Introduction - Conservation and Sustainable Use - page 1

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Introduction
1.1 Who is this topic for?
This topic is a practical handbook setting out the methods needed to conserve
wildlife that is hunted or harvested. We are aiming at anyone who is interested in
carrying out scientifically based conservation of exploited species. This includes
managers who need to interpret the information available to them to decide on
conservation actions, and those who carry out research to gain understanding of a
problem and then act on that knowledge. It also includes people who are primarily
carrying out scientific studies, but with the hope of making usable recommenda-
tions, for example, students who are working on the conservation of an exploited
species for an MSc or PhD thesis.
We hope to provide a toolbox that covers the many aspects of conserving
exploited species. The bedrock of effective conservation is to understand the
biology of the exploited species, its habitat requirements and the effects of threat-
ening factors on its population dynamics. If we are not correct about what is it that
is causing a population to decline, then all other actions will be in vain. On the
other hand, biological understanding is just the first step on the long road towards
actually doing something to reverse declines. This requires an understanding of the
human setting within which the threatening process is happening; who is
involved, what their motives are and how the culture and institutions within which
their activities occur drive their exploitation patterns. Action is even more difficult,
as it requires engagement with people and institutions, so that patterns of
behaviour can be changed; action needs to be at multiple scales, from passing laws
to changing the perceptions of people in daily contact with wildlife.
We will look at techniques for getting information about the exploitation
process, covering biological, social, economic and institutional angles. We then
discuss how this information can be analysed to produce a scientifically based
understanding of the dynamics of the system. Finally we discuss some of the
considerations involved in translating this understanding into action. Overarching
all of these is the issue of uncertainty —how do we make sound decisions when we
don't have perfect knowledge, and how do we monitor the situation so that we can
improve our understanding and pick up the warning signs of things going wrong?
We have to limit the range of issues we can consider. We focus here on species
that are killed by humans for gain, for example, for subsistence food use or the