Welcome to our second issue of the new People not Poaching (PnP) newsletter, where we feature interesting case studies and the latest research related to communities, poaching and IWT. Plus, instead of our usual events section, in this time of lock down we’re featuring interesting webinars.
Got some news you’d like to share? Know a community-based approach to IWT that you think deserves to be showcased? Get in touch!
Anna, Liv and Francesca (peoplenotpoaching@gmail.com)
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Upcoming webinar on community-based rangers
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Our next webinar will showcase the role of community-based rangers in anti-poaching initiatives. Across the PnP case studies, there’s a huge diversity of approaches used, from wildlife guardians, to community scouts and all-women units. The webinar will explore these approaches in more detail, concentrating particularly on the lessons learned of what works, what doesn’t and any enabling or disabling circumstances.
Would you like to be involved? Drop us an email if you think your project is relevant or if you’d just like us to let you know once registration is live. We expect to host the webinar in late July.
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Members of the Maasai communities are employed as community scouts. Credit: African Wildlife Foundation.
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Spotlight on community-based approaches to IWT
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We’ve reached over 100 case studies on the PnP learning database! Here’s a few highlights this month, and you can explore more on PnP.
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Sustainably using the tasty Arapaima in Peru
Arapaima is prized as a tasty fish and the high value of its meat incentivises illegal trade from Peru. To tackle this, local community management groups have formed to foster sustainable use and they’re seeing gains by taking part in surveillance activities that are reducing illegal poaching. One of the tricky challenges for the initiative is creating strong links with the market so that local communities achieve a fair price for their legally sourced fish.
Have a quick read and get inspired!
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Supporting human-elephant coexistence in Tanzania
The Southern Tanzania Elephant Program is implementing a range of activities in the Ruaha-Rungwa ecosystem to protect and support livelihoods and build capacity in anti-poaching operations. One of their main aims is to enhance human-elephant coexistence through education campaigns and trialling conflict prevention strategies such as beehive fences.
Find out more here!
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Women champion turtles in the Solomon Islands
At the Arnavon Community Marine Park, a group of women are showing that conservation isn’t just a man’s role. Members of the KAWAKI Women’s Network are championing turtle conservation, leading conservation education in their communities and taking it in turns to watch over nests and create paths towards the ocean. The KAWAKI Women receive support from The Nature Conservancy.
Interested? Click here to keep reading.
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How has Covid-19 affected anti-poaching activities?
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During this time many are wondering what the impact of Covid-19 will be on conservation, and more specifically on illegal wildlife trade. Across the media there are reports of increases in poaching, but as it’s difficult to get an accurate picture of the situation on the ground we reached out to some of the project leaders from our case studies.
The responses so far have been very varied. Worryingly, for some projects, both the loss of income from tourism and a shift in funding priorities have been real challenges that will likely affect ongoing activities for some time. In a few places, lockdown has put a stop to anti-poaching operations such as community ranger patrols, plus field research and training has been cancelled or postponed. Luckily, some projects have been able to maintain near-normal operations by adapting to new digital meetings and workshops. Most importantly, all feedback so far has reflected the strong desire to restart activities as soon as is safe to do so, and the determination to pursue other options where activities are no longer viable.
Has your project been affected by Covid-19? If you’re interested in sharing your experience, please get in touch with us.
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Concerns grow over increasing illegal logging in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary
Over the last few weeks reports have emerged on Mongabay and Global Witness outlining concerns over escalating illegal logging occurring during Cambodia’s lockdown in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary.
One of the regions largest remaining lowland evergreen forests, Prey Lang is patrolled by the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN), a group of local volunteers who collect information on illegal logging and climate change, as well as the impact this has on biodiversity and local livelihoods. Read more about the patrols on PnP.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, members of PLCN have been unable to enter the forest but have noticed an increase in illegal loggers entering and leaving with trucks transporting timber. PLCN has since used satellite imagery to monitor forest loss, with a study published in April 2020 showing an acceleration in illegal logging and forest canopy disturbance since February 2020.
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Highlights from our Midweek Material
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1. Mamba H, Randhir T and Fuller T (2020) Community attitudes and perceptions concerning rhinoceros poaching and conservation: A case study in eSwatini. African Journal of Wildlife Research. DOI: 10.3957/056.050.0001
The authors investigate community attitudes and perceptions concerning rhino poaching and conservation in eSwatini using a household survey and make suggestions for involving communities in conservation.
2. Naro E, et al (2020) Syndicate recruitment, perceptions, and problem solving in Namibian rhinoceros protection. Biological Conservation. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108481
The authors explore the motivations behind the recruitment of local people into poaching syndicates in Namibia.
3. Sollund R and Runhovde S (2020) Responses to wildlife crime in post-colonial times. Who fares best? The British Journal of Criminology. DOI: 10.1093/bjc/azaa005
This study investigates and compares how the criminal justice systems of countries in the global north and south respond to wildlife crime.
4. Anagnostou M, et al (2020) Ranger perceptions of the role of local communities in providing actionable information on wildlife crime. Conservation Science and Practice. DOI: 10.1111/csp2.202
The authors investigate the perceptions of law enforcement authorities working with local communities on the conditions under which local people provide information to park rangers, using Murchison Falls Protected Area in Uganda as a case study.
5. Lunstrum E and N Givá (2020) What drives commercial poaching? From poverty to economic inequality. Biological Conservation. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108505
Drawing on fieldwork in the Mozambican borderlands adjacent to Kruger, the authors respond to calls for better understanding of the drivers of IWT, in particular the links between poverty and poaching.
6. Massé F and J Margulies (2020) The geopolitical ecology of conservation: The emergence of illegal wildlife trade as national security interest and the re-shaping of US foreign conservation assistance. World Development. DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.104958
The authors develop a geopolitical ecology of foreign conservation assistance, drawing attention to how conservation donor agencies negotiate shifting geopolitical contexts.
7. Mogomotsi P, et al (2020) An analysis of communities’ attitudes toward wildlife and implications for wildlife sustainability. Tropical Conservation Science. DOI: 10.1177/1940082920915603
This research analyses the perceptions among households in the Okavango Delta on poaching and community involvement in anti-poaching activities.
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Stay up to date on Twitter and Facebook
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To stay up to date with our spotlights and midweek material follow our Twitter @CommunitiesIWT and Facebook @peoplenotpoaching. Every week we post new updates, plus on Monday and Thursday we post community-based solutions to IWT and on Wednesday our latest midweek material.
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Thanks to everyone who joined our first webinar on ‘Community-based approaches to illegal wildlife trade – why tackling human wildlife conflict is important’ in March.
If you missed out, you can find a recording of the webinar on IIED’s YouTube and a Q&A of the common questions asked about community-based approaches to IWT - answering your questions on community-based approaches to tackling poaching and illegal wildlife trade.
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Key Principles for Understanding and Mitigating Human-Wildlife Conflicts
Alexandra Zimmermann from Oxford University talks about what it takes to understand and mitigate human-wildlife conflicts effectively, using a variety of interesting case studies.
Click here to watch the talk.
Researching Wildlife Poaching
Dr Niki Rust, from Newcastle University, shares her experience of studying poaching and discusses methods to quantify poaching and qualitative methods for investigating the underlying socio-political drivers.
Want to find out more? Watch the lecture here.
UK Parliamentary Hearing: Wildlife Trade, Origins of Covid-19, and Preventing Future Pandemics
The International Conservation Caucus Foundation UK hosted a UK Parliamentary hearing on 4th June on wildlife trade, origins of Covid-19, and preventing future pandemics. The hearing featured evidence from Andrew Cunningham (ZSL), EJ Milner-Gulland (Oxford University), John Scanlon (African Parks), Sue Lieberman (WCS), Lee White (Gabonese Government) and Najib Balala (Kenyan Government).
Missed it? You can watch the whole hearing here.
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Call for community-based solutions to IWT
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Argentinean artisan at work with her baby on her shoulders. Credit: Nilce Silvina Enrietti, CATCRAFTS.
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