Global biodiversity is at a heightened risk of extinction and we are losing species faster than at any other time. It is important to understand the threats that drive a species towards extinction in order to address those drivers. In this paper, we assess our knowledge of the threats faced by 24 Himalayan Galliformes species by undertaking a review of the threats reported in the published literature and the supporting evidence that the threat is having an impact on the species’ populations. Only 24 papers were deemed suitable to be included in the study. We found that biological resource use and agriculture and aquaculture are the predominant threats to the Galliformes in the Greater Himalaya but the evidence available in the studies is quite poor as only one paper quantified the impact on species. This study shows that major gaps exist in our understanding of threats to species, and it is imperative to fill those gaps if we want to prevent species from going extinct.

Conserving species and achieving the Convention on Biological Diversity's international conservation targets necessitates stopping extinctions, recovering depleted populations and maintaining viable populations. The contribution of ex situ management to species conservation has long been debated, and there is limited information on ex situ management activities available in a format that allows success to be assessed. We therefore gathered information from three sources to explore cases in which ex situ management was considered to have had a positive conservation impact for terrestrial vertebrate species. We (1) reviewed the published literature, (2) examined for which taxa ex situ management had contributed to the downlisting of species on the IUCN Red List and (3) surveyed a global network of ex situ management practitioners. We found that ex situ management has contributed to improvements in conservation status for a range of vertebrate species. Ex situ management was reported as contributing to the downlisting of 18 species on the IUCN Red List over a 10-year period. Across sources, the most common role of ex situ management was the provision of individuals to increase population numbers in situ. The strength of evidence for the impact of ex situ management varied within and among sources. Therefore, for the role of ex situ activities in conservation to be understood fully, and for such interventions to reach their potential, documentation of intended and actual benefits needs to be improved. Better reporting of ex situ activities would enable improved learning, facilitating better targeting of ex situ activities to global species conservation goals.

Large ground-dwelling Neotropical gamebirds are highly threatened by habitat loss and hunting, but conservationists rarely attempt to distinguish between these two threats in the management of populations. We used three different types of species records to determine the status (i.e. persistence level) of the Endangered red-billed curassow Crax blumenbachii in 14 forest remnants in north-east Brazil, as either persistent, precarious or extirpated. We related these persistence levels to variables measured in a 2-km buffer radius, including variables associated with habitat quality (proportion of forest cover, length of rivers, patch density, distance from rivers) and hunting pressure (proportion of cacao agroforests and farmlands, length of roads, total area occupied by settlements, distance from roads and from settlements). Curassows were more persistent in forest patches located (1) more distant from settlements, (2) in landscapes with few settlements, (3) in landscapes with a high incidence of roads, (4) in a mosaic with a high proportion of forest, shaded cacao agroforest and farmland, and (5) more distant from other forest patches. Hunting pressure potentially exerts more influence on persistence than habitat quality: (1) hunting pressure submodels had a higher explanatory power than habitat quality submodels, (2) final models comprised four hunting pressure variables but only two habitat quality variables, and (3) hunting pressure variables appeared in all models whereas habitat quality variables appeared in only one final model. If hunting pressure is driving declines in curassows, regions with low human presence and a high proportion of forest cover are recommended for establishing new reserves.

Some of the species that are believed to have the highest probability of extinction are also amongst the most poorly known, and this makes it extremely difficult to decide how to spend scarce resources. Assessments of conservation status made on the basis of loss or degradation of habitat and lack of records may provide compelling indications of a decline in geographical range and population size, but they do not help identify where conservation action might be best targeted. Methods for assessing the probability of extinction and for modelling species’ distributions exist, but their data requirements often exceed the information that is available for some of the most urgent conservation cases. Here we use all available information (localities, expert information, climate and landcover) about a high-priority Vietnamese bird species (Edwards's pheasant Lophura edwardsi) to assess objectively the probability of its persistence, and where surveys or other conservation action should be targeted. It is clear that the species is on the threshold of extinction and there is an urgent need to survey Bach Ma National Park (including the extension) and to consider surveying Ke Go Nature Reserve. This approach has potential to help identify where conservation action should be targeted for other Critically Endangered species for which there is an extreme scarcity of information.

The Critically Endangered Himalayan Quail Ophrysia superciliosa has not been reliably recorded since 1876. Recent searches of historical sites have failed to detect the species, but we estimate an extinction year of 2023 giving us reason to believe that the species may still be extant. Species distribution models can act as a guide for survey efforts, but the current land cover in the historical specimen record locations is unlikely to reflect Himalayan Quail habitat preferences due to extensive modifications. Thus, we investigate the use of two proxy species: Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallechi and Himalayan Monal Lophophorus impejanus that taken together are thought to have macro-habitat requirements that encapsulate those of the Himalayan Quail. After modelling climate and topography space for the Himalayan Quail and these proxy species we find the models for the proxy species have moderate overlap with that of the Himalayan Quail. Models improved with the incorporation of land cover data and when these were overlaid with the Himalayan Quail climate model, we were able to identify suitable areas to target surveys. Using a measure of search effort from recent observations of other galliformes, we identify 923 km2 of suitable habitat surrounding Mussoorie in Northern India that requires further surveys. We conclude with a list of five priority survey sites as a starting point.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assist in the development of a health technology assessment (HTA) program for the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Methods: Mentoring of an initial HTA program in Kazakhstan was provided by the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH) by means of a partnership with the Kazakhstan MOH. HTA materials, courses, and one-on-one support for the preparation of a series of initial HTA reports by MOH HTA staff were provided by a seven-member CSIH team over a 2.5-year project.

Results: Guidance documents on HTA and institutional strengthening were prepared in response to an extensive set of deliverables developed by the MOH and the World Bank. Introductory and train-the-trainer workshops in HTA and economic evaluation were provided for MOH staff members, experts from Kazakhstan research institutes and physicians. Five short HTA reports were successfully developed by staff in the Ministry's HTA Unit with assistance from the CSIH team. Challenges that may be relevant to other emerging HTA programs included lack of familiarity with some essential underlying concepts, organization culture, and limited time for MOH staff to do HTA work.

Conclusions: The project helped to define the need for HTA and mentored MOH staff in taking the first steps to establish a program to support health policy decision making in Kazakhstan. This experience offers practical lessons for other emerging HTA programs, although these should be tailored to the specific context.

Provisioning ecosystem services include wild products that form an integral part of rural economies. Using quantitative and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 50 households in a Tibetan community in Western Sichuan, China, we explored the relationships of households with three diverse provisioning services on the Eastern Tibetan plateau: firewood, medicinal caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis and matsutake mushrooms Tricholoma matsutake. We examined (1) how they contribute to wealth and livelihoods, (2) what determines household access, and (3) how local use has changed over time. All households were reliant on firewood, and levels extracted were explained only by household size. A more complex set of factors explained access to caterpillar fungus: younger, larger, pastoralist households with lower dependency ratios tended to collect more, and education and household size explained variation in price gained for the product. Caterpillar fungus extraction has dramatically increased over the last 20 years, providing up to 72% of household income, but poorer households have received significantly less of their income from the fungus. Matsutake contributed much less to livelihoods because of its relatively low price. The results show a contrast between subsistence and market-driven products: access to the latter is affected by competition and power relationships. Overall access to provisioning services was related to facets of wealth, especially human capital. The study contributes a household level analysis of the diverse provisioning value of an under-researched part of the world, highlighting the heterogeneity and dynamism of the relationships of households with ecosystem services.

This essay is an examination that, primarily comparativist in its approach, links publication materials from the temperance and Prohibition periods with the Big Book to show how AA's narrative antidotes to the traumas of modernity (sited in alcohol abuse) were as much the product of premodernist and turn-of-the-century hysteria as they were an attempt to write a new chapter in America's relationship with alcohol based on contemporary medical and social research.

There were 2,541 nature reserves accounting for c. 15% of China's land territory by 2009. As nature reserves hold the majority of the country's wildlife they play a fundamental role in protecting the country's biodiversity. National policies relevant to nature reserves have had a positive effect on biodiversity although these policies are now facing increasing challenges. We reviewed the development of relevant policy and legislation and identify and assess challenges, using a questionnaire survey and personal interviews. The main challenges identified and assessed included lack of harmonization between government departments, between nature reserves and other protected area designations, and between nature reserves and local communities. In addition, recent transfers of responsibilities between government entities, potential impacts of forest tenure reforms, and issues surrounding natural resource use and ecotourism were identified. These obstacles could undermine the achievements of biodiversity conservation in China if they are not addressed soon. Given these findings, we make recommendations to guide future policy formulation in relation to nature reserve management and development.