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The intertwined, global issues of climate change, rapid biodiversity loss, and failure to eradicate poverty present a wicked problem; they need to be addressed jointly, because each has implications for communities on the ground, and one can fuel another. For decades, community-based conservation has tried to tackle these inter-related challenges with mixed success and, at times, counter-productive results, but has arisen as a promising and popular approach on global agendas. We undertook a horizon scan on community-based conservation and identified 15 topics that offer opportunities to yield positive change for people and the planet. The analysis also provides insights into pitfalls to avoid in achieving 2030 global policy targets. Community-based conservation can support livelihoods and biodiversity, while reinforcing local and Indigenous values, cultures, and institutions. Its delivery can help address cross-cutting global challenges, such as climate change, conservation, poverty, and food security. Therefore, understanding trends in community-based conservation is pertinent to setting and implementing global goals. We undertook a horizon scan to prioritize 15 emerging threats and opportunities expected to impact the future effectiveness of community-based conservation. Topics relate to global biodiversity policy; human rights; shifting human geography; inclusion, diversity, equity, and access; conservation finance and income; and economic reforms. Our findings offer guidance on strengthening community-based conservation to achieve global environmental and development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global knowledge about the spatial distribution of species is orders of magnitude coarser in resolution than other geographically-structured environmental datasets such as topography or land cover. Yet such knowledge is crucial in deciphering ecological and evolutionary processes and in managing global change. In this review, we propose a conceptual and cyber-infrastructure framework for refining species distributional knowledge that is novel in its ability to mobilize and integrate diverse types of data such that their collective strengths overcome individual weaknesses. The ultimate aim is a public, online, quality-vetted ‘Map of Life’ that for every species integrates and visualizes available distributional knowledge, while also facilitating user feedback and dynamic biodiversity analyses. First milestones toward such an infrastructure have now been implemented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: For effective conservation planning, resource managers around the world require information on species distributions. Available data, however, are often too coarse in spatial resolution to be of practical use. We describe four modelling techniques that harness the information contained in coarse-scale occurrence records to predict species’ distributions at the finer resolutions relevant to conservation officers in the field. The techniques are primarily statistical in nature, but can incorporate expert knowledge on species’ habitat preferences. We highlight the conceptual strengths and weaknesses of each, and perform a preliminary test of their comparative performance, using empirical data on the distribution of nine bird species in Uganda and satellite-derived environmental indices. Two techniques, the point sampling approach and iterative approach, yield encouraging results. Because the dominance of environmental factors controlling species’ distributions shifts with spatial scale, however, cross-scale predictions remain a formidable challenge. Further testing and refinement of the techniques we present here are undoubtedly necessary before they can be applied with any confidence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]