Achieving effective conservation in the tropics is a global concern but implicates local people. Despite considerable rhetoric about local participation the vast majority of conservation initiatives continue to be devised and controlled by a small group of powerful, external voices. What is widely overlooked is that local people often have positive conservation goals and preferences. These overlap with global values and create a strong precedent for practice, providing the basis for strategic alliances with conservation agencies. Local people can be part of a solution, rather than of the problem, if they are given the opportunity. While as yet unfamiliar to many conservationists, partnerships with local people are working in other natural resource sectors (water, commercial forestry). Strong partnerships entail shared decision making, shared risks and a balance of rights and responsibilities between external conservation agencies and local interest groups. Partnerships are no panacea, but a real commitment to partnership offers conservation outcomes that are more ethical and often more practicable than current models.

Columbidae (pigeons and doves) is one of the most threatened bird families in the world. I analysed data on the BirdLife International Species Information Database to examine the distribution and causes of threat among columbids. Of 304 species extant in the wild, 59 (19%) are threatened with extinction, 48 (83%) of which have restricted ranges. All but two threatened columbid species (97%) inhabit tropical forests, and of these, 45 are island species (78% of all threatened columbid species). The taxonomic distribution of columbids follows three coherent areas: the Americas; Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia; Asia, Australasia and Oceania. Asia, Australasia and Oceania support nearly two-thirds of all extant species and three-quarters of threatened species (44), most of which (84%) are restricted range insular species. Three countries within this area are the most important for the conservation of columbid diversity: Indonesia, the Philippines and French Polynesia. Together these three countries support 40% of extant species and half of all threatened species. The greatest causes of threat to columbids are (1) habitat loss and fragmentation due to agriculture and extraction, (2) hunting for food, and (3) alien predator species. Habitat loss and fragmentation are universal threats to columbids. Hunting, however, is a significantly greater threat to species in Asia, Australasia and Oceania than to species in the other two areas and urgently needs to be addressed. I discuss the conservation implications of these findings and make research recommendations to aid and encourage the conservation of threatened columbids and their habitats.

Climate change is now known to be affecting the oceans. It is widely anticipated that impacts on marine mammals will be mediated primarily via changes in prey distribution and abundance and that the more mobile (or otherwise adaptable) species may be able to respond to this to some extent. However, the extent of this adaptability is largely unknown. Meanwhile, within the last few years direct observations have been made of several marine mammal populations that illustrate reactions to climate change. These observations indicate that certain species and populations may be especially vulnerable, including those with a limited habitat range, such as the vaquita Phocoena sinus, or those for which sea ice provides an important part of their habitat, such as narwhals Monodon monoceros, bowhead Balaena mysticetus and beluga Delphinapterus leucas whales and polar bears Ursus maritimus. Similarly, there are concerns about those species that migrate to feeding grounds in polar regions because of rapidly changing conditions there, and this includes many baleen whale populations. This review highlights the need to take projected impacts into account in future conservation and management plans, including species assessments. How this should be done in an adequately precautionary manner offers a significant challenge to those involved in such processes, although it is possible to identify at this time at least some species and populations that may be regarded as especially vulnerable. Marine ecosystems modellers and marine mammal experts will need to work together to make such assessments and conservation plans as robust as possible.

The frequently anecdotal nature of evidence concerning the impact of warfare on conservation poses numerous problems and there have been calls to apply a strict set of conditions to such data to improve the rigor of scientific analysis in this field. To illustrate the difficulties, however, of applying strict quantitative conditions on such data a deterministic model of conflict-linked deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa was constructed and the implications of the model discussed. Our model indicates that from 1990–2005 approximately 35,000 ha of timber have been used to support officially recorded UN refugees in this region: this is a continuing impact, albeit quantified using data with some potential error. An alternative semi-quantitative approach was also used, with reported environmental impacts of conflict assessed for reliability and severity using a number of empirical criteria. Data focusing on the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda were subsequently analysed using this framework. Illegal resource exploitation was identified as the primary impact resulting from conflict and, in some instances, a driver of the hostilities. From the joint consideration of the conflict and post-conflict phases such exploitation is concluded to be the product of lawlessness and anarchy generated by violent uprisings rather than violence per se. As such, armed conflict does not pose a novel threat to protected areas but rather amplifies threats extant during peace, creating a need for appropriate responses by those involved in conservation management. With both the occurrence and violence of conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa increasing, the impacts of warfare are pertinent to both the immediate and long-term management of biological resources in the region.

We classified land cover in the Northern Forest Complex in Myanmar using satellite imagery (MODIS/NDVI) and field surveys carried out in 2001, 2004 and 2005. Using Landsat TM/ETM+ images from 1991 and 1999 we determined deforestation rates. The c. 22,000 km2 Northern Forest Complex, including the Hkakabo Razi National Park in northern Kachin State, is characterized by tropical to subtropical pristine forests with low human impact. The area studied, which includes land beyond the boundaries of Hkakabo Razi National Park, is of special conservation importance because it provides a refuge for many rare plant and animal species. Less than 1.4% of the area is affected by humans (excluding hunting) and deforestation rates are low at <0.01% annually. We observed several bird and mammal species that are considered threatened elsewhere. Based on our data, those of previous surveys, and the fact that >10 new vertebrate species have been described in the region since 1999, it is likely there are still undescribed vertebrate species to be discovered. We recommend extending the boundaries of Hkakabo Razi National Park to the south and west, connecting it to Hpongkan Razi Wildlife Sanctuary, and/or adding an additional sanctuary in the Naung Mung area, to protect the vast yet still pristine rainforest habitats that are home to many of the most important aspects of the region's biodiversity.

The conservation status of 134 species, subspecies and varieties of West Indian palms (Arecaceae) is assessed and reviewed, based on field studies and current literature. We find that 90% of the palm taxa of the West Indies are endemic. Using the IUCN Red List categories one species is categorized as Extinct, 11 taxa as Critically Endangered, 19 as Endangered, and 21 as Vulnerable. Fifty-seven taxa are classified as Least Concern. Twenty-five taxa are Data Deficient, an indication that additional field studies are urgently needed. The 11 Critically Endangered taxa warrant immediate conservation action; some are currently the subject of ex situ and in situ conservation projects in the region’s botanical gardens. We recommend that preliminary conservation assessments be made of the 25 Data Deficient taxa so that conservation measures can be implemented for those facing imminent threats.