Conservation Translocations

Description

Conservation translocation - the movement of species for conservation benefit - includes reintroducing species into the wild, reinforcing dwindling populations, helping species shift ranges in the face of environmental change, and moving species to enhance ecosystem function. Conservation translocation can lead to clear conservation benefits and can excite and engage a broad spectrum of people. However, these projects are often complex and involve careful consideration and planning of biological and socio-economic issues. This volume draws on the latest research and experience of specialists from around the world to help provide guidance on best practice and to promote thinking over how conservation translocations can continue to be developed. The key concepts cover project planning, biological and social factors influencing the efficacy of translocations, and how to deal with complex decision-making. This book aims to inspire, inform and help practitioners maximise their chances of success, and minimise the risks of failure.

Martin J. Gaywood is a Senior Research Associate at the University of the Highlands and Islands, and Species Project Manager at NatureScot, Scotland's nature conservation agency. He has led a wide range of species conservation projects, including conservation translocations, and has been closely involved in beaver reintroduction to Scotland since 2000. He has provided the secretariat role to the National Species Reintroduction Forum since its inception, has managed the production of the Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations, and is a member of the IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group. John G. Ewen is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, and a member of the IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group. His research focuses on conservation translocations, often through providing decision support to recovery programmes. He is Co-chair of New Zealand's Hihi Recovery Group and Chair of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Sihek Recovery Team, and is involved in several conservation translocation projects globally. Peter M. Hollingsworth is Director of Science and Deputy Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, a Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh, University of Johannesburg, and Heriot-Watt University, and an Honorary Professor in the Kunming Institute of Botany at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on understanding and conserving plant biodiversity. He has a strong interest in linking research to practical conservation outcomes and guidance, including conservation translocations and the integration of genetic and genomic data into conservation planning. He is a member of the IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group. Axel Moehrenschlager is the Chair of the IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group, pursuing its mission 'to empower responsible conservation translocations that save species, strengthen ecosystems, and benefit humanity'. He also serves IUCN more widely as a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Leadership and Steering Committee. Moehrenschlager is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Calgary in Canada, Adjunct Associate Professor at Clemson University in the United States, Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and Research Associate at Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit where he received his PhD. Aligned with additional research interests to innovate and implement sustainable synergies for biodiversity conservation and improved human livelihood, he serves on the Technical Advisory Committee of the United Nations Equator Prize and as Board Trustee of the St Andrews Prize for the Environment.

'Tackling big problems requires a diversity of knowledge and perspectives. As such I am so pleased to present this first authoritative text on conservation translocations. Contributors from all around the world not only showcase lessons learned to date but also set the stage for future actions that will help species large and small, restore ecosystems from oceans to land, and yield benefits for humanity that transcend geography and culture.' Razan Al Mubarak, President, International Union for Conservation of Nature