Community knowledge of the status, threats and conservation issues affecting the dugong Dugong dugon was investigated in the Sulu Sea, Malaysia. Interviews with local fishermen were conducted in 12 villages from the tip of Tanjung Inaruntung to Jambongan Island, in northern Sabah, Malaysia. According to the respondents dugong numbers are low and sightings are rare. Dugongs have been sighted around Jambongan, Tigabu, Mandidarah and Malawali Islands. The apparent decline of the dugong in this area is possibly because of incidental entanglement in nets, and opportunistic hunting. Seagrasses are present and have economic importance to the community. The fishermen have difficulty in understanding issues of conservation in relation to dugongs. I recommend that conservation initiatives begin with dialogue and an education programme, followed by incentives for development of alternative livelihoods. Using community knowledge for conservation purposes may be the only option in data-deficient regions, especially where financial constraints are high and the need for management intervention for threatened species is urgent.

This study draws on the local ecological knowledge of 58 hunters from seven communes in the Ngoc Son Ngo Luong Nature Reserve (Hoa Binh province, North Vietnam) to examine the local status of 40 threatened vertebrates. The reserve forms part of a biodiversity-rich mountainous corridor. Respondents were shown photographs of the species and asked to rate their abundance on a scale of 0–3 (0, extinct; 3, very abundant) in two periods: pre-1975 (before Doi Moi) and in 2009. The results show that 39 species have lived in the area and five are now extinct (Delacour's langur Trachypithecus delacouri, northern white-cheeked crested gibbon Nomascus leucogenys, dhole Cuon alpinus, oriental small-clawed otter Aonyx cinereus, Indochinese tiger Panthera tigris corbetti) and the presence of another six is doubtful (Phayre's leaf-monkey Trachypithecus phayrei ssp. crepuscula, sun bear Helarctos malayanus, binturong Arctictis binturong, fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus, leopard Panthera pardus, wreathed hornbill Anorrhinus undulatus). The results show a general decline in numbers and abundance, with mammals declining fastest, especially carnivores and primates. The differences in abundance between species have narrowed since 1975, converging towards trends of general impoverishment at similar low abundances. The survey results were similar among communes and also concord with the findings of research in nearby areas. This study demonstrates the usefulness of local ecological knowledge for planning, decision-making and management of protected areas in the absence of historical records or financial resources for conducting intensive fieldwork in remote and little-known areas.

Interactions between seabirds and commercial fishing activities have been well documented but little information is available regarding the impacts of more traditional fishing practices on seabird populations. We interviewed fishermen, administered questionnaires, and made field-based observations to determine the extent to which artisanal fisheries interact with and affect seabirds in the fjords and channels of the Chonos archipelago in southern Chile. Our surveys indicated a positive perception of seabirds as useful indicators of marine productivity and in their role scavenging fish waste and discards associated with fishing operations. However, the surveys also revealed that fishermen routinely establish seasonal camps for collecting seabird eggs and adults for food or bait and introduce feral predators to seabird breeding colonies on islands. Understanding the traditional practices of fishermen is critical for the future of community-based conservation of the region's marine resources and biodiversity.

Some conservation finance strategies feature taxes on nature's benign, and arguably educational, uses. This applies to a recent proposal to extract payment from producers of nature films and also to past efforts to raise entrance fees to protected areas. We argue that, as they are currently formulated, it is misleading to label these proposals as payments for environmental service schemes, as they lack voluntary and conditional payments. Rather, they are a form of taxation. Such revenue-seeking measures may prove to be short-sighted. They will raise prices and curtail the demand for those environmental services that embody some element of education, thus reducing public exposure to nature. This could diminish public awareness, curb people's biophilia and devalue Nature's ‘existence values’. This drive for more conservation cash income in the short term could undermine a broad, long-term societal basis for conservation and its future financing.