Successful natural resource management is much more than good science; it requires working with landowners, meeting deadlines, securing funding, supervising staff, and cooperating with politicians. The ability to work effectively with people is as important for the conservation professional as it is for the police officer, the school teacher, ......
Prairie dogs and the grassland habitat in which they play a key ecological role have declined precipitously over the past two centuries. The current number of prairie dogs is believed to be less than 2 percent of the number encountered by Lewis and Clark in the early 1800s, and only a fraction of grassland ecosystem remains. Conservation of ......
Some ecosystem management plans established by state and federal agencies have begun to shift their focus away from single-species conservation to a broader goal of protecting a wide range of flora and fauna, including species whose numbers are scarce or about which there is little scientific understanding. To date, these efforts ......
It's time to think differently about cities and nature. Understanding how to better connect our cities with the benefits nature provides will be increasingly important as people migrate to cities and flourish in them. All this urban growth, along with challenges of adapting to climate change, will require a new approach to infrastructure if ......
In hundreds of watersheds and communities across the United States, conservation is being reinvented and invigorated by collaborative efforts between federal, state, and local governments working with nongovernmental organizations and private landowners, and fueled by economic incentives, to promote both healthy natural communities and ......
Indicator, Umbrella, Keystone, Flagship, and Other Surrogate Species
The vast scope of conservation problems has forced biologists and managers to rely on ""surrogate"" species to serve as shortcuts to guide their decision making. These species-known by a host of different terms, including indicator, umbrella, and flagship species-act as proxies to represent larger conservation issues, such as the ......
Community-based wildlife conservation is promoted as a win-win solution for wildlife and people that protects biodiversity while improving the economic status of communities living among wildlife. This book, based on mixed-method anthropological research conducted in Samburu County, Kenya, demonstrates that, counter to simple narratives promising ......
In this book, Carolyn K. Lesorogol examines community-based wildlife conservation in Kenya and its complex effects on local communities. Lesorogol argues that this approach to conservation creates new land use institutions, brings both benefits and costs to conservancy members, and at times heightens social conflict.
Conservationists have long been aware that politicalboundaries rarely coincide with natural boundaries.From the establishment of early n++peace parksn++to thedesignation of continental migratory pathways, awide range of transborder mechanisms to protectbiodiversity have been established by conservationistsin both the public and private ......
