Recreational fisheries are the dominant or sole user of many coastal and most inland fish stocks in industrialized societies. Recreational angling can negatively affect fish populations, but appropriate management approaches to address these impacts are often lacking. Overall, privately-governed European recreational fisheries systems offer suitable conditions to reconcile resource use with resource conservation because access restriction is possible, decision-making structures are simple and management scales are small. This increases the hope that the race to fish may be less pronounced than in open-access commercial fisheries. To achieve harmony between use and conservation values, a thorough understanding of the human dimension is paramount, yet approaches including this are underrepresented in contemporary recreational fisheries science and management. Based on theoretical considerations, literature review and personal experiences, this paper presents key human obstacles to the reconciliation of recreational fishery resource use and resource conservation, with emphasis on private fishing rights regimes of central Europe. Nine obstacles are identified: (1) lack of social priority; (2) lack of integrated approaches; (3) lack of cooperative institutional linkages; (4) lack of systems thinking; (5) lack of research and monitoring; (6) lack of shared values and dominance of stereotyped perceptions; (7) lack of consideration for regional fish-angler dynamics; (8) lack of objective communication of scientific findings; and (9) lack of critical self-reflection among individual anglers. Potential solutions to overcome the identified constraints briefly discussed include: (1) evaluation of the socioeconomic benefits of angling; (2) rehabilitation of ecosystem structure and function on larger scales; (3) facilitation of structured cooperation between stakeholders and management units; (4) application of complex systems approach; (5) increased funding for long-term monitoring; (6) fostering of common values of different stake-holders; (7) active adaptive management of angling effort on regional scales; (8) intensified communication of research findings; and (9) conviction of anglers to meet personal targets by more restrictive regulations. Increasing research and management efforts related to the social component of recreational fisheries will improve reconciliation of resource use and resource conservation in traditional recreational fisheries management. It is a matter of societal values whether it is judged necessary to do so on a broader scale.

In fire-prone areas, like the Mediterranean, land abandonment and forestation may interact with fire to alter landscape properties and eventually fire hazard and occurrence. However, the spatial interactions among the two processes (land-use/land cover change [LULC] and fire) are poorly known. Here, we analysed the relative effect of LULC change and fire on the landscape structure of an area of Central Spain frequently affected by fire. A series of Landsat MSS images from 1975 to 1990 was analysed to quantify annual changes in LULC, map fire perimeters and evaluate the changes in landscape properties. The temporal dynamics were analysed by annually computing the fraction occupied by each LULC type and landscape structural properties (number, size, shape and arrangement of patches) that might play a role in fire propagation. All of these were calculated separately for the unburned or the burned areas during the study period, as well as for the entire area. At the whole landscape level, or in the unburned area, LULC changes were small, yet the two more flammable LULC types tended to increase, and the landscape tended to become more homogeneous. In the burned area, the area covered by pine woodlands tended to decrease, and that covered by shrublands to increase. Burned areas turned into shrublands only five years after fire. Landscape indices indicative of reduced fragmentation were also found. Both LULC change and fire altered landscape patterns in the whole area to create a less fragmented and more contiguous landscape than in 1975. The changes induced in the whole landscape by fire, in spite of the overall low disturbance rate, were sufficient to closely determine the changes in landscape composition (LULC types) and patterns.

The conservation of high-altitude medicinal plants is of concern throughout the Himalayan region, because they are important for traditional health care and in large-scale collection for trade. Because little is known regarding their conservation status in relation to the diversity of land-use patterns and habitats, this paper explores patterns of species composition and diversity of medicinal plants in five different pasture types in a traditionally-managed high-altitude landscape in northwest Nepal. Environmental variables, including human activities, strongly affected species composition, diversity and cover-abundance of medicinal plant species. Species richness of rare and commercially threatened medicinal plants (CTMP) showed patterns similar to overall medicinal plant species richness. Sub-alpine meadows, which have intermediate levels of human pressure related to grazing and relatively high levels of resource availability in terms of rainfall and soil nutrients, were richer in medicinal-plant species than alpine meadows. The coexistence of various plant communities under different human management regimes also enhanced landscape-level species diversity by maintaining some species restricted to particular habitat or pasture types. A number of medicinal plant species reported to be resistant to grazing were most abundant in heavily grazed sites. This pattern suggests that medicinal plant species may be positively influenced, to a certain extent, by human activities (mainly grazing). The combination of grazing and high levels of harvesting, however, had a negative impact on diversity and cover-abundance of rare and CTMP species. Maintenance of medicinal plant diversity and cover-abundance is critically dependent on managing grazing and resource harvesting to maintain levels that are both ecologically and economically sustainable. Forage for livestock and medicinal plants for local health care cannot be managed independently; a systems approach is needed, incorporating social management to accommodate the needs of different users. This could be achieved by maintenance of a mosaic landscape, in which different use patterns and pressures, reflecting the values attached to resources by different users and favouring different types of biodiversity, co-exist.

Competition for coastal land use and overexploitation have reduced or degraded mangrove coverage throughout much of their distribution, especially in South-east Asia. Timber production was the initial motivation for early mangrove reforestation projects. More recently, benefits from protection against erosion and extreme weather events and direct improvements in livelihoods and food security are perceived as justifications for such restoration efforts. This study examines the socioeconomic impacts of a community-led reforestation project in the Philippines through a survey of the local fishers. Revenues from mangrove fisheries, tourism and timber result in an annual benefit to the community of US$ 315 ha−1 yr−1. This figure is likely to be considerably more if the contribution of the mangrove to the coastal catch of mangrove-associated species is included. This estimate only includes direct benefits to the community from mangroves, and not intangible benefits such as coastal protection, which paradoxically is perceived by the community as one of the most important functions. More than 90% of all fishers, regardless of where they fished, thought the mangrove provided protection from storms and typhoons and acted as a nursery site and should be protected. Those fishing only in the mangrove perceived more benefits from the mangrove and were prepared to pay more to protect it than those fishing outside. This study concludes that replanting mangroves can have a significant economic impact on the lives of coastal communities. Acknowledgement of the value of replanted mangroves compared with other coastal activities and the benefits they bring to the more economically-vulnerable coastal dwellers should support better informed policy and decision-making with regard to coastal habitat restoration.

The extent and condition of forest ecosystems in Armenia have decreased drastically since the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). This decline is not only a consequence of the recent history of the area, but also the result of decades of forest policies, management and forest-use practices. To reverse the negative trends, it is important for stakeholders, scientists, resource managers and policy makers (in Armenia and abroad) to understand the influential factors in the decline, yet such information is scarce, highly fragmented, written in Armenian or Russian, and inaccessible to the international community. This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge base of the international community by presenting and contrasting the most important issues and processes that have affected forest cover in Armenia during the USSR (1920–1991) and independence periods (1991–to date). For each period, the legal framework, the forest inventory practices, forest use, management and conservation practices, the forestry education, and the perception of the forests by forest communities and society at large are presented and discussed. Except for the social perception of the forests, the most relevant aspects of these issues have scarcely changed from one period to the next. There is a need to address the most pressing problems and improve the current conditions of the forests and the forestry sector in Armenia.

Steppe ecosystems worldwide are affected by agricultural development and generally unprotected. Spanish shrub-steppes contain endangered avifauna, and this paper analyses their state of habitat conservation, the changes that have occurred in the last decade, primary productivity and its relationship with land exploitation and the richness of threatened birds, and avifauna responses to habitat loss. Fifty steppe remnants distributed throughout Spain and inhabited by Dupont's lark Chersophilus duponti, an endangered passerine representative of shrub steppe-like habitat, were studied. The study fragments were generally affected by agriculture exploitation, and steppe cover had significantly decreased in several isolated patches during the period 1991–1999. Steppe habitat recovered slightly in areas with low plant productivity indices, and decreased in extent in the most productive areas, in line with EU (European Union) agricultural policy recommendations to abandon marginal land of low productivity. The low overall primary productivity of Iberian steppes opened the way to industrial activities (mining, waste collection and wind-farming), which in the study areas occurred more frequently in steppe than in other habitat types that are more attractive to the public (woodland) or more productive (farmland). The emerging wind industry little affected the study plots, but the presence of anemometers suggests that the impact is likely to increase in the near future, especially in the largest steppelands. Dupont's lark was sensitive to the fragmentation of its habitat; crowding occurred in isolated and small fragments, possibly as a consequence of habitat constraints and species dispersal dynamics. Fragments inhabited by Dupont's lark also hosted other steppe birds with a high conservation value; the community of endangered birds, mostly adapted to arid conditions, was richest in the less productive sites. Only four shrub-steppe fragments are given some kind of protection throughout Spain, testifying to the limited public awareness about the value of this habitat. Urgent action is required to restore this habitat through abandonment of less productive farmland, and to create a network of protected and connected steppelands, in order to assure the long-term viability of steppe specialists and the preservation of a habitat that is unique in Western Europe. This should be coupled to an effort to increase social consciousness of the ecological value of steppes and arid landscapes in general.

An effective protected area system is essential for the long-term conservation of Myanmar's biodiversity. This study examined the attitudes of 2915 residents in 97 communities around three protected areas (PAs) in upper Myanmar: Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park in the western mountains, Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary in the hills bordering the Chindwin and Uru rivers, and Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary in the central dry zone. Logistic regression indicated a positive attitude toward the PAs was most highly correlated with a perception of conservation benefits and benefits resulting from management of the areas. Attitude was also significantly correlated with a perception of extraction benefits, conflicts with PA staff and crop damage by wildlife. Socioeconomic variables were less powerful than perceptions in predicting attitude and, unlike perceptions, their effects varied among the areas. The much greater effect of perceptions, especially positive ones, on people's attitudes indicates that understanding perceptions is important to improving the relationship between local residents and these PAs. This finding underscores the fact that a focus on conflicts to understand people's attitudes toward PAs may undervalue or miss critical positive perceptions that people hold. Understanding local residents' perceptions of PAs makes possible the creation of strategic, place-based management strategies that build on people's positive perceptions and mitigate their negative perceptions.

Forest nationalization policies in Asia have often resulted in decreased local property rights over forests and users' short-term exploitative behaviour, leading to degradation of forests. Bhutan's centralized forest management structure was initiated with the Forest Act of 1969. This paper evaluates how nationalization of forests in Bhutan changed forest property rights and associated incentives and disincentives and management outcomes for leaf-litter forests (sokshing) and non-sokshing forests. Using the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IRFI) research protocols, 12 sites across Bhutan's broadleaf zones were surveyed. Changes in forest property rights were analysed using Ostrom and Schlager's ‘bundles of rights’ framework. The forest nationalization policy changed the array of de jure rights that local people had over both traditionally community-used forests (the majority of forests) and small blocks of sokshings that were usually owned by a household and managed to produce valuable leaf litter for their agriculture livelihoods. There was more compliance with regulations in sokshing than in non-sokshing forests. Non-compliance of local people with forest conservation occurred in areas where the chance of being caught for rule breaking was perceived to be low or the costs of compliance were high. This was almost exclusively the case in non-sokshing forest in the form of widespread but low-intensity illegal tree cutting. The continuing significance of sokshing for agricultural livelihoods serves as a strong incentive for conservation of sokshings by rural people, even though the sokshings are under ultimate state control. The successful management of forests requires minimal difference between de jure policies and de facto practices for which rules that allocate property rights and the way those rules are enforced are important elements. Conservation and management rights of non-sokshing for communities would not only promote local stewardship, but also put the limited capacity of the Department of Forest to best use. Increased deforestation around villages may result, because modern development alternatives may make leaf litter insignificant for agriculture.

Institutional and non-institutional factors for the success of protected area (PA) governance have repeatedly been identified, but their relative weight has not been evaluated. To investigate the implementation of PA management in Zakynthos (Greece), meeting minutes of the local Park Authority for its first four years of operation were reviewed and statistically analysed. The Park Authority's autonomy and management complexity were indicated and with reference to governance, members of the local Park Authority belonged to the ‘inner-circle’ of decision-making and the Ministry of Environment formed the ‘environment’, since administrative issues had to be approved by the latter. Implementation of actions referring to administrative issues was less likely than implementation of environmental, social and economic arrangements, where the Park Authority had a higher degree of autonomy. The implementation of arrangements for promoting administrative stability and viability was highly dependent on external actions (annual government funding and approval of by-law governance and implementation). The more sophisticated and complex the governance system became, the more likely it was that Park Authority encountered difficulty when trying to make choices and changes. The methodology proved effective in revealing the management behaviour of the Park Authority, as well as indicating institutional and non-institutional issues that most significantly affected the harnessing of resources and the degree of action implementation; this could offer crucial feedback to managers and governmental representatives on the factors responsible for the success or failure of PA management.

The attitudes and feelings of people concerning conservation policies and wildlife conflicts affect their behaviour, and understanding this is important in involving local people in conservation planning and decision-making processes. This paper examines these important issues in Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park, located in central Bhutan. A survey of 274 house-holds was carried out to assess farmers' perceptions of the influence of Park management policies and protection regimes on traditional resource uses, and their attitudes towards the Park and conservation policies set forth in the Forest and Nature Conservation Act of 1995, integrated conservation development programmes (ICDPs) and wildlife conservation, and determine how demographic and socioeconomic variables influence these attitudes. Among local farmers, 52.2% disliked the Park and the Conservation Act, and 67.5% supported exterminating problem wildlife. Negative attitudes were linked to loss of resource use rights, livestock depredation and crop damage, lack of compensation strategies and exclusion of farmers from the Park's planning processes. However, 76.3% of the respondents appreciated the Park's development programmes, the positive attitudes associated with an expectation that significant economic benefits would be available from ICDPs sponsored by the Park. Empowerment of local communities associated with monetary benefits from non-timber forest products and compensation for loss of crops and livestock were emphasized by more than 70% of the respondents. These attitudes were related to age and literacy of the respondents, number of livestock owned and size of land holdings. Though important to the future of Bhutan's parks, study results also have wider applicability to conservation professionals throughout the developing world for resolving human-land use conflicts and involving local farmers in the protection of nature.

One activity with potential to provide a direct incentive for reef conservation is scuba diving. In the absence of effective management, diving can also have negative impacts. This study shows how an understanding of diver specialization can be used to help manage diving and increase its effectiveness as an incentive-driven conservation activity. Surveys were used to assess motivations, satisfactions and dive history of divers in Phuket (Thailand) and categorize divers by degree of specialization. Highly specialized divers were more likely to be on a live-aboard trip than less specialized divers and placed greater importance on the characteristics of the dive itself rather than the trip. Less specialized divers put more emphasis on non-dive characteristics. Satisfaction levels differed significantly among specialization groups in terms of overall satisfaction with the dive experience, satisfactions compared with motivations and satisfactions with specific trip characteristics. Overall there was a decline in satisfaction levels with increasing specialization. These finding are compared to a wildlife tourism model that links impacts with client characteristics and suggests a displacement of specialists by generalists and changes in the limits of acceptable change (LAC) over time. The dive data supported this progression leading to increased industry competition and reduced opportunities to sustain a broad-based dive industry that will act as an incentive-driven mechanism for reef conservation. Specific actions related to reef access and zoning according to a diver opportunity spectrum (DOS), establishing LAC and monitoring programmes, enforcing safety and environmental regulations are suggested to promote a more sustainable approach to dive management. Social science insights can be used to aid reef management strategies and increase the potential for diving to contribute towards reef conservation.

The coral reefs of Papua New Guinea are among the most species diverse in the world, support an important artisanal fishery, but lack an effective national conservation programme. Increased commercialization, population growth, promotion of fisheries development projects, and the live reef food fish trade are expected to increase demand for the country's reef fish. This paper examines how socioeconomic factors affect the condition of the artisanal multi-species coral reef fishery in six sites in Papua New Guinea. Catch characteristics such as diversity, trophic level and body size by landing site were examined along a fishing pressure gradient. Both exogenous factors such as markets and endogenous factors such as fishing pressure were related to the condition of fish catch. In general, the trophic level and lengths of fish captured in Papua New Guinea were relatively high, but were reduced on reefs with high fishing effort near fish markets. Fisheries showed signs of depletion above c. 25 fishing trips per km2 per day and the proximity of markets was a better indicator of overfishing than human population size. A cross-scale approach to fisheries management is required in Papua New Guinea to coordinate decentralized local management, limit the intrusion of extractive enterprises, and develop policies that seek to minimize exogenous pressures on marine resources.

Management of the natural environment and its resources leads to conflicts between different stake-holders worldwide. Recently mangrove browsing by feral water buffalo in the East-Godavari Delta (India) has been considered a threat to the regeneration of mangroves by the local Forest Department, which led to conflicts between the authorities and local herds-men who have an ancient tradition involving feral water buffalo. The impact of browsing and grazing of mangroves by feral water buffalo was monitored. Feral water buffalo consumed mangroves, but not to the extent claimed by the Forest Department, prefering Avicennia alba, A. marina and A. officinalis. Their browsing behaviour was not linked to a height zone, and buffalo preferred the fresh leaves from previously undamaged branches. Under experimental and natural conditions, browsing induced compensatory regrowth in Avicennia. The carrying capacity of the mangrove appears to be sufficient to accumulate impact. There are both positive and negative impacts of livestock animals on forest ecosystems, and sociocultural consequences must be carefully assessed prior to enforcing a change in natural resource or environmental management. Before banning feral water buffalo from the mangrove, forest managers should confront their prejudices about the real impact of feral herbivores on these forests.

Non–timber forest product (NTFP) use is an integral part of the rural economy of Nepal, but little is known about NTFP collection and marketing dynamics. This study investigated the intensity of NTFP collection, the financial benefits gained through the collection of a representative species, and the contextual factors influencing NTFP collection and sale in 12 villages of the Baitadi district of far western Nepal. Thirty-nine per cent of the economically active population collected a total of 24 NTFPs from 23 species, which contributed 0–90% of the total household income. A marketing chain and financial analysis of Valeriana jatamansi (sugandhwal) revealed that various trading and marketing channels existed from the village to district-level NTFP outlets. The price received by the collector depended on the length of the market chain and the political context of the market. Political instability resulting from the Maoist insurgency reduced profits from sugandhwal sale by 23–25%. The number of NTFP-selling outlets accessed by collectors was the most important variable determining the number of NTFPs collected and the overall contribution of NTFPs to the household. Physical accessibility of the village did not impact the contribution of NTFPs to the household livelihood. The strength of NTFP-related institutions (both government and non-governmental organizations) decreased the total NTFP contribution to livelihoods because at the time of the study the villages were in transition to domestication of NTFPs. In the future, the contribution of domesticated NTFPs to households in villages with strong NTFP-related institutions should be much greater than at present. Increasing access to NTFP-selling outlets may be achieved through information dissemination, empowerment of collectors and establishment of linkages between collectors and traders. In general, domestication is an important strategy to ensure a continuous supply of NTFPs. Middlemen traders are seen as important stabilizers of prices as long as fair trading practices are followed. Monitoring of these villages over time will also provide important new quantitative information on the process of transition in rural villages changing from a forest-collection NTFP procurement strategy to a domestication procurement strategy.

Dry tropical forest communities are among the world's most threatened systems and urgent measures are required to protect and restore them in degraded landscapes. For planning conservation strategies, there is a need to determine the few essential measurable properties, such as number of species and basal area, that best describe the dry forest vegetation and its environment, and to document quantitative relationships among them. This paper examines the relationships between forest basal area and diversity components (number of species and evenness) for a disturbed dry tropical forest of northern India. Data were collected from five sites located in the Vindhyan dry tropical forest of India, selected on the basis of satellite images and field observations to represent the entire range of conditions in terms of canopy cover and disturbance regimes. These sites represented different communities in terms of species composition. The forest was poorer in species richness, and lower in stem density and basal area than wet forests of the tropics. Across sites (communities), the diversity components and tree density were positively related with total tree basal area. Considering basal area as a surrogate of biomass and net production, diversity is found to be positively associated with productivity. A positive relationship between basal area, tree density and species diversity may be an important characteristic of the dry forest, where recurring disturbance does not permit concentration of biomass or stems in only a few strong competitors. However, the relationships of basal area with density, alpha diversity and evenness remain statistically significant only when data from all sites, including the extremely disturbed one, are used in the analysis. In some sites there was a greater coefficient of variation (CV) of basal area than in others, attributed to patchy distribution of stems and resultant blanks. Therefore, to enhance the tree diversity of these forests, the variability in tree basal area must be reduced by regulating local disturbances. Conservation activities, particularly fuelwood plantations near human settlements, deferred grazing and canopy enrichment through multi-species plantations of nursery-raised or wild-collected seedlings of desirable species within the forest patches of low basal area, will be needed to attain restoration goals, but reforestation programmes will have to be made attractive to the forest-dwelling communities.

The sustainability of indigenous customary hunting and fishing in remote areas can be influenced by human factors operating at global as well as regional and local scales because of the hybrid nature and sectoral interactions of the local economic environment. The internationally significant population of dugongs (Dugong dugon or seacow) in Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea supports an important indigenous fishery. The economic, socio-cultural and environmental factors that influenced hunting activity in 1998 and 1999 by the members of the community of Mabuiag Island were investigated to inform the sustainable management of the fishery. The landed catch during the eight months March to October of 145 dugongs in 1998 and 170 dugongs in 1999 potentially provided the community with an average of 290 g of dugong meat per person per day. Fifty-seven per cent of adult males on the island participated in dugong hunting, but more than half the catch in each year was caught by only two hunters. The probability of at least one person from the community going dugong hunting in 1998 and 1999 was 0.59 ± 0.02 per day. This probability was influenced by local environmental factors, including the abundance of dugongs in the traditional hunting grounds (affected by wind speed, year, season and lunar day) and the size of the commercial crayfish catch (which is influenced by the global market price, as well as local conditions). Although dugong hunting remains a very important part of the islanders’ contemporary culture and customary economy, the capacity to hunt dugongs is facilitated by the ease with which some hunters move between the state, commercial and customary sectors of their local economy. The complexities of the economic, social and cultural environments need to be considered in planning for the sustainable harvesting of threatened species by remote indigenous communities.