Integrating Social Justice into Higher Education Conservation Science.

Because biodiversity loss has largely been attributed to human actions, people, particularly those in the Global South, are regularly depicted as threats to conservation. This context has facilitated rapid growth in green militarization, with fierce crackdowns against real or perceived environmental offenders. We designed an undergraduate course to assess student perspectives on biodiversity conservation and social justice and positioned those students to contribute to a human heritage-centered conservation (HHCC) initiative situated in Uganda. We evaluated changes in perspectives using pre- and postcourse surveys and reflection instruments. Although the students started the course prioritizing biodiversity conservation, even when it was costly to human well-being, by the end of the course, they were recognizing and remarking on the central importance of social justice within conservation. We present a framework for further integration of HHCC approaches into higher education courses so as to conserve the integrity of coupled human and natural systems globally.

Positioning human heritage at the center of conservation practice.

Conservation projects subscribing to a community-based paradigm have predominated in the 21st century. We examined the context in which the phrase was coined and traced its growth over time. Community-based conservation first appeared in the literature in the early 1990s; but grew little until after the 5th World Parks Congress in 2003. Thereafter, publications describing community-based conservation approaches increased exponentially. The conference theme was Benefits Beyond Boundaries, and its goal was to provide an economic model based on revenue accrued from conservation fundraising and ecotourism to support ecosystems, wildlife, and people, particularly in the Global South. Such models tended not to incorporate, as a core principle, the heritage of local human communities. Human heritage varies substantially over time and space making generalization of conservation principles across scales challenging. Pitfalls that have grown out of the community-based conservation approaches in the Global South include fortress conservation, conservation militarism, consumptive and nonconsumptive ecotourism, and whiz-bang solutions. We propose 10 tenets in a human heritage-centered conservation framework (e.g., engage in conservation practices using local languages, thoughtfully propose and apply solutions consistent with human heritage, provide clear professional development pathways for individuals from local communities, and promote alternative revenue-generating programs centered in local communities, among others). Progressive philosophies can derive from authentic and ethical integration of local communities in conservation practice.

Los proyectos de conservación que siguen un paradigma basado en la comunidad han predominado en el siglo XXI. Examinamos el contexto en el cual se acuñó la frase y rastreamos su crecimiento con el tiempo. La frase conservación basada en la comunidad apareció por primera vez en la literatura a principios de la década de 1990; casi no creció hasta después del quinto Congreso Mundial de Parques en 2003. Después de esto, las publicaciones que describen estrategias de conservación basadas en la comunidad incrementaron exponencialmente. El tema de dicha conferencia fue Beneficios Más Allá de las Fronteras y su objetivo era proporcionar un modelo económico basado en las ganancias acumuladas por la recaudación de fondos para la conservación y el ecoturismo para apoyar a los ecosistemas, la fauna y a las personas, particularmente en el hemisferio sur. Dichos modelos tuvieron la tendencia de no incorporar, como principio nuclear, el patrimonio de las comunidades humanas locales. El patrimonio humano varía sustancialmente con el tiempo y en el espacio, lo que complica la generalización de los principios de conservación en todas las escalas. Algunos obstáculos que han surgido de las estrategias de conservación basadas en la comunidad en el hemisferio sur son la conservación en fortalezas, el militarismo por la conservación, ecoturismo consumible y no consumible y las soluciones estrepitosas. Proponemos diez principios para un marco de trabajo de conservación centrado en el patrimonio humano (p. ej.: participar en prácticas de conservación con el uso de lenguajes locales, proponer y aplicar cuidadosamente soluciones consistentes con el patrimonio humano, proporcionar vías de desarrollo profesional claras para los individuos de las comunidades locales y promover programas alternativos de generación de ingresos centrados en las comunidades locales, entre otros). Las filosofías progresivas pueden derivar de una integración auténtica y ética de las comunidades locales dentro de la práctica de la conservación.

Characteristics that make trophy hunting of giant pandas inconceivable.

In November 1928, Theodore Jr. and Kermit Roosevelt led an expedition to China with the expressed purpose of being the first Westerners to kill the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). The expedition lasted 8 months and resulted in the brothers shooting a giant panda in the mountains of Sichuan Province. Given the concurrent attention in the popular press describing this celebrated expedition, the giant panda was poised to be trophy hunted much like other large mammals around the world. Today, however, the killing of giant pandas, even for the generation of conservation revenue, is unthinkable for reasons related to the species itself and the context, in time and space, in which the species was popularized in the West. We found that the giant panda's status as a conservation symbol, exceptional charisma and gentle disposition, rarity, value as a nonconsumptive ecotourism attraction, and endemism are integral to the explanation of why the species is not trophy hunted. We compared these intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics with 20 of the most common trophy-hunted mammals to determine whether the principles applying to giant pandas are generalizable to other species. Although certain characteristics of the 20 trophy-hunted mammals aligned with the giant panda, many did not. Charisma, economic value, and endemism, in particular, were comparatively unique to the giant panda. Our analysis suggests that, at present, exceptional characteristics may be necessary for certain mammals to be excepted from trophy hunting. However, because discourse relating to the role of trophy hunting in supporting conservation outcomes is dynamic in both science and society, we suspect these valuations will also change in future.

Article impact statement: Giant panda's symbolism, gentle nature, endemism, rarity, and value as an ecotourism target make trophy hunting the species unthinkable. Características que Hacen que la Caza de Trofeos de Pandas sea Inconcebible Resumen En noviembre de 1928, Theodore Jr. y Kermit Roosevelt lideraron una expedición a China con el propósito explícito de ser los primeros occidentales en cazar un panda gigante (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). La expedición duró ocho meses y terminó con los hermanos disparándole a un panda gigante en las montañas de la provincia de Sichuan. Dada la atención simultánea en la prensa popular que describía esta expedición celebrada, se posicionó al panda gigante como un nuevo objetivo de la caza de trofeos como muchos otros mamíferos alrededor del mundo. Sin embargo, hoy en día, la caza de pandas gigantes, incluso para la generación de ingresos para la conservación, es impensable debido a razones relacionadas con la misma especie y el contexto de tiempo y espacio en el que se popularizó a la especie en Occidente. Descubrimos que el estado del panda gigante como símbolo de conservación, su excepcional carisma y temperamento gentil, rareza, valor como atracción ecoturística no consuntiva y su endemismo son integrales para explicar por qué la especie no se caza como trofeo. Comparamos estas características intrínsecas y extrínsecas con 20 de los mamíferos más comunes en la caza deportiva para determinar si los principios que aplican para los pandas gigantes pueden generalizarse para otras especies. Mientras que ciertas características de los 20 mamíferos se alinearon con las del panda gigante, muchas no lo hicieron. El carisma, el valor económico y el endemismo, en particular, fueron comparativamente únicos para el panda gigante. Nuestro análisis sugiere que, actualmente, las características excepcionales pueden ser necesarias para que ciertos mamíferos no sean objeto de la caza deportiva. Sin embargo, ya que el discurso relacionado con el papel de la caza deportiva en el apoyo a los resultados de conservación es dinámico tanto en la ciencia como en la sociedad, sospechamos que estas valoraciones también cambiarán en el futuro.

Diverse effects of the common hippopotamus on plant communities and soil chemistry.

The ecological importance of the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) in aquatic ecosystems is becoming increasingly well known. These unique megaherbivores are also likely to have a formative influence on the terrestrial ecosystems in which they forage. In this study, we employed a novel exclosure design to exclude H. amphibius from experimental plots on near-river grasslands. Our three-year implementation of this experiment revealed a substantial influence of H. amphibius removal on both plant communities and soil chemistry. H. amphibius significantly reduced grassland canopy height, increased the leafiness of common grasses, reduced woody plant abundance and size, and increased the concentrations of several soil elements. Many of the soil chemistry changes that we experimentally induced by exclusion of H. amphibius were mirrored in the soil chemistry differences between naturally occurring habitats of frequent (grazing lawns) and infrequent (shrub forest) use by H. amphibius and other grazing herbivores. In contrast to existing hypotheses regarding grazing species, we found that H. amphibius had little effect on local plant species richness. Simultaneous observations of exclosures designed to remove all large herbivores revealed that H. amphibius removal had ecologically significant impacts, but that the removal of all species of large herbivores generated more pronounced impacts than the removal of H. amphibius alone. In aggregate, our results suggest that H. amphibius have myriad effects on their terrestrial habitats that likely improve the quality of forage available for other herbivores. We suggest that ongoing losses of this vulnerable megaherbivore are likely to cause significant ecological change.