Restoration-as-development? Contesting Aspirational Politics Regarding the Restoration of Wildlife Corridors in the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania

Due to recent land-use change, wildlife migration through the Kilombero Valley has almost come to a standstill. In line with global restoration efforts, the African Wildlife Foundation has thus been given the task of implementing the Restoration Opportunity Assessment Methodology (ROAM), recently developed by IUCN and the World Resources Institute to foster the restoration of wildlife corridors in the area. Designed as a collaborative endeavour, it is in processes such as these that the aspirations of global restoration policies are confronted with specific local contexts. By focusing on specific situations and encounters, especially regarding the participatory aspects of the project, we illustrate how global policy aspirations are appropriated, partly contested and partly played along with, before finally turning into something of an illusion. This way, this article not only questions the more optimistic claims made for ‘conservation-as-development’, it also argues that a better understanding of the plurality of local aspirations and the ways in which they interact with the project’s goals is needed if global policy aspirations are to be realized more successfully.

Wildlife Use of Drainage Structures Under 2 Sections of Federal Highway 2 in the Sky Island Region of Northeastern Sonora, Mexico

Roads and highways are 1 of the most significant obstacles affecting wildlife movement by fragmenting habitat, altering wildlife migration and use of habitat, while also being a danger to wildlife and humans caused by wildlife-vehicle interactions. To mitigate wildlife mortality on highway sections and to minimize death and injury to motorists as well, road ecologists have proposed structures adapted for the safe passage of wildlife across roads. In this study, photographic sampling was conducted using trail cameras to quantify wildlife activity and use of existing culverts, bridges, and drainages within 2 separate sections of Mexico Federal Highway 2 where previous field assessment had observed high levels of activity. These sections are important areas for the conservation of wildlife, and they are known to be biological corridors for rare species of concern such as jaguar, black bear, and ocelot. The trail cameras were operated for 1 year to document the annual cycle of wildlife movement through the area. With the photographs obtained, a database was created containing the information from each wildlife-culvert interaction. Prior to sampling, an inventory of existing culverts was conducted that measured height, width, volume, and surrounding habitat to assign a hypothesized use quality index. After testing for significant differences in use index among culverts, we recognized that all culverts were equally important for moving wildlife, and that there were no significant differences in the use of culverts by the quality index.

Landscape Fragmentation Around Us – Integrating the Issue into Educational Processes at Primary and Secondary Schools

The steadily increasing landscape fragmentation and the reduction of permeability for wildlife are among the most negative impacts of human activity on the environment. In terms of education, theseproblems appear to be rather demanding, withthe difficulty corresponding tosecondary school standards. Considering the multiple interdisciplinary connections, the entire process cannot be sufficiently understood without a relevant amount of preliminary knowledge. Such a corpus of information is acquired especially through biology/ecology, geographyand history classes, but links to other subjects can be found too. The paper presents didactic methods facilitating the actual presentation of the theme to pupils/students; in this context, the authors discuss the possibilities of integrating the given problems into applicable schoolsubjects andoutline the risks arising from the proposed modification and/ or expansion of the teaching procedures. Also the links to data and supporting methodological materials are included that will allow the teacher to obtain enough information on the topicsto comprehend all the aspects and complexities of the innovated classes. In the corresponding sections, the papercharacterizes individual topics to be combined with selected teaching methods, especially as regards worksheets, project-oriented education, anda case study relating to afield trip targeting one of the areas of high importance for wildlife migration in the Czech Republic.

Features of formation and distribution of zoogenic relief in the floodplain of the Oster River

During 2015–2020, we carried out a series of field studies of zoogenic relief in the Oster River floodplain. In the process, the method of field route observations, polls, photography, morphological and morphometric analyses were actively used. Mathematical methods and computer technologies were used to process and summarize the obtained data. Based on the field research data, it was established that the natural conditions of the Oster River floodplain are favourable for the emergence of zoogenic relief forms. Zoogenic landforms are common here, and their size and location depend on the animal species which live in the area or constantly migrate through it. The influence of individual representatives of the animal world on the formation of the surface of the studied area is presented. It was shown that some of them simultaneously create both accumulative and negative forms of biogenic relief. Accumulative zoogenic landforms are represented in the Oster floodplain by individual small dams and beaver huts; muskrat huts; earthen anthills and anthills formed from dry grass and twigs; molehills; mice’s soil nano-strands; hamster mounds; pico-humps formed by worms and beetles. Among the negative landforms of zoogenic origin there are burrows and burrow nests; underground galleries of animals and insects; nano-basins of forest and field mice; livestock trails and wildlife migration trails; burrowing of wild pigs; footprints of various animals. Beavers, moles, wild boars and ants are found to cover the highest proportion of landform creation activity within the Oster River floodplain. It was also found that the size of most zoogenic landforms in the studied area have the rank of pico- and nano-relief. Relief microforms are much less common. The lifespan of zoogenic landforms can range from tens or even hundreds of years to several hours. It is discovered that fires significantly affect the landforms of zoogenic origin. As a result of the flames, many of the forms change their shape and size, and some even cease to exist.

Landscape heterogeneity of peasant-managed agricultural matrices

ABSTRACTIn agricultural landscapes, management practices and other environmental and social factors shape complex agroecological matrices. In turn, the structure of such matrices impacts both agricultural activities and biodiversity conservation, for instance, by mediating wildlife migration between agricultural and habitat patches. One way to characterize a matrix, its potential role in biodiversity conservation, and how its descriptors change across different spatial scales, is characterizing heterogeneity metrics and systematically examining how such metrics change with grain size and landscape extent. However, these methods have rarely been applied to tropical, peasant-managed landscapes, even though this type of landscape occupies most of the agricultural surface in or near biodiversity hotspots. We focus on a peasant-managed agricultural landscape in Oaxaca, Mexico, for which we mapped and quantified the land-use classes and evaluated heterogeneity metrics. We also examined the response of heterogeneity metrics to changes in grain and extent scales. This allowed us to further understand the structure and conservation potential of the agroecological matrix in this type of landscape, to broadly compare this landscape with other agricultural landscapes in North America, and to recommend specific landscape metrics for different types of studies involving agricultural matrices. We conclude that this type of agricultural matrix is ideal to pursue joint agricultural and conservation strategies in an integrated landscape.

Emerging Mosquito-Borne Threats and the Response from European and Eastern Mediterranean Countries

Mosquito-borne viruses are the cause of some of the greatest burdens to human health worldwide, particularly in tropical regions where both human populations and mosquito numbers are abundant. Due to a combination of anthropogenic change, including the effects on global climate and wildlife migration there is strong evidence that temperate regions are undergoing repeated introduction of mosquito-borne viruses and the re-emergence of viruses that previously were not detected by surveillance. In Europe, the repeated introductions of West Nile and Usutu viruses have been associated with bird migration from Africa, whereas the autochthonous transmission of chikungunya and dengue viruses has been driven by a combination of invasive mosquitoes and rapid transcontinental travel by infected humans. In addition to an increasing number of humans at risk, livestock and wildlife, are also at risk of infection and disease. This in turn can affect international trade and species diversity, respectively. Addressing these challenges requires a range of responses both at national and international level. Increasing the understanding of mosquito-borne transmission of viruses and the development of rapid detection methods and appropriate therapeutics (vaccines / antivirals) all form part of this response. The aim of this review is to consider the range of mosquito-borne viruses that threaten public health in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, and the national response of a number of countries facing different levels of threat.