Efficiently targeting resources to deter illegal activities in protected areas

In many countries, areas delineated for conservation purposes can only achieve their objectives if effective law enforcement occurs within them. However, there is no method currently available to allocate law enforcement effort in a way that protects species and habitats in a cost-effective manner. Law enforcement is expensive and effort is usually concentrated near the locations of patrol stations where rangers are based. This hampers effective conservation, particularly in large protected areas, or regions with limited enforcement capacity. Using the spatial planning tool Marxan, we demonstrate a method for prioritizing law enforcement in a globally important conservation landscape (the Greater Virunga Landscape, GVL, in central Africa) using data on the spatial distribution of illegal activities and conservation features within the landscape. Our analysis of current patrol data shows that law enforcement activity is inadequate with only 22% of the landscape being effectively patrolled and most of this activity occurring within 3km of a patrol post. We show that the current patrol effort does not deter illegal activities beyond this distance. We discover that when we account for the costs of effective patrolling and set targets for covering key species populations and habitats, we can reduce the costs of meeting all conservation targets in the landscape by 63%, to $2 center dot 2-3 center dot 0million USD, relative to the cost of patrolling the entire landscape. This cost is well within the current expenditure of approximately$5 center dot 9million USD for the GVL but would better target effort from both patrol posts and mobile patrol units in the landscape. Synthesis and applications. Our results demonstrate a method that can be used to plan enforcement patrolling, resulting in more cost-efficient prevention of illegal activities in a way that is targeted at halting declines in species of conservation concern

An assessment of interactions between global health initiatives and country health systems

Since 2000, the emergence of several large disease-specific global health initiatives (GHIs) has changed the way in which international donors provide assistance for public health. Some critics have claimed that these initiatives burden health systems that are already fragile in countries with few resources, whereas others have asserted that weak health systems prevent progress in meeting disease-specific targets. So far, most of the evidence for this debate has been provided by speculation and anecdotes. We use a review and analysis of existing data, and 15 new studies that were submitted to WHO for the purpose of writing this Report to describe the complex nature of the interplay between country health systems and GHIs. We suggest that this Report provides the most detailed compilation of published and emerging evidence so far, and provides a basis for identification of the ways in which GHIs and health systems can interact to mutually reinforce their effects. On the basis of the findings, we make some general recommendations and identify a series of action points for international partners, governments, and other stakeholders that will help ensure that investments in GHIs and country health systems can fulfil their potential to produce comprehensive and lasting results in disease-specific work, and advance the general public health agenda. The target date for achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals is drawing close, and the economic downturn threatens to undermine the improvements in health outcomes that have been achieved in the past few years. If adjustments to the interactions between GHIs and country health systems will improve efficiency, equity value for money, and outcomes in global public health, then these opportunities should not be missed