Ana Nuno

Universidade NOVA de Lisboa | NOVA · Faculty of Human and Social Sciences

Population monitoring must robustly detect trends over time in a cost-effective manner. However, several underlying ecological changes driving population trends may interact differently with observation uncertainty to produce abundance trends that are more or less detectable for a given budget and over a given time period. Errors in detecting these...

Assessing anthropogenic effects on biological diversity, identifying drivers of human behavior, and motivating behavioral change are at the core of effective conservation. Yet knowledge of people's behaviors is often limited because the true extent of natural resource exploitation is difficult to ascertain, particularly if it is illegal. To obtain...

Wetlands make a disproportionately large contribution to global biodiversity and provide critical ecosystem services for humanity. Yet, our understanding of the cultural ecosystem services (CES) provided by wetlands remains limited, with benefits often only recognised at local scales. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a global systematic...

Understanding species distribution across habitats and environmental variables is important to inform area-based management. However, observational data are often lacking, particularly from developing countries, hindering effective conservation design. One such data-poor area is the Gulf of Guinea, an understudied and biodiverse region where coasta...

The global network of protected areas has rapidly expanded in the past decade and is expected to cover at least 30% of land and sea by 2030 to halt biodiversity erosion. Yet, the distribution of protected areas is highly heterogeneous on Earth and the social-environmental preconditions enabling or hindering protected area establishment remain poorl...

Integrative social–ecological approaches are crucial for addressing sustainability challenges in coastal and marine systems. Among these, Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) emerges as a pivotal approach for integrated management. Often, the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and the application of MSP occur in parallel. Given the potential s...

Managing invasive species is crucial to mitigate their negative impacts on ecosystems, yet conflicts may arise when their social benefits are disregarded. Human pressure on the endemic‐rich forests of São Tomé has been high since the island was discovered by the Portuguese in the 15th century, and numerous species have been introduced. These includ...

Conservation interventions have wide-ranging social impacts - both positive and negative. Yet a limited understanding of how conservation initiatives affect people’s livelihoods often hinders our ability to learn from past efforts and design more effective and equitable conservation measures. This is particularly needed when there is a high degree...

Negative interactions between humans and venomous snakes are increasing, with the World Health Organization committed to halving snakebite deaths and disabilities by 2030. Evidence‐based strategies are thus urgently required to reduce snakebite events in high‐risk areas, while promoting snake conservation. Understanding the factors that drive the a...

Decades of unsustainable fishing have caused widespread declines in shark populations leading to calls for increased management and policy. To design successful measures, an understanding of the social context and drivers for trade is needed. This study uses a value chain approach in Sri Lanka, where shark landings have declined rapidly, to map sha...

Global socio-ecological shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can threaten progress in protecting vulnerable marine environments by altering behaviour of resource users 1 . When government priorities shift from environmental protection towards safeguarding human populations, control of illegal activity in protected areas can alter. Resulting incre...

Conservation interventions have wide-ranging social impacts - both positive and negative. Yet a limited understanding of how conservation initiatives affect people’s livelihoods often hinders our ability to learn from past efforts and design more effective and equitable conservation measures. This is particularly needed when there is a high degree...

Consumo de carne de cetáceos silvestres en Santo Tomé y Príncipe (Golfo de Guinea) Se sabe relativamente poco sobre los cetáceos de Santo Tomé y Príncipe y, en los últimos años, se han descrito algunos episodios de captura incidental y consumo humano de cetáceos. Con objeto de aportar conocimientos sobre la dependencia de los cetáceos como fuente d...

Island ecosystems are disproportionally impacted by biodiversity loss and as such their effective management is critical to global conservation efforts. Practitioners world‐wide work to manage island sites and species to conserve them, but various day‐to‐day barriers compromise these efforts, reducing management effectiveness and preventing local a...

The biodiversity of the oceanic islands of the Gulf of Guinea is valued internationally for its uniqueness and locally for its contribution to human welfare, but it is under growing anthropogenic pressure. We provide an overview of recent progress, ongoing challenges, and future directions for terrestrial and marine conservation. The islands were c...

Successful conservation outcomes often depend on changing human behaviours that negatively impact biodiversity, such as unsustainable wildlife harvesting or illegal wildlife trade (IWT). However, inclusive psychology models that examine motivations of those behaviours have been underutilised in IWT contexts. This research examines the drivers of il...

The emergence of infectious diseases, such as COVID‐19, impacts livelihood strategies and conservation tools reliant on human‐wildlife interactions, such as wildlife‐based tourism and research. This is particularly relevant to great ape conservation, as humans and great apes are susceptible to being infected by similar pathogens. Evidence‐based str...

The expansion of wildlife trade on social media presents many challenges but also opportunities to gain insights into areas of trade where there is little recent data. West Africa has historically been a major source of wild birds in international trade but in 2007, the requirement for CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species...

Worldwide, conservation initiatives have attempted to curb illegal harvest, use and trade of marine turtles at least since the 1950s. Despite some declines in local trade and consumption, these illegal activities are still often reported as a key threat to marine turtle populations. Reassessing and refining global conservation priorities for marine...

Illegal killing of wildlife is a major conservation issue that, to be addressed effectively, requires insight into the drivers of human behaviour. Here we adapt an established socio-psychological model, the theory of planned behaviour, to explore reasons for hunting the Endangered Bewick's swan Cygnus columbianus bewickii in the European Russian Ar...

Species that the public knows and is willing to protect often do not align with international conservation priorities. Assessing perceptions on wildlife is thus essential to guide conservation initiatives, especially in island developing states where native and introduced species often have contrasting values for biodiversity. We used a game to ass...

Wildlife trade has rapidly expanded on social media platforms in recent years, offering an easy means for traders to access international markets. Investigating this trade activity poses a complex challenge to researchers seeking to understand online trade and moderators seeking to disrupt illicit and harmful activity. Current survey methods freque...

Abstract The failure to meet global biodiversity targets clearly indicates the need for biodiversity management and conservation efforts to be more effective, and this in turn requires better understanding of the current barriers to success. Islands are known as biodiversity hotspots but nowhere has biodiversity loss been so acute as in island ecos...

As the COVID‐19 pandemic continues to affect societies across the world, the ongoing economic and social disruptions are likely to present fundamental challenges for current and future biodiversity conservation. We review the literature for outcomes of past major societal, political, economic and zoonotic perturbations on biodiversity conservation,...

Biological invasions are widely recognised as a significant threat to biodiversity, a driver of global change and a relevant economic problem. Actions to control or eradicate invasive alien species (IAS) can cause great controversy, especially when targeted species are charismatic. Thus, better understanding people’s perceptions of invasive species...

Managing the footprint of highly mobile fishing fleets is increasingly important due to continuing declines in fish populations. However, social‐ecological drivers for fisher behaviour remain poorly understood for many fleets globally. Using the Sri Lankan fleet as a case study, we explored the role of social, environmental and policy drivers of ef...

Area coverage of large-scale marine protected areas (MPAs) (LSMPAs, > 100,000 km²) is rapidly increasing globally. Their effectiveness largely depends on successful detection and management of non-compliance. However, for LSMPAs this can be difficult due to their large size, often remote locations and a lack of understanding of the social drivers o...

Understanding empowerment is integral to facilitating sustainable use policies and requires assessing potential drivers. However, critical applications are rare in conservation. Using the island of Príncipe (São Tomé and Príncipe) as a case study, we undertook household surveys (N = 869) to assess potential drivers of psychological empowerment towa...

Given the recent trend towards establishing very large marine protected areas (MPAs) and the high potential of these to contribute to global conservation targets, we review outcomes of the last decade of marine conservation research in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), one of the largest MPAs in the world. The BIOT MPA consists of the atol...

Species-specific bans are increasingly being implemented to stem loss of vulnerable marine species, but there is a paucity of evaluative research into resulting socioeconomic and ecological consequences. In 2012, a blanket ban on landing Alopiidae (thresher) sharks was introduced in Sri Lanka. We used fisher perceptions, shown to influence support...

The use of celebrities in marketing campaigns is widespread globally, including in environmental conservation. Celebrity endorsements are pervasive, but there is limited evidence of their effectiveness. We conducted a review of celebrity‐endorsed environmental campaigns. We report on the extent to which celebrities have been used in these campaigns...

Reflections on sea turtle conservation - Volume 54 Issue 3 - B. J. Godley, A. C. Broderick, L. P. Colman, A. Formia, M. H. Godfrey, M. Hamann, A. Nuno, L. C. M. Omeyer, A. R. Patrício, A. D. Phillott, A. F. Rees, K. Shanker

Monitoring and evaluation is an essential stage of conservation implementation, offering a wide variety of benefits including the ability to engage in informed adaptive management. Understanding the relationship among actions, outputs, and outcomes can inform on factors acting to facilitate or hinder conservation success. Assessing these relationsh...

The unsustainable wildmeat trade has been long recognized as a threat to wildlife. Yet, its impact on marine species has been underresearched. Sea turtles have been historically threatened by unsustainable trade, but there are few studies of consumer profile, motivations, and preferences. We conducted a survey in São Tomé Island, Gulf of Guinea, We...

Wildlife trade is a profitable economic activity. Birds are among the most heavily traded animals worldwide, with numerous species threatened by pet trade. Information on both legal and illegal aspects of trade and consumer demand is difficult to obtain across different countries, particularly given substantial socio-economic and cultural variation...

If efforts to tackle biodiversity loss and its impact on human wellbeing are to be successful, conservation must learn from other fields which use predictive methods to foresee shocks and preempt their impacts in the face of uncertainty, such as military studies, public health and finance. Despite a long history of using predictive models to unders...

Conflicts over natural resource use and management often arise where groups have different goals or priorities. The media can play an important dual role in these conflicts; article content might offer insights about public opinion, whilst media may shape debates and how issues are perceived by the public and decision-makers. Wildlife farming is a...

Killing protected species mistaken for morphologically similar quarry species, or species with weaker protection, can hinder their conservation. Despite policy aims to reduce threats from illegal killing, information is lacking on susceptible species, conservation impacts and the identification accuracy of hunters. We examined the ability of hunter...

Researchers and practitioners are increasingly using methods from the social sciences to address complex conservation challenges. This brings benefits but also the responsibility to understand the suitability and limitations of these methods in different contexts. After years of use in other disciplines, the unmatched count technique (UCT) has rece...

An integrated understanding of both social and ecological aspects of environmental issues is essential to address pressing sustainability challenges. An integrated social-ecological systems perspective is purported to provide a better understanding of the complex relationships between humans and nature. Despite a threefold increase in the amount of...

Vultures constitute an important functional group in many ecosystems, providing crucial ecosystem services both in natural and humanized environments. These scavengers are facing massive declines worldwide, but in several African countries virtually nothing is known on populations’ status and threats, hampering the development of adequate conservat...

Stakeholder survey full questionnaire. Full questionnaire used in the stakeholder survey to assess the perception of stakeholders towards the cost and benefits of vultures and the perceived prevalence of human behaviours of concern to vulture conservation. (DOCX)

Description of the main characteristics of study participants. Table with the description of study participants interviewed to assess the social aspects of vulture conservation. (DOCX)

Veterinaries and livestock herders’ full questionnaire. Veterinaries and livestock herders’ full questionnaire to assess the potential presence and use of Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAID’s). (DOCX)

Results of roadside transects conducted through Guinea-Bissau. Raw data from roadside transects conducted throughout Guinea-Bissau. (DOCX)

Distribution of Hooded and Gyps spp. over habitat classes. Number of birds of Hooded and Gyps ssp. vultures sighted in association with one of nine habitat classes. (DOCX)

Results of transect counts in the cities of Bissau and Gabú. Raw data from bicycle transects conducted in the cities of Bissau and Gabú. (DOCX)

Methodological details of vulture population estimates. Methodological details of density estimates using strip transects in large cities, for vulture population estimates. (DOCX)

Results of human settlement counts of roosting Hooded vultures. Raw data from complete counts of roosting Hooded vultures in the human settlements sampled. (DOCX)

Unsustainable wildlife trade affects biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities dependent upon those resources. Wildlife farming has been proposed to promote sustainable trade, but characterizing markets and understanding consumer behavior remain neglected but essential steps in the design and evaluation of such operations. We used sea turtle...

Entanglement in anthropogenic debris poses a threat to marine wildlife. Although this is recognised as a cause of marine turtle mortality, there remain quantitative knowledge gaps on entanglement rates and population implications. We provide a global summary of this issue in this taxon using a mixed methods approach including a literature review an...

Cinema offers a substantial opportunity to share messages with a wide audience. Given its global range and potentially high impact, there is an urgent need for research that evaluates the effects of this form of visual media on conservation outcomes. Cinema can influence the awareness and behaviours of non-specialist audiences, and could therefore...

Making decisions about the management and conservation of nature is necessarily complex, with many competing pressures on natural systems, opportunities and benefits for different groups of people and a varying, uncertain social and ecological environment. An approach which is narrowly focused on either human development or environmental protection...

The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) regulates trade in over 35,000 species, over 70% of which are orchids. To investigate rule-breaking behavior among traders and buyers in a specific international wildlife trading community, we used direct questions (DQs) and the unmatched count technique...

Conservation regulations aimed at restricting resource use are commonly used to manage and protect natural resources but their implementation depends on the compliance of resource users. The design of effective regulations should be informed by an understanding of the factors that affect compliance, considering contextual socio-economic information...

Conservation interventions are generally underpinned by formal rules. These rules often suffer from high rates of non-compliance which is difficult to investigate due to its clandestine nature. Here we apply socio-psychological approaches to investigate the prevalence and determinants of three illegal bird-threatening behaviours—shooting raptors, t...

Global progress toward meeting the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Aichi targets has recently been found wanting ( 1 ). The Aichi targets were intended to be SMART (specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic, and time-bound), partly in response to the perception that failure to meet the preceding global biodiversity targets resulted from t...

Read the Feature Paper: Community‐based wildlife management failing to link conservation and financial viability; other Commentaries on this paper: Wildlife conservation without financial viability? The potential for payments for dispersal areas' services in Namibia and the Response from the authors: Continuous financial support will be needed