Part V Subject Matter, Ch.32 Wildlife

This chapter details the themes and principles that shape international wildlife law. International wildlife law shares attributes with other fields of international environmental law, but also has certain particular attributes. In particular, the degree to which treaties affecting wildlife conservation impose strict or flexible obligations on their member states is often a product of a variety of factors, for example: how specific the scope of the treaty is, whether the treaty primarily focuses on individual species or on ecosystem and habitat protection, and whether the treaty targets primarily domestic or primarily international activities or species. The chapter then discusses certain international regimes that focus on particular species, before considering examples of ecosystem-based regimes and regimes with a more regional focus. It also looks at the most significant issues facing global wildlife conservation.

The threatened Rufous Limestone Babbler Gypsophila calcicola—not a quarry species, but a “quarried species”

Summary Limestone karst habitats are threatened globally by quarrying for production of concrete and cement. A significant area of limestone karst shared among the provinces of Saraburi, Lopburi and Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand encompasses the entire global range of a threatened bird taxon, the Rufous Limestone Babbler Gypsophila calcicola. We estimate that 10% of the suitable habitat for this species had already been lost to quarrying by 2020, and the extension of already proposed concessions could increase this to one-quarter, with the total area impacted by proposed future quarrying as great as 273 km2, or one and a half times greater than the entire area thought to support the species, within a few years. Only 2.66 km2 (1.4% of the species’ range) has received formal habitat protection as national park. We propose further surveys of the babbler be incorporated as part of a wider biotic survey of the Saraburi Group Limestones, leading to the development of an integrated management and zoning plan that takes account of the distributional knowledge of other threatened endemic taxa of this region.

Habitat Protection Indexes - new monitoring measures for the conservation of coastal and marine habitats

A worldwide call to implement habitat protection aims to halt biodiversity loss. To monitor the extent of coastal and marine habitats within protected areas (PAs) in a standardized, open source, and reproducible way, we constructed the Local and the Global Habitat Protection Indexes (LHPI and GHPI, respectively). The LHPI pinpoints the jurisdictions with the greatest opportunity to expand their own PAs, while the GHPI showcases which jurisdictions contribute the most in area to the protection of these habitats globally. Jurisdictions were evaluated to understand which have the highest opportunity to contribute globally to the protection of habitats by meeting a target of 30% coverage of PAs with Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) having the greatest opportunity to do so. While we focus on marine and coastal habitats, our workflow can be extended to terrestrial and freshwater habitats. These indexes are useful to monitor aspects of Sustainable Development Goal 14 and the emerging post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, to understand the current status of international cooperation on coastal and marine habitats conservation.

Conserving an Endangered Canid: Assessing Distribution, Habitat Protection, and Connectivity for the Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in Bhutan

Most canids face population declines and range contractions worldwide. Although the dhole (Cuon alpinus) is widely distributed across 10 countries in South and Southeast Asia, limited studies exist on this species. Despite its globally “Endangered” status and ecological role as an apex predator, assessments on its distribution are limited to a few landscapes and countries. This explains the lack of a dhole-specific species conservation plan in most range countries, including Bhutan where no current population estimate exists. The species has also recovered from a country-wide poisoning campaign in the 1970s and 80s. In this study, we determine the dhole's distribution pattern and assess the protection and connectivity of dhole habitat in Bhutan. We anticipated dholes to be extant within their habitat well-represented in protected areas (PAs) and biological corridors (BCs). We used 721 georeferenced dhole occurrence records and eight environmental variables in MaxEnt software to model potential dhole distribution and habitat suitability. The model output was overlaid on the spatial layers of PAs and BCs to assess habitat protection and connectivity. As anticipated, we found the dhole widely distributed in all districts, PAs, and BCs in Bhutan. Dholes were recorded at the highest elevation range limit of 4,980 m above sea level, which overlapped with the “Vulnerable” snow leopard (Panthera uncia). Our model identified 72% (27,634 km2) of the country as suitable areas for dholes, of which, 31% (11,899 km2) was highly suitable and 41% (15,735 km2) was moderately suitable. Contrary to our expectation, PAs and BCs encompassed only 29% (8,046 km2) and 12% (3,185 km2) of suitable areas for dholes, respectively. A vast majority of the areas we deemed suitable for dholes currently remain unprotected, thus making dholes more vulnerable to human persecution and local extermination. We recommend adjusting PA boundaries to fully encompass suitable dhole habitat, and also advocate improved livestock husbandry to reduce dhole related livestock predation and minimize conflict, thereby ensuring its long-term survival in Bhutan.

Vacant rooms? The secondary use of stem-galls by ants in Eremanthus erythropappus (Asteraceae)

Galls are atypical proliferations of plant tissue induced by highly specialized herbivores, such as some insect groups. Although gall inducers create these structures for their own purpose (food, habitat, protection against natural enemies, and harsh weather), many other organisms can use galls as secondary inhabitants. The creation of new and better habitats with ameliorated micro-environmental conditions allows for the use of many other organisms, and as such, some galling insects are considered "micro" ecosystem engineers. This study characterized the occurrence of ants in microhabitats created by a gall-inducing cecidomyiidae associated with Eremanthus erythropappus (DC.) Mac. Leish (Asteraceae). It was 153 individuals of ants belonging to three species in 19 galls (9.5%) from the 200 galls sampled. The most common ant species found was Myrmelachista gallicola Mayr (Formicinae), including a single queen and larvae individuals. Galls occupied by these ants were 11.5% larger compared to unoccupied galls (gall diameter: occupied galls - 10.00 ± 2.09 mm; unoccupied galls - 8.97 ± 1.90 mm). Abandoned galls might promote the diversity of other organisms, especially for opportunistic dwellers such as ants.