The Financial Return from Measuring Impact

Santangeli, Andrea; Sutherland, William J.

doi:10.1111/conl.12284

Cited by 21 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Such repeated testing is not common in conservation (Fazey et al, 2005), to the detriment of conservation science and practice. If repeated testing is conducted and tangible costs are found to be non-significant across a broad range of contexts, the implications could include redirection of funding (Santangeli & Sutherland, 2017) and reprioritization of our efforts to address the costs communities truly face.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Costs of coexistence: understanding the drivers of tolerance towards Asian elephants Elephas maximus in rural Bangladesh

Saif

Kansky

Palash

et al. 2019

Oryx

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Habitat degradation and fragmentation have heightened the importance of understanding human tolerance towards wildlife, as the fate of wildlife in multi-use landscapes depends on people's capacity for coexistence. We applied the wildlife tolerance model to examine drivers of tolerance towards Asian elephants Elephas maximus in rural Bangladesh, interviewing local people in 17 villages. We used structural equation modelling to identify causal pathways in which elephant-related exposure, positive and negative interactions, costs and benefits (tangible and intangible) contributed to tolerance. Contrary to expectations, monetary costs were non-significant in shaping tolerance despite major impacts on livelihoods. Instead, intangible costs and intangible benefits were significant factors determining tolerance. Furthermore, reducing people's exposure to elephants would not necessarily affect tolerance, nor would increasing positive interactions. We discuss how the socio-economic and bio-cultural dynamics of local communities can explain these results, and demonstrate how our model can be used to incorporate such complexities into conservation decision-making. For instance, compensation schemes aim to recompense monetary losses and direct damages, to improve tolerance, whereas our results suggest a more effective approach would be to enhance resilience to non-monetary costs and improve perceived benefits. We conclude that future studies should pay increased attention to intangible costs and consider the less direct drivers of tolerance. Through repeated testing of universal models such as that presented here, broad trends may emerge that will facilitate the application of policies across contexts and landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Costs of coexistence: understanding the drivers of tolerance towards Asian elephants Elephas maximus in rural Bangladesh

Saif

Kansky

Palash

et al. 2019

Oryx

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“…Conversely, the fact that most other AES measures considered in this study have no measurable effect on bird abundance calls for a careful evaluation and use of this expensive tool. Failure to do so may result ineffective use of scarce conservation resources [47, 48]. Evaluating and reconsidering such expensive scheme may be even more crucial where the additionality of AES may be limited (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic animal farms increase farmland bird abundance in the Boreal region

et al. 2019

Self Cite

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Agriculture is a primary driver of biodiversity loss worldwide, and several expensive schemes have been designed to make modern farming landscapes more hospitable for wildlife. One such market-based mechanisms is the agri-environment-climate schemes (AES) in the European Union (EU). AES compensate farmers for reducing land-use intensity and maintaining or introducing biodiversity-rich habitats. Despite their high costs, impacts of AES vary by measure, region and taxonomic group considered, and have rarely been studied over large areas covering an entire country. Here we assess the country-wide impact of several AES measures on bird abundance using citizen science data on birds and detailed information on AES take up from across Finland. We report a positive impact of organic animal farming on abundance of all farmland associated birds. This effect was particularly strong for insectivorous species, species that are associated to farmyards and long-distance species. None of the other AES measures considered for study did show any relationship with bird abundance. Overall, these findings highlight the potential positive impact that some compensatory measures, such as organic animal farming, may have on wildlife. Traditional animal husbandry is based on grazing of animals and restriction on external inputs, similarly to what is stipulated under organic production contract. As such, traditional animal husbandry may represent an effective landscape management tool for restoring or maintaining threatened species and ecosystems in rural areas of the EU. Ultimately, the apparent lack of a measurable effect of the other AES considered here supports the current move towards evidence-based regional targeting of compensatory measures, so as to concentrate scarce resources to where they can yield the highest ecological benefits.

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“…To facilitate such inquiry, responsible management should entail continuous monitoring and assessment. This is the only way in which to ensure that limited conservation resources are not wasted on ineffective or detrimental interventions (Santangeli & Sutherland, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the spatial distribution and trends of supplementary feeding sites in South Africa and their potential contribution to vulture energetic requirements

Brink

Santangeli

Amar

et al. 2020

Animal Conservation

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Old world vultures are the most threatened group of raptors globally. Supplementary feeding sites (SFS) are a popular conservation tool, widely used to assist vulture populations. Despite their popularity, the impact of SFS on vultures remains largely unstudied. A lack of knowledge on the number, distribution and management of SFS is a key factor hindering such research. In this study, we compile records of SFS in South Africa and conduct questionnaires with SFS managers to characterize SFS. We identify 143 currently active SFS. Our data suggest that SFS numbers have been stable over the last decade. The average provisioning rate for all SFS was 64.6 kg day À1. Overall SFS provide an estimated 3301 tonnes of food to scavengers each year, the equivalent of 83% of the energetic needs of all vultures in the region. This contribution was highly skewed, however, with just 17% of active SFS sites providing 69% of all food. Furthermore, these resources were not equally distributed, with SFS in Limpopo, North West and Kwazulu-Natal provinces providing 83% of the total meat provisioned. The three most common meat types provided at SFS were beef (39%), pork (33%) and game (19%). Worryingly, we found that 68% and 28% of SFS managers were unaware of the potential harmful effects of lead and veterinary drugs, respectively, which highlights potential poisoning risks associated with SFS. Examining exposure to SFS by different vulture species, we found that whilst SFS are accessible across the distribution range of vultures with large home ranges (e.g. African white-backed and Cape vultures), those species with smaller home ranges have relatively poor accessibility. With this study, we demonstrate the potential importance, but also associated risks, of SFS to vultures in South Africa, and provide the information base to assess the impacts of this popular but as yet largely unassessed conservation tool.

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The Financial Return from Measuring Impact

Cited by 21 publications

References 28 publications

Costs of coexistence: understanding the drivers of tolerance towards Asian elephants Elephas maximus in rural Bangladesh

Costs of coexistence: understanding the drivers of tolerance towards Asian elephants Elephas maximus in rural Bangladesh

Organic animal farms increase farmland bird abundance in the Boreal region

Quantifying the spatial distribution and trends of supplementary feeding sites in South Africa and their potential contribution to vulture energetic requirements

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