Concerns about anthropogenic climate change have resulted in promotion of renewable energy sources, especially wind energy. A concern raised against widespread windfarm development is that it may negatively impact bird populations as a result of bird collision with turbines, habitat loss and disturbance. Using systematic review methodology bird abundance data were synthesized from 19 globally-distributed windfarms using meta-analysis. The effects of bird taxon, turbine number, power, location, latitude, habitat type, size of area, time since operation, migratory status of the species and quality of evidence were analysed using meta-regression. Although the synthesized data suggest a significant negative impact of windfarms on bird abundance, there is considerable variation in the impact of individual windfarm sites on individual bird species, and it is unclear if the negative impact is a decline in population abundance or a decline in use owing to avoidance. Anseriformes experienced greater declines in abundance than other taxa, followed by Charadriiformes, Falconiformes and Accipitriformes, and Passeriformes. Time since windfarms commenced operation also had a significant impact on bird abundance, with longer operating times resulting in greater declines in abundance than short operating times. Other variables, including turbine number and turbine power either had very weak but statistically significant effects or did not have a significant effect on bird abundance. Windfarms may have significant biological impacts, especially over longer time scales, but the evidence-base is poor, with many studies being methodologically weak, and more long-term impact assessments are required. There is clear evidence that Anseriformes (wildfowl) and Charadriiformes (waders) experience declines in abundance, suggesting that a precautionary approach should be adopted to windfarm development near aggregations of these taxa in offshore and coastal locations. The impact of windfarm developments on bird populations must also be viewed in the context of the possible impact of climate change in the absence of windfarms.

The Amazon basin is a key supplier of wild freshwater fishes to the multi-billion US$ global aquarium market, yet limited information exists on the organization of the regional trade, its importance to local economies or conservation impacts. Through field interviews and review of government statistics, this paper describes the state of the industry in Peru, reporting on the scale and value of the trade, the nature of the fishery and the characteristics and roles of key actors in regional supply networks. An economically important industry is revealed, with 28 firms officially exporting over nine million fishes worth US$ 2.5 million to 24 countries in 2001, and involving fish species from 36 families transported from rainforest catchments up to 1100 km distant from the export centre of Iquitos. Most fish are however collected close to the city, with 10 species representing >70% of trade volume. Some 10 000 people earn income from the trade, among them many rural poor who depend on aquarium fish collection as a primary or supplementary source of cash income. The industry is currently undergoing an important transition towards supplying new Asian and European markets, increasing exports of species biologically unsuited to heavy exploitation as a result, and highlighting the conservation need for improved knowledge and management of the trade in Amazonia.

Global assessments demonstrate that as a conservation measure protected areas (PAs) are incomplete, and tend to be poorly documented in the international scientific literature, hindering the assessment of their scientific and policy foundations. The step from mapping priority areas for biodiversity conservation based on scientific information to formulating the practical tools for conserving biological diversity is critical; several key aspects such as legislative frameworks, multi-scale politics and socioeconomic realities must be taken into account. With the planet's human population continuing to grow, this step is all the more crucial, as the designation of PAs is increasingly being forced alongside the development frontier. This paper examines the process of reserve establishment in the case of the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve (AMNR) (Peruvian Amazonia). On the basis of interviews, document analysis and media studies, a series of actions and reactions worked to shape the ultimate categorization and management plan of the AMNR. While scientific knowledge played a central role in the initial selection of the AMNR site, a number of critical aspects such as estimated environmental services, unresolved land entitlements, use values and multi-scale politics needed to be addressed in order to meet the originally set objective of biodiversity conservation. The importance of several biophysical features of the AMNR was initially emphasized as a key argument for conservation, whereas potential benefits of the AMNR (such as environmental services, particularly at the regional scale) proved to be the ultimate driving factor. Between the AMNR's official establishment in 1999 and its approved categorization and management plan in 2004 and 2005, respectively, a substantial shift in argumentation was witnessed. This change was particularly influential in that, contrary to what was initially expected, the livelihood requirements of local communities that were strongly linked to land entitlements and natural resources management came to play an essential role in both the categorization process and in the elaboration of the management plan of the Reserve. The AMNR was only effectively established because of this shift in emphasis.

Insects worldwide are undergoing unprecedented rates of decline, with many species severely threatened or already extinct. Despite their extreme diversity and functional importance in ecosystems, this extinction crisis has seldom gained media attention; endangered large mammals and birds receive much greater coverage. In the UK, where the insect fauna is relatively depauperate and well known, this bias has recently been redressed by a range of initiatives that highlighted the importance of insect conservation. This study investigated the popularity of different arthropod groups drawn by children (as part of one such event), in modern culture and in the scientific literature. Children's preference for insect groups strongly correlated with their representation in modern culture and in the scientific literature. However none of the measures of popularity of each group correlated with their abundance or conservation status in the UK. The profile of lesser-known groups therefore needs to be raised to reduce the chance that threatened taxa are overlooked for conservation action.

Relict endangered populations may be especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. A data series for the period 1974–2003 was used to examine shifts in brown bear Ursus arctos food habits in its south-westernmost European population. This focused on the hyperphagic season, when bears gain the fat that is essential for winter dormancy and reproduction. General climatic indicators were predictors of diet trends. Other variables potentially able to modify brown bear food habits at the local scale were accounted for by considering two areas where local conditions changed in different ways during the study period. General climatic indicators such as temperature and the winter North Atlantic Oscillation index were good predictors of some diet trends, although local factors seemed to modulate the potential response of food habits to recent climate change. Boreal and temperate food items decreasingly contributed to brown bear diet, replaced by increasing contributions of southern foods, which suggested that warmer temperatures might determine the occurrence of some food items in the diet of Cantabrian brown bears through effects on plant distribution and phenology. At the local scale, high cattle density in one of the study areas limited food sources available for brown bears. Important food sources for brown bears, such as heath-like Vaccinium formations and old-growth oak forest in the Cantabrian Mountains, require increased levels of protection.

In conservation efforts where genuine community involvement is aimed at, communication should be a two-way affair in which the local voice can be truly heard. In developing countries especially, however, this voice tends to be smothered by the power and prestige that usually lies with the supra-local conservation agencies. This paper explores how fictional storytelling, a communication medium as old as mankind, may enable local people to respond in freedom to the issue of conservation. Stories that end by posing a dilemma to the audience are generally used in Cameroon to initiate discussion. First trials in Cameroon used this format to tell a story of animals that found themselves at risk of extinction and sent out a delegation to the human world to plea for a ‘last home’. Although enjoyed by researchers and audience alike, this story appeared to suffer from several technical and structural shortcomings. In order to overcome these, empirical research (for example the gathering of some 600 stories in the field) and theoretical considerations led to the design of a second-generation story that retained the dilemma format but carried fewer implicit messages and introduced a third, adjudicating party. This story was tried out in 13 villages in Central and North Cameroon with full success, both in terms of process (the elicitation of focused and rich debate) and in terms of content (the clarity of arguments and underlying assumptions). If led by the principles developed in this paper, fictional storytelling is a worthy addition to the methodological repertoire of all conservation professionals who wish to communicate conservation to local communities in a manner that is structurally balanced and substantively open.

Law enforcement is crucial to curb unsustainable and illegal exploitation of plant and animal populations. This paper investigates the temporal pattern of illegal hunting activity and factors that influence the probability of Village Game Scouts (VGSs) arresting illegal hunters outside the Serengeti National Park (Tanzania). A total of 201 patrols were conducted during nine months between December 1998 and August 1999, and 96 illegal hunters were arrested. All illegal hunters originated from local villages within 41 km from the closest protected area border. During the dry season more illegal hunters were observed and more snares found during patrols, the increase coinciding with the annual arrival of the migratory herbivores. Logistic regression models indicated that the probability of being arrested varied seasonally and large groups of illegal hunters had a lower probability of being arrested by VGSs. This study shows that routine data collection by VGSs may provide useful baseline values from which illegal hunting activities in partially protected areas can be evaluated. Moreover, VGSs should be integrated into the existing law enforcement structure and given more resources, to ensure optimal efficiency.

Various conservation models have been implemented in Nepal since 1973, however their impacts on resources use and conservation attitudes are scarcely known. To address the hypothesis that conservation attitudes should improve around protected areas (PAs) with more social and economic interventions, stratified random questionnaire surveys of 234 households were conducted in two PAs in the Western Terai of Nepal: Bardia National Park (BNP), in which interventions have been more widespread for longer time periods, and Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve (SWR), in which interventions are relatively recent. Both are part of a major landscape-level conservation programme under implementation in Nepal, and both are under threat of political turmoil, uncontrolled immigration, inefficient land reform policies and unsustainable resource use. There was spatio-temporal variability in resource use patterns and dependence. People collected eight and seven types of resources in BNP and SWR, respectively, and people in BNP were more dependent on resources overall. About 72% of respondents mentioned the problem of inadequate firewood, and suggested the promotion of alternative energy and permission to collect from PAs as mitigating strategies. Of 11 attitude statements, five significantly differed between the two areas. Respondents from the BNP had more favourable attitudes about conservation than those from SWR, supporting the main hypothesis. Training received by respondents, damage by wildlife, dependence on resources and satisfaction towards user groups contributed significantly to the variation in conservation attitudes. The results suggest that the liberalization of PA management has enabled the use of resources, improved livelihoods to some extent and solicited more favourable conservation attitudes in Nepal.

Illegal logging is a threat to tropical forests in protected areas, yet the factors motivating it need to be better understood. Here, rural household participation in timber felling in the Barisan I Nature Reserve (West Sumatra) was described, the household contextual factors relating to this participation analysed and the importance of these activities to the household income assessed. Nearly 19% of the sampled households cut or hauled timber in the Reserve, and the demand for cash encouraged participation. Alternative livelihoods such as livestock raising and agroforestry intensification outside the Reserve could reduce the need for timber felling. Knowledge about legal status of the Reserve did not affect the odds of a household engaging in timber harvesting, but greater awareness of the Reserve resulted in lower levels of income from timber. Development policy that seeks to provide livelihood alternatives to timber felling households could reduce dependence on timber and contribute to forest conservation in the Reserve. Moreover, conservation outcomes should improve if control over the protection and enforcement of the Reserve is co-managed between the government and the local communities.