Global large carnivore conservation and international law

International cooperation, including through international legal instruments, appears important for the conservation of large carnivores worldwide. This is due to, inter alia, the worrying conservation status and population trends of many large carnivore species; the importance of large carnivores for biodiversity conservation at large; their occurrence at low densities, with many populations extending across various countries; and the international nature of particular threats. For the 31 heaviest species in the order Carnivora, this study (i) documents to what extent existing international legal instruments contribute to large carnivore conservation, and (ii) identifies ways of optimizing their contribution in this regard. From this dual perspective, it reviews all global wildlife conservation treaties—Ramsar Wetlands Convention, World Heritage Convention, Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)—and selected regional instruments, using standard international law research methodology. Results indicate that a substantial body of relevant international law already exists, whereas simultaneously there is clear potential for enhancing the contribution of international law to large carnivore conservation. Avenues for pursuing this include promotion of instruments’ effective implementation; clarification of their precise implications for large carnivore conservation; development of formal guidance; expansion of instruments’ scope in terms of species, sites and countries; and creation of new instruments. The CMS and CBD hold particular potential in some of these respects. The experiences being gained under European legal instruments constitute an interesting ‘laboratory’ regarding human coexistence with expanding large carnivore populations and transboundary cooperation at the (sub)population level

Management of European mammals

In this chapter, we aim to provide an introduction to strategies, policy, and law regarding the management of mammals in Europe. Covering this extensive and complex topic in one concise chapter is no easy task, and we pretend no more than to scratch the surface. We begin by offering a bird’s-eye view of some salient features concerning mammal policy and law in Europe, namely, (1) the sheer diversity of approaches; (2) the overall dominance of the paradigm of human-wildlife coexistence; (3) the influence and sophistication of international legal frameworks for wildlife conservation; and (4) the issues raised by the remarkable recent comeback of many large animal species, including large carnivores. Subsequently, we introduce two of the international frameworks in some detail, i.e., the pan-European Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats of 1979 (Bern Convention) and the wildlife legislation of the European Union (EU). We then discuss an interesting but challenging approach that has been emerging with regard to wildlife populations that are shared amongst several European countries, such as large carnivores. This approach consists of adjusting management to the scale of each wildlife population – including where this population is transboundary – rather than adjusting it to the scale of countries or other jurisdictional units