Sustainable Squirrel Conservation

This book attempts to move the family of squirrels (Sciuridae) out of the shadow of large charismatic mammals and to highlight management failures with the goal of moving towards an improved conservation approach. Particular attention is paid to the influence of taxonomic science on squirrel conservation. In addition, the authors show how human-driven climate change, global change and modern politics are shaping global squirrel populations as well as their surrounding environments and ecosystems. Squirrels are widespread around the globe, naturally occurring on every continent except Antarctica and Oceania, and they are certainly among the animals most commonly encountered in everyday life. Despite this, the authors of this volume identify worrying gaps in squirrel conservation. Squirrels are often hunted, trapped, poached, and stressed, and management strategies and legislation are often devised in the absence of proper knowledge of issues such as population sizes, taxonomies, and trends. Together, this can result in severe population declines and even species extinction. By assessing their taxonomic situation, ecology, the evolution and divergence of Sciuridae around the globe, and squirrels’ well-being across habitats, the authors set a baseline from which to launch future investigations into the conservation of squirrels and other species. Additionally, the authors highlight the influences of climate change, unsustainable growth, and various man-made threats to the future of this family.

"Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Fish & Wildlife, Alberta Conservation Association."

Covers the key steps in the attempt to develop guidelines for using wild species.

Scotland is at the heart of modern, sustainable upland management. Large estates cover vast areas of the uplands, with a long, complex and emotive history of ownership and use. In recent decades, the Scottish uplands have increasingly been the arena for passionate debates over large-scale land management issues. Crucially, what kinds of ownership and management will best deliver sustainable futures for upland environments and communities? Although the globally unique dominance of private ownership remains a distinctive characteristic of Scotland's uplands, increasing numbers of estates are now owned by environmental NGOs and local communities, especially since the Land Reform (Scotland) Act of 2003. A decade after the passage of this landmark Act, this book synthesises research carried out on a diverse range of upland estates by the Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth College, University of the Highlands and Islands. The findings from privately-owned estates as well as those owned by communities, charities and conservation groups will prove enlightening and relevant to upland managers, policy makers, and researchers across Britain and Europe. With the Scottish Government promoting a vision of environmental sustainability, and with the new diversity of ownerships and management now appearing, this timely and topical book investigates the implications of these different types of land ownership for sustainable upland management.

The management of red squirrel populations relies on an extensive knowledge of the ecological, social and economic factors affecting population demography and abundance. This volume contains peer reviewed studies authored by many of the world's leading squirrel experts, and is a collection which will contriobute to the evolution of applied conservation across Europe. Early chapters describe the interaction between red and grey squirrels, and review dietary studies, scatter hoarding strategies, causes of mortality, predation impacts, genetic research, and the impact of habitat fragmentation upon squirrel dispersal. Later case studies present the challenges of managing red and grey squirrels at a local, regional and national scale.

There has been a profound change within the sphere of government and societal regulation in recent years. Traditional hierarchical government has been challenged by new governance instruments relying on negotiations instead of command and control. Alongside this development there has been a change in the time-framing of politics and steering. Traditional politics implicitly has been based on stability and permanence while new forms of governance explicitly are based on just-in-time actions such as projects and issue-based collaborations in networks and programs. This book analyses the implications of this shortening of time frames, focusing particularly on spatial policy interventions. Spatial policies have a special relevance when it comes to governance and new forms of societal steering. On the one hand, the local (geographical) level in politics is the principal battleground for the struggle between top down and bottom up approaches and aspirations. On the other hand, many of the most burning issues of our time require a global, strategic approach, for example, climate change, resource depletion, population growth are anchored in space and the physical world. Whether and how short-term spatial approaches can achieve sustainable development outcomes is thus a critical question, and forms the focus of this volume. The book examines the characteristics of temporary policy measures across a range of rural, urban and regional contexts, in four continents: Europe, North America, Oceania and Africa. The outcomes and effects of these policies and interventions are analysed, particularly focusing on the tension between short-term interventions and long-term effects.

The global use of wild animals for meat is now the primary illegal activity in many protected areas, and growing human populations and a lack of livelihood options suggest that demand for wild meat is likely to continue to rise. This Occasional Paper contains the background information presented to participants at a workshop jointly organized by IUCN, FAO and TRAFFIC in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The workshop aimed to forge functional links among the various stakeholders concerned with the unsustainable use of wild fauna for food, and it contains the communiqué and a summary of the discussions related to problems and solutions.