Innovative approaches to land acquisition and conservation management : the case of Fish River Station, Northern Territory

There has been a dramatic increase in the area that is within the National Reserve System since 2000 – from around 60 million hectares to around 100 million in 2008. This dramatic increase can be attributed to Indigenous Protected Areas and the acquisition of private or leasehold land for either addition to the public protected area estate or management as private protected areas. This growth has also been strategic, increasingly the reservation status of the most underreserved bioregions. However, the reality is the land acquisition has slowed since the global financial crisis of the late 2000s and this has led to new models with different partners coming to the fore. This chapter highlights one of those new models – the acquisition of Fish River Station in the Northern Territory for conservation.

Fire mosaics and reptile conservation in a fire-prone region

Fire influences the distribution of fauna in terrestrial biomes throughout the world. Use of fire to achieve a mosaic of vegetation in different stages of succession after burning (i.e., patch-mosaic burning) is a dominant conservation practice in many regions. Despite this, knowledge of how the spatial attributes of vegetation mosaics created by fire affect fauna is extremely scarce, and it is unclear what kind of mosaic land managers should aim to achieve. We selected 28 landscapes (each 12.6 km2) that varied in the spatial extent and diversity of vegetation succession after fire in a 104,000 km2 area in the semiarid region of southeastern Australia. We surveyed for reptiles at 280 sites nested within the 28 landscapes. The landscape-level occurrence of 9 of the 22 species modeled was associated with the spatial extent of vegetation age classes created by fire. Biogeographic context and the extent of a vegetation type influenced 7 and 4 species, respectively. No species were associated with the diversity of vegetation ages within a landscape. Negative relations between reptile occurrence and both extent of recently burned vegetation (≤10 years postfire, n = 6) and long unburned vegetation (>35 years postfire, n = 4) suggested that a coarse-grained mosaic of areas (e.g. >1000 ha) of midsuccessional vegetation (11–35 years postfire) may support the fire-sensitive reptile species we modeled. This age class coincides with a peak in spinifex cover, a keystone structure for reptiles in semiarid and arid Australia. Maintaining over the long term a coarse-grained mosaic of large areas of midsuccessional vegetation in mallee ecosystems will need to be balanced against the short-term negative effects of large fires on many reptile species and a documented preference by species from other taxonomic groups, particularly birds, for older vegetation.

Innovation for 21st century conservation

Most indicators of species and ecological health suggest that our current efforts are inadequate to stem species losses, especially in the face of increasing threats from invasive species and climate change. This has driven a commitment to seek integrated conservation management across many tenures to support our protected areas. To make this happen we need all sectors to break down silos and explore more effective partnerships to achieve conservation at scale, with many different land managers and communities.

This publication illustrates a rich variety of such innovation – new partnerships and models for the establishment, management, financing and governance of both protected areas and initiatives on other lands. Its key purpose is to illustrate that new approaches are possible and workable and to give impetus to these directions. However, the book also illustrates that the path to new approaches will not be without challenges and the occasional blockage. The period of production has seen major changes in government policies, funding cuts, change in personnel and questioning of the business models with some abandonment of the directions within this publication.

The evolution of national level historic district registration and conservation in China: the Beijing Yandaixiejie and Beijing Guozijian districts in Beijing, China

From the 1980s, Chinese experts from some mainland universities, such as Tongji Universtiy in Shanghai and Tsinghua University in Beijing, commenced research into heritage management and historic architectural conservation in China. With the announcement of the First and Second Lists of 10 Chinese Historic and Cultural Districts in 2009 and 2010, the conservation of historic districts was generally received and elevated in agreements from state-level government to local level governments. This paper considers literature about international and Chinese regulations and presents the evolution of historic district conservation in China. The paper explores the effective and ineffective results of the “Selection Contest of Chinese Top 10 Historic and Cultural Districts” in two cases selected from the First and Second Lists of 10 Chinese Historical and Cultural Districts during upon recent research and investigations. In each example, the paper provides a detailed examination of public awareness and their evaluation of conservation effectiveness through questionnaires.

Lessons from large-scale conservation networks in Australia

Australia has seen a rapid growth in the establishment of networks of lands managed for connectivity conservation across tenures, at landscape and sub-continental scales. Such networks go under a variety of names, including biosphere reserves, biolinks, wildlife corridors and conservation management networks. Their establishment has varied from state government-led initiatives to those initiated by non-government organizations and interested landholders. We surveyed existing major landscape scale conservation initiatives for successes, failures and future directions and synthesized common themes. These themes included scale, importance of social and economic networks, leadership, governance, funding, conservation planning, the role of protected areas and communication. We discuss the emergence of national policy relating to National Wildlife Corridors in Australia and the relationship of this policy to the long standing commitment to build a comprehensive, adequate and representative National Reserve System. Finally we outline areas for further research for connectivity conservation projects in Australia.

The importance and significance of heritage conservation of ex-tin mining landscape in Perak, the Abode of Grace

The thematic history of tin mining in Perak reveals the evolution of tin production, technology, infrastructure, transportation, social and the state economic development. The mining expansion that spread from Larut district to Kinta at the end of nineteenth century has distinctively impact on it's landscape. The surviving evidences that spread over Kinta demonstrates the importance and significance of conservation of ex-tin mining places. These surviving evidences are testimony of the past history and legacy for the present and future generations.

Molecular sex-typing in shorebirds: a review of an essential method for research in evolution, ecology and conservation

Knowing the correct sex of individuals is essential both for research in evolutionary ecology and for practical conservation. Recent molecular advances have produced cheap, quick and reliable methods for sexing birds including chicks, juveniles, immatures and adults. Shorebird researchers have not yet fully utilised these advances. Here we provide an overview of work in this area to date with two objectives: (i) to review the major applications of molecular sexing and findings of shorebird research so far, and (ii) to provide an essential guide on how to carry out molecular sexing using current methods whilst avoiding methodological pitfalls. We encourage shorebird researchers to make better use of molecular sex-typing techniques in studies of conservation, migration, foraging ecology and breeding behaviour.

Conservation of genetic diversity in British populations of the diploid endemic Coincya monensis ssp monensis (Isle of Man Cabbage): the risk of hybridisation with the tetraploid alien, Coincya monensis ssp cheiranthos

Coincya monensis is represented in the British flora by two, cytologically distinct subspecies. Coincya monensis ssp monensis is an endemic diploid with a coastal sand dune distribution that includes a number of isolated populations. Coincya monensis ssp cheiranthos is a tetraploid alien, well established in South Wales in early successional habitats. Both subspecies share similar life form traits, flowering times and pollinators. Cluster analysis and phylogenetic reconstruction based on sequences of the mitochondrial nad4 gene confirmed the distinction between alien and endemic taxa. Tetraploid populations carry more polymorphic RAPDs loci and their genetic diversity is partitioned more within than among populations. In contrast, C. monensis ssp monensis has a distinct population genetic structure. Analysis of the multilocus genetic data confirmed a structure of genetically isolated, endemic population clusters in Scotland, Arran, the Isle of Man and South Wales. Experimental hybridisation showed the two subspecies are interfertile. Multivariate analysis of RAPDs data resolved hybrids between alien and endemic clusters and hybrids contained a proportion of alien-specific polymorphic loci. Hybrids of alien maternal parentage contained the mitochondrial nad4 sequence characteristic of the alien subspecies. Since the alien subspecies can invade mobile sand dune communities from urban sites and compete for pollinators, there is a risk that alien and endemic populations will mix and introgress. Conservation of endemic genetic diversity in Britain will require protection for all C. monensis ssp monensis populations. Currently, the most disjunct endemic population in South Wales is most at risk from introgression.