Enhancing Food Sovereignty and Food Security through the Revitalization of Indigenous Knowledge: Experiences from the Bolivian Andes

Endogenous development is defined as development that values primarily locally available resources and the way people organized themselves for that purpose. It is a dynamic and evolving concept that also embraces innovations and complementation from other than endogenous sources of knowledge; however, only as far as they are based on mutual respect and the recognition of cultural and socioeconomic self-determination of each of the parties involved. Experiences that have been systematized in the context of the BioAndes Program are demonstrating that enhancing food security and food sovereignty on the basis of endogenous development can be best achieved by applying a ‘biocultural’ perspective: This means to promote and support actions that are simultaneously valuing biological (fauna, flora, soils, or agrobiodiversity) and sociocultural resources (forms of social organization, local knowledge and skills, norms, and the related worldviews). In Bolivia, that is one of the Latin-American countries with the highest levels of poverty (79% of the rural population) and undernourishment (22% of the total population), the Program BioAndes promotes food sovereignty and food security by revitalizing the knowledge of Andean indigenous people and strengthening their livelihood strategies. This starts by recognizing that Andean people have developed complex strategies to constantly adapt to highly diverse and changing socioenvironmental conditions. These strategies are characterized by organizing the communities, land use and livelihoods along a vertical gradient of the available eco-climatic zones; the resulting agricultural systems are evolving around the own sociocultural values of reciprocity and mutual cooperation, giving thus access to an extensive variety of food, fiber and energy sources. As the influences of markets, competition or individualization are increasingly affecting the life in the communities, people became aware of the need to find a new balance between endogenous and exogenous forms of knowledge. In this context, BioAndes starts by recognizing the wealth and potentials of local practices and aims to integrate its actions into the ongoing endogenous processes of innovation and adaptation. In order to avoid external impositions and biases, the program intervenes on the basis of a dialogue between exogenous, mainly scientific, and indigenous forms of knowledge. The paper presents an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of enhancing endogenous development through a dialogue between scientific and indigenous knowledge by specifically focusing on its effects on food sovereignty and food security in three ‘biocultural’ rural areas of the Bolivian highlands. The paper shows how the dialogue between different forms of knowledge evolved alongside the following project activities: 1) recuperation and renovation of local seeds and crop varieties (potato – Solanum spp., quinoa – Chenopodium quinoa, cañahua – Chenopodium pallidicaule); 2) support for the elaboration of community-based norms and regulations for governing access and distribution of non-timber forest products, such as medicinal, fodder, and construction plants; 3) revitalization of ethnoveterinary knowledge for sheep and llama breeding; 4) improvement of local knowledge about the transformation of food products (sheep-cheese, lacayote – Cucurbita sp. - jam, dried llama meat, fours of cañahua and other Andean crops). The implementation of these activities fostered the community-based livelihoods of indigenous people by complementing them with carefully and jointly designed innovations based on internal and external sources of knowledge and resources. Through this process, the epistemological and ontological basis that underlies local practices was made visible. On this basis, local and external actors started to jointly define a renewed concept of food security and food sovereignty that, while oriented in the notions of well being according to a collectively re-crafted world view, was incorporating external contributions as well. Enabling and hindering factors, actors and conditions of these processes are discussed in the paper.

Methylation of NR3C1 is related to maternal PTSD, parenting stress and maternal medial prefrontal cortical activity in response to child separation among mothers with histories of violence exposure.

Prior research has shown that mothers with Interpersonal violence-related posttraumatic stress disorder (IPV-PTSD) report greater difficulty in parenting their toddlers. Relative to their frequent early exposure to violence and maltreatment, these mothers display dysregulation of their hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA-axis), characterized by hypocortisolism. Considering methylation of the promoter region of the glucocorticoid receptor gene NR3C1 as a marker for HPA-axis functioning, with less methylation likely being associated with less circulating cortisol, the present study tested the hypothesis that the degree of methylation of this gene would be negatively correlated with maternal IPV-PTSD severity and parenting stress, and positively correlated with medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC) activity in response to video-stimuli of stressful versus non-stressful mother-child interactions. Following a mental health assessment, 45 mothers and their children (ages 12-42 months) participated in a behavioral protocol involving free-play and laboratory stressors such as mother-child separation. Maternal DNA was extracted from saliva. Interactive behavior was rated on the CARE-Index. During subsequent fMRI scanning, mothers were shown films of free-play and separation drawn from this protocol. Maternal PTSD severity and parenting stress were negatively correlated with the mean percentage of methylation of NR3C1. Maternal mPFC activity in response to video-stimuli of mother-child separation versus play correlated positively to NR3C1 methylation, and negatively to maternal IPV-PTSD and parenting stress. Among interactive behavior variables, child cooperativeness in play was positively correlated with NR3C1 methylation. Thus, the present study is the first published report to our knowledge, suggesting convergence of behavioral, epigenetic, and neuroimaging data that form a psychobiological signature of parenting-risk in the context of early life stress and PTSD.

Survey of VFC provider knowledge of catch-up regimens and contraindications to vaccination in Houston, Texas

In 2004, Houston had one of the lowest childhood immunization levels among major metropolitan cities in the United States at 65% for the 4:3:1:3:3 vaccination series. Delays in the receipt of scheduled vaccinations may be related to missed opportunities due to health care provider lack of knowledge about catch-up regimens and contraindications for pediatric vaccination. The objectives of this study are to identify, measure, and report on VFC provider-practice characteristics, knowledge of catch-up regimens and contraindications, and use of Reminder recall (R/R) and moved or gone elsewhere (MOGE) practices among providers with high (>80%) and low (<70%) immunization coverage among 19-35 month old children. The sampling frame consists of 187 Vaccines for Children (VFC) providers with 2004 clinic assessment software application (CASA) scores. Data were collected by personal interview with each participating practice provider. Only ten VFC providers were successful at maximizing vaccinations for every vignette and no provider administered the maximum possible number of vaccinations at visit 2 for all six vignettes. Both coverage groups administered polio conjugate vaccine (PCV), haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), and diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP) most frequently and omitted most frequently varicella zoster vaccine (VZV) and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. ^

Contraceptive attitudes and knowledge of female adolescents

Despite the recent decline in adolescent pregnancy rates, adolescent pregnancy continues to be a significant public health issue in the United States. The United States consistently reports the highest rate of adolescent pregnancy among developed countries. Adolescent mothers are more likely to have multiple pregnancies, to access welfare and other social services, and to be unmarried. Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school, enter college, and typically command much less earning power throughout their lifetime as compared to women who delay childbirth until later. Moreover, the United States spends approximately $9.1 billion annually on teen pregnancies. ^ Additionally disconcerting is recent data which demonstrates that the decline in teen pregnancy rates is leveling off and that the rate of adolescent pregnancy has increased for the first time since 1993. Contraceptive use is a key component to the prevention of adolescent pregnancy. Contraceptive nonuse and failure result in unintended pregnancies among adolescents. This review sought to assess the levels of knowledge and attitudes toward contraception among adolescent females.^ Levels of knowledge of contraception among adolescents are tolerable; however, there is substantial room for improvement. Misperceptions about the side effects and mechanisms of action of contraception are pervasive among this population. Adolescents who have low levels of knowledge regarding contraception tend to discontinue usage or use inconsistently. Attitudes toward contraception are greatly influenced by levels of knowledge. As a result, adolescents tend to develop more positive attitudes as misperceptions are abated. Moreover, clear disparities persist among adolescents with minority and young adolescents being at increased risk of pregnancy, poor contraceptive use, and insufficient knowledge about contraception.^ Understanding the level of knowledge of and attitudes toward contraceptives among adolescents is essential to the development of effective pregnancy prevention programs. In order to effectively reduce adolescent pregnancy, prevention initiatives must target the vulnerable populations and incorporate the necessary cultural components.^

Knowledge and Attitudes of Young People in Nigeria about HIV/AIDS---A systematic review

Background: HIV/AIDS has remained one of Nigeria's biggest health and social issues for decades. People aged between 10 and 24 are the most affected. Research into why this population subset is affected is very pertinent. We therefore conducted a systematic review of the Knowledge and Attitudes of young people in Nigeria about HIV/AIDS to understand where the gaps between knowledge and attitudes can be bridged. ^ Methods: We conducted searches in Medline, PubMed, African Index Medicus, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health. WHO and UNAIDS documents were also searched. Other journals were hand searched. Searches were for studies between 1986 (when HIV/AIDS was first reported in Nigeria) till date. In addition, data abstraction and quality assessment were done. ^ Results: 279 titles and abstracts were found and 33 articles in full text were appraised critically and 17 articles were selected based on our criteria. This revealed a dearth of well conducted studies in the literature despite the enormity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Constructs for Knowledge and attitudes were itemized on two tables for each article based on the Health Belief Model. Even though many of the studies showed high level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS, it did not impact attitudes about the disease. Also fear and anxiety prevented participants from acquiring knowledge. These recurring themes arguably were not limited to any region or area, background or group. ^ Conclusion: There is a need for future research to be culturally sensitive with a focus on attitudes and correction of misconceptions about HIV/AIDS among our youth.^

Translating knowledge into action: Information needs of decision-makers in healthcare

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the healthcare information needs of decision-makers in a local US healthcare setting in efforts to promote the translation of knowledge into action. The focus was on the perceptions and preferences of decision-makers regarding usable information in making decisions as to identify strategies to maximize the contribution of healthcare findings to policy and practice. Methods: This study utilized a qualitative data collection and analysis strategy. Data was collected via open-ended key-informant interviews from a sample of 37 public and private-sector healthcare decision-makers in the Houston/Harris County safety net. The sample was comprised of high-level decision-makers, including legislators, executive managers, service providers, and healthcare funders. Decision-makers were asked to identify the types of information, the level of collaboration with outside agencies, useful attributes of information, and the sources, formats/styles, and modes of information preferred in making important decisions and the basis for their preferences. Results: Decision-makers report acquiring information, categorizing information as usable knowledge, and selecting information for use based on the application of four cross-cutting thought processes or cognitive frameworks. In order of apparent preference, these are time orientation, followed by information seeking directionality, selection of validation processes, and centrality of credibility/reliability. In applying the frameworks, decision-makers are influenced by numerous factors associated with their perceptions of the utility of information and the importance of collaboration with outside agencies in making decisions as well as professional and organizational characteristics. Conclusion: An approach based on the elucidated cognitive framework may be valuable in identifying the reported contextual determinants of information use by decision-makers in US healthcare settings. Such an approach can facilitate active producer/user collaborations and promote the production of mutually valued, comprehensible, and usable findings leading to sustainable knowledge translation efforts long-term.^

Analyses of shocked quartz from the K-P boundary

The precise cause and timing of the Cretaceous-Paleocene (K-P) mass extinction 65 Ma ago remains a matter of debate. Many advocate that the extinction was caused by a meteorite impact at Chicxulub, Mexico, and a number of potential kill-mechanisms have been proposed for this. Although we now have good constraints on the size of this impact and chemistry of the target rocks, estimates of its environmental consequences are hindered by a lack of knowledge about the obliquity of this impact. An oblique impact is likely to have been far more catastrophic than a sub-vertical one, because greater volumes of volatiles would have been released into the atmosphere. The principal purpose of this study was to characterize shocked quartz within distal K-P ejecta, to investigate whether the quartz distribution carried a signature of the direction and angle of impact. Our analyses show that the total number, maximum and average size of shocked quartz grains all decrease gradually with paleodistance from Chicxulub. We do not find particularly high abundances in Pacific sites relative to Atlantic and European sites, as has been previously reported, and the size-distribution around Chicxulub is relatively symmetric. Ejecta samples at any one site display features that are indicative of a wide range of shock pressures, but the mean degree of shock increases with paleodistance. These shock- and size-distributions are both consistent with the K-P layer having been formed by a single impact at Chicxulub. One site in the South Atlantic contains quartz indicating an anomalously high average shock degree, that may be indicative of an oblique impact with an uprange direction to the southeast +/- 45°. The apparent continuous coverage of proximal ejecta in this quadrant of the crater, however, suggests a relatively high impact angle of >45°. We conclude that some of the more extreme predictions of the environmental consequences of a low-angle impact at Chicxulub are probably not applicable.

Knowledge of medical abortion among Brazilian medical students

OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge of Brazilian medical students regarding medical abortion (MA) and the use of misoprostol for MA, and to investigate factors influencing their knowledge. METHODS: All students from 3 medical schools in São Paulo State were invited to complete a pretested structured questionnaire with precoded response categories. A set of 12 statements on the use and effects of misoprostol for MA assessed their level of knowledge. Of about 1260 students invited to participate in the study, 874 completed the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 69%. The Ï (2) test was used for the bivariate analysis, which was followed by multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Although all students in their final year of medical school had heard of misoprostol for termination of pregnancy, and 88% reported having heard how to use it, only 8% showed satisfactory knowledge of its use and effects. Academic level was the only factor associated with the indicators of knowledge investigated. CONCLUSION: The very poor knowledge of misoprostol use for MA demonstrated by the medical students surveyed at 3 medical schools makes the review and updating of the curriculum urgently necessary.

A visual framework to accelerate knowledge discovery based on dimensionality reduction minimizing degradation of quality

Tradicionalmente, el uso de técnicas de análisis de datos ha sido una de las principales vías para el descubrimiento de conocimiento oculto en grandes cantidades de datos, recopilados por expertos en diferentes dominios. Por otra parte, las técnicas de visualización también se han usado para mejorar y facilitar este proceso. Sin embargo, existen limitaciones serias en la obtención de conocimiento, ya que suele ser un proceso lento, tedioso y en muchas ocasiones infructífero, debido a la dificultad de las personas para comprender conjuntos de datos de grandes dimensiones. Otro gran inconveniente, pocas veces tenido en cuenta por los expertos que analizan grandes conjuntos de datos, es la degradación involuntaria a la que someten a los datos durante las tareas de análisis, previas a la obtención final de conclusiones. Por degradación quiere decirse que los datos pueden perder sus propiedades originales, y suele producirse por una reducción inapropiada de los datos, alterando así su naturaleza original y llevando en muchos casos a interpretaciones y conclusiones erróneas que podrían tener serias implicaciones. Además, este hecho adquiere una importancia trascendental cuando los datos pertenecen al dominio médico o biológico, y la vida de diferentes personas depende de esta toma final de decisiones, en algunas ocasiones llevada a cabo de forma inapropiada. Ésta es la motivación de la presente tesis, la cual propone un nuevo framework visual, llamado MedVir, que combina la potencia de técnicas avanzadas de visualización y minería de datos para tratar de dar solución a estos grandes inconvenientes existentes en el proceso de descubrimiento de información válida. El objetivo principal es hacer más fácil, comprensible, intuitivo y rápido el proceso de adquisición de conocimiento al que se enfrentan los expertos cuando trabajan con grandes conjuntos de datos en diferentes dominios. Para ello, en primer lugar, se lleva a cabo una fuerte disminución en el tamaño de los datos con el objetivo de facilitar al experto su manejo, y a la vez preservando intactas, en la medida de lo posible, sus propiedades originales. Después, se hace uso de efectivas técnicas de visualización para representar los datos obtenidos, permitiendo al experto interactuar de forma sencilla e intuitiva con los datos, llevar a cabo diferentes tareas de análisis de datos y así estimular visualmente su capacidad de comprensión. De este modo, el objetivo subyacente se basa en abstraer al experto, en la medida de lo posible, de la complejidad de sus datos originales para presentarle una versión más comprensible, que facilite y acelere la tarea final de descubrimiento de conocimiento. MedVir se ha aplicado satisfactoriamente, entre otros, al campo de la magnetoencefalografía (MEG), que consiste en la predicción en la rehabilitación de lesiones cerebrales traumáticas (Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) rehabilitation prediction). Los resultados obtenidos demuestran la efectividad del framework a la hora de acelerar y facilitar el proceso de descubrimiento de conocimiento sobre conjuntos de datos reales. ABSTRACT Traditionally, the use of data analysis techniques has been one of the main ways of discovering knowledge hidden in large amounts of data, collected by experts in different domains. Moreover, visualization techniques have also been used to enhance and facilitate this process. However, there are serious limitations in the process of knowledge acquisition, as it is often a slow, tedious and many times fruitless process, due to the difficulty for human beings to understand large datasets. Another major drawback, rarely considered by experts that analyze large datasets, is the involuntary degradation to which they subject the data during analysis tasks, prior to obtaining the final conclusions. Degradation means that data can lose part of their original properties, and it is usually caused by improper data reduction, thereby altering their original nature and often leading to erroneous interpretations and conclusions that could have serious implications. Furthermore, this fact gains a trascendental importance when the data belong to medical or biological domain, and the lives of people depends on the final decision-making, which is sometimes conducted improperly. This is the motivation of this thesis, which proposes a new visual framework, called MedVir, which combines the power of advanced visualization techniques and data mining to try to solve these major problems existing in the process of discovery of valid information. Thus, the main objective is to facilitate and to make more understandable, intuitive and fast the process of knowledge acquisition that experts face when working with large datasets in different domains. To achieve this, first, a strong reduction in the size of the data is carried out in order to make the management of the data easier to the expert, while preserving intact, as far as possible, the original properties of the data. Then, effective visualization techniques are used to represent the obtained data, allowing the expert to interact easily and intuitively with the data, to carry out different data analysis tasks, and so visually stimulating their comprehension capacity. Therefore, the underlying objective is based on abstracting the expert, as far as possible, from the complexity of the original data to present him a more understandable version, thus facilitating and accelerating the task of knowledge discovery. MedVir has been succesfully applied to, among others, the field of magnetoencephalography (MEG), which consists in predicting the rehabilitation of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The results obtained successfully demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework to accelerate and facilitate the process of knowledge discovery on real world datasets.

A Knowledge-based Approach for Automatic Generation of Summaries of Behavior

Effective automatic summarization usually requires simulating human reasoning such as abstraction or relevance reasoning. In this paper we describe a solution for this type of reasoning in the particular case of surveillance of the behavior of a dynamic system using sensor data. The paper first presents the approach describing the required type of knowledge with a possible representation. This includes knowledge about the system structure, behavior, interpretation and saliency. Then, the paper shows the inference algorithm to produce a summarization tree based on the exploitation of the physical characteristics of the system. The paper illustrates how the method is used in the context of automatic generation of summaries of behavior in an application for basin surveillance in the presence of river floods.

An Analysis Of The Recommended Knowledge For The Software Project Management Discipline

According to the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge), project management is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements” [1]. Project Management has proven to be one of the most important disciplines at the moment of determining the success of any project [2][3][4]. Given that many of the activities covered by this discipline can be said that are “horizontal” for any kind of domain, the importance of acknowledge the concepts and practices becomes even more obvious. The specific case of the projects that fall in the domain of Software Engineering are not the exception about the great influence of Project Management for their success. The critical role that this discipline plays in the industry has come to numbers. A report by McKinsey & Co [4] shows that the establishment of programs for the teaching of critical skills of project management can improve the performance of the project in time and costs. As an example of the above, the reports exposes: “One defense organization used these programs to train several waves of project managers and leaders who together administered a portfolio of more than 1,000 capital projects ranging in Project management size from $100,000 to $500 million. Managers who successfully completed the training were able to cut costs on most projects by between 20 and 35 percent. Over time, the organization expects savings of about 15 percent of its entire baseline spending”. In a white paper by the PMI (Project Management Institute) about the value of project management [5], it is stated that: “Leading organizations across sectors and geographic borders have been steadily embracing project management as a way to control spending and improve project results”. According to the research made by the PMI for the paper, after the economical crisis “Executives discovered that adhering to project management methods and strategies reduced risks, cut costs and improved success rates—all vital to surviving the economic crisis”. In every elite company, a proper execution of the project management discipline has become a must. Several members of the software industry have putted effort into achieving ways of assuring high quality results from projects; many standards, best practices, methodologies and other resources have been produced by experts from different fields of expertise. In the industry and the academic community, there is a continuous research on how to teach better software engineering together with project management [4][6]. For the general practices of Project Management the PMI produced a guide of the required knowledge that any project manager should have in their toolbox to lead any kind of project, this guide is called the PMBOK. On the side of best practices 10 and required knowledge for the Software Engineering discipline, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) developed the SWEBOK (Software Engineering Body of Knowledge) in collaboration with software industry experts and academic researchers, introducing into the guide many of the needed knowledge for a 5-year expertise software engineer [7]. The SWEBOK also covers management from the perspective of a software project. This thesis is developed to provide guidance to practitioners and members of the academic community about project management applied to software engineering. The way used in this thesis to get useful information for practitioners is to take an industry-approved guide for software engineering professionals such as the SWEBOK, and compare the content to what is found in the PMBOK. After comparing the contents of the SWEBOK and the PMBOK, what is found missing in the SWEBOK is used to give recommendations on how to enrich project management skills for a software engineering professional. Recommendations for members of the academic community on the other hand, are given taking into account the GSwE2009 (Graduated Software Engineering 2009) standard [8]. GSwE2009 is often used as a main reference for software engineering master programs [9]. The standard is mostly based on the content of the SWEBOK, plus some contents that are considered to reinforce the education of software engineering. Given the similarities between the SWEBOK and the GSwE2009, the results of comparing SWEBOK and PMBOK are also considered valid to enrich what the GSwE2009 proposes. So in the end the recommendations for practitioners end up being also useful for the academic community and their strategies to teach project management in the context of software engineering.

The conceptual table: a strategy for the development of a theoretical framework of a field research or knowledge

This is a guide to develop a theoretical framework for any field of knowledge. It is a rational and organized to put everything that is known or has been written about an issue or a problem way.

Survey of intensive care nurses' knowledge relating to the pulmonary artery catheter

In 2003 there was an increase in the use of pulmonary artery catheters in Australia from 12, 000 to 16, 000 units in intensive care and peri-operative care. This survey of intensive care nurses in five intensive care units in Queensland addressed knowledge of use, safety and complications of the pulmonary artery catheter, using a previously validated 31 question multiple choice survey. One hundred and thirty-nine questionnaires were completed, a response rate of 46%. The mean score was 13.3, standard deviation +/-4.2 out of a total of 31 (42.8% correct). The range was 4 to 25. Scores were significantly higher in those participants with more ICU experience, higher nursing grade, a higher self-assessed level of knowledge and greater frequency of PAC supervision. There was no significant correlation between total score and hospital- or university-based education, or total score and public or private hospital participants. Fifty-one per cent were unable to correctly identify the significant pressure change as the catheter is advanced from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery.

Knowledge, economy, technology and society: The politics of discourse

The WSIS is centrally interested in knowledge and has defined for itself a mission that is broadly humanitarian. Its development ‘talk’ is, rightly, replete with notions of equity, preserving culture, justice, human rights and so on. In incorporating such issues into knowledge society and economy discussions, WSIS has adopted a different posture towards knowledge than is seen in dominant discourses. This study analyses the dominant knowledge discourse using a large corpus of knowledge-related policy documents, discourse theory and an interrelational understanding of knowledge. I show that it is important to understand this dominant knowledge discourse because of its capacity to limit thought and action in relation to its central topic, knowledge. The results of this study demonstrate that the dominant knowledge discourse is technocratic, frequently insensitive to the humane mission at the core of the WSIS, and is based on a partial understanding of what knowledge is and how knowledge systems work. Moreover, I show that knowledge is inherently political, that the dominant knowledge discourse is politically oriented towards the concerns of business and technology, but that an emancipatory politics of knowledge is possible.

Knowledge of birds and willingness to support their conservation: an Australian case study

This case study concentrates on the extent of knowledge among the Australian public of Australia's tropical bird species, and their willingness to support their conservation. In order to place this issue in context, we provide background information on the status of Australian bird species, focusing attention on species that occur in tropical Australia. Then, using questionnaire survey results, we consider the hypothesis that the public's support for the conservation of different bird species depends on their understanding of the species' existence and status. Based on results from a sample of residents in Brisbane, Queensland, we found that knowledge of bird species that occur exclusively in the Australian tropics (including tropical Queensland) was very poor compared with that of those occurring in the Brisbane area that are relatively common. Experimental results indicated that when respondents in the sample had an option to allocate A$1,000 between 10 bird species listed in the survey, they allocated more funds to the better-known and more common species, unless they were provided with balanced information about all the selected species. With balanced information, the average allocation to bird species confined mostly to the Australian tropics, particularly those threatened, increased. This demonstrates the conservation implications of information provision about bird species. The results showed that public education can play a crucial role in attempts to conserve bird species that are poorly known and threatened.