The global protected area estate is the world’s largest ever planned land use. Protected areas are not monolithic and vary in their purpose, designation, management and outcomes. The IUCN protected area category system is a typology based on management objectives. It documents protected area types and is increasingly used in laws, policy and planning. As its role grows, the category system must be reactive to opinions and open to modifications. In response to requests from members IUCN undertook a 4-year consultation and recently published revised guidelines for the categories. These made subtle but important changes to the protected area definition, giving greater emphasis to nature conservation, protection over the long term and management effectiveness. It refined some categories and gave principles for application. Debates during revision were intense and highlighted many of the issues and challenges surrounding protected areas in the early 21st century. There was a consensus on many issues including the suitability of different governance models (such as indigenous and community conserved areas), sacred natural sites, moving the emphasis of Category IV from habitat manipulation towards species and habitat protection, and recognition of legally defined zones within a protected area as different categories. However, there was considerable disagreement about the definition of a protected area, the appropriateness of some categories with extensive human use, the possibility of linking category classification with biodiversity outcomes, and recognition of territories of indigenous peoples. We map these debates and propose actions to resolve these issues: a necessary step if the world’s protected area network is to be representative, secure and well managed.

The distribution of the Near Threatened Caucasian grouse Tetrao mlokosiewiczi, endemic to the Caucasus, was examined to model the species’ nesting habitat, and thus facilitate its conservation and the identification of Key Biodiversity Areas in the Caucasus. The species’ occurrence was defined by field surveys and radio-telemetry. Data were managed and analysed using a geographical information system and various modelling techniques. Grouse locations were divided into training and testing datasets. Habitat variables measured at training locations were used to develop models, and testing locations were used to validate the models. The final best-fit model suggested that Caucasian grouse prefer open habitat, and the most important independent variables accounting for the species' distribution were annual mean temperature, mean temperature of warmest quarter, precipitation seasonality and proximity to deciduous broad-leaf forest. The incorporation of human disturbance and ruggedness into the final model significantly increased its predictive power. This model provides a tool to improve search effectiveness for Caucasian grouse in the Caucasus and for the conservation and management of the species. The model can predict the probable distribution of Caucasian grouse and the corridors between known populations. Threatened and endemic species are often used as species for setting site-based conservation priorities, and this habitat model could help to identify new Key Biodiversity Areas for protection in the Caucasus. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia is going to use the results of this study to reshape existing protected areas and identify new ones.

We assess the national conservation status of the amphibians and reptiles of Morocco by applying the IUCN Red List Criteria at the national level and assess its utility as a planning tool to establish regional priorities for conservation. We rely on the accessory data accompanying regional red lists, mainly distribution range and habitats used by, and threats affecting, species of conservation concern. We also correlated some natural history traits to examine the nature and causes of the risk of extinction. With 13 species of amphibians (31% regionally threatened) and 99 species of reptiles (14% regionally threatened), Morocco is one of the Mediterranean countries with the highest diversity of herpetofauna, mainly because of the high percentage of endemism (amphibians 31%, reptiles 24%). The relative frequencies of threatened species were found to be contingent on both taxonomic group and habitat. The overwhelming importance of the threats of small range and number of habitats used by species is different from the threats to the same species at the global level; this demonstrates the usefulness of national or regional analyses of conservation status for setting conservation priorities. The importance of regional assessment derives from the fact that the boundaries set for conservation management are mainly political rather than biogeographical.

Despite its small size and high human population Sri Lanka is home to c. 4,400 wild Asian elephants Elephas maximus. Human–elephant conflict around agriculture is severe, with > 100 elephants and c. 50 people killed annually. Elephants appear to be able to time their raiding of paddy-fields in Sri Lanka with the harvesting of the rice, as if they are responding to an olfactory trigger. It is the elephant’s sophisticated chemosensory system that may hold the key to resolving human–elephant conflict. Research is required to determine the odours associated with the various development stages of rice, using gas chromatography, and to find a suitable substance that could be used to mask the specific odour of ripening rice. The use of chemosensory-based methods, if feasible, will not be a universal panacea for the mitigation of human–elephant conflict but, in combination with other methods, could reduce conflict and make it easier for farmers to harvest their crops in safety. Such a combination of methods could be useful across the range of both Asian and African elephants.

The study of mammals suffering intense poaching in remote areas poses an increasingly difficult conservation challenge, in part because the extreme flightiness of such species complicates safe capture. The benefits of handling (an opportunity to obtain biological information and attach radio collars) must be weighed against stress to the animals and potential capture-related mortality. In parts of Central Asia this problem is not trivial, as populations have been heavily harvested and opportunities for restraint are often limited. Mongolian saiga Saiga tatarica mongolica, being both Endangered and poached, typifies these issues. Here we describe capture protocols for adult females handled quickly and without anaesthesia. Using multiple vehicles driven at high speed, individual saiga were isolated from groups and herded into nets. Chase time was linearly associated with rectal temperature (P < 0.03), with maximum pursuits and temperatures of 9 minutes and 43.1°C, respectively; time to release averaged < 7 minutes. Given that rural residents often chase saiga and other desert and steppe-dwelling ungulates, for photography or for amusement, our results offer conservationists and government officials an empirical basis for recommending prudence on chase times and/or for recommending that the practice be prevented.

Considerable efforts have been invested in recent years to improve methods for both data collection and analyses required for population monitoring. Where historical or current estimates of population size are not adjusted for detection probabilities they may be too inaccurate to provide meaningful estimates of trends and thus monitoring methods need to be adapted. Here, we use data from the Endangered huemul deer Hippocamelus bisulcus to outline a framework to develop accurate robust estimates of detection probabilities that can be incorporated into new surveys in a cost-effective way and applied to existing survey data sets. In particular, by retroactively estimating detection probabilities for surveys of huemul, we show that current survey methods for huemul are inadequate to determine population trends reliably. Based on these results we propose a new monitoring method for the huemul and discuss the importance of estimating accuracies of historical survey data to ensure that changes in the abundance of the species reflect real population trends and are not an artefact of variation over time in the accuracy of survey data.

Assessments of conservation status are usually carried out on a global scale but national priorities often necessitate a more focused approach. Using a typology of rarity first articulated in the early 1980s by Deborah Rabinowitz, coupled with presence/absence from protected areas, preliminary conservation status at the national level was assessed for 397 species of ferns and fern allies from El Salvador in Central America. Of these, 43 lacked sufficient data, 175 were considered not of conservation concern, 106 were considered to be at risk and 73 to be threatened. The majority of the threatened species were from cloud or montane forest habitats but aquatics and species restricted to pine–oak forests are also rare and occur outside protected areas. The utility of this simple methodology is discussed and the importance of field studies by local experts with local knowledge emphasized.

Two political jurisdictions in northern Spain, Navarre, where the Pyrenean chamois Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica is categorized as Vulnerable, and Aragon, where it is huntable, coordinated management for the recovery of this subspecies at the western limit of its range. After an estimate of only a small population in 1992–1993 hunting was banned in Aragon and, in 1995–1996, monitoring of both populations began. In the two massifs where the subspecies lives, which lie across the border of the two jurisdictions, chamois populations increased from 33 to 136 and from 144 to 455 by 2007 (average annual increases were 15 and 11%, respectively). The subspecies was also located on a third massif, in 2002. After the recovery the ban against hunting was lifted in Aragon, in 2006, with a sustainable hunting quota based on 5% of the estimated minimum population size. We conclude that coordinated management between agencies in two jurisdictions has fostered the recovery of the Pyrenean chamois.

In spite of the general concerns about introduction of exotic species there are contrary arguments that introduced species could increase local biodiversity and provide ecosystem services. The assertion that native spoonbills Platalea leucorodia are attracted by breeding, introduced sacred ibises Threskiornis aethiopicus, and thus that the spoonbill colonies will be more stable, has been developed as an argument against the proposed eradication of the sacred ibis in western France. We analysed the possible interaction between these two species using information from a 5-year nest survey (2002–2006) in a large swamp in western France. We found that: (1) The spoonbills began to breed significantly earlier than ibises, by 15–25 days. (2) In an analysis using a grid of 80-m squares no site-fidelity effect was observed from one year to the next, both species preferentially using previously unused cells from which the other species was absent and cells occupied by their own species. (3) Spoonbills had a significantly greater dispersion than ibises. (4) The spoonbills almost always settled (90.3%) near a spoonbill nest. These results do not suggest any regular positive attraction of the spoonbills towards the ibises and consequently do not support the proposal that ibises attract spoonbills and play a role in the conservation of this species.

Many mires of high conservation value occur in Bulgaria. These mires acted as refugia during the dry phases of ice ages and therefore contain a high number of rare and disjunct species. The mires harbour specific ecotypes and genotypes of plants and animals, and thus provide an opportunity to test biogeographical hypotheses, and they also contain important information about the history of European mires. In this study we ranked all known mire and spring complexes in Bulgaria according to the occurrence of rare and threatened plant and mollusc species. This analysis shows a conspicuous concentration of rare species at several sites, and no correspondence between the importance of individual mires for biodiversity and their legal protection. Of the 10 mire complexes of highest priority only one is effectively protected. The remaining unprotected mires have either been destroyed or are threatened by ongoing development. Having joined the European Union, Bulgaria has built a Natura 2000 network that could provide an opportunity for mire conservation. However, destruction of mire habitats proceeds faster than the approval of Natura 2000 sites. There is thus a possibility that unique Bulgarian mires will be lost before the Natura 2000 system begins to perform its role. Only effective and timely protection of the mire remnants, together with appropriate management, will ensure the future of these unique habitats.

Douepea arabica (Hedge & Kit Tan) O. Appel & Al-Shehbaz is a rare and threatened endemic plant species of Saudi Arabia. We present the first field studies of D. arabica in over 2 decades and update the sparse historical data on this important plant species. Surveys of the type locality Wadi Qaraqir and surrounding areas indicate that numbers of D. arabica are low. Although regeneration is occurring in the type locality and a newly recorded locality in the neighbouring Wadi Ghamrah, the extent of occurrence and area of occupancy of D. arabica are restricted. This species appears to be strongly associated with available water sources and the dominant Nerium shrubland in the wadi channels. These are both threatened by increasing agricultural activities and road building in the area. We propose that D. arabica should be categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. We recommend conservation measures for this species, as well as the further research required to implement a conservation action plan.

We describe the use of camera-trapping with capture-recapture, occupancy and visitation rate modelling to study the size, demographic structure and distribution of the Persian leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor in Bamu National Park, southern Iran. A total sampling effort of 1,012 trap-nights yielded photo-captures of four adults, two subadult individuals and a cub over 21 sampling occasions. The leopard population size estimated by the M(h) model and jackknife estimator was 6.00 ± SE 0.24 individuals. This gives a density of 1.87 ± SE 0.07 leopards per 100 km2. Detection probability was constant and low and, as a result, estimated occupancy rate was significantly higher than that predicted from photographic capture sites alone. Occupancy was 56% of the protected area and visitation rates were 0.01–0.05 visits per day. The most imminent threats to leopards in Bamu are poaching and habitat fragmentation.

The Bale monkey Chlorocebus djamdjamensis is a little-known primate endemic to the south-eastern highlands of Ethiopia. From August 2007 to May 2008 we surveyed to determine the species' habitat preferences and population size in the Odobullu Forest and its range across the Bale Mountains. In Odobullu Forest a total of 136 transects of 1.8–3.0 km were surveyed over a total distance of 280 km. Bale monkey groups were encountered only in bamboo forest, suggesting that the species is a bamboo forest specialist. The density and population size of the Bale monkey in the bamboo forest of Odobullu Forest were estimated to be 121–141 km-2 and 1,718–2,002, respectively. At a larger scale, we assessed the distribution of the Bale monkey in 40% of the bamboo forest across the Bale Mountains within the species’ altitudinal range of 2,400–3,250 m. We identified the areas to be surveyed using a 200 m digital elevation model and a 10-m resolution satellite image. We found the Bale monkey in five areas, three of which are previously unrecorded locations for the species. The Bale monkey is now categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, partly based on the results of our surveys. Although extensive, our surveys did not cover all of the species’ potential habitat and further surveys are required across all of the bamboo forest of the Bale Mountains and Sidamo region (the western extension of the Bale Mountains).

Hunting is a serious threat to wildlife worldwide. The rainforest-rich Arunachal Pradesh state of India, a biodiversity hotspot, is an area severely affected by indigenous hunting. The state has several indigenous tribes who hunt for food, trade, culture and leisure. Using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires we surveyed 184 individuals in 51 villages across four tribes for information on species hunted and hunting practices. A total of 33 mammalian species are reportedly hunted, of which only 11 were reported by hunters during formal interviews. The other 22 species were observed during casual visits, festivals and informal discussions. Of the species hunted 20 are Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Villagers now travel longer distances to hunt than they did a decade ago, suggesting a decline in wildlife populations around villages. The extent of offtake of mammals was related to the altitude of the village and the use of guns. Villagers living at higher altitudes and with guns appeared to hunt more. We also documented the importance of ritualistic hunting by some tribes. Additional research is required to estimate offtake and consumption rates of wild meat. Increasing conservation awareness and community-based conservation projects may assist in controlling the severity and extent of this hunting problem.

The orange-bellied Himalayan squirrel Dremomys lokriah is used for medicinal purposes by the Apatani community in north-east India. The monetary value of the species has increased 40-fold since 1986. Hunting is perceived to be the primary cause of the decline of D. lokriah but this is now being curtailed through a unique social restriction system (Dapo) under the administration of the traditional village council (Builyang). Here we report on the socio-ecological values of D. lokriah and the traditional hunting system, and conservation initiatives implemented by the Apatani community to conserve the species. This initiative is an opportunity for government agencies and conservationists to merge a traditional knowledge system with modern conservation methods and strengthen participatory conservation management.