Ana Nuno
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Conserving the Serengeti under uncertainty (Part II) or What can we learn from the Serengeti highway controversy?

31/1/2014

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Blog also posted at Imperial College Conservation Science and Stirling Conservation Science

Some time ago I blogged about my PhD research on managing social-ecological systems under uncertainty. I used the conservation of harvested ungulate species in the Serengeti, Tanzania, as a case study to investigate the importance of considering multiple types and sources of uncertainty when making conservation decisions. Far from being simply an interesting academic question, I’d argue that the need of acknowledging the social-ecological context and uncertainty in which conservation interventions take place has never been greater. Hear me out…

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Conserving the Serengeti under uncertainty (Part I)

5/1/2014

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Blog originally posted in November 2013 at Stirling Conservation Science

As conservationists, we endeavour providing increasingly better solutions for conservation issues, based on reliable information and robust understanding of the dynamics of the systems under consideration. However, despite our efforts in collecting data and learning about our study systems, increasing predictability and improving conservation implementation, conservation is both uncertain and dynamic. Uncertainty is very common in natural resource management and conservation; decisions may be affected by, for example, stochastic environmental variation, limited ability to observe wildlife and a lack of understanding about functional responses. So should we just give up and throw a coin when making decisions? On the contrary: we should investigate multiple types of uncertainty and their potential implications so that we can support better decisions. And that’s exactly what I did during my recently finished doctoral studies.


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Some highlights from ICCB 2013

5/1/2014

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Blog originally posted in August 2013 at Imperial College Conservation Science 

Herc
: It’s like one of those nature shows. You mess with the environment, some species get f**ked out of their habitat.
Carver: Did you just use the word ‘habitat’ in a sentence? 
Herc: I did.

 [Quote from “The Wire”, one of the reasons ICCS went to Baltimore]

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How to better count animals in the Serengeti?

5/1/2014

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Blog originally posted in January 2013 at Imperial College Conservation Science 

The Serengeti is one of the most visited protected areas in the world. This ecosystem is particularly famous for the annual migration of around 1.8 million wildebeest, zebra and gazelles, making us wonder about a time when more wildlife could roam free across vast landscapes. But how do we know how many animals are there?

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Protected, or not protected: that is the question

5/1/2014

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Blog originally posted in December 2012 at Imperial College Conservation Science 

Protected areas (PAs) are often described as a key tool in conservation to ensure species survival, providing safe spots where they can persist while threats are present or imminent in other areas of their range. Broad in their definition and categories, PAs may range from a strictly protected national park to areas where resource use is incentivized, if considered sustainable. But are they effectively achieving their goals? This was the theme of a ZSL symposium on “Protected areas – are they safeguarding biodiversity?” I attended earlier this month. 22 speakers reported recent findings and ongoing work on PAs, from their planning, design and monitoring to connectivity, functionality and financing. And the answer seems to be “Yes!”… but we still need to better understand under which conditions, suggesting a lot of unrealized potential.

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Glass half full!

3/1/2014

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Blog originally posted in October 2012 at Imperial College Conservation Science 

As conservationists, we all know that species are going extinct, pristine ecosystems are being destroyed and major environmental problems are caused by consumers who live thousands of kms away while scientists, policy-makers, politicians and other stakeholders struggle to agree on a way forward. Things are not looking good and some problems may be just starting. Often, the glass looks half empty indeed.

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