How much Fear? Exploring the Role of Integral Emotions on Stated Preferences for Wildlife Conservation

Scientific evidence suggests that emotions affect actual human decision-making, particularly in highly emotionally situations such as human-wildlife interactions. In this study we assess the role of fear on preferences for wildlife conservation, using a discrete choice experiment. The sample was split into two treatment groups and a control. In the treatment groups the emotion of fear towards wildlife was manipulated using two different pictures of a wolf, one fearful and one reassuring, which were presented to respondents during the experiment. Results were different for the two treatments. The assurance treatment lead to higher preferences and willingness to pay for the wolf, compared to the fear treatment and the control, for several population sizes. On the other hand, the impact of the fear treatment was lower than expected and only significant for large populations of wolves, in excess of 50 specimen. Overall, the study suggests that emotional choices may represent a source of concern for the assessment of stable preferences. The impact of emotional choices is likely to be greater in situations where a wildlife-related topic is highly emphasized, positively or negatively, by social networks, mass media, and opinion leaders. When stated preferences towards wildlife are affected by the emotional state of fear due to contextual external stimuli, welfare analysis does not reflect stable individual preferences and may lead to sub-optimal conservation policies. Therefore, while more research is recommended for a more accurate assessment, it is advised to control the decision context during surveys for potential emotional choices.

Social Repercussion of Translocating a Jaguar in Brazil

The translocation of “problem-animals” is a common non-lethal strategy to deal with human-wildlife conflict. While processes of wildlife translocation have been widely documented, little is known about the social repercussions that take place once the capture and the return of a problem-animal to its natural habitat fail and it has to be permanently placed in captivity. We investigated how the public, an important stakeholder in wildlife conservation, perceived the translocation of a female jaguar to a wildlife captivity center. The objectives were to (1) assess the public's perceptions (e.g., attitudes, emotions, awareness) toward the jaguar and its translocation process, and (2) how these psychological constructs are related. We used the social media profiles of the three institutions involved in the process (one responsible for the jaguar rescues, one that supported its recovery, and the one responsible for the jaguar's final destination) and analyzed the comments left by their followers on posts related to the jaguar and the translocation itself during 25 days. A total of 287 comments were analyzed through coding, a categorizing strategy of qualitative analysis; 33 codes were identified. Results showed high admiration for the work done, positive attitudes and emotions, and concern toward the animal. Lack of awareness about the translocation process was high, with comments of curiosity toward the situation being one of the most commonly found. To a lesser extent, people felt sad for the jaguar not being able to return to the wild and criticized the need for translocation. Admiration for the work had a strong relation with gratitude and broader positive perceptions toward the jaguar's story. Criticism related to concern, which was also related to a need for more information and curiosity. Our findings suggest that the public who engaged with those institutions through their Instagram accounts were grateful for seeing the jaguar safe, but were not aware of the complexity of the operation nor about the nature of the conflict with farmers. The public can either reinforce a particular action or jeopardize an entire operation, depending on their perceptions of the matter. In the case of this jaguar, the public held a positive view; however, we acknowledge the limitations of our sample and recommend further analyses of social repercussions among people who are not followers of these organizations. Furthermore, we recommend engaging other stakeholders to fully understand the human dimensions of translocating this jaguar. Finally, for social acceptance, we highlight the importance of transparency and reliability of the organizations operating the translocation.

A Review of Human-Elephant Ecological Relations in the Malay Peninsula: Adaptations for Coexistence

Understanding the relationship between humans and elephants is of particular interest for reducing conflict and encouraging coexistence. This paper reviews the ecological relationship between humans and Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the rainforests of the Malay Peninsula, examining the extent of differentiation of spatio-temporal and trophic niches. We highlight the strategies that people and elephants use to partition an overlapping fundamental niche. When elephants are present, forest-dwelling people often build above-the-ground shelters; and when people are present, elephants avoid open areas during the day. People are able to access several foods that are out of reach of elephants or inedible; for example, people use water to leach poisons from tubers of wild yams, use blowpipes to kill arboreal game, and climb trees to access honey. We discuss how the transition to agriculture affected the human–elephant relationship by increasing the potential for competition. We conclude that the traditional foraging cultures of the Malay Peninsula are compatible with wildlife conservation.

Community-Based Tourism and Local People's Perceptions Towards Conservation

Uganda is among the most bio-diverse countries and a competitive wildlife-based tourism destination in the world. Community-based tourism approach has been adopted in the country's conservation areas as a strategy to ensure that local communities benefit and support wildlife conservation. This chapter analyses local communities' perceptions of conservation and the benefits they get from tourism in Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area. The study reveals that local communities were concerned about loss of protected resources and support their conservation irrespective of the benefits they get from tourism in the conservation area. There is need to design conservation programmes that focus on local community-conservation-benefits nexus which take into consideration the perceived conservation values, strategies for benefit sharing and incorporation of indigenous knowledge systems.

KONSERVASI HUTAN PADA JURNAL BIOLOGI INDONESIA PERIODE 2010-2020: SEBUAH STUDI BIBLIOMETRIK

A bibliometric analysis was carried out on the Indonesian Biology Journal for the period 2010 – 2020, with the aim of knowing 1) the distribution of keywords to see the description of the research published in the Indonesian Biology Journal 2010-2020; 2) article classification; 3) distribution of articles by year; 4) distribution of articles by issue number; 5) authorship pattern; 6) the most prolific writer; 7) affiliations of authors who contribute to the Indonesian Biology Journal; 8) the type of document used as a reference in the Indonesian Biology Journal 2010-2020. The bibliometric method was used, and the data was taken from the Indonesian Biology Journal from 2010 to 2020, which was downloaded via the address https://e-journal.biologi.lipi.go.id/index.php/jurnal_biologi_indonesia. Furthermore, the analysis of the distribution of articles based on keywords, distribution of class numbers, distribution of articles by year, distribution of articles by number of publications, pattern of authorship, most productive authors, pattern of authorship affiliation was carried out. Based on the results and discussion, it can be concluded that during 2010-2020, 315 article titles have been published and there are 1,343 keywords. Of the 50 most keywords, the keyword Biodiversity often appears 21 times (1.56%) then Genetic variation and Wildlife conservation each 20 times (1.48%), then Animal population 18 times (1.34 %), followed by Plant conservation 17 times (1.19%) and Animal conservation 16 times (1.19%). Next is Feeds and Plant growth substances each with 15 (1.11%), then In vitro culture and Plant diversity each with 14 (1.04%). Next, Vegetation is 13 (0.90%), followed by Habitat conservation and Plant species, each with 11 (0.82%). On the order of 50 keywords Drought resistance, with a total of 4 (0.29%). The highest class is class 635 with a frequency of 35 (11.11%). Articles written by a single author (71 titles; 22.54%) and articles written by collaboration (244 titles; 77.46%). the least number of articles published is in 2020, which is 1 article title (3,17). For issue number 1 starting from volume 6 to volume 16, 164 article titles have been published (52.06%). As for number 2 with the same volume, there were 151 article titles (47.94%). The most prolific writer is Hellen Kurniati with 13 writings, followed by Wartika Rosa Farida with 12 writings and then Witjaksono with 11 writings. Then Andri Permata Sari, Niken Tunjung Murti Pratiwi, NLP. Indi Dharmayanti, Tri Muji Ermayanti with 10 each, followed by Didik Widyatmoko and Risa Indriani with 9 each, Atit Kanti and Yopi with 7 each and Dwi Astuti, Eko Sulistyadi, Ibnu Maryanto, Inna Puspa Ayu each. 6 posts. LIPI is the first institution that contributes the most articles, with a frequency of 260 times. It is known that 7,354 document titles are used as references and the journal is in the first order of cited documents, with 4,591 titles (62.42%).

Fauna diversity in the southern part of the Kon Ka Kinh National Park, Gia Lai province

Kon Ka Kinh National Park (KKK NP) is a priority zone for biodiversity protection in Vietnam as well as ASEAN. In order to survey the current fauna species diversity in the southern part of the KKK NP, we conducted camera trapping surveys in 2017, 2018, and 2019. 28 infrared camera traps were set up on elevations between 1041 to 1497 meters. In total, there were 360 days of survey using camera trap. As result, we recorded a total of 27 animal species of those, five species are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN, 2020). The survey results showed a high richness of wildlife in the southern park region, and it also revealed human disturbance to wildlife in the park. The first-time camera trap was used for surveying wildlife diversity in the southern region of the KKK NP. Conducting camera trap surveys in the whole KKK NP is essential for monitoring and identifying priority areas for wildlife conservation in the national park.

Human-wildlife conflict and community perceptions towards wildlife conservation in and around Wof-Washa Natural State Forest, Ethiopia: a case study of human grivet monkey conflict

Background: Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is predicted to increase globally in the vicinity of protected areas and occurs in several different contexts and involves a range of animal taxonomic groups whose needs and requirements overlap with humans. Human-monkey conflict exists in different forms more in developing countries and ranks amongst the main threats to biodiversity conservation. Grivet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops aethiops) are any slender agile Old-World monkeys of the genus Cercopithecus. This study was conducted to investigate the status of human grivet monkey conflict and the attitude of local communities towards grivet monkey conservation in and around Wof-Washa Natural State Forest (WWNSF), Ethiopia from September 2017 to May 2018. Questionnaire survey (143) was used to study the human-grivet monkey conflict and its conservation status. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the responses were compared using a nonparametric Pearson chi-square test. Results: Majority of respondents from both gender (male= 67.1%; female= 74.1%) were not supporting grivet monkey conservation due to its troublesome crop damaging effect. There was significant difference in respondents perceptions towards grivet monkey conservation based on distance of farmland from the forest (χ2= 12.7, df =4, P = 0.013). There was no significant difference in the techniques used by villagers to deter crop raiders (χ2= 14.73, df =15, P = 0.47). There was significant difference in respondents expectations on the mitigation measures to be taken by government (χ2= 40.01, df =15, P = 0.000). Based on the questionnaire result, 42.5 ± SD 8.68 of respondents in all villages elucidated that the causes of crop damage was habitat degradations.Conclusion: The encroachment of local communities in to the forest area and exploitation of resources that would be used by grivet monkey and enhanced crop damage by grivet monkey exacerbated the HGMC in the study area. As a result grivet monkeys have been killed relentlessly as a consequence of crop damage. This was due to negative energy developed in human perspective. Thus, awareness creation education program and feasible crop damage prevention techniques need to be implemented.