The proper valuation of non-market environmental commodities such as wildlife viewing has significant policy implications. We implemented the Travel Cost Method (TCM) to estimate the value of viewing threatened Eurasian griffon vulture Gyps fulvus by the public at Gamla Nature Reserve, northern Israel. We used the zonal TCM, where concentric zones were defined around the site such that the cost of travel from all points in a given zone was approximately constant. We generated a visit-distance function and used it, based on 143 questionnaires, to derive the demand function for the site from which a monetary value could be estimated. The potential annual benefit of Gamla was estimated to be NIS 5.5–6.0 million (USD 1.1–1.2 million). The annual economic value of Gamla to the visiting public is approximately five times higher than the current revenue, and 85% of the visitors to Gamla came to view vultures. This information can be used to estimate the benefits of further investment in Gamla Nature Reserve, to price this site according to demand if there are budget limits, and in particular to invest in the protection of vultures and other threatened species.

Hunting for subsistence and trade constitute a major threat to wildlife populations within and outside protected areas in Myanmar. We examined hunting patterns in a forested landscape adjoining the Hkakaborazi National Park in north Myanmar with the aim of generating recommendations to manage hunting. The results described here focus on two issues: the significance of proximity to settlements and markets for prey abundance, and the influence of relative abundance and intrinsic preference on prey offtake. We used strip transect and camera trap surveys to generate relative abundance indices and overall encounter/capture rates for commonly hunted species at four sites that differed in their proximity to settlements and large trading towns. Questionnaires were used to obtain meal records and information on hunting. Encounter and capture rates for hunted species appear to be inversely related to proximity to villages as well as to large, commercial towns. Hunting is indiscriminate, with offtake determined largely by relative abundance rather than intrinsic preference or legislation. Specific management and policy recommendations include the need to monitor the impacts of hunting on vulnerable species, the demarcation of no-take areas, and modification of the legal framework for wildlife conservation.

Despite a ≥75% reduction in the geographic range of Mongolian gazelles Procapra gutturosa over the past 50 years, the species is still recognized as the most numerous large grassland herbivore in Asia. Its actual population size, however, is still disputed, and we therefore estimated its numbers in an 80,000 km2 area in the eastern steppe of Mongolia by driving long-distance (1,200–1,400 km) transect surveys during spring and autumn 2000–2002. Quantitative estimates of gazelle numbers are essential for understanding the causes of changes in the population, and thus devising conservation strategies to assure its long-term viability. Observed herds ranged in size from 1–4,000; among surveys, median herd sizes varied from 14–42. Density estimates varied from 10.7 gazelles km−2 in spring to 11.5 gazelles km−2 in autumn, with total population estimates of 803,820 (483,790–1,330,100 95% confidence interval) and 870,625 (499,432–1,491,278 95% confidence interval), respectively. Confidence limits were wide, and to obtain a coefficient of variation of 20%, transect lengths would need to be extended three- to four-fold. Until more efficient means for conducting population surveys can be implemented, driving long-distance transects, combined with distance analysis, seem to provide the best quantitative estimate of Mongolian gazelle populations.

A 24-year set of data from monitoring of a nesting beach at Bald Head Island, North Carolina, USA, was analysed in parallel with limited data from nearby rookeries to investigate trends in loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta nesting numbers. There was no statistical evidence of an increasing or decreasing trend in numbers of clutches laid per year, although a significant decrease in the number of turtles nesting and number of clutches laid per year was found from 1991. Remigrating turtles were larger and had larger annual clutch frequencies than neophyte turtles. Annual levels of nesting at beaches within the Cape Fear area were significantly correlated. The stable trend in number of clutches laid across more than two decades is discussed in relation to other factors affecting marine turtles in North American waters.

Irrawaddy dolphins Orcaella brevirostiris are found in coastal waters from the Bay of Bengal east to Palawan, Philippines and south to northern Australia. They also occur in three large tropical river systems in South-east Asia: the Mekong, Mahakam and Ayeyarwady. In March and May 1997 approximately 350 km of riverine habitat in parts of north-east Cambodia were surveyed, discussions took place with local people, and reported dry season dolphin habitat was mapped. Our objectives were to investigate the status, habitat and distribution of dolphins in north-east Cambodia and identify threats to the continued survival of dolphins in the Mekong River Basin. Nine groups of dolphins were observed in the Mekong River. A ‘best’ estimate of 40 animals were seen. Irrawaddy dolphins were generally confined to sections of the river with water levels >8–10 m during the dry season. It appears that the Mekong River dolphin population is rapidly declining. In 1997 there were probably no more than 100¨C150 dolphins left in north-east Cambodia (including southern Laos) and no more than 200 within the entire Mekong River Basin, although these numbers remain tentative. Anthropogenic mortality is high, albeit largely unintentional, and there is considerable risk that the dolphin population will become locally extinct in the Mekong River in the near future. The establishment of community-managed deep water Fish Conservation Zones with government support may represent the best opportunity for reducing dry season dolphin mortality from large-meshed gillnet entanglement. Efforts to establish protected areas for dolphins are currently underway.

Madagascar is a critical priority for international conservation efforts, based on almost unparalleled levels of endemism, species diversity, and human threat. Field research conducted over the past two decades has greatly expanded knowledge of the island's biota, making it difficult for any single research team to maintain up to date estimates of biodiversity and endemism across taxonomic groups. The recent publication of The Natural History of Madagascar, a synthesis by nearly 300 contributors from a wide range of disciplines, provides the means to update these estimates. Here, we summarize biodiversity information presented in the volume by providing revised estimates of species richness, endemism, and state of knowledge of a wide variety of taxonomic groups occurring on the island.

Major threats to the Vulnerable greater spotted eagle Aquila clanga are habitat loss and hybridization with the lesser spotted eagle Aquila pomarina, but no quantitative studies have been carried out to understand these processes. In Estonia the known remaining A. clanga population comprises only five pure and nine mixed pairs. We describe their habitat at the scale of both the home range and nest site, and use logistic regression models for comparisons with random forest plots and nest sites of A. pomarina. The territories of A. clanga were characteristically near waterbodies, where the species' nesting preference was for dense forest with a pronounced old-growth structure. Habitats of the two species were distinct at both spatial scales. Open natural landscapes were favoured by A. clanga but avoided by A. pomarina. Within its home range A. clanga occupied old wet stands containing black alder, birch and pine, whereas A. pomarina preferred old spruce stands. Multivariate models, which summarized these differences between the two species, did not reveal distinct habitat features of mixed pairs compared with A. clanga pairs. Hence, interbreeding pairs may occupy previous A. clanga territories, and these deserve similar protection to those currently inhabited by A. clanga pairs.

There is a huge annual trade in Himalayan medicinal plants but only limited information on their sustainable use and conservation. The aim of this paper is to investigate if sustainable commercial medicinal plant management is promoted by forest policy formation and implementation in Nepal. Data was obtained through 175 semi-structured interviews with persons from five stakeholder groups involved in commercial alpine medicinal plant exploitation and conservation in Nepal: harvesters, traders, District Forest Office staff, staff at departments and ministerial level of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, and international and local NGOs and donors. The emphasis was on recording respondents' views on the official mechanisms regulating harvest of alpine commercial medicinal plants. It was found that current approaches to non-timber forest policy formation and implementation need to be revised if objectives of conservation and sustainable management are to be achieved. Identified problems include exclusion of harvesters from the policy formation process and widespread agreement among respondents that current collection permits and bans do not strongly affect resource utilization.

Few viable populations of western black crested gibbon Nomascus concolor remain in southern China and northern Indochina, where the species is endemic. We conducted village surveys in the Nam Ha National Protected Area in Luang Namtha Province, Lao PDR to assess presence and status of gibbon populations. Forest surveys used to verify gibbon presence and species identification confirmed village reports of gibbon populations in three locations, and sonogram analysis identified all as N. concolor. These represent an expansion in the known distribution of western black crested gibbon in Lao PDR and the only known populations to occur inside the national protected area system. Significantly longer times since gibbons were last reported were associated with villages with <50% forest cover and high human populations. Although village taboos regarding gibbon hunting were reported, hunting and trade were nevertheless identified as factors contributing to gibbon decline. Results indicated that increased community-based management, public education and enforcement are needed to maintain N. concolor populations and their habitat in Lao PDR.

Data were collected on the species richness and abundance of fishes at two sites in the Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. Thirty species were identified out of a total of 1,180 fish caught. Claria buthupogon and Synodontis nigriventris (respectively 4.7 and 3.5 catches per net-night) were the most abundant species. Twenty-six other fish species were reported from interviews with local people. Conservation concerns are the burning of breeding sites, use of chemicals for fishing, and the newly introduced practice of dynamite fishing. The effects of these practices in the Park have yet to be documented, but it is likely that these fishing techniques are having negative effects on the fish fauna and urgent action is required to curb such activities, at least within the Park.

Bird-keeping is an extremely popular pastime in Indonesia, where there is a thriving internal market in both wild-caught and captive-bred birds. However, little is known about whether the scale of bird-keeping represents a genuine conservation threat to native populations. Here we present the results of the largest ever survey of bird-keeping among households in Indonesia's five major cities. Birds were found to be urban Indonesia's most popular pet (kept by 21.8% of survey households) and we conservatively estimate that as many as 2.6 million birds are kept in the five cities sampled. Of bird-keeping households, 78.5% kept domestic species and/or commercially bred species and 60.2% kept wild-caught birds that we classified into three conservation categories: native songbirds, native parrots and imported songbirds. Compared to non-bird owners, households keeping wild-caught birds in all three conservation categories were richer and better educated, whereas households owning commercially-bred species were richer but not better educated and households keeping domestic species did not differ in educational or socio-economic status. We conclude that bird-keeping in Indonesia is at a scale that warrants a conservation intervention and that promoting commercially-bred alternatives may be an effective and popular solution.

Indonesia's only freshwater dolphin is the facultative Irrawaddy river dolphin Orcaella brevirostris in the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan, Borneo. To clarify the status of this Critically Endangered subpopulation we carried out a series of surveys from early 1999 until mid 2002 on abundance, habitat use, population dynamics and threats. Our estimates of total population size were 33–55 dolphins (95% confidence limits 31–76) based on direct counts, strip-transect analysis, and Petersen and Jolly-Seber mark-recapture analyses of photo-identified individuals. Mean minimum annual birth and mortality rates were similar, i.e. 13.6 and 11.4%, and no changes in abundance >8% were detected over 2.5 years. Dolphins died mainly from entanglement in gill-nets (73% of deaths). The dolphins' main habitat includes confluence areas between the main river and tributaries or lakes. Dolphins make intensive daily use of these confluences, moving up and downstream over an average length of 10 km of river and within a 1.1 km2 area. These areas are also important fishing grounds and subject to intensive motorized boat traffic. Sixty-four percent of deaths (1995–2001) with known location (n = 36) occurred in these areas. Interviews with local residents revealed a generally positive attitude towards the establishment of protected areas for this subpopulation. Because of the dolphins' dependence on areas that are also used intensively by people, primary conservation strategies should be to increase local awareness and introduce alternative fishing techniques.

As most of the pristine forests of South-east Asia have been lost, the ability of its animal species to coexist with humans becomes increasingly important. Dian's tarsier Tarsius dianae, one of the smallest primates, lives in forests of central Sulawesi, Indonesia that are experiencing a dramatic increase in degradation by humans. To evaluate the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on tarsiers we used a comprehensive approach to estimate habitat suitability for these nocturnal insecthunters. On four study plots along a gradient of human land-use we determined population densities, home range sizes, nightly path lengths and group sizes of T. dianae. In total we captured 71 individuals and radio-tracked 30 of these. In more undisturbed sites, population densities were high and travel distances small. We found the smallest home ranges in slightly disturbed forest. In a heavily disturbed plantation densities were low, and ranges and nightly path lengths were large. These results show that undisturbed and slightly degraded forests are the most suitable tarsier habitats, and that focusing on different population parameters could lead to differing conclusions about the suitability of particular habitats.

We present the first assessment of the endemic vascular flora of Ascension Island for over 20 years. Combining new with existing data the following IUCN Red List categorizations are proposed: Anogramma ascensionis, Dryopteris ascensionis, Oldenlandia adscensionis and Sporobolus durus (Extinct); Pteris adscensionis and Euphorbia origanoides (Critically Endangered); Sporobolus caespitosus (Vulnerable); Asplenium ascensionis, Marattia purpurascens and Xiphopteris ascensionensis (Near Threatened). The primary cause of the four presumed extinctions appears to be introductions of exotic species and subsequent alteration of ecological conditions. M. purpurascens, A. ascensionis, and X. ascensionensis appear to be under no immediate threat of extinction, although long-term survival is uncertain. E. origanoides, P. adscensionis, and S. caespitosus require active conservation measures to ensure their survival.

We describe improvements to monitoring/indexing methodology for predators of marine turtle nests on the east coast of Florida, and the resulting marine turtle conservation implications from integrating the methodology into predator management. A strip transect from dune line to the shore improved an already successful design for monitoring raccoons, and was also sensitive for armadillos. The data were integrated into predator management operations to effectively and efficiently remove the species responsible for turtle nest predation. Tracking plot data also served to validate predator patterns of behavior relative to turtle nesting and improve prospects for preventive predator management strategies. Perhaps the most important finding is that predation at a beach historically suffering nearly complete losses (95%) of marine turtle nests had nest predation reduced to nominal levels (9.4%). For 2002 this predation level represents an estimated 69,000 additional hatchling turtles produced over historical predation rates, and 16,700 additional hatchlings over the previous lowest predation rate.

Logging history and population structure of the dry forest tree species Guaiacum coulteri are described for Oaxaca, Mexico. We propose that the species has been adversely affected by selective logging, with large individuals now being uncommon. We argue that the species is likely to have undergone similar changes elsewhere in its range and, following IUCN guidelines, propose that it is categorized as Endangered. Maintenance of G. coulteri as an understorey shrub may be possible given current land use practices in the area but recovery of populations of large individuals may be more difficult. Suggestions for future research are made.

We translocated four Amur tigers Panthera tigris altaica captured after killing domestic animals or attacking people; two were released immediately and two following 162 and 388 days rehabilitation. All were radio-collared and released 150–350 km from their capture site. Two translocations were successful: the tigers caused no conflicts with people, killed wild prey, and survived their first winter, although one was poached after 1.1 year and one slipped its collar after surviving 10 months. In the two translocations that were unsuccessful, both tigers moved to areas of high human activity and were killed by people. At least in some cases, translocation appears to be a viable alternative to killing or removing problem tigers from the wild.

In the Cook Islands the population of Pteropus tonganus tonganus is thought to be declining, but a lack of knowledge of its status, feeding and roosting requirements has precluded effective conservation plans. We surveyed P. t. tonganus on the Cook Islands through observations, counts and interviews with local residents. We estimated the population to be c. 1,730 on Rarotonga and 78 on Mangaia. A lack of suitable habitat on Mangaia was the most important factor affecting abundance. Overhunting appears to have reduced the populations on both islands. All roost sites were found in undisturbed forest on steep slopes and ridges in the inner and most inaccessible parts of the islands, with roost preference determined by the relative safety from humans rather than food availability. The residents of the Cook Islands seem generally unaware of the serious threat the bats face, with little thought for sustainable hunting. For successful conservation it will be important to alter people's negative perception of these mammals, promoting the value of the bats both ecologically and as a potential source of income from tourists. Habitat protection and enhancement, particularly on Mangaia, will be essential.

Nature conservation can often be costly and the resources available are often less than are required. Resource allocations and expenditures for nature conservation have an opportunity cost in terms of foregone projects, but are rarely subjected to as much scrutiny as other public activities. Failure to apply economic tools to nature conservation decision making can result in errors in project selection, wasted use of scarce resources, and lower levels of conservation than it is possible to achieve from the resources available. In some instances where economics has been proposed for use in nature conservation research, the methodologies applied provide information that is of limited usefulness to decision makers. Non-market valuation has limited potential to help in nature conservation decision making, is costly to complete and should be supplanted by more useful techniques that focus on the cost and the payoff from nature conservation actions. In contrast, Cost Effectiveness Analysis and Cost Utility Analysis are practical tools that can provide valuable information for conservation decision makers and improve conservation achievement.

The diet and habitat associations of bush dogs Speothos venaticus, categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, are virtually unknown in the wild. In eastern Paraguay, bush dogs occur in the Reserva Natural del Bosque Mbaracayú. The Reserve contains one of the largest remaining fragments of the Interior Atlantic Forest in Paraguay as well as cerrado and grassland habitats. We analysed bush dog faeces to determine their diet. Bush dogs in the Reserve mostly ate vertebrates. Although small mammals (marsupials and rodents) were the most numerically dominant foods, agoutis Dasyprocta azarae and pacas Cuniculus paca represented 90.5% of biomass consumed. Cecropia fruit was also present in the diet. This is the first documentation of fruit consumption by bush dogs. Signs of bush dogs were detected in all habitats, with the greatest proportion in high forest.