New research shows that conservation initiatives often spread like disease, helping scientists and policymakers to better design successful programs that are more likely to be adopted. In a study published today, researchers modelled how conservation initiatives are implemented across regions and countries until they reach ‘scale’—a level where they can have real impact on conserving or improving … Continue reading Helping conservation initiatives turn contagious
Coral reef conservation in the Anthropocene: Confronting spatial mismatches and prioritizing functions
In a new paper, online now in Biological Conservation, Conservation Planning Group researchers and colleagues address the critical challenge of coral reef conservation in the Anthropocene. The world's coral reefs are rapidly transforming, with decreasing coral cover and new species configurations. These new Anthropocene reefs pose new challenges for conservation: we can no longer rely … Continue reading Coral reef conservation in the Anthropocene: Confronting spatial mismatches and prioritizing functions
Fisheries outcomes maximized through traditional practice
Our new study, published today in Journal of Applied Ecology, demonstrates that the challenge of keeping fish in the sea while putting fish on the plate might be best achieved through periodically harvested fisheries closures. Periodically harvested closures (PHCs) are a widespread, centuries‐old form of fisheries management that protects fish between pulse harvests and can … Continue reading Fisheries outcomes maximized through traditional practice
Strategies in scheduling marine protected area establishment in a network system
Instantaneous implementation of systematic conservation plans at regional scales is rare. More typically, planned actions are applied incrementally over periods of years or decades. This is certainly true in the central Philippines, where a network of 33 MPAs was gradually established between 1974 and 2008. In recent years there has been a rapidly growing literature on … Continue reading Strategies in scheduling marine protected area establishment in a network system
The Conservation Planning Database featured in Eco Magazine
You can find a great write up on the Conservation Planning Database in the latest issue of ECO Magazine. The same issue also features an article by Conservation Planing Group alumnus Heather Welch on ecological forecasts to improve fisheries sustainability.
Demonstrating multiple benefits from periodically harvested fisheries closures
For the last few years, I have been involved with a collaborative research project investigating the effectiveness of periodically harvested fisheries closures (PHCs). Widely implemented by local communities across Melanesia, periodically harvested closures restrict fishing activities for specified periods of time. PHCs evolved primarily to serve social and cultural objectives. For example, in Fiji and … Continue reading Demonstrating multiple benefits from periodically harvested fisheries closures
Research priorities for conservation and natural resource management in Oceania’s small-island developing states
For conservation science to effectively inform conservation action, research must focus on creating the scientific knowledge required to solve conservation problems, and researchers must effectively communicate that knowledge to practitioners. In the last decade or so, numerous exercises have been conducted to identify priority research questions or horizon scan for important upcoming research themes (for example: for conservation … Continue reading Research priorities for conservation and natural resource management in Oceania’s small-island developing states
Incorporating seascape connectivity in conservation prioritisation
In conservation prioritisation, it is often implicit that representation targets for individual habitat types act as surrogates for the species that inhabit them. Yet for many commercially and ecologically important coral reef fish species, connectivity among different habitats in a seascape may be more important than any single habitat alone. Approaches to conservation prioritisation that … Continue reading Incorporating seascape connectivity in conservation prioritisation
Improved fisheries training curriculum to assist communities to manage their fisheries sustainably
Originally posted by By Kelera Serelini–Varawa on the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape blog. For many Fijians, coastal fisheries provide an important source of food and income. Unfortunately, pressure on these precious resources is increasing. Many finfish and invertebrate fisheries are over-exploited, and coastal habitats are becoming degraded by poor land-use practices or destructive fishing methods. Adding to … Continue reading Improved fisheries training curriculum to assist communities to manage their fisheries sustainably