Strengthening protected areas to halt biodiversity loss and mitigate pandemic risks

The current COVID-19 pandemics is having a major impact on our global health and economies. There is widespread recognition that ecosystem disruption, including land-use change and illegal wildlife trade, is linked to the increasing emergence of zoonotic diseases. Here, we emphasize that protected areas play a fundamental role in buffering against novel disease outbreaks by maintaining ecosystem integrity. However, protected areas worldwide are facing increasing human pressures, which are being amplified by the unfolding COVID-19 crisis. Increased resources are thus urgently needed to mainstream a One Health approach to protected area management, focusing specifically on i) monitoring illegal wildlife trade, ii) biodiversity trends and iii) surveillance of zoonotic pathogens. Improving integration of public health into global biodiversity conservation policies should be a top priority to reduce the risk of future pandemics.Peer reviewe

The role of protected areas in supporting human health : a call to broaden the assessment of conservation outcomes

Ongoing global biodiversity loss has far-reaching consequences for human health and well-being. While protected areas (PAs) have become a major policy instrument for biodiversity conservation, their role in supporting human health remains unclear. Here, we synthesize both positive and negative aspects of PAs on different dimensions of human health and provide several theoretical advances to assess the effectiveness of PAs in promoting human health. We finally identify three major research gaps requiring urgent attention. Implementing an interdisciplinary research program remains a priority to better comprehend the linkages between human health, ecosystem services and conservation policies at global scale. We believe this is key to improve the management of PAs and their surrounding areas and foster co-benefits for biodiversity and human health.Peer reviewe

Ethnobiology Through Song

Music is recognized as an essential constituent of the diversity of life on Earth and is enshrined in the concept of biocultural diversity. While research shows that song is an untapped library of biocultural memory, ethnobiologists have not yet explored the many areas in which studying songs and music through an ethnobiological lens could bring into focus the multi-dimensional relationships among humans and their biological worlds. 'the research articles in this special issue illustrate the importance of songs as both a repository of ethnobiological knowledge and as a means to construct, maintain, and mobilize peoples' intimate relations with their local ecologies. Although many traditional music-making systems are under risk of attrition, the extent to which traditional songs continue to be performed and celebrated in many Indigenous and local communities attests not just to the endurance and resilience of their cultures, but also to their deep cultural attachment to their lands as manifested through song. this special issue constitutes one significant step towards the recognition of music both as a timeless prism for looking at human-nature inter-relations, in all their complexities and magnificence, and as an essential form of biocultural heritage, worthy of documentation, conservation, and revitalization.Peer reviewe

When bats go viral : negative framings in virological research imperil bat conservation

The recent upsurge in bat-borne virus research has attracted substantial news coverage worldwide. A systematic review of virological literature revealed that bats were described as a major concern for public health in half of all studies (51%), and that their key role in delivering ecosystem services was disregarded in almost all studies (96%). Although research on zoonoses is of the utmost importance, biased framings of bats can undermine decades of conservation efforts. We urge researchers and science communicators to consider the conservation impacts of how research findings are presented to the public carefully, and, whenever possible, to highlight the ecological significance of bats, their dire conservation situation and their importance for human well-being.Peer reviewe

Rediscovering the Potential of Indigenous Storytelling for Conservation Practice

Several intergovernmental policy instruments, including the World Heritage Convention of UNESCO and the Convention on Biological Diversity, have proposed to develop integrated strategies to build bridges between biological and cultural diversity agendas. We contend that to succeed in this endeavor, it is crucial to link biocultural revitalization to conservation practice. Our hope with this review is to call attention to indigenous storytelling as an option worth adding to the repertoire of conservation practitioners who aim to: (1) link conservation actions to indigenous worldviews; (2) foster connections between indigenous peoples and their landscapes; (3) facilitate intergenerational transfer of indigenous knowledge; (4) support dialogue over conservation; and (5) promote local participation in conservation. Because indigenous stories are full of resonance, memory, and wisdom—in a footing that is structurally free of power imbalance between conservation practitioners and local communities—, we contend that they can be crucial to guide future efforts in biocultural conservation practice. Our review shows that deeper consideration and promotion of indigenous storytelling can lead to enhanced understanding of diverse values and perceptions around biodiversity, while offering a constructive approach for greater inclusion of indigenous peoples in conservation pursuits.Peer reviewe

Principles for including conservation messaging in wildlife‐based tourism

1. There is growing evidence that wildlife-based tourism can be a valuable pathway to transform the environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of tourists, if complemented by effective conservation messaging and proactive interpretive experiences. 2. Yet, such conservation messaging is not always a priority for many wildlife-based tourism operators, who often avoid exposing happy tourists to the daunting biodiversity crisis. In this paper, we argue that failing to encourage tourists to do more on behalf of wildlife represents a missed opportunity for conservation. 3. Based on a comprehensive review of the academic literature, we show that conservation messaging is virtually absent from many mainstream wildlife-based tourism operations, often failing to connect global audiences to conservation issues. 4. We found that the scholarly literature on the effectiveness of different techniques, approaches and contents of conservation messaging in wildlife-based tourism is meagre at best. Yet, alternative forms of communicating conservation-related messages are opening new avenues to broaden the conservation potential of wildlife-based tourism. 5. We suggest a set of principles for improving the implementation of conservation messaging in wildlife-based tourism operations in order to maximize their educational potential. We end by calling for further research efforts on the factors implicated in effective conservation messaging in wildlife-based tours in order to pave the way for a new era of conservation-oriented tourismPeer reviewe

Participation in Biocultural Diversity Conservation: Insights from Five Amazonian Examples

The past three decades have seen the emergence of myriads of initiatives focused on conserving, revitalizing, and maintaining Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) as part of biocultural approaches to conservation. However, the extent to which these efforts have been participatory has been often overlooked. In this chapter, we focus on five prominent ILK conservation initiatives in the Amazon Basin to examine the participation of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in ILK conservation. Our review illustrates several examples of ILK conservation initiatives offering substantial opportunities for meaningful IPLC participation over the long term. Overall, our case studies suggest that the development of robust and inclusive decision-making processes is essential to optimize IPLC participation in ILK conservation, thereby increasing the legitimacy of these initiatives. Our review is not an exhaustive account of the breadth and depth of all initiatives promoting participatory biocultural conservation in this region, but it illustrates that there are many strategies that can help foster IPLC engagement and lead the participatory turn in biocultural conservation.Peer reviewe

Dynamics of pastoral traditional ecological knowledge : a global state-of-the-art review

Traditional ecological knowledge enables pastoralists to cope with social-ecological changes, thereby increasing thesustainability of their practices and fostering social-ecological resilience. Yet, there is a significant knowledge gap concerning the extentto which pastoral traditional ecological knowledge has changed over time at the global level. We aim to fill this gap through a systematicliterature review of 288 scientific studies on pastoral traditional ecological knowledge. We reviewed 152 papers in detail (selectedrandomly from the 288) for their content, and focused specifically on 61 papers that explicitly mentioned one of the four types ofknowledge transition (i.e., retention, erosion, adaptation, or hybridization). Studies on pastoral traditional knowledge represent lessthan 3% of all the scholarly literature on traditional ecological knowledge. Geographical distribution of the 288 case studies was largelybiased. Knowledge domains of pastoral knowledge such as herd and livestock management, forage and medicinal plants, and landscapeand wildlife were relatively equally covered; however, climate-related knowledge was less often studied. Of the 63 papers that explicitlymentioned transition of pastoral traditional ecological knowledge, 52 reported erosion, and only 11 studies documented explicitlyknowledge retention, adaptation, or hybridization of traditional knowledge. Thus, adaptation and hybridization was understudied,although some case studies showed that adaptation and hybridization of knowledge can efficiently help pastoralists navigate amongsocial-ecological changes. Based on the review, we found 13 drivers which were mentioned as the main reasons for knowledge transitionamong which social-cultural changes, formal schooling, abandonment of pastoral activities, and transition to a market economy weremost often reported. We conclude that future research should focus more on the diverse dynamics of pastoral traditional knowledge,be more careful in distinguishing the four knowledge transition types, and analyze how changes in knowledge impact change in pastoralpractices and lifestyles. Understanding these phenomena could help pastoralists' adaptations and support their stewardship of theirrangeland ecosystems and biocultural diversity.Peer reviewe

Operationalizing Local Ecological Knowledge in Climate Change Research: Challenges and Opportunities of Citizen Science

Current research on the local impacts of climate change is based on contrasting results from the simulation of historical trends in climatic variables produced with global models against climate data from independent observations. To date, these observations have mostly consisted of weather data from standardized meteorological stations. Given that the spatial distribution of weather stations is patchy, climate scientists have called for the exploration of new data sources. Knowledge developed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities with a long history of interaction with their environment has been proposed as a data source with untapped potential to contribute to our understanding of the local impacts of climate change. In this chapter, we discuss an approach that aims to bring insights from local knowledge systems to climate change research. First, we present a number of theoretical arguments that give support to the idea that local knowledge systems can contribute in original ways to the endeavors of climate change research. Then, we explore the potential of using information and communication technologies to gather and share local knowledge of climate change impacts. We do so through the examination of a citizen science initiative aiming to collect local indicators of climate change impacts: the LICCI project (www.licci.eu). Our findings illustrate that citizen science can inspire new approaches to articulate the inclusion of local knowledge systems in climate change research. However, this requires outlining careful approaches, with high ethical standards, toward knowledge validation and recognizing that there are aspects of local ecological knowledge that are incommensurable with scientific knowledge.Peer reviewe

Local perceptions as a guide for the sustainable management of natural resources : empirical evidence from a small-scale society in Bolivian Amazonia

Research on natural resource management suggests that local perceptions form the basis upon which many small-scale societies monitor availability and change in the stock of common-pool natural resources. In contrast, this literature debates whether local perceptions can be effective in guiding the sustainable management of natural resources. With empirical evidence on this matter still highly limited, we explored the role of local perceptions as drivers of harvesting and management behavior in a small-scale society in Bolivian Amazonia. We conducted structured interviews to capture local perceptions of availability and change in the stock of thatch palm (Geonoma deversa) among the Tsimane', an indigenous society of foragers-horticulturalists (n = 296 adults in 13 villages). We analyzed whether perceptions of availability match estimates of abundance obtained from ecological data and whether differences in perception help to explain harvesting behavior and local management of thatch palm. Perceptions of availability of G. deversa are highly contingent upon the social, economic, and cultural conditions within which the Tsimane' have experienced changes in the availability of the resource, thus giving a better reflection of the historical, rather than of the ecological, dimensions of the changes undergone. Although local perceptions might fall short in precision when scrutinized from an ecological standpoint, their importance in informing sustainable management should not be underestimated. Our findings show that most of the harvesting and management actions that the Tsimane' undertake are, at least partially, shaped by their local perceptions. This paper contributes to the broader literature on natural resource management by providing empirical evidence of the critical role of local perceptions in promoting collective responses for the sustainable management of natural resources.Peer reviewe