Landscapes - People - Global change

Month: October 2023

New survey in the field

Postcard coming through CanadaPost Admail soon to Kings, Hants, Cumberland and Colchester counties.

Very soon, people who live in multi-unit dwellings around Hants, Kings, Colchester and Cumberland county in Nova Scotia will start receiving postcards like the above from my lab. Samantha Howard is running a focused study to strengthen our understanding of how people in the region think about (and maybe use) dykelands and tidal wetlands. If you get one of these in your mailbox, and you have 8-10 minutes to spare, we would be so grateful to hear from you.

New paper on flagship individuals in conservation

Defining characteristics of flagship individuals, presented through the example of an African elephant (Loxodonta africana). A flagship individual (the central composite image with four shades of green) is distinguished by species characteristics, individual traits (here, larger body size and prominent tusks), its level of exposure to humans (tourism), and its individual fate (a victim of poaching).

Figure 1 in the paper, showing defining characteristics of flagship individuals, presented through the example of an African elephant (Loxodonta africana). A flagship individual (the central composite image with four shades of green) is distinguished by species characteristics, individual traits (here, larger body size and prominent tusks), its level of exposure to humans (tourism), and its individual fate (a victim of poaching).

Another new paper is out today in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment thanks to the leadership of Ivan Jarić at Université Paris-Saclay, systematizing the use of individual animals and plants as so-called ‘flagships’ of conservation campaigning. Titled Flagship individuals in biodiversity conservation (and happily open access), the paper describes the characteristics of a typical flagship individual, drawing on examples from around the world, and their potential utility for drawing attention to conservation needs. As with fundraising for humans, it is the individual story that will often move people to act. The paper also considers some of the challenges or drawbacks of such personalization, both for the individual in question and for the cause.

 

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