Zero Poaching Toolkit

The Zero Poaching Toolkit helps national and state agencies, protected area managers, rangers, and other frontline protection staff in anti-poaching efforts. The toolkit contains resources on assessment, crime prevention strategies, community involvement, technology, capacity, and cooperation. The tools are freely available and well supported by a wide range of organizations including IUCN and many international NGOs. The tools provide the most practical ways to identify and close gaps in protection activities at the field level. The Training Guidelines for Field Rangers is the first of a series of guidelines to provide a standard for training field rangers.

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Scimitar-horned Oryx: Back to the Wild – IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group Newsletter – GSAP SKILLS Online Knowledge Platform

Welcome to the GNUSLETTER Special Issue Number 2, which is exclusively dedicated to the Scimitar-horned Oryx. This Special Issue has been produced to celebrate the positive change in status of the Scimitar-horned Oryx on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. Scimitar-horned Oryx became extinct in the wild by the end of the 1980s or early 1990s. Animals from the large ex situ population were re-established in fenced protected areas in Tunisia beginning in 1985 and in Senegal in 1998. The programme to reintroduce a fully free-living population in Ouadi Rime – Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve (OROAFR, Réserve de faune de Ouadi Rimé – Ouadi Achim) in Chad began in the early 2000s. The first group of captive-bred Scimitar-horned Oryx was transferred from Abu Dhabi to Chad in March 2016 and placed in an acclimatisation enclosure. Twenty-one oryx were released into the wild in August 2016 and the first wild birth was recorded in September. Eight more releases have occurred and young oryx have been born every year since 2016.

Unselective, unsustainable, and unmonitored trawl fisheries?

In 2016, the term UUU (unselective, unsustainable and unmonitored) fishing was developed and a Resolution of the World Conservation Congress, adopted by Members, tasked IUCN’s Species Survival Commission with reporting on the concept. The resulting situation analysis utilises the trawl fisheries of China, Thailand and Vietnam to explore how some of the issues associated with UUU fishing can be linked back to these three elements. The report found considerable variation in each component of UUU across the case study countries but that uncontrolled fishery development resulting in excess fishing capacity is commonly a root cause, leaving long standing impacts which have proven very challenging to solve. Whilst the report does not provide recommendations for action, it does identify 14 areas where further work would help accelerate progress on sustainable use, the protection of species of conservation concern and help safeguard the marine ecosystem.

Habitat Conservation Activities for Endangered Plants in Yangsan Wondong Wetland

Wondong Wetland in Yangsan, Korea, is a rare habitat for Korea’s endangered plants, such as the Viola raddeana Regel and Pterygopleurum neurophyllum (Maxim.) Kitag.. In particular, it is known as the only habitat in Korea for Pterygopleurum neurophyllum (Maxim.) Kitag. Wondong Wetland is a wetland behind the Nakdong River that was once used as agricultural land and was restored to its natural state. However, as plants such as silver grass expanded, the population of endangered plants decreased due to competition. To expand the population of the two endangered plants, an event was held in February 2023 (winter season) with citizens to cut down grass, including silver grass, a competing species. As a result, the germination rate of the two plant species increased, and their habitat range expanded. Grass cutting was also carried out in February 2024, and it is planned to be carried out in the future before the germination period in February every year.

Amphibian conservation action plan

As the most threatened vertebrate class on earth, amphibians are at the forefront of the biodiversity crisis, with the recognition of global amphibian declines and extinctions dating back several decades now. The current Amphibian Conservation Action Plan is adopting two strategies to address the goal of the amelioration of the amphibian crisis: the development of two complementary documents that work to 1) synthesise developments in major themes of amphibian conservation over the last 15 years, as in this document, and 2) summarise the key findings and recommendations to a broader audience in a user-friendly way (a practitioner document that will follow this synthesis document). The purpose is thus to provide the most up-to-date  evidence on threats and approaches to amphibian conservation, and from there identify gaps and priorities that can then be disseminated and adopted by stakeholders across the globe.

Species use database

The Species Use Database (SpUD) has been created by the IUCN Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (SULi) to help address this problem by collecting and synthesising information on the utilization of wild species globally, and specifically on the sustainability of that use.

The database is intended to appeal to a broad spectrum of users, from those in policy and decision-making, to academia and educators, conservation practitioners, civil society and NGOs, as well as any individuals interested and keen to learn more about the use of wild species. The individual records – and the periodic syntheses of these – can be used to guide and feed into sound policies and decision-making, that enhance legal, sustainable, equitable wildlife management practices and draw attention to those that are illegal, unsustainable and inequitable.

Using Systematic Conservation Planning to Identify Priorities for Management In King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve, Saudi Arabia: A Multi-Objective Zoning Plan

King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Royal Reserve is a mega reserve (KSRNR) declared to promote resource conservation and sustainable use. The reserve is huge, the designated area has about 460,000 people either living in or around it. A reserve with such a large extent and a large number of interacting populations is expected to have a lot of encroachments and land use conflicts. Protected area zoning is a management strategy used to define and delimit land units for specific purposes, such as critical conservation areas and recreation areas. KSRNR aims to achieve a multi-objective management approach for management. The area is a mega reserve of more than 130,000 Km2. KSRNR also contains a lot of cultural and heritage sites targeted by the tourism industry but are still in their infancy. Growth of such an industry is imminent and planning in KSRNR should be a step ahead to ensure the endurance and sustainability of this valuable resource. Thus, tourism is regulated by KSRNR.

Effective Enforcement Strategy in the Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area

Through the investment of technologies, the effective enforcement strategy and engagement with the stakeholders in reducing illegal fishing activities within the Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area (SIMCA) are effective.

Can we save critically endangered relict endemic plant species? A case study of endemics in Egypt

Rosa arabica and Primula boveana is a perennial endemic to the high mountain area of St. Catherine Protected Area (SCPA) in Egypt and listed as one of the most 100 threatened plants in the world. Recently, they listed as Critically Endangered due to their small Extent of Occurrence and tiny population size (less than 90). The continuous decline in habitat quality for this species and the urgent need to carry out on-ground conservation actions were reported. Many attempts were made in the past to cultivate them in the wild, but they did not succeed. So, this solution aims to conserve them through in situ practices by implementing the following steps, respectively: a) IUCN Red List, b) Ecological Niche Modeling, and c) based on the previous two steps, translocation process for R. arabica in the suitable habitat will be done after carrying out simple layering process (local community traditional method) as one of the most effective traditional vegetative methods for wild cultivation for this species.

Rainforest Connection & Huawei: Acoustics for Biodiversity Monitoring and Threat Detection

Rainforest Connection (RFCx) has built the connective tissue to make acoustics a scalable worldwide approach to data collection and analysis for conservation. Our platform, including tools for biodiversity analysis and threat detection and a suite of hardware, enables people to understand ecosystem impacts.

The RFCx system can be used to:

  • Send real-time alerts to people who are able to investigate potential threats.
  • Find patterns of activity for planned interventions and measure effectiveness of responses.
  • Accommodate large data sets that can be used for biodiversity monitoring and shared.
  • Facilitate in-depth, long-term acoustic monitoring.
  • Evaluate the impacts of different management or conservation activities.
  • Follow the population dynamics of species over many years.

Safe Island for Seabirds

The Safe Islands for Seabirds project took place in Corvo island and Vila Franca do Campo Islet  (VFCI) in São Miguel island in the Azores. It was a pioneer project for the conservation of seabird colonies trough habitat restoration and control and eradication of invasive alien species (IAS).

This project assessed the impact of predators on seabird reproduction and tested several methods in order to reduce that impact. One of the most innovative solutions was a pest-free fence installed in the “Corvo Biological Reserve”, that was cleaned from predators and restored to the natural habitat. Also, habitats were restored in a higher altitude  reserve and at the restricted area of VFCI. Habitat restoration allowed seabirds a better access to the burrows, but also artificial nests were built to increase nesting availability.

Education and awareness rising were also of high importance for the project. In the after-LIFE, restored areas were regularly maintained and educational actions continued.

Digital Recreational Site management system using a dedicated app and web based backend

Utilising smartphone technology to develop the first dedicated digital outdoor recreational and environmental site management system. It replaces the current general disparate and mainly paper based management systems outdoor recreation sites with an integrated digital system. It ensures that multiple bodies, agencies and community groups who are all involved in managing an outdoors recreational site can use the one system. The system is offered on a “fremium” model to community groups and this is subsidised by Government agencies who pay for the system.
positive impacts:
– smartphone based transcribing from paper.

Works on android and apple devices and has built in maps so no mobile coverage is needed out in the field

– all users of the system are linked back to a user ID so recording can be authenticated

– all monitoring reports and remedial actions are stored securely in “the cloud

– geolocating all data allows detailed reporting and makes year on year comparisons (i.e viewing effects of programs tacking invasive species)

Integrated technology platform to support conservation – protecting wildlife and people

Ol Pejeta is home to the largest population of critically endangered black rhinos in E. Africa. Protecting them and other wildlife is a great responsibility and we utilize technology where it adds value. In 2019 we rolled out EarthRanger (ER), a software platform that collects protected area activity information (the animals and assets being protected, the rangers protecting them, and threats of potential poaching) into a single, integrated, real-time visualized operational platform. It amalgamates data from different sources including animal GPS tracking collars, ranger digital radio systems/vehicle trackers, and ranger recorded observations. ER allows us to see key information in one place, enabling informed and faster conservation-related operational decisions.

ER was developed in collaboration with Vulcan Inc. through our Conservation Tech Lab. The Lab acts as a field-based space for technologists and scientists to test and deploy solutions, but also as a center for collaboration, learning and sharing knowledge.