Crommet Creek Conservation Area Management Plan

The Crommet Creek Conservation Area comprises the largest block of natural lands in the immediate Great Bay watershed, and in New Hampshire’s North Atlantic Coast Ecoregion. It includes the entire watershed of two tidal creeks that flow directly into the Great Bay Estuary. The area has been identified by the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership as a protection priority due to the size of the natural area; the diversity of habitats and wildlife it supports; and it’s integral role in protecting the regional water quality and resources within the Great Bay Estuary. The Conservation Area includes headwater wetlands, and the entire spectrum of freshwater and estuarine wetland and aquatic communities along both Lubberland and Crommet creeks. The Great Bay is a shallow inland tidal estuary of national importance for migratory birds. The Great Bay supports 29 species of waterfowl, 27 species of shorebirds, 13 species of wading birds, osprey and bald eagle. The Estuary is unique in that it is recessed 9 miles from the ocean along the Piscataqua River. Although development is increasing in the watershed, it remains one of the more healthy and viable estuarine ecosystems on the North Atlantic coast

Integrating econimic costs into the analysis of flexible conservation management strategies

Flexible conservation management, where measures are selected in each decision period and depending on the current state of the ecological system, are generally perceived as superior to fixed management, where the same measure is applied in each decision period independent of the current state of the system. In past comparisons of fixed and flexible conservation strategies the additional costs that arise only in flexible strategies have usually been ignored. In this paper we present a framework to integrate these 'costs of flexible management' into the evaluation of flexible conservation strategies. Using the example of an endangered butterfly species we demonstrate that the costs of flexible management may reverse the rank order of flexible and fixed conservation strategies, such that fixed strategies may lead to better ecological results than flexible ones for the same financial budget. --conservation,ecological-economic model,extinction,flexible management

Australia cultural built heritage:Stakeholders' perceived conservation barriers and motivations

Stakeholders are recognised as drivers of effective conservation of cultural built heritage. Yet, as stakeholders have eclectic views in terms of their interest in, knowledge of and perceptions about the management of historic fabric, their practices are often diverse. The objective of this paper is to gain an understanding of the stakeholders' views drawn from relevant professional field on the issues that act as barriers to conservation and identify the factors that motivate built heritage management in Australia. Using a qualitative research design, two focus groups were conducted in Queensland and New South Wales with purposely selected key informants (N=14) working in the Australian heritage sector. The study presents stakeholders' interest in managing built heritage and the perceptions concerning the application of conservation policy and practices in the Australian built heritage sector, as influenced by the interdisciplinary backgrounds of participants. The paper contributes to an in-depth understanding of the conservation barriers and motivators and their implications for policy and practices in the management of Australian built heritage. The study is based on the perceptions of key informants with diverse interests and knowledge about the conservation of cultural built heritage; this makes the research analysis and implications inclusive and influential from both theoretical and practical points of view.</p

Conserving land, protecting water

Water resource management / Water productivity / Water conservation / Recycling / Land management / Soil conservation / Ecosystems / Ecology / Evapotranspiration / Food security / Poverty / River basins / Irrigated farming

Stakeholder collaboration and heritage management

This article examines a collaborative approach to the relationship between heritage management and tourism development in Luang Prabang, Laos. The purpose is to examine stakeholder collaboration and management roles, heritage tourism development, as well as the interdependence of the heritage conservation and tourism relationship. The research examines a UNESCO/Norwegian government project, which aiming to promote collaboration between heritage conservation and tourism through stakeholder involvement. Five aspects are explored: channels of communication between the heritage and the tourism groups, generating income for heritage conservation and management, involving the local community in decisionmaking, involving the local community in tourism activities, and an assessment of the extent and success of stakeholder collaboration

Challenging The “Man” In Mangroves: The Missing Role Of Women In Mangrove Conservation

Mangroves provide valuable ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, pollution filtration, and protection from tsunamis, tropical storms, and coastal erosion. They also supply coastal communities with important natural resources like firewood, medicine, timber, honey, and fodder for livestock. Unfortunately, the world’s mangroves are rapidly degrading due to rising coastal population, climate change, and destruction for coastal development, agriculture, and aquaculture. Considering their value for the environment and coastal communities, mangrove conservation should become a priority and effort must be invested to find new and successful methods for conserving mangrove ecosystems. As it has proven effective in other conservation contexts, a gendered perspective on mangrove conservation should be adopted. Through review and synthesis of existing literature on gender and mangrove conservation, this paper will show the extent to which gender analysis has been used to examine mangrove conservation and coastal resource management. It will describe the following trends in literature: a) a lack of research focusing on gender’s role in mangrove conservation, b) confusion about the practical applications of a gender, environment, and development (GED) conceptual framework c) little effort to evaluate the success of programs that integrate gender and mangrove conservation. It will make suggestions for future research and encourage further use of a gendered outlook on mangrove conservation and resource management

Riparian Meadow Response to Modern Conservation Grazing Management.

Riparian meadows occupy a small proportion of the public lands in the western United States but they provide numerous ecosystem services, including the production of high-quality forage for livestock grazing. Modern conservation management strategies (e.g., reductions in livestock stocking rates and adoption of new riparian grazing standards) have been implemented to better balance riparian conservation and livestock production objectives on publicly managed lands. We examined potential relationships between long-term changes in plant community, livestock grazing pressure and environmental conditions at two spatial scales in meadows grazed under conservation management strategies. Changes in plant community were not associated with either livestock stocking rate or precipitation at the grazing allotment (i.e., administrative) scale. Alternatively, both grazing pressure and precipitation had significant, albeit modest, associations with changes in plant community at the meadow (i.e., ecological site) scale. These results suggest that reductions in stocking rate have improved the balance between riparian conservation and livestock production goals. However, associations between elevation, site wetness, precipitation, and changes in plant community suggest that changing climate conditions (e.g., reduced snowpack and changes in timing of snowmelt) could trigger shifts in plant communities, potentially impacting both conservation and agricultural services (e.g., livestock and forage production). Therefore, adaptive, site-specific management strategies are required to meet grazing pressure limits and safeguard ecosystem services within individual meadows, especially under more variable climate conditions

Species prioritization for monitoring and management in regional multiple species conservation plans.

Successful conservation plans are not solely achieved by acquiring optimally designed reserves. Ongoing monitoring and management of the biodiversity in those reserves is an equally important, but often neglected or poorly executed, part of the conservation process. In this paper we address one of the first and most important steps in designing a monitoring program - deciding what to monitor. We present a strategy for prioritizing species for monitoring and management in multispecies conservation plans. We use existing assessments of threatened status, and the degree and spatial and temporal extent of known threats to link the prioritization of species to the overarching goals and objectives of the conservation plan. We consider both broad and localized spatial scales to capture the regional conservation context and the practicalities of local management and monitoring constraints. Spatial scales that are commensurate with available data are selected. We demonstrate the utility of this strategy through application to a set of 85 plants and animals in an established multispecies conservation plan in San Diego County, California, USA. We use the prioritization to identify the most prominent risk factors and the habitats associated with the most threats to species. The protocol highlighted priorities that had not previously been identified and were not necessarily intuitive without systematic application of the criteria; many high-priority species have received no monitoring attention to date, and lower-priority species have. We recommend that in the absence of clear focal species, monitoring threats in highly impacted habitats may be a way to circumvent the need to monitor all the targeted species

Conflict of Laws in the Uniform Commercial Code

Pulsatilla vernalis is one of several endangered plant species that benefit from wildfires and small scale disturbance events that repel competing vegetation and create open patches in the vegetation cover. Previous studies argue that Pulsatilla vernalis is decreasing in numbers due to vegetation changes associated with the decrease in wildfires, forest grazing and changes in forest management. In this study, 17 populations of P. vernalis were inventoried in order to examine if soil and/or vegetation structures affect the population structure of P. vernalis (i.e. population size, presence of flowering individuals, density of juveniles) and if performed conservation attempts in the populations have been positive for P. vernalis. This was done by counting the number of vegetative, flowering and juvenile individuals and examining soil and vegetation structure in the populations. The population sizes were then compared with estimates of population sizes from earlier inventories of P. vernalis at the same localities. The study also presents specific recommendations for an improved conservation management of P. vernalis. The results of this study show that mechanical conservation management had a positive effect on the population size and that open areas in the vegetation cover provided better conditions for viable populations of P. vernalis. To prevent the trend of decreasing population sizes of P. vernalis, conservation measures must be carried out to repel competing vegetation and to restore or maintain open patches in existing populations

Incorporating economic, social and environmental factors into a decision model for sustainable management of natural resources : a case study of the Ningaloo coast, Western Australia : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Economics at Massey University

There is growing demand for many of Australia's coastal areas to be conserved and retained in their natural state. The reconciliation of competing demands; such as residential, industrial, recreation, conservation and tourism; in a manner that ensures the sustainability of natural areas is a major issue facing coastal planners. The Ningaloo coastal strip in Western Australia is a prime example of a fragile coastal environment, subject to increasing visitation, complex economic, social, environmental and institutional forces and a wide range of stakeholders. The challenge for managers and planners of the coastal strip is to determine an appropriate level of development and a management regime that meets the needs of stakeholders while still achieving the state government's goals in relation to coastal zone management. To meet this challenge, decision need to carefully balance human needs with the environment's ability to assimilate the pressures placed upon it. This research integrates social, environmental and economic factors into a decision framework for the sustainable management of natural resources. This framework differs from existing frameworks in two ways; firstly, it specifically includes stakeholder analysis as an individual assessment technique and secondly, it focuses on rapid appraisal techniques. Three individual assessment techniques; environmental impact assessment, cost benefit analysis and stakeholder analysis; are incorporated into a multiple criteria analysis model. This model is applied to a case study of the Ningaloo coast, Western Australia. The results show that a co-management arrangement between indigenous communities and the Department of Conservation and hand Management is consistently superior to other management options identified. Another favourable management option is sole management by the Department of Conservation and Land Management. When weightings that reflect an environmental perspective are used, low visitation scenarios are preferred. The research concludes with land use and management recommendations for the Ningaloo coastal strip. This recommended management regime would involve some form of co-management between stakeholder groups and CALM, particularly the traditional Aboriginal inhabitants. The level of development would be low, with at most, a single wilderness lodge facility