Exploring local communities’ perceptions of protected area authorities: a case study from Khlong Lan National Park and Mae Wong National Park in Thailand

Rangers and local communities play a critical role in enforcing conservation in and around Protected Areas (PAs), yet, their role as planetary health workers and the their relationship dynamics has long been overlooked. This study assesses the relationship between communities and PA authorities in 39 villages adjacent to two high conservation value National Parks in Thailand. Using the responses of 200 participants gathered through a Likert-type survey questionnaire, we analyzed community perception of PA authorities using Ordinal Logistic Regression models. Results indicate good community-ranger relations in the study area. Specifically, regular communication and community involvement in decision-making significantly impact trust and respect towards PA authorities. The models further reveal that while education levels influence trust, a culture of respect for authority figures remains deeply rooted in local communities, highlighting the importance of good PA authorities’ engagement with communities. The results suggest that capacity building for field staff, in particular in social skills and collaboration with local communities, has the potential to improve the relation between communities and rangers. As global efforts intensify to achieve target 3 of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, this research offers valuable insights into fostering respectful and trusting relations between communities and PA authorities

Occupancy-based monitoring of ungulate prey species in Thailand indicates population stability, but limited recovery

Longitudinal studies of wildlife are urgently needed in South-East Asia to understand population responses to the high poaching pressure that characterizes this region. We monitored population trends and habitat use of five heavily poached ungulate species (gaur, sambar, wild pig, red muntjac, and Fea’s muntjac) over five years in two protected areas in western Thailand using camera trap surveys. We used single-season occupancy models to investigate effects of ecological and anthropological variables on ungulate distribution, and multi-season models to assess occupancy dynamics over time. Occupancy of gaur and sambar was low (<0.25), but concentrated near saltlicks and at low elevations. Wild pig and muntjac occupancies were 3–4 times higher (0.60–0.80). Wild pig occupancy was lower near villages, but this effect dissipated in the final year of the study, coinciding with a purported decrease in poaching. Wild pig occupancy increased significantly, with the probability of colonizing new sites doubling from 0.40 to 0.81 over time. In contrast, occupancy rates of gaur, sambar, and muntjac did not grow, though they were stable. Poaching pressure during the study was low, perhaps allowing populations to stabilize. But only wild pig (the most resilient of the five species) increased. The failure of gaur and sambar to recover might stem from historical overhunting combined with ecological constraints, particularly low saltlick density. Recovery of ungulates (and the carnivores that depend on them) in overhunted South-East Asian reserves might require intensive interventions, particularly habitat improvement and population augmentation, to achieve conservation objectives. habitat management; multi-season occupancy; population trend; prey augmentation

A general framework for animal density estimation from acoustic detections across a fixed microphone array

Acoustic monitoring can be an efficient, cheap, non‐invasive alternative to physical trapping of individuals. Spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) methods have been proposed to estimate calling animal abundance and density from data collected by a fixed array of microphones. However, these methods make some assumptions that are unlikely to hold in many situations, and the consequences of violating these are yet to be investigated. We generalize existing acoustic SECR methodology, enabling these methods to be used in a much wider variety of situations. We incorporate time‐of‐arrival (TOA) data collected by the microphone array, increasing the precision of calling animal density estimates. We use our method to estimate calling male density of the Cape Peninsula Moss Frog Arthroleptella lightfooti. Our method gives rise to an estimator of calling animal density that has negligible bias, and 95% confidence intervals with appropriate coverage. We show that using TOA information can substantially improve estimate precision. Our analysis of the A. lightfooti data provides the first statistically rigorous estimate of calling male density for an anuran population using a microphone array. This method fills a methodological gap in the monitoring of frog populations and is applicable to acoustic monitoring of other species that call or vocalize