Robert J. Smith

• Conservation Biology
• Director at University of Kent

Systematic conservation planning (SCP) involves the cost-effective placement and application of management actions to achieve biodiversity conservation objectives. Given the political momentum for greater global nature protection, restoration, and improved management of natural resources articulated in the targets of the Global Biodiversity Framewo...

Systematic conservation planning (SCP) is an operational and scientific framework that assists in deciding where, how and when to implement conservation intervention, given known constraints and preferential weights. Studies using SCP approaches have proliferated due to their immediate relevance for applied conservation. For example, they can help...

Systematic conservation planning (SCP) is an operational and scientific framework that assists in deciding where, how and when to implement conservation intervention, given known constraints and preferential weights. Studies using SCP approaches have proliferated due to their immediate relevance for applied conservation. For example, they can help...

Developing biodiversity‐inclusive spatial plans at a national level is the focus of Target 1 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). There are 2 general approaches to identifying areas of value for biodiversity plans: criteria‐based, such as the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) process, and systematic conservation planning (SCP)...

Habitat loss and fragmentation are two of the biggest threats facing wildlife today. Understanding the role of wildlife pathways in connecting resource areas is key for maintaining landscape connectivity, reducing the impacts of habitat loss and helping address human–wildlife conflict. In this study, we used sign surveys and camera trapping to unde...

Most unprotected biodiversity is found outside state-owned protected areas, so developing effective conservation initiatives on privately and communally-owned land is critical. Conservationists have a long history of working with these landowners and their actions can be divided into two broad categories. The first is where they agree to take over...

Area-based conservation is a widely used approach for maintaining biodiversity, and there are ongoing discussions over what is an appropriate global conservation area coverage target. To inform such debates, it is necessary to know the extent and ecological representativeness of the current conservation area network, but this is hampered by gaps in...

Gaps in existing global conservation area datasets hamper efforts to measure progress towards international coverage and biodiversity representation targets. Here we present a framework to produce more accurate global conservation area metrics, based on selecting a representative set of nations for future collection of the best available data on pr...

As part of the Post‐2020 Biodiversity Framework, nations are assessing progress over the past decade in addressing the underlying drivers that influence direct pressures on biodiversity and formulating new policies and strategies for the decade to come. For marine conservation, global marine protected area (MPA) coverage is still falling short of t...

1.Reducing demand for wildlife products has been recognised as an important global priority, especially with fears that there are expanding markets for certain taxa. However, consumer demand is a complicated phenomenon and as with many conservation issues, it can involve numerous interacting biological, social, political and socio-economic factors,...

Abstract Conservation area networks in most countries are fragmented and inadequate. To tackle this in England, government policies are encouraging stakeholders to create local‐level nature recovery networks. Here, we describe work led by a wildlife organization that used the systematic conservation planning approach to identify a nature recovery n...

The conservation flagship approach is a valuable tool for raising funds and awareness, but species-based campaigns have been criticized for providing little benefit to wider biodiversity. One possible solution is to use conservation areas as flagships, but we lack data on the types of area that most appeal to potential donors. Here, we used an onli...

Development corridors are extensive, often transnational and linear, geographical areas targeted for investment to help achieve sustainable development. They often comprise the creation of hard infrastructure (i.e., physical structures) and soft infrastructure (i.e., policies, plans, and programmes) involving a variety of actors. They are globally...

In the search for new ways to bring attention to the conservation of neglected species, marketing is increasingly recognised as offering new insights. Brand creation frameworks provide guidelines to create names or symbols for products that will differentiate them from the competition. In this paper, we examine if species common names that follow t...

Conservation area networks in most countries are fragmented and inadequate. To tackle this in England, government policies are encouraging stakeholders to create local-level Nature Recovery Networks. Here we describe work led by a wildlife organisation that used the systematic conservation planning approach to identify a Nature Recovery Network for...

1. To be effective, the next generation of conservation practitioners and managers need to be critical thinkers with a deep understanding of how to make evidence-based decisions and of the value of evidence synthesis. 2. If, as educators, we do not make these priorities a core part of what we teach, we are failing to prepare our students to make an...

Human-wildlife conflict is increasing due to rapid natural vegetation loss and fragmentation. We investigated seasonal, temporal and spatial trends of elephant crop-raiding in the Trans Mara, Kenya during 2014–2015 and compared our results with a previous study from 1999 to 2000. Our results show extensive changes in crop-raiding patterns. There wa...

1. To be effective, the next generation of conservation practitioners and managers need to be critical thinkers with a deep understanding of how to make evidence‐based decisions and of the value of evidence synthesis. 2. If, as educators, we do not make these priorities a core part of what we teach, we are failing to prepare our students to make an...

Robust impact evaluations are needed for conservation to learn and grow as a field. Currently we lack a large body of evidence on the effects of behaviour change interventions in social‐ecological systems. By uncovering mechanistic relationships and establishing causality we can refine future programmes to enhance likelihood of effectiveness. Altho...

When evaluating the impact of a biodiversity conservation intervention, a counterfactual is typically needed. Counterfactuals are possible alternative system trajectories in the absence of an intervention. Comparing observed outcomes against the chosen counterfactual allows the impact (change attributable to the intervention) to be determined. Beca...

The dominant approach to combating the illegal wildlife trade has traditionally been to restrict the supply of wildlife products. Yet conservationists increasingly recognize the importance of implementing demand‐side interventions that target the end consumers in the trade chain. Their aim is to curb the consumption of wildlife or shift consumption...

The illegal wildlife trade threatens the future of many species, and undermines economies and livelihoods. Conservationists have largely responded with supply‐side interventions, such as antipoaching patrols, but these often fail to stem the tide of wildlife trafficking. There is now increasing interest in demand‐side interventions, which seek to l...

Conservation Research, Policy and Practice - edited by William J. Sutherland April 2020

Wildlife crime in protected areas remains a major challenge to conservation. However, little is known about the role of local communities in providing information on illegal activities to help improve law enforcement efforts in protected areas. As an initial exploration of this complex topic, we aimed to understand the perceptions of law enforcemen...

Cambridge Core - Ecology and Conservation - Conservation Research, Policy and Practice - edited by William J. Sutherland

Conservation strategies based on charismatic flagship species, such as tigers, lions, and elephants, successfully attract funding from individuals and corporate donors. However, critics of this species-focused approach argue it wastes resources and often does not benefit broader biodiversity. If true, then the best way of raising conservation funds...

The dominant approach to combating the illegal wildlife trade has traditionally been to restrict the supply of wildlife products. Yet conservationists increasingly recognise the importance of implementing demand-side interventions that target the end consumers in the trade chain. Their aim is to curb the consumption of wildlife or shift consumption...

Systematic conservation planning is the most widely used approach for designing conservation area systems and other types of ecological network. Thus, user-friendly decision support tools are needed to guide conservation planners when using this approach. CLUZ is a QGIS plugin that can be used for on-screen conservation planning and also acts as an...

Systematic conservation planning and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are the two most widely used approaches for identifying important sites for biodiversity. However, there is limited advice for conservation policy makers and practitioners on when and how they should be combined. Here we provide such guidance, using insights from the recently develo...

Terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems are connected via multiple biophysical and ecological processes. Identifying and quantifying links among ecosystems is necessary for the uptake of integrated conservation actions across realms. Such actions are particularly important for species using habitats in more than one realm during their daily...

Conflicts are an inherent element in the establishment and management of protected areas. Even though there is ample literature about conflicts in protected areas and the field of conservation has investigated them for decades, no consensus exists about the object itself of analysis: the conflict. In this article, we describe three different approa...

Sekar et al. argue that there is unequivocal evidence that ivory trade bans are necessary for conserving elephants, and that a growing consensus removes the need to consider or incorporate alternative values in this debate. In doing so, they overlook relevant literature [e.g., (1–3)] and do not account for marginalized voices from key range states...

Spatial conservation prioritization is used globally to guide decision making with the aim of delivering the best conservation gain per unit investment. However, despite many publications on the topic, the extent to which this approach is used by decision makers has been unclear. To investigate the degree to which prioritization has been adopted by...

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play a key role in biodiversity conservation. The majority of these organisations rely on public donations to fund their activities, and therefore fundraising success is a determinant of conservation outcomes. In spite of this integral relationship, the key principals for fundraising success in conservation are...

The familiarity of species used by the Australian Geographic Society as flagships for their fundraising campaigns, measured as percent of respondents who recognise a given species. For the projects were more than one species or life stage was represented in the marketing materials, a mean of the percentage of respondents familiar with both relevant...

The appeal of species used by the Australian Geographic Society as flagships for their fundraising campaigns, measured as mean rank across respondents. Lowest rank indicates higher appeal. For the projects were more than one species or life stage was represented in the marketing materials, a mean of appeal mean rank for both relevant photos was use...

Model selection to investigate the importance of flagship characteristics on individual donor behaviour at ΔAICc < 4. (DOCX)

Gantt chart illustrating in black the timeline of the fundraising campaigns by the Australian Geographic Society included in this study. Red bars indicate shorter ad hoc emergency fundraisers, those that were organized in response to unforeseen natural disasters. (DOCX)

Poaching for ivory has caused a steep decline in African elephant (Loxodonta africana, see the photo) populations over the past decade (1). This crisis has fueled a contentious global debate over which ivory policy would best protect elephants: banning all ivory trade or enabling regulated trade to incentivize and fund elephant conservation (2). Th...

Poaching for ivory has caused a steep decline in African elephant (Loxodonta africana, see the photo) populations over the past decade (1). This crisis has fueled a contentious global debate over which ivory policy would best protect elephants: banning all ivory trade or enabling regulated trade to incentivize and fund elephant conservation (2). Th...

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is a widespread issue of increasing concern to conservationists, as it impacts people's lives and livelihoods and reduces their tolerance to the species concerned. HWC is often interpreted as a result of people encroaching upon and destroying natural habitats, but some incidents could be linked to economically driven e...

Systematic conservation planning (SCP) is a rapidly advancing discipline aimed at providing decision support for choices between alternate conservation actions. SCP is often used to inform choices about areas to protect, in order to optimize outcomes for biodiversity while minimizing societal costs. Despite the widespread application of SCP approac...

In recent decades, a substantial number of popular press articles have described an increase in demand for certain species in the pet trade due to films such as “Finding Nemo”, “Ninja turtles”, and “Harry Potter”. Nevertheless, such assertions are largely supported only by anecdotal evidence. Given the role of the wildlife trade in the spread of pa...

Relationship between Harry Potter popularity and owl demand with a one-year time lag. Relationship between three measures of Harry Potter popularity (yearly number of Harry Potter books sold in the UK across all versions and languages; yearly number of tickets sold for Harry Potter movies in the UK, and yearly mentions in UK newspapers) and three m...

Effect of the number of Harry Potter newspaper mentions on three measures of demand for owls in the United Kingdom. Shown are the individual effects (lines) and +/- two standard errors (shading). Partial residuals are shown with dots. The smooth term controlling for time is shown in the right column. The effects shown are multiplicative and the pre...

List of wildlife sanctuaries contacted to assess the abandonment of pet owls described in the UK press as a consequence of the end of the Harry Potter film series. (DOCX)

Effect of the number of Harry Potter movie tickets purchased on three measures of demand for owls in the United Kingdom. Shown are the individual effects (lines) and +/- two standard errors (shading). Partial residuals are shown with dots. The smooth term controlling for time is shown in the right column. The effects shown are multiplicative and th...

Raw data underlying this study. (DOCX)

Most countries have committed to protect 17% of their terrestrial area by 2020 through Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, with a focus on protecting areas of particular importance for biodiversity. This means national-scale spatial conservation prioritisations are needed to help meet this target and guide broader conservatio...

Protected areas (PAs) are vital for conserving biodiversity, but many PA networks consist of fragmented habitat patches that poorly represent species and ecosystems. One possible solution is to create conservation landscapes that surround and link these PAs. This often involves working with a range of landowners and agencies to develop large-scale...

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) are sites identified as globally important for bird species conservation. Marine IBAs are one of the few comprehensive multi-species datasets available for the marine environment, and their use in conservation planning will likely increase as countries race to protect 10% of their territorial waters by 2...

Conservationists often complain that their study species are ignored by donors. However, marketing theory could help understand and increase the profile and fundraising potential of these neglected species. We used linear regression with multimodel inference to analyse data on online behaviour from the websites of the World Wildlife Fund-US (WWF-US...

Conservation Planning: Informed Decisions for a Healthier Planet by Craig. R. Groves and Edward T. Game (2015), 608 pp., Roberts and Company Publishers Inc., Colorado, USA. ISBN 978-1-936221-51-6 (pbk), USD 42.00. - Volume 51 Issue 2 - Robert J. Smith

Cumulative human impacts have led to the degradation of marine ecosystems and the decline of biodiversity in the European and contiguous seas. Effective conservation measures are urgently needed to reverse these trends. Conservation must entail societal choices, underpinned by human values and worldviews that differ between the countries bordering...

It is argued that trophy hunting of large, charismatic mammal species can have considerable conservation benefits but only if undertaken sustainably. Social-ecological theory suggests such sustainability only results from developing governance systems that balance financial and biological requirements. Here we use lion (Panthera leo) trophy hunting...

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are the cornerstone of most marine conservation strategies, but the effectiveness of each one partly depends on its size and distance to other MPAs in a network. Despite this, current recommendations on ideal MPA size and spacing vary widely, and data are lacking on how these constraints might influence the overall spa...

One contribution of 16 to a theme issue 'Measuring the difference made by protected areas: methods, applications and implications for policy and practice'. Several global strategies for protected area (PA) expansion have been proposed to achieve the Convention on Biological Diversity's Aichi target 11 as a means to stem biodiversity loss, as requir...

World governments have committed to increase the global protected areas coverage by 2020, but the effectiveness of this commitment for protecting biodiversity depends on where new protected areas are located. Threshold-based and complementarity-based approaches have been independently used to identify important sites for biodiversity. Here we bring...

There are insufficient resources available to manage the world's existing protected area portfolio effectively, so the most important sites should be prioritised in investment decision-making. Sophisticated conservation planning and assessment tools developed to identify locations for new protected areas can provide an evidence base for such priori...

Aim We conduct the first assessment of likely future climate change impacts for biodiversity across the West African protected area ( PA ) network using climate projections that capture important climate regimes (e.g. West African Monsoon) and mesoscale processes that are often poorly simulated in general circulation models ( GCM s). Location West...

Well‐designed marine protected area ( MPA ) networks can deliver a range of ecological, economic and social benefits, and so a great deal of research has focused on developing spatial conservation prioritization tools to help identify important areas. However, whilst these software tools are designed to identify MPA networks that both represent bio...

In the past decade, systematic conservation planning tools have been increasingly and successfully used to set spatial conservation plans that meet quantitative protection targets while minimizing enforcement and socioeconomic costs. However, when applied to fisheries, systematic conservation planning fails to account for (1) changes in fleet dynam...

Responses of biodiversity to changes in both land cover and climate are recognized [ 1 ] but still poorly understood [ 2 ]. This poses significant challenges for spatial planning as species could shift, contract, expand, or maintain their range inside or outside protected areas [ 2–4 ]. We examine this problem in Borneo, a global biodiversity hotsp...

Governments have committed to conserving ≥17% of terrestrial and ≥10% of marine environments globally, especially “areas of particular importance for biodiversity” through “ecologically representative” Protected Area (PA) systems or other “area-based conservation measures,” while individual countries have committed to conserve 3–50% of their land a...

The growing prominence of climate change has led to concerns that other important environmental issues, such as biodiversity loss, are being overshadowed. We investigate this assertion by examining trends in biodiversity and climate change coverage within the scientific and newspaper press, as well as the relative distribution of funding through th...

Governments have agreed to expand the global protected area network from 13% to 17% of the world's land surface by 2020 (Aichi target 11) and to prevent the further loss of known threatened species (Aichi target 12). These targets are interdependent, as protected areas can stem biodiversity loss when strategically located and effectively managed. H...

The financial cost of biodiversity conservation varies widely around the world and such costs should be considered when identifying countries to best focus conservation investments. Previous global prioritizations have been based on global models for protected area management costs, but this metric may be related to other factors that negatively in...

Flagship species are widely used in conservation but this single species approach has attracted criticism. One response is the “flagship fleet,” which uses several flagship species in one conservation marketing campaign. However, marketing theory suggests multibrand campaigns can be counter-productive. Here, we develop an evaluation strategy for co...

Conservation marketing campaigns that focus on flagship species play a vital role in biological diversity conservation because they raise funds and change people's behavior. However, most flagship species are selected without considering the target audience of the campaign, which can hamper the campaign's effectiveness. To address this problem, we...

The ideal conservation planning approach would enable decision-makers to use population viability analysis to assess the effects of management strategies and threats on all species at the landscape level. However, the lack of high-quality data derived from long-term studies, and uncertainty in model parameters and/or structure, often limit the use...

The Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania is believed to contain Africa's largest population of lions (Panthera leo), making it a popular destination for trophy hunters and photographic tourists. However, a lack of recent data has raised concerns about the conservation status of this iconic population, so we collected two types of population data between...

The species–area relationship (SAR) is increasingly being used to set conservation targets for habitat types when designing protected area networks. This approach is transparent and scientifically defensible, but there has been little research on how it is affected by data quality and quantity. English Channel. We used a macrobenthic dataset contai...

Use of real abundances, preferential or potential habitats, what differences in conservation plans? An example from the eastern English Channel.

International conservation NGOs rely on flagship species campaigns for fundraising but this approach has been criticized for benefiting a limited number of species. However, this criticism assumes these campaigns do not fundraise for broader issues and that alternative species with similar appeal to the target audience exist. We investigated this b...

Delavenne, J., Metcalfe, K., Smith, R. J., Vaz, S., Martin, C. S., Dupuis, L., Coppin, F., and Carpentier, A. 2012. Systematic conservation planning in the eastern English Channel: comparing the Marxan and Zonation decision-support tools. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 75–83. The systematic conservation approach is now commonly used for the...

Restoration and conservation initiatives, such as the eradication of invasive alien plants, should be guided by scientific evidence. Typically, ecological data alone is used to inform the decision-making of these initiatives. Recent advances in the mapping of conservation opportunity include a diverse range of scientifically-identified factors that...