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Clements HS, Knight M, Jones P, Balfour D. Private rhino conservation: Diverse strategies adopted in response to the poaching crisis. Conserv Lett 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/conl.12741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Hayley S. Clements
- Centre for Complex Systems in Transition Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch South Africa
| | - Mike Knight
- WWF in Namibia Windhoek Namibia
- Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Zoology Department Nelson Mandela University Port Elizabeth South Africa
| | - Pelham Jones
- Private Rhino Owners Association Muldersdrift South Africa
| | - Dave Balfour
- Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Zoology Department Nelson Mandela University Port Elizabeth South Africa
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Child MF, Selier SAJ, Radloff FGT, Taylor WA, Hoffmann M, Nel L, Power RJ, Birss C, Okes NC, Peel MJ, Mallon D, Davies-Mostert H. A framework to measure the wildness of managed large vertebrate populations. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2019; 33:1106-1119. [PMID: 30767306 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2017] [Revised: 02/07/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
As landscapes continue to fall under human influence through habitat loss and fragmentation, fencing is increasingly being used to mitigate anthropogenic threats and enhance the commercial value of wildlife. Subsequent intensification of management potentially erodes wildness by disembodying populations from landscape-level processes, thereby disconnecting species from natural selection. Tools are needed to measure the degree to which populations of large vertebrate species in formally protected and privately owned wildlife areas are self-sustaining and free to adapt. We devised a framework to measure such wildness based on 6 attributes relating to the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of vertebrates (space, disease and parasite resistance, exposure to predation, exposure to limitations and fluctuations of food and water supply, and reproduction). For each attribute, we set empirical, species-specific thresholds between 5 wildness states based on quantifiable management interventions. We analysed data from 205 private wildlife properties with management objectives spanning ecotourism to consumptive utilization to test the framework on 6 herbivore species representing a range of conservation statuses and commercial values. Wildness scores among species differed significantly, and the proportion of populations identified as wild ranged from 12% to 84%, which indicates the tool detected site-scale differences both among populations of different species and populations of the same species under different management regimes. By quantifying wildness, this framework provides practitioners with standardized measurement units that link biodiversity with the sustainable use of wildlife. Applications include informing species management plans at local scales; standardizing the inclusion of managed populations in red-list assessments; and providing a platform for certification and regulation of wildlife-based economies. Applying this framework may help embed wildness as a normative value in policy and mitigate the shifting baseline of what it means to truly conserve a species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew F Child
- Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20 Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa
- Endangered Wildlife Trust, Private Bag X11, Johannesburg, 1609, South Africa
- Biodiversity Information and Policy Advice, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Rhodes Drive, Cape Town, 7735, South Africa
| | - S A Jeanetta Selier
- Biodiversity Information and Policy Advice, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Rhodes Drive, Cape Town, 7735, South Africa
- School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban, 4000, South Africa
| | - Frans G T Radloff
- Department of Conservation and Marine Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, P.O. Box 652, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
| | - W Andrew Taylor
- Endangered Wildlife Trust, Private Bag X11, Johannesburg, 1609, South Africa
| | - Michael Hoffmann
- Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4RY, U.K
| | - Lizanne Nel
- South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association, 7 Mountain Drive, Pretoria, 2876, South Africa
| | - R John Power
- Directorate: Biodiversity Management, North West Provincial Government, Mmabatho, 2750, South Africa
| | - Coral Birss
- CapeNature, Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve, Jonkershoek Drive, Private Bag X 5014, Stellenbosch, 7599, South Africa
| | - Nicola C Okes
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa
| | - Michael J Peel
- Rangeland Ecology Group, Agricultural Research Council, P.O. Box 7063, Nelspruit, 1200, South Africa
| | - David Mallon
- Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester St, Manchester, M1 5GD, U.K
| | - Harriet Davies-Mostert
- Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20 Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa
- Endangered Wildlife Trust, Private Bag X11, Johannesburg, 1609, South Africa
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Clements HS, Kerley GIH, Cumming GS, De Vos A, Cook CN. Privately protected areas provide key opportunities for the regional persistence of large‐ and medium‐sized mammals. J Appl Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hayley S. Clements
- School of Biological SciencesMonash University Melbourne Vic. Australia
- Centre for Complex Systems in TransitionStellenbosch University Stellenbosch South Africa
| | - Graham I. H. Kerley
- Centre for African Conservation EcologyNelson Mandela University Port Elizabeth South Africa
| | - Graeme S. Cumming
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University Townsville QLD Australia
| | - Alta De Vos
- Department of Environmental ScienceRhodes University Grahamstown South Africa
| | - Carly N. Cook
- School of Biological SciencesMonash University Melbourne Vic. Australia
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Clements HS, Cumming GS. Traps and transformations influencing the financial viability of tourism on private-land conservation areas. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2018; 32:424-436. [PMID: 28815735 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2016] [Revised: 08/09/2017] [Accepted: 08/11/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The ability of private conservation organizations to remain financially viable is a key factor influencing their effectiveness. One-third of financially motivated private-land conservation areas (PLCAs) surveyed in South Africa are unprofitable, raising questions about landowners' abilities to effectively adapt their business models to the socioeconomic environment. In any complex system, options for later adaptation can be constrained by starting conditions (path dependence). We tested 3 hypothesized drivers of path dependence in PLCA ecotourism and hunting business models: (H1) the initial size of a PLCA limits the number of mammalian game and thereby predators that can be sustained; (H2) initial investments in infrastructure limit the ability to introduce predators; and (H3) rainfall limits game and predator abundance. We further assessed how managing for financial stability (optimized game stocking) or ecological sustainability (allowing game to fluctuate with environmental conditions) influenced the ability to overcome path dependence. A mechanistic PLCA model based on simple ecological and financial rules was run for different initial conditions and management strategies, simulating landowner options for adapting their business model annually. Despite attempts by simulated landowners to increase profits, adopted business models after 13 years were differentiated by initial land and infrastructural assets, supporting H1 and H2. A conservation organization's initial assets can cause it to become locked into a financially vulnerable business model. In our 50-year simulation, path dependence was overcome by fewer of the landowners who facilitated natural ecological variability than those who maintained constant hunting rates and predator numbers, but the latter experienced unsustainably high game densities in low rainfall years. Management for natural variability supported long-term ecological sustainability but not shorter term socioeconomic sustainability for PLCAs. Our findings highlight trade-offs between ecological and economic sustainability and suggest a role for governmental support of the private conservation industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hayley S Clements
- Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7701, South Africa
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Graeme S Cumming
- Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7701, South Africa
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
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