Community-based population recovery of overexploited Amazonian wildlife

The Amazon Basin experienced a pervasive process of resource overexploitation during the 20th-century, which induced severe population declines of many iconic vertebrate species. In addition to biodiversity loss and the ecological consequences of defaunation, food security of local communities was relentlessly threatened because wild meat had a historically pivotal role in protein acquisition by local dwellers. Here we discuss the urgent need to regulate subsistence hunting by Amazonian semi-subsistence local communities, which are far removed from the market and information economy. Following positive examples from community-based management of aquatic and terrestrial resources, we advocate that hunting practices, based on modern scientific principles firmly grounded in population ecology, represent a strong window of opportunity to recover viable populations of previously overexploited wildlife

Unintended multispecies co-benefits of an Amazonian community-based conservation programme

Urgent challenges posed by widespread degradation in tropical ecosystems with poor governance require new development pathways to reconcile biodiversity conservation and human welfare. Community-based conservation management has shown potential for integrating socio-economic needs with conservation goals in tropical environments; however, assessing the effectiveness of this approach is often held back by the lack of comprehensive ecological assessments. We conduct a robust ecological evaluation of the largest community-based conservation management initiative in the Brazilian Amazon over the last 40 years. We show that this programme has induced large-scale population recovery of the target giant South American turtle (Podocnemis expansa) and other freshwater turtles along a 1,500-km section of a major tributary of the Amazon River. Poaching activity on protected beaches was around 2% compared to 99% on unprotected beaches. We also find positive demographic co-benefits across a wide range of non-target vertebrate and invertebrate taxa. As a result, beaches protected by local communities represent islands of high biodiversity, while unprotected beaches remain ‘empty and silent’, showing the effectiveness of empowering local conservation action, particularly in countries experiencing shortages in financial and human resources

Human-wildlife conflicts with crocodilians, cetaceans and otters in the tropics and subtropics

Conservation of freshwater biodiversity and management of human-wildlife conflicts are major conservation challenges globally. Human-wildlife conflict occurs due to attacks on people, depredation of fisheries, damage to fishing equipment and entanglement in nets. Here we review the current literature on conflicts with tropical and subtropical crocodilians, cetaceans and otters in freshwater and brackish habitats. We also present a new multispecies case study of conflicts with four freshwater predators in the Western Amazon: black caiman (Melanosuchus niger), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), boto (Inia geoffrensis) and tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis). Documented conflicts occur with 34 crocodilian, cetacean and otter species. Of the species reviewed in this study, 37.5% had conflicts frequently documented in the literature, with the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) the most studied species. We found conflict severity had a positive relationship with species body mass, and a negative relationship with IUCN Red List status. In the Amazonian case study, we found that the black caiman was ranked as the greatest ‘problem’ followed by the boto, giant otter and tucuxi. There was a significant difference between the responses of local fishers when each of the four species were found entangled in nets. We make recommendations for future research, based on the findings of the review and Amazon case study, including the need to standardise data collection

Warfare-induced mammal population declines in Southwestern Africa are mediated by species life history, habitat type and hunter preferences

Civil wars often coincide with global biodiversity hotspots and have plagued the everyday reality of many countries throughout human history. However, how do civil wars affect wildlife populations? Are these impacts the same in savannah and forest environments? How persistent are the post-war consequences on wildlife populations within and outside conflict zones? Long-term monitoring programs in war zones, which could answer these questions, are virtually nonexistent, not least due to the risks researchers are exposed to. In this context, only a few methodologies can provide data on wild populations during war conflicts. We used local ecological knowledge to assess the main consequences of a prolonged civil war (1975-2002) in Southwestern Africa on forest and savannah mammals. The post-war abundance in 20 of 26 (77%) mammal species considered in this study was lower in open savannah compared to the closed-canopy forest environments, with some species experiencing a decline of up to 80% of their pre-war baseline abundance. Large-bodied mammals were preferred targets and had been overhunted, but as their populations became increasingly depleted, the size structure of prey species gradually shifted towards smaller-bodied species. Finally, we present a general flow diagram of how civil wars in low-governance countries can have both positive and negative impacts on native wildlife populations at different scales of space and time

A regulamentação da caça como ferramenta de conservação da fauna amazônica

A Amazônia é um dos biomas com maior diversidade biológica do planeta. Porém, grandes vertebrados que no passado já foram bastante abundantes passaram por um processo contundente de redução populacional devido à sobre exploração. As ameaças ainda são constantes e a atual rede de áreas protegidas é insuficiente para garantir a proteção desta parcela insubstituível da fauna, devido à falta de apoio financeiro, recursos humanos e vigilância. Enquanto isso, casos impressionantes de manejo comunitário de recursos aquáticos têm sido fundamentais tanto na recuperação de populações de espécies alvo quanto na garantia de subsistência e bem-estar das comunidades locais. Esta abordagem participativa mostrou ser uma ferramenta de conservação efetiva, aumentando o interesse local para a conservação e aumentando a vigilância em ambientes protegidos. No entanto, para que esses modelos possam ser devidamente aprimorados e aplicados à realidade da fauna terrestre, a sociedade civil, tomadores de decisão, políticos e a academia precisam pensar na melhor forma de se regulamentar a caça de subsistência no Brasil. Nesta síntese discutimos uma abordagem pragmática para conciliar a conservação da vida selvagem amazônica com o desenvolvimento rural através de iniciativas locais baseadas no manejo comunitário

THE SOFTWARE ‘RULER AND COMPASS’ AS A TOOL FOR TEACHING GEOMETRY

Este artigo tem como objetivo relatar a experiência vivenciada com o uso da ferramenta (software) de ensino Régua e Compasso (RC) na 18º Semana Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Instituto Federal Goiano Campus Urutaí, ocorrido em 2021. Usamos o software para o desenvolvimento de uma oficina do evento no formato remoto devido ao distanciamento social. A oficina foi organizada pelos bolsistas do subprojeto de Matemática do Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência (PIBID/Matemática). Primeiramente, estudamos o software, em seguida, criamos o roteiro da oficina, elaboramos as atividades, apresentamos o roteiro e as atividades à coordenação do PIBID para as devidas correções e orientações, realizamos a simulação e nos dias 07 e 08 de outubro de 2021 realizamos a oficina com o apoio do supervisor do subprojeto. Participaram da oficina 13 alunos. Todo o trabalho realizado foi importante para a nossa formação profissional. Consideramos o momento da realização das atividades o mais significativo da oficina, pois foi o momento de interação dos participantes conosco. Pudemos acompanhar o raciocínio deles e intervir provocando-os com questionamentos até que conseguissem chegar no resultado correto. Foi desafiador, prazeroso e enriquecedor.This article aims to report the experience using Compass and Ruler (C.a.R.) – a tool for teaching and experiencing geometry by René Grothmann–, in a workshop at the 18th National Week of Science and Technology of the Goiano Federal Institute (IFGoiano) - Campus Urutaí, 2021. Due to the social distance caused by the Sars-CoV-2 virus, the software was used in a remote workshop, which was organized by scholarship students of the Institutional Program of Initiation to Teaching Scholarship (PIBID/Mathematics) mathematics subproject. We studied the software, created the workshop session script, developed the activities, presented the workshop project to the PIBID coordination for corrections and guidelines, carried out a simulation and on October 7th, 8th, 2021, we held the workshop with thirteen students and the support of the subproject supervisor. The planning process and the pedagogical practice of the workshop were important for our professional training, notably the interaction between the participants and the scholarship students, as we followed their reasoning and intervened, provoking them with questions so that they could achieve the appropriate result

Co-management of culturally important species:A tool to promote biodiversity conservation and human well-being

Co-management has been advocated as an effective tool to achieve natural resource conservation worldwide. Yet, the potential of co-management arrangements can fail to be realized when there is insufficient local engagement. In this perspective paper, we argue that co-management schemes focusing on culturally important species (CIS) can help overcome this issue by engaging local people's interest. To develop this theory, we explore published data on the outcomes of two management schemes, both encompassing multiple independent initiatives, to discuss CIS-management effects and benefits. We also show a compilation of CIS examples throughout the world and discuss the potential of CIS-management to reach a global audience. Based on these data, we argue that CIS-management can be an effective tool to reconcile the often intractable goals of biodiversity conservation and human welfare

Translation, adaptation, and contribution to the validation of the Warwick– Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale for the Portuguese population

O conceito de Bem-Estar Mental tem ganho mais destaque internacionalmente, sendo um aspeto crucial da saúde, com impacto na funcionalidade. Assim, em Portugal, impõe-se a necessidade de possuir medidas validadas que avaliem o bem-estar das populações. Traduzir, adaptar culturalmente e contribuir para validar a Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS), que avalia o bem-estar mental subjetivo e psicológico, para a população portuguesa. Após a aprovação da tradução portuguesa por um painel de peritos, a escala foi aplicada a 1728 indivíduos da área metropolitana do Porto recrutados por conveniência, bem como o Índice de Felicidade de Pemberton, para uma análise da validade de critério. Utilizou-se o alpha de Cronbach para avaliar a consistência interna e uma análise fatorial exploratória para a validade de construto. Ambos os instrumentos foram aplicados duas vezes a 39 participantes, com aproximadamente uma semana de intervalo, para testar a fiabilidade teste-reteste. Obteve-se um alpha de Cronbach de 0,91, sugerindo uma consistência interna muito boa. A análise fatorial confirmou a unidimensionalidade do instrumento, com todos os itens a saturarem um único fator. Verificou-se uma alta correlação entre a WEMWBS e o instrumento usado como medida de critério, com r=0,75. A fiabilidade teste-reteste obteve uma alta correlação, com r=0,77. Os valores obtidos neste primeiro estudo de validação da WEMWBS para a população portuguesa encontram-se próximos dos da versão original, podendo ser considerado como um contributo legítimo e importante para a sua concretização.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diferenciais de rendimentos entre atividades agrícolas e não agrícolas no meio rural do Brasil

The objective of this study is to estimate income differentials between agricultural and nonagricultural activities in rural areas of the country. The data used are The objective of this study is to estimate income differentials between agricultural and nonagricultural activities in rural areas of the country. The data used are from PNAD (2015) and the models used were Blinder-Oaxaca and RIF Regression. It can be seen that nonagricultural activities generate higher incomes when compared to agricultural ones. Schooling is the variable that best explains the fact that nonagricultural activities earn higher incomes than agricultural ones.O objetivo desse estudo é estimar os diferenciais de rendimentos entre as atividades agrícolas e não agrícolas no meio rural do país. Os dados utilizados são provenientes da PNAD (2015) e os modelos usados foram Blinder-Oaxaca e RIF Regression. Constata-se que as atividades não agrícolas geram rendimentos maiores quando comparadas com as agrícolas. De todas as variáveis utilizadas na amostra, a escolaridade é a que explica melhor o fato de as atividades não agrícolas auferirem rendimentos superiores as agrícolas