new age—the Anthropocene. Whether you are a scientist, policy maker, activist or concerned citizen, the challenges we are facing are enormous. Evidence about what works and what doesn’t in environmental management is needed to meet these challenges and CEE has developed to collate, synthesize and disseminate reliable evidence to meet this need.

We hope that this conference serves to raise awareness and facilitate increased adoption among policy makers, scientists, donor agencies, and concerned citizens of the work of CEE and the knowledge we currently have.

So who is this conference for? Anyone who believes that information about what works and what doesn’t. Better evidence is needed for people to make informed choices. Better decisions are needed about how to create a better environment, making the world a better place.

We hope that this conference will be the start of an ongoing conversation between CEE and the diverse actors at the science-policy interface and will raise awareness about methods used in obtaining high-level evidence as well as the value of evidence-informed decision-making.

Full details of the conference can be found at www.environmentalevidence.org/meetings

Please print out the flyer below and post on your notice boards and in your office.

First Announcement CEE Conference (PDF)

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5 Reasons To Love Introduced Species

Fri, 22 Jan 2016 02:06:39 +0000

Introduced species get a bad rap from conservationists

Introduced mallard ducks (left) regularly mate with native grey ducks (right) in New Zealand. Males of either species often opt to mate with females of the other species. Is this mutual appreciation for the exotic wayward, or do they have something to teach us? (Images courtesy of Wikipedia Creative Commons)

Over the last half-century, conservationists worldwide have taken every opportunity to deride introduced species certain in the knowledge that their views would escape serious scrutiny. We’ve all been singing from the same song sheet—the louder and more passionate the denouncement the more praise it has attracted.

Many of us have built entire careers out of identifying which introduced species inconvenience natives. We explore and quantify their effects, and then crow about how important it is to rid ourselves of these ‘invasive’ nuisances.

So, for some, it is with considerable trepidation that they witness this complacent formula starting to unravel in recent years. Study after study, across discipline after discipline, is showing that introduced species are not, and never were, as bad as we thought.

An aging rear guard has devoted itself to the defense of old-school nativism, with all its irregularities, quirks and eccentricities. But many of us can now see that that ship was flawed all along and is now best abandoned.

Let’s learn to live with introduced species, not because it’s a novel or contrarian view, but because it has become the most compelling and sane thing to do.

Reasons to appreciate introduced species

Here are five good reasons why:

More diversity. In general, introduced species increase local and regional species richness. Most islands, for example, have doubled their lists of plant species through introductions. Longstanding nightmares of ecosystems dominated by single species, while common in agricultural landscapes, are the exception in the wild. Let’s stop talking about species like kudzu as if they were representative.
More uniqueness. A fixation on species-level biodiversity has fostered the impression that we are losing uniqueness. This assumption is flawed. While species have gone extinct (sometimes due, in part, to introduced species), our ecosystems are every bit as unique as they always were. Native ecosystems are unique, but so too are novel ecosystems, comprising biota that have never lived in the same configurations in history.
More evolution. Change is continuous and countless recent studies investigating rates of evolution show that it happens a lot faster than we used to think. Both native and introduced species don’t care about our historical baselines and are actively breeding and (de)selecting themselves away from them. Much like technological innovation in times of crisis, evolution seems to be speeding up in response to the environmental changes we have wrought. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is a good thing and that trying to stop it might actually be damaging to the vitality of future ecosystems.
More nature. We ask people to explore and cherish nature, but so much of the nature they experience around them is the ‘wrong’ kind. Introduced genes, species, and ecosystems are everywhere, permeating everything.
The search for purity is more than an embarrassment now. We risk disenfranchising a whole generation of people by constantly pointing to the belief that real nature is always somewhere else.
More compassion. Over the last few decades, people have blamed introduced species for just about every environmental malady you could think of. We have been told (and told ourselves) that they are the perpetrators of undesirable processes and states again and again.

The truth is that introduced species are as much the victims of globalisation as native species, having little choice over their location, and no choice over their valuation, but having to suffer the consequences all the same. Scapegoating introduced species is a tired, unethical pastime.

For a more detailed examination of the arguments raised in this article consider reading my recently completed PhD thesis: The Reconciliation of Introduced Species in New Zealand.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone.

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Petition to save the wild chinchilla

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 14:06:55 +0000

Researcher with wild chinchilla, Chile.

The chinchilla is a beloved pet for many. However, wild chinchillas are listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered.

Their conservation status is due to exploitation of the animal for fur. According to Meadow (1969), “…the disappearance of the once beautiful chinchilla alarmed the South American governments of Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. By 1918 all of them had placed an embargo on exportation of chinchilla furs, and had laws against trapping the animal.” Both species were thought to be extinct in the wild.

In the mid-1970’s, long-tailed chinchillas were re-discovered near Illapel, Chile. This discovery led to a reserve being created in 1983. However, the long-tailed chinchillas’ wild population continues to decline. Its habitat is threatened by human land alterations. Less than half of the wild population lives within the National Chinchilla Reserve. The areas where we have made habitat have seen expansion in these colonies, outside of protected areas.

The short-tailed chinchillas were re-discovered in 2001 in Chile. Of the 11 known, six were taken into the lab for experiments. They were supposed to be returned to the wild. The ones that did not die were given to fur farmers to improve the genetic captive stock.

Researcher with wild chinchilla, Chile.

The Chilean laws are not enough to protect this critically endangered species outside of protected areas. Small mines are not regulated, as are larger mines in Chile. Recently, a small mine plowed a road through the largest colony. Another mine is actively mining within another colony. Although reports were filed the governmental agencies can do nothing unless they find an injured or dead animal. For over two decades, I have been working with the local community and all stakeholders. The only solution is to incorporate the land into the current reserve or create a park. I have contacted all political representatives from the area. Each says they will help. But, I see nothing being done. Please help me, help the chinchillas, by signing and sharing one of the petitions below.

Thank you so much for your support!

Amy Deane, Scientist
Save the Wild Chinchillas, Inc.
www.wildchinchillas.org
International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Species Survival Commission http://www.iucn.org/
Small Mammals Specialist Group http://www.small-mammals.org/

PLEASE SIGN ONE OF THESE PETITIONS
English http://www.thepetitionsite.com/es-es/957/633/004/demand-the-protection-of-the-wild-chinchillas-in-chile/

Spanish http://www.thepetitionsite.com/es-es/803/812/650/la-demanda-de-proteccin-de-chinchillas-salvajes-en-chile/

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Protecting forest is not enough to prevent deforestation

Mon, 16 Mar 2015 15:23:43 +0000

Deforestation of peat swamp forest for oil palm plantation in Indragiri Hulu, Riau Province, Sumatra. (Image and caption courtesy of Wikipedia.)

An article in PhysOrg reports on a study by Biodiversity Professionals member Román Carrasco. The study shows that simply setting aside an area of forest is not an effective conservation strategy. According to the report, a more effective approach would be to monitor and prevent road construction within protected areas. Also, the study showed that limiting activity in illegal logging hotspots would be a better approach than just relying protected areas.”

While the study was conducted in Indonesia (which has suffered among the fastest rates of deforestation in recent decades), its findings have broad implications for other regions.

Perhaps the main take home of this work is that just as the causes of deforestation are complex, so are the solutions. Simply fencing off an area and limiting human access is not enough. Protection of forested areas must be supported by other approaches. Community engagement is crucial, in particular, education and buy-in of local people on the benefits of intact forest. Enforcement of existing laws, likewise needs to complement conservation efforts. And again, these must support other conservation strategies, such as restoration of degraded land adjacent to protected areas. (Conservation organization SavingSpecies is an example of this approach being implemented.)

There is no one solution to deforestation. It is a complex and ever-changing mix of different approaches. Only by understanding this, and developing the necessary tools and models, can we hope to ever conserve Earth’s fast-dwindling biodiversity.

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Sample Post With an Ordered List

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 01:54:32 +0000

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This is an example of a WordPress post, you could edit this to put information about yourself or your site so readers know where you are coming from. You can create as many posts as you like in order to share with your readers what is on your mind. This is an example of a WordPress post, you could edit this to put information about yourself or your site so readers know where you are coming from. You can create as many posts as you like in order to share with your readers what is on your mind.

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Sample Post With a Blockquote

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 01:54:12 +0000

This is an example of a WordPress post, you could edit this to put information about yourself or your site so readers know where you are coming from. You can create as many posts as you like in order to share with your readers what is on your mind.

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Sample Post With a Table

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 01:53:31 +0000

Developer	Location	Job Title
Brian Gardner	Illinois	Project Lead
Nathan Rice	South Carolina	Lead Developer
Ron Rennick	Canada	Lead Developer
Rafal Tomal	Illinois	Lead Designer
Lauren Mancke	South Carolina	Lead Designer

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Sample Post With Headlines

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 01:52:58 +0000

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