The protection of biodiversity is one of the most important goals in terrestrial and marine conservation. Marine conservation approaches have traditionally followed the example of terrestrial initiatives. However, patterns, processes, habitats, and threats differ greatly between the 2 systems — and even within the marine environment. As a result, there is still a lack of congruence as to how to...

Ethical obligations to animals in conservation research and management are manifold and often conflicting. Animal welfare concerns often clash with the ethical imperative to understand and conserve a population or ecosystem through research and management intervention. The accelerating pace and impact of global environmental change, especially climate change, complicates our understanding of th...

Climate change mitigation benefits from the land sector are not being fully realised because of uncertainty and controversy about the role of native forest management. The dominant policy view, as stated in the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report, is that sustainable forest harvesting yielding wood products, generates the largest mitigation benefit. We demonstrate that changing native forest managem...

Many developing countries experience habitat degradation and unsustainable natural resource exploitation, with biodiversity and habitat conservation efforts often impeded by political instability and limited funding. Challenges in previous conservation efforts coupled with the current rate of marine habitat degradation and species declines warrant consideration of an innovative conservation app...

—Molecular tools and analyses have played pivotal roles in uncovering the processes and patterns of biodiversity in the Indian and Pacific oceans. However, integrating genetic results into management and conservation objectives has been challenging, with few examples that show practical applicability. This review aims to address some of the perceived barriers to an enhanced approach that integr...

Dams, diversion of water, invasive species, overharvesting and pollution are degrading rivers and wetlands. Climate change may exacerbate impacts of these threats through predicted reductions in rainfall and increased temperature, decreasing flow and altering timing and variability of flow regimes. Papers in this special issue identify conservation-management strategies for wetlands and rivers ...

Systematic conservation planning increasingly underpins the conservation and management of marine and coastal ecosystems worldwide. Amongst other benefits, conservation planning provides transparency in decision-making, efficiency in the use of limited resources, the ability to minimise conflict between diverse objectives, and to guide strategic expansion of local actions to maximise their cumu...

Systematic conservation planning increasingly underpins the conservation and management of marine and coastal ecosystems worldwide. Amongst other benefits, conservation planning provides transparency in decision-making, efficiency in the use of limited resources, the ability to minimise conflict between diverse objectives, and to guide strategic expansion of local actions to maximise their cumu...

About 120 million people worldwide live within 10 km of large mangrove forests, and many of them directly depend on the goods and services provided by these ecosystems. However, it remains unclear how to synchronize ecological definitions and legal conservation strategies regarding mangroves, especially in developing countries, such as Brazil. The influence of human populations’ socio-economic ...