Recent revisions of Australia’s National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas (NRSMPA) have further biased protection of biodiversity away from commercially useful waters, thereby forgoing another opportunity for large-scale marine conservation. The NRSMPA includes State, Territory, and Commonwealth MPAs, with the latter component undergoing significant revisions from 2012, to 2015 and 2018 (Figure 1). Figure … Continue reading Representation does not necessarily reduce threats to biodiversity: Australia’s Commonwealth marine protected area system, 2012–2018
Webinar – Learning from others: The new global conservation planning database
Presenter: Jorge Álvarez-Romero, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University UPDATED Date/Time: Wednesday, February 27, 3 pm in Eastern Time (US and Canada) Description: Creating a new marine conservation or management plan? Learn what others have done in the past – build on their research and experiences and how they addressed challenges – using … Continue reading Webinar – Learning from others: The new global conservation planning database
Research advances and gaps in marine planning: towards a global database in systematic conservation planning
Over the last three decades, hundreds of systematic conservation planning (SCP) studies were produced, yet we have no reliable way of finding information on SCP methods, trends, and progress. In particular, the number of studies added to the marine SCP literature has increased exponentially over the past 10 years (Figure 1). This accelerating output of … Continue reading Research advances and gaps in marine planning: towards a global database in systematic conservation planning
Stakeholders get together to think about the future of the Fitzroy River catchment, Kimberley, Western Australia
NESP Northern Australia Environmental Resources Hub’s project on multiple objective planning in northern Australia is guiding participatory scenario planning to construct and assess the outcomes of alternative development scenarios in the Fitzroy catchment, WA. The project’s planning team will meet three times to discuss possible development pathways for the Fitzroy catchment and their consequences. On July … Continue reading Stakeholders get together to think about the future of the Fitzroy River catchment, Kimberley, Western Australia
The Conservation Planning Group is heading to New Zealand!
The Society for Conservation Biology Oceania is hosting its 5th Oceania Congress for Conservation Biology in Wellington, New Zealand. The conference, which takes place from July 3-5 2018, is an opportunity for scientists, managers, students, and other conservation professionals to meet, discuss, and share new findings and opportunities to address conservation challenges. Four members of … Continue reading The Conservation Planning Group is heading to New Zealand!
Implementation strategies for systematic conservation planning
The extent to which systematic conservation plans have effectively influenced management remains elusive, particularly regarding our understanding of the factors contributing to successful implementation. Several scholars have argued there is an important gap between planning and doing, sometimes even referring to it as the implementation crisis in conservation planning. Irrespective of the nature and size … Continue reading Implementation strategies for systematic conservation planning
Diseño y conectividad de reservas marinas ante el calentamiento global
International collaborations are central to our research. Here we summarize the results of an ongoing collaboration with Mexican colleagues to design a network of marine reserves in the Gulf of California, reported earlier in our blog. We do so in Spanish to ensure we reach a wider readership, particularly in Mexico! El calentamiento de los … Continue reading Diseño y conectividad de reservas marinas ante el calentamiento global
Using multiple methods to understand the nature of relationships in social networks
Effective natural resource management (NRM) often depends on collaboration through formal and informal relationships. Social network analysis (SNA) provides a framework for studying social relationships and is becoming a common tool for conservation practitioners. Simply put, social network analysis is a way of mapping who collaborates and for what, so that the patterns of collaborations … Continue reading Using multiple methods to understand the nature of relationships in social networks
Designing connected marine reserves in the face of global warming
Global warming can disrupt ecological connectivity among marine reserves by shortening potential dispersal pathways through changes in larval physiology. These changes can compromise the effectiveness of marine reserve networks, thus requiring adjusting their design to account for warmer oceans. To address this challenge, researchers from the Conservation Planning Group are collaborating with scientists, agencies, NGOs, … Continue reading Designing connected marine reserves in the face of global warming