Collisions between birds and aircraft have caused damage to, or destruction of, aircraft and loss of human life for more than 68 years. Birds are attracted to airfields by the large open spaces which they provide and, often, by the availability of food, water, and shelter, on or near the airfield. Birds attracted by open space can be driven away by trained persons furnished with suitable bird-dispersal equipment, while removal of food, water, and shelter, can reduce the attraction.

Mass movements (migrations) by birds, especially large birds, create hazards for aircraft aloft. Air traffic control radar can show the abundance, speed, and direction of movement, of birds, while correlation of those movements with weather parameters permits development of bird movement hazard forecasts. Although the periods of high hazard are of short duration, use of these forecasts to make changes in flying training programmes has reduced losses of Canadian military aircraft through bird studies.

Automatic digital presentation of bird movement data gathered by radar has been tested at two airfields by air traffic controllers for possible use in vectoring scheduled civil aircraft away from hazardous concentrations of bird migrants. A decision on operational use of the technique has not yet been made.

Reduction of bird hazards to aircraft depends upon human motivation. The necessary habitat control, bird dispersal, and migration hazard forecasting, involve timeconsuming, rather dull work that is repeated at prescribed intervals. Unless the work is always well done, bird-strikes on aircraft will continue and human lives and aircraft will be lost.

With rapid urbanization worldwide, most people now live in cities, but the effects of urbanization on knowledge about the natural environment is not well studied. Due to the importance of Cymbidium to Chinese traditional culture, we tested how urbanization influences the distribution of orchid knowledge across various knowledge domains at risk of loss due to declining orchid populations. Participants in the Cymbidium trade were interviewed in three distinct urbanization-level jurisdictions in Sichuan, China: Puge (low urbanization), Huili (moderate urbanization) and Chengdu (high urbanization). Using photographic cue-cards of nine Cymbidium taxa, we assessed aggregate and specific knowledge held by 91 orchid collectors/traders across the urbanization gradient. Contrary to expectations, we found that urbanization and orchid knowledge were positively related, but this varied by knowledge type, with moderate urbanization showing significantly higher knowledge in two domains. Our findings suggest that a generalizable understanding of how urbanization affects knowledge must account for differences in knowledge types and geographic/cultural scales, with implications for biocultural diversity conservation in an increasingly urban world.

The ability of national governments to set and implement policies that protect biodiversity is currently facing widespread scepticism within the conservation movement. Here, we review the literature from several disciplines to outline a positive agenda for how the global conservation movement can address this. We combine the strengths of the people-centred and science-led conservation approaches to develop a framework that emphasizes the importance of ecological infrastructure for the long-term prosperity of human societies in an ever-changing world. We show that one of the major goals of the conservation movement (enhancing global ecological infrastructure to end species and ecosystem loss) remains central and irreplaceable within the broad sustainable development agenda. Then, we argue that the conservation community is now more prepared than ever to face the challenge of supporting societies in designing the ecological infrastructure they need to move towards more sustainable states. Because it is where global and local priorities meet, the national level is where impactful changes can be made. Furthermore, we point out two priorities for the conservation movement for the next decade: (1) substantially increase the amount of financial resources dedicated to conservation; and (2) advance the next generation of policies for ecological infrastructure.

The prohibition of commercial mineral resource extraction through the Antarctic Treaty System has removed one significant source of potential damage to Antarctica's geological and geomorphological values. However, given the on-going increase in Antarctic tourism and scientific footprint, some high-quality geological features may be vulnerable to human impact, such as damage due to the construction of logistical facilities, unregulated collection of geological specimens or oversampling for scientific purposes. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty puts in place a framework for the protection of Antarctica's environmental, scientific, historic, wilderness and aesthetic values. However, the Antarctic Protected Area system is still immature and further implementation of existing management tools may be required to protect the diverse range of vulnerabilities, qualities and spatial scales represented in the geology and geomorphology of the continent. At sites where high-quality mineralogical or palaeontological specimens exist in limited quantities, considerations of how best to prevent oversampling and manage access to remaining material may be supported by assessment of cumulative impacts. Examination of the level of Antarctic specimen loans from a selection of national geological collections suggested that existing publically accessible geological collections could be better utilized, which could reduce environmental impact and oversampling at vulnerable Antarctic sites.

Floodplain wetlands are of major importance in semi-arid Africa, providing agricultural, livestock, forestry, and fisheries, products as well as many other goods and services. Through a case-study of a floodplain wetland in northern Nigeria, it is demonstrated that the factors determining the characteristics of floodplain fishermen, defined in terms of how they fish, where they fish, and when they fish, are spatially and temporally very complex and may best be analysed within a simple systems framework.

Despite the important values and functions that floodplains provide, many have been degraded owing to the construction of dams within their catchments. Studies of the social and economic impact of these developments tend to have adopted an ‘ecosystem’ approach to analysis that conceals the socio-economic complexity of the floodplain. However, if proposals to manage the water resources of river basins effectively are to be successfully implemented, it will be essential to understand the complexity of socioeconomic relations of floodplain users and their interaction with the environment. In conclusion, there is a need for much more detailed socio-economic studies that explore the ways in which floodplain inhabitants use the system in space and time.

A comparative study of the floristic composition of aquatic vegetation growing in certain ponds in parts of Kerala, and those recorded as growing in the same ponds more than 20 years ago, reveals changes that are often extreme. Thus many of the once-dominant species have either dwindled or disappeared. In some ponds, most of the components of the original flora of only a quarter-of-a-century ago have been completely replaced by thick mats of Salvinia over the past two decades. Salvinia multiplies vegetatively very rapidly (cf. Mitchell et al., 1980), forming mats on which secondary colonists grow. This commonly leads to a gradual filling of the pond. Besides, Salvinia infestations also cause considerable loss of water from water-bodies through increased evapotranspiration. If these ecological processes are allowed to continue, many of our water-bodies seem sure to dry up in due course.

A well-planned and systematic method of control, involving physical removal—either through manual labour or specially-designed machines—to be followed by biological control (for example by grazing vertebrates or invertebrates), would keep the explosive spread of the weed under check. The huge mass of harvested weed could be utilized for production of organic manure, cooking gas, or hard-boards, or could be dried as packing material. There should also be vigilance by a surveillance squad of experts in the scientific disciplines concerned, which would be effective in preventing further spread of the weed—much as is already being practised with good results for the hydroelectric reservoirs of Kerala.

This paper considers alternative approaches to the evaluation of Nature conservation resources as part of the overall process of establishing Nature conservation priorities. The techniques available for evaluation are seen to differ in their ideological base and methodology, and in the relative importance which they attach to physical and ecological features. This lack of consistency means that existing techniques only represent a partial basis for determining conservation priorities. Furthermore, the assumptions on which evaluation techniques are based tend not to be stated explicitly and often appear not to have been substantiated. These inconsistencies are due in part to ambiguity concerning the objectives of conservation, in part to the lack of research into the relationship between human demands and the features of Nature conservation resources, and in part to uncertainty as to the position of evaluation in the conservation priority-setting process.

A model of this process for setting conservation priorities is presented. It delimits ecological evaluation as an objective, value-free element in the priority-setting process—where ecological evaluation is seen to provide information which aids decision-makers in the more value-laden socio-economic elements of conservation priority-setting. The model implies that the objective and subjective elements in existing evaluation techniques are not sufficiently explicit to ensure consistency in decision-making.

Bulleri et al. (2007) describe local environmental impacts as ‘assessed by comparing the disturbed site with one or more [unaffected] reference sites . . . [which] can be thought of as a random sample from a population of sites as in design-based approaches (Underwood 1992), or as a set of covariates correlated with the disturbed site as in model-based analyses (Stewart-Oaten & Bence 2001)’ (brackets added). This is misleading. These two approaches are not alternatives. The latter paper shows that reference sites are not essential and that the former paper's use of them is invalid.

Protected areas are regarded as the main strategy to halt biodiversity loss; however, protected area effectiveness evaluations remain scarce and mostly rely on limited scientific evidence. Protected area managers from two case studies in the Mediterranean basin biodiversity hotspot (networks of Spanish terrestrial protected areas and individual Mediterranean marine protected areas) were surveyed to assess the use of two protected area evaluation systems: the ‘System for the Integrated Assessment of Protected Areas’ (SIAPA) and the ‘System for Quick Evaluation of Management in Mediterranean MPAs’ using the ‘Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development’ framework. A second survey in Spain ascertained the degree of implementation of protected area evaluation systems and the institutional interest in implementing such systems. The main weaknesses attributable to the systems presented were limited salience (for the SIAPA) and legitimacy in terms of costs (for the System for Quick Evaluation of Management in Mediterranean MPAs). However, the main reasons for the limited uptake of the evaluation systems presented were not attributable to the systems themselves, but to management or institutional limitations: the lack of basic data for and weak institutional interest in evaluation in Spain, and the scarce resources available for evaluation in the case of some Mediterranean marine protected areas.

Traditional agroforestry homegardens deliver multiple products and benefits, including food security and livelihoods for rural households in Ethiopia. However, this land use has been changing towards monoculture production of khat (Catha edulis). This study analyses the development trajectories and causes of change in agroforestry homegardens. In total, 84 interviews, including key informant and semi-structured household interviews, and eight focus group discussions were conducted in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Regional State. It was found that khat production was increasing regardless of household wealth status. The proximate causes included better financial income for households, smaller sizes of farms due to farm land redistribution, favourable market conditions for khat, access to irrigation, decrease in governmental subsidies to buy fertilizer and quality seeds for food crop production, a positive experience of other farmers in khat production, and minimizing risks of theft and wildlife damage. Khat production challenges the implementation of national policies towards eradication of poverty and hunger.

A highly polarized debate has emerged in the conservation literature about whether national parks in lesser developed countries should follow a strict protectionist model or find ways to accommodate the development and livelihood needs of local people. A number of social science critiques of national park practice and policy in lesser developed countries have argued that one of the chief problems facing national parks in particular, and biodiversity conservation in general, has been the USA national park model, often termed the ‘Yellowstone model’. This model, in which local and indigenous people and uses have been excluded from parks, has been blamed for harming local people, providing benefits to developed country interests at the expense of local people, high costs of park protection, and ineffective biodiversity conservation (Machlis & Tichnell 1985; West & Brechin 1991; Pimbert & Pretty 1995). Alternatives (henceforth referred to as ‘parks and people’ approaches) seek accommodations between parks and local people, and include community-based conservation, which promotes local involvement and/or control in park decision-making, and integrated conservation and development projects, which attempt to ensure conservation by meeting social and economic needs of local people through agroforestry, forestry, tourism, water projects, extractive reserves, and wildlife utilization.

The growing challenge of food insecurity in the Global South has called for new research on the contribution of forests to food security. However, even progressive forest management institutions such as Nepal's community forestry programme have failed to address this issue. We analyse Nepal's community forestry programme and find that forest policies and local institutional practices have historically evolved to regulate forests either as sources of timber or as a means of biodiversity conservation, disregarding food security outcomes for local people. Disciplinary divisions between forestry and the agriculture sector have limited the prospect of strengthening forest–food security linkages. We conclude that the policy and legislative framework and formal bureaucratic practices are influenced by ‘modern forestry science’, which led to community forestry rules and practices not considering the contribution of forests to food security. Furthermore, forestry science has a particularly narrow focus on timber production and conservation. We argue for the need to recognise the importance of local knowledge and community practices of using forests for food. We propose adaptive and transformational approaches to knowledge generation and the application of such knowledge in order to support institutional change and policy reform and to enable landscape-specific innovations in forest–food linkages.

The last ten years have seen a growing disillusionment with many conventional fishery management methods, in part, I would suggest, since the managers using them have been unaware of the complexity of the ecosystems they are dealing with. The pendulum seems to be swinging steadily in the direction of spatially-based management tools for fisheries (see e.g. Hilborn & Kennedy 1992; Walters et al. 1993; Seijo et al. 1994; Hall 1998; Caddy 1999a), and the Mediterranean is ideally suited for testing and applying such mechanisms from both the geographical aspect, and in terms of its high biodiversity.

Reedbeds of the Rhône river delta, southern France, constitute an important breeding habitat for purple herons (Ardea purpurea) in Europe. However, the area of reed harvested commercially has increased in recent years and, since 1997, a European Union agri-environmental policy has been implemented to reconcile economic development with conservation goals for harvested reedbeds. Here, we investigate trends in breeding numbers of purple herons and the effect of reed harvesting on reedbed occupancy by herons. A regression model indicates that reedbed use by breeding herons was negatively affected by the reed harvesting pressure. An increase of nearly 50% in the harvested area following the implementation of the policy was probably caused by subsidies (from 67 to 100 US$/ha/year) proposed to reed harvesters, although associated with harvesting constraints intended to conserve heron colonies. The difference between the payments with and without colonies does not appear to have been sufficient to convince reed harvesters to conserve colonies. A case study showed that one heron colony located in a reserve area persisted, while another split into smaller colonies following modifications of reedbeds for future reed harvesting. Results suggest that the agri-environmental policy in its present form has failed to accomplish its primary objective of improving conditions for breeding purple herons in the Camargue. Potential breeding habitat for purple herons have decreased and urgent action is needed to protect some reedbeds from intense reed cutting.

The framing of environmental conservation has been changing, mainly towards a reconciliation between human needs and nature conservation. A major challenge of biosphere reserves (BRs) is the integration of biodiversity conservation and the sustainable development of local communities. Although these areas are large, they are often not large enough to contain the movements of wide-ranging species. We studied immature Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) movements to evaluate their habitat use in relation to protected areas (PAs). We particularly aimed to determine whether BRs significantly increase the protection of this wide-ranging species. We analysed the movement overlap of 26 GPS-tagged birds with the PAs of Patagonia, and we evaluated preferences for particular landscape categories with a use–availability design. Condors were mainly located in unprotected areas (56.4%), whereas 26.4% of locations were within International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) PAs and 17.2% of locations were in BRs (not including IUCN PAs). When compared to availability, birds preferred BRs over other areas, highlighting the importance of BRs in protecting species that forage in humanized areas. However, the lack of controls and management policies expose condors to several threats, such as poisoning and persecution, in both private lands and BRs. Implementing strict management practices for BRs will help to conserve wide-ranging scavengers that feed in humanized areas.

One concern in the ongoing debate over the conservation status of mahogany has been the possibility that selective logging, as a form of negative phenotypic selection, might have led to deterioration in the genetic quality of populations. The incidence and degree of such ‘dysgenic’ effects is discussed, based on a consideration of mahogany logging practices, their expected genetic effects and empirical data on phenotypic selection in forest trees. Loggers have tended to avoid diseased, small, very large and poorly-formed individuals, and consequently logging has tended to increase the proportion of poor quality phenotypes relative to that before logging; in at least some conditions, selection differentials have been strongly negative. However, the upper limit for heritability of logger-selected traits in naturally-regenerated mahogany is probably no more than c. 0.1. Consequently, and assuming relatively extreme but realistic negative selection differentials of 50%, the maximum negative dysgenic response to a single logging-mediated phenotypic selection event is expected to be relatively small, i.e. ≤5%. This expectation is consistent with the empirical information from mahogany and other taxa. The implications of any dysgenic effects depend very much on the use and the future of dysgenically-selected populations. In managed populations, dysgenic effects could be reversed through positive selection. In the case of exploited but currently unmanaged natural populations, dysgenic selection is primarily of importance insofar as it affects fitness. As a threat to mahogany conservation and long-term sustainable production, it is probably insignificant in comparison with other genetic and non-genetic factors.

Freshwater environments are expected to be particularly responsive to temperature rises and changed precipitation régimes that are anticipated to result from progressive increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel combustion. Recognition of potential impacts on aquatic systems should strengthen research and management planning for the future, and provide more confident estimates of the risks from CO2 elevation than those at present available. This report briefly evaluates those aquatic impacts that are believed to be important and worthy of investigation and quantitative forecasting.

Priorities for additional research have been suggested for the issues discussed herein. These priorities vary according to the use of pertinent data, the credibility of presumed risk (which may change as, for example, climatic models are better refined), the timing in relation to prerequisite information, current efforts already under way, and the feasibility of obtaining the desired data. The ranking remains subjective, however, and debatable.

Basically through population pressures leading to habitat encroachment and commercial slaughter, India is becoming poorer, day be day, in her still-rich heritage of wildlife. Virgin forests on the plains and in the hilly regions are dwindling. Unfortunately, education and research centres have not cared to educate the youth of the country about the importance of nature conservation.

The Author's field endeavours, extending over more than a decade, have helped to reveal that 18 of India's 27 threatened mammalian species—lion-tailed Macaque, Macaque, Nilgiri Langur, Golden Langur, Snub-nosed Langur, Wolf, Asiatic Wild Dog, Malabar Large-spotted Civet, Clouded Leopard, Indian Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Asian Elephant, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Kashmir Stag, Gaur, Wild Yak, Nilgiri Tahr, and Markhor—have their homes in hilly or montane habitats. Pradoxically, India has the dubious distinction of ranking second in the world, and first among the 15 countries of the Oriental region, in having 27 mammalian species whose world populations are to some extent threatened according to the Red Data Book (IUCN, 1972).