Evaluating the design of behaviour change interventions

By: Alegria Olmedo, Senior Project Officer, WWF-Vietnam

A recent research study evaluated nine behaviour change interventions launched in Vietnam in the decade leading up to 2015 to reduce the consumption of rhino horn. Using the grounded theory approach, interviews were carried out with representatives of nine organizations responsible for implementing interventions. A behaviour change intervention design wheel (Figure 1) was developed illustrating the key elements required for an intervention to achieve and demonstrate behaviour change. This wheel was created with elements of project design extracted from the behaviour change, conservation and business literatures and was later combined with themes that emerged from the conservations with interview respondents.

All interventions were assessed against this framework. Study findings illustrated a general lack of the use of each of these design elements.

Measurable Objectives:

Setting measurable objectives was possible for only one of the interventions due to a lack of baseline research.

Research and Target Audience:

Carrying out research prior to designing the interventions enables organizations to clearly identify a target audience and thoroughly explore the motivations driving consumption. However, only four out of nine interventions surveyed Vietnamese citizens to understand reasons for consumption and homed in on a particular demographic group for their intervention.

Evidence-based Messages, Behaviour Change Model and Theory of Change:

Only a third of the interventions delivered messages based on evidence that these might have the desired effect on the target audience. In addition, only two interventions were based on behaviour change models, indicating that in many cases assumptions had been made on how to achieve behaviour change. This is highlighted by the reliance on awareness raising, which has been widely used despite the lack of evidence that raising awareness of a particular subject leads to any change in behaviour.

Indicators of Success:

Although one intervention identified indicators of success, the implementing agent did not follow a theory of change or behaviour change model. Several other indicators were measured and treated as evidence of success, but many of these measure progress rather than success. These include: social media activity (to gauge interest and engagement), anecdotal information (particularly for pre-testing messages and reactions of individuals at workshops), number of people reached by messages via social media, texts sent by telephone companies, exposure on TV and workshop attendance (which does not indicate whether the people exposed to these messages were consumers, to begin with).

Evaluation:

Only two interventions produced baselines to evaluate the prevalence of rhino horn consumption and thus are the only interventions that could evaluate their impact.

Figure 1: Behaviour change design wheel

Key challenges identified by practitioners implementing campaigns include:

  • Lack of law enforcement – interviewees highlighted that behaviour change is part of a wider intervention landscape which includes law enforcement and legislative change; effective deterrents must be set in place to see a reduction in poaching, trading and consumption of illegal wildlife products.
  • Cooperation – lack of cooperation has led to overlap and competition for territory of implementing agencies.
  • Clarity of purpose – there are different ideas of what should be the aim of demand reduction work (awareness raising vs. behaviour change).

Whilst behaviour change may be a new tool to reduce demand for illegal wildlife products, lessons from other fields (i.e. public health, marketing and development) demonstrate there is no substitute for baselines, robust research and behaviour change models, which can be used to improve conservation interventions. Combining these valuable lessons with adequate support from governments is necessary to reduce demand for illegal wildlife products.

 

Article edited by: Nafeesa Esmail

CITES and the international plant trade

By: Dr Noeleen Smyth, Guy Clarke, Sonia Dhanda, China Williams, Stuart Cable, Helene Ralimanana, Rose Simpson, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Trade in rare species shows no signs of abating. In 2014, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) regulated plant trade (2320 plant taxa) imported into the EU was worth $286 million (UNEP-WCMC 2016). As a result of CITES COP17 an additional 304 species have been added to the over 31,517 plant species that are currently listed on the CITES Appendices.

 

Which are the most common plant families listed on CITES?

There are 60 plant families with species listed on the CITES Appendices ranging from well-known families such as Orchids, Cacti, Cycads to Didiereas which is an unusual family of spiny succulents from Madagascar and Africa. The second largest plant family in the world after the daisy family, the orchid family (Orchidaceae), dominates the listings on the CITES Appendices (84%).

The desire for and interest in these “luxury plants” has led to the coining of “orchid mania.” Their appeal attracts thousands of visitors to Kew’s orchid festival every year (Willis & Fry 2015), while orchids for sale as cut flowers and pot plants is a trade worth millions of pounds (USDA 2015). Over 39 species of orchids in European trade appear as components of cosmetic, food and medicinal products (Brinckmann, 2014). An interesting documented social use exists for one orchid Ansellia africana which is used as a love charm, as an antidote for bad dreams and to ward off lightning (Crook, 2013). It is also highly collected and consequently has an IUCN Red List assessment status of Vulnerable. Another unusual use of orchids is in tea. Historically, Bourbon tea was made from the epiphytic orchid Jumellea fragrans, found on the islands of Reunion (formerly known as Bourbon) and Mauritius. This beverage was highly popular 80–100 years ago (Pridgeon et al., 2014).

The next largest family group listed on the CITES Appendices is Cactaceae (CITES, 2015), with 1,898 species. More than half of all cactus species are estimated to be used by people. The most common stated use is ornamental horticulture (Goettsch et al., 2015) but food is another; for example prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) is commonly used as food (Global Invasive Species Database, 2015). Matching the CITES Appendices checklist (CITES, 2015) of cacti species against Kew databases (WCSP, 2017) reveals there are currently 231 cacti species with uses. These include species with medicinal uses (65 spp.), environmental uses (152 spp.) and social uses (10 spp.), in addition to animal food (29 spp.), human food (89 spp.), materials (43 spp.), fuels (11 spp.), gene sources (9 spp.), poisons (4 spp.) and even invertebrate food (1 spp.). Our world would have a lot less colour without Dactylopius coccus, a scale insect which feeds on Opuntia and from which the natural red dye carmine or cochineal was first derived, used and discovered by the Aztec and Mayan civilisations (Nobel, 2002). The dye has become popular again, as many commercial synthetic red dyes have been found to be carcinogenic (Schiebinger, 2007).

 

How well is CITES doing in terms of combatting illegal plant trade?

This issue is difficult to fully assess globally but as a snapshot of trade in illegal plants in the UK we obtained data of plant seizures in 2016 by UK Borderforce at Heathrow Airport, London. This revealed 220 individual CITES plant related seizures were made in 2016. Live orchid plants dominate the seizures, followed by plants used in traditional and healthcare medicines. This pattern is similar to other studies indicating that the illegal trade in plants, the world over, is dominated by orchids (Hinsley et. al 2015 & 2016, Lavorgna, 2014, Phelps, 2015 & SOTWP Kew 2016).

A key question, however, is why this illegal trade in plants is occurring. Whilst there is an internet-driven trade in wild plant species, especially for the horticulture industry (Hinsley et. al 2015 & 2016; Vaglica et. al., 2017), many incidents of illegal plant materials seized at Heathrow show that often the passenger is unaware of the legislation and protection surrounding CITES listed species and products (see infographic, Biodiversity Blunders in your Backpack). This indicates an urgent need for better education for travellers especially those visiting some of the most plant biodiverse regions in the world.

Read the full chapter in the State of the World’s Plant Report here.

 

Article edited by: Nafeesa Esmail

By-catch, the Dark Web and the demise of AlphaBay

By: David Roberts, Reader in Biodiversity Conservation, University of Kent & Julio Hernandez-Castro, Senior Lecturer in Computer Security, University of Kent

It seems that every day a new bit of tech comes out or a techy avenue is found that conservationists want to exploit. In relation to the illegal wildlife trade, first it was drones to catch poachers and now it is wildlife trade on the dark web. Tech can work well in the right places, but it does have its limits and conservationists need to understand these. In the case of drones, they are precision instruments so flying them at random rarely detects poachers, but used in conjunction with intelligence to move to specific locations they can be effective.

The Dark Web is an intriguing place, having come to public attention with the rise and fall of the Silk Road trading site and its sister site, the Armory. The Dark Web is the home of illicit trade including drugs, arms and counterfeit items, and there has been much speculation that it is also home to illegal wildlife trade. After one conservationist posted on the Dark Web, requesting to purchase a shark fin, they told me they were amazed to have received a response offering them a quantity. Illegal trades are connected, that is true, therefore it isn’t particularly surprising that they were offered shark fin. If I asked for a Mars Bar on the Dark Web, someone would sell me one, but I’m pretty confident that isn’t Mars’ main sales outlet. That said, Julio Hernandez-Castro and I, along with a number of computing students, have been monitoring trade in wildlife on the Dark Web and it is present, albeit in small quantities (Harrison et al., 2016; Roberts & Hernandez-Castro 2017).

In our recent paper we found that the trade appears to take two forms that can only be described as ‘bycatch’. The first form of ‘bycatch’ was found to be wildlife trade that is also illegal for another reason, notably cacti to make mescaline and reptile leather products. The cacti are primarily illegal because of their narcotic properties, and the reptile leather products are illegal because they are counterfeit designer brand items. As a result, these items are on the Dark Web for reasons other than the fact they are potentially illegally traded wildlife products. The second form of ‘bycatch’ was found to be because the seller is already involved in other illegal activities and therefore probably did not want a surface web presence that could jeopardize their identity. In the very few cases of potentially genuine ivory and rhino horn sales, they were found to be in association with the sale of illegal prescription drugs.

Much of the trade we have found on the Dark Web has been on a marketplace called AlphaBay. Ironically, the month our paper was published, AlphaBay, like the Silk Road, was taken down, shortly followed by another Dark Web marketplace, Hansa market. It will be interesting to see whether these items we previously detected will reappear on another marketplace or if other, new items will appear; certainly as of the beginning of August nothing has appeared. Currently, the most likely marketplace that previous AlphaBay sellers will move to is a site called Dreams that was established in 2013 and therefore has the reputation a seller will seek. However, in reality every day billions of transaction takes place on the surface web; of these, a fraction represent illegal trade in wildlife. This makes detection by law enforcers difficult, particularly as much of the searching is currently done manually. While the Dark Web may be an attractive draw for conservationists to delve into, in reality this platform is likely to be a very minor player, just as the links between the ivory trade and terrorism have been overplayed. While some monitoring is worthwhile in terms of forming a baseline, considerably more effort needs to be focused on the trade over the surface web, particularly trade occurring on closed sites of social media platforms.

 

Article edited by: Nafeesa Esmail

Medicinal Trade of Reptiles in Morocco

By: Daniel Bergin & Vincent Nijman, Researchers, Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group, Oxford Brookes University

In many of the thousands of shops that line the streets of Morocco’s medinas, buyers can find anything from traditional Berber carpets to smartphones. One type of shop, “herbalists” specialise in herbs, spices, oils and traditional medicines. Reptiles and their parts are often found in these shops, a practice persisting from Morocco’s historic past. Accounts of the traditional medicines of Morocco date back as far as 1810 – James Grey Jackson described, in colourful language, the practice of burning chameleons:

“Various medicinal qualities are assigned to the flesh of the chameleon; and many whimsical effects are attributed to fumigation with it when dried. Debilitated persons have recourses to it, and it is accordingly sold in all the drug shops at Morocco [present day Marrakesh], Fas [Fez], and other places. The smell arising from the fumigation is by no means grateful; but what scent will prevent an African from using that remedy which credulity or superstition has persuaded him will give strength to the impotent!”

Despite this, and other more recent accounts, no previous studies have quantified the number of animals used in Morocco for medicinal purposes. To investigate trade of reptiles for medicinal practices, our study carried out 49 surveys of 20 towns and cities in Morocco, as well as the two Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla – the only European cities located on the African mainland. We noted the presence of any wild species found in markets and, where possible, gathered information on their uses, turnover and origins.

We recorded more than 1,500 specimens of at least 9 reptile species in 14 cities and towns. Marrakech and Casablanca contained the most specimens with an average of 163 and 86 per survey in each city, respectively. The specimens observed, together represent in the region of USD 100,000 worth of goods. The most commonly observed animals were Mediterranean chameleons and Bell’s dabb lizards, sold both live and taxidermal. Traditional applications of wildlife in Morocco combine cultural, mystic and medical uses. The uses of animals were reported as varied, but reflect the traditional uses of the past. Chameleons were mostly sold dried and perceived to protect from a range of ailments, from headaches to the evil eye (a look from a person that is supposed to invoke a curse or bad luck). Stuffed bell’s dabb lizards are placed under the corner of a new house to bring luck or can be burned to help with eye irritation.

Morocco has recently brought in national legislation to protect wildlife from overexploitation, with fines of up to USD 10,000 for trade of any species within the highest category of protection (e.g. species included on CITES Appendix I) according to Law n°29-05 on the Protection of Species of Flora and Fauna and the Control of their Trade. Despite these new laws the trade has not diminished over time, nor has the openness of the trade. Reptiles are still sold openly and throughout the country. With this information, we intend to lobby the government to better enforce national wildlife trade laws in hopes that Moroccan authorities will use these new laws to curb the unregulated trade of reptiles in markets. We are also planning to expand our research to Algeria and Tunisia, building a more thorough regional ethnopharmelogical study on the uses of reptiles and other species in medicine.

More information can be found here

 

Article edited by: Nafeesa Esmail

Effectiveness of Celebrities in Conservation Marketing

By: Elizabeth Duthie

Effective conservation is increasingly being acknowledged to be dependent on influencing human attitudes and behaviour. Due to their fame, celebrities are frequently used in conservation marketing as a tool to raise awareness, generate funding and effect behavioural change. For example, Leonardo DiCaprio’s acceptance speech at the 2016 Academy Awards focused on climate change, resulting in a substantially higher volume of news articles, social media posts and information searches, than was generated at either the 2015 Conference of the Parties, or Earth Day. The importance of evaluating effectiveness is widely recognised in both marketing and conservation but, to date, little research into the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement as a tool for conservation marketing has been published.

The effect of celebrity endorsements on generating and retaining attention for a brand can have both positive and negligible effects. This highlights the need for such celebrity endorsements in conservation to be managed, so that issues or campaigns aren’t ‘over-exposed’, which can lead to a dilution in their effectiveness, and audience apathy. In addition, a celebrity’s own fame can dilute or challenge the core message of the association or partnership.

Using a combination of semi-structured interviews, and an online choice survey, this study investigated the extent to which a sample of UK-based conservation organisations, and other charities, evaluate their own usage of celebrity endorsement, and then carried out an experimental evaluation of a hypothetical marketing campaign.

This experiment compared participants’ willingness-to-engage (WTE) with, and recall of, a conservation message presented in versions of an advert featuring one of three prominent UK celebrities (David Beckham, Chris Packham or HRH Prince William) or a non-celebrity control treatment (featuring Crawford Allan, a director of TRAFFIC USA). We found that the organisations we interviewed did not routinely evaluate their marketing campaigns featuring celebrities. Furthermore, our experiment provides evidence that celebrity endorsement can produce both positive and negative effects. Participants were more willing to engage when presented with an advert featuring one of the three celebrities than the non-celebrity control, and WTE varied according to the characteristics of the celebrity and the respondent. However, celebrities were less effective at generating campaign message recall than non-celebrities.

Overall, our study found that whilst celebrities can be beneficial in eliciting positive WTE behaviour, they can have a negative impact on message recall, and the choice of celebrity can play a critical role in the effectiveness of a campaign. Further work is still required to fully understand the role celebrity endorsers can play in conservation but, drawing on best practice from the field of marketing, our study introduces an approach to evaluation which could be applied more widely to improve the effectiveness of conservation marketing.

 

Article edited by: Jamie Samson and Nafeesa Esmail

The not so bright future of the Andean Hairy Armadillo?

By: Carmen Julia Quiroga, Affiliated Researcher, Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d’Orbigny

Attracting thousands of dancers and visitors, energetic bands and colourful costumes, every year the small Bolivian town of Oruro, hosts a UNESCO recognised Carnival, the Carnival of Oruro. While the party brings joy and a unique display of Andean culture, it is also a dark moment for the Andean hairy armadillo. Every year over 1,500 dancers use a music rattle as part of the costume, for which the main material is made from the Andean hairy armadillo. However, the production of this musical instrument is only one of the many cultural uses of the species across the Andes.

As part of my Master’s dissertation at DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology), I started research to better understand the utilisation and appreciation of the Andean hairy armadillo, thereby exploring the possibility to convert its cultural value into conservation impact. Urban areas of major Andean cities in Bolivia were chosen for data collection, making use of interviews, structured questionnaires, as well as visiting museums and local markets.

Results showed the Andean hairy armadillos to be sold and used as musical instruments, lucky charms, in traditional medicine and as pets. The legal framework in Bolivia is weak and ambiguous, as it the legislation relating to its trade – it is illegal to trade wildlife, unless for cultural uses. During Carnival alone, around 8000 pieces of wildlife are used in the costumes (armadillos, skins, feather and other parts). However, definitions and limitations of what is considered “cultural use” is non-existent. Few markets in the cities of Cochabamba and La Paz are controlled by municipal guards, and most merchants still offer dead armadillos on the side.

Analysing consumers’ responses to our questionnaires, the majority considered the species iconic for the Bolivian Andes and thus, they would not be willing to lose the species. Ironically, they also stated that the commercialization and use of this animal should not be forbidden nor stopped in the country because of its cultural use, demonstrating the need for further research to explore more cultural-friendly alternatives.

Building on these preliminary results, the Natural History Museum Alcide d’Orbigny, with the support of Cleveland Zoo has started a small project to collect complementary data outside urban areas. Subsequently, we found a far wider spread and open commercialization of armadillos in small markets, as well as along the borders with Peru and Chile. People from the communities heavily hunt the species as a side activity, despite it not being a major source of income. Additionally, the species’ habitat is rapidly degrading due to the growing production of quinoa farms for international markets which fetch high premiums. To make matters seem even more dire, due to a recent change on the Andean hairy armadillo’s taxonomic status, the species has lost its protection under CITES. Previously, when classified as Chaetophractus nationi, it was listed as an Appendix II species. With all this in mind, we are still trying to stay optimistic.

Despite the taxonomic status change of the species, the Bolivian government still considers the Andean Hairy Armadillo as an endangered species. An agreement has been signed between the Carnival Dancers Association and the Ministries of Culture and the Environment, stating the prohibition of the use of new wildlife parts during the Carnival parade. This will come into force as soon as the Ministry of Environment codes and records all the costumes currently in use. However, this process has still not started, thus we still aim to find a long-term culturally sensitive solution to this problem by further investigating hunting and consumer behaviours, as well as continuing to raise awareness within the Carnival communities and enlisting more dancers to stop sourcing armadillos for use in their costumes. Hopefully, with further funding and research, we will be able to scale up our work and increase our impact within the region.

 

Article edited by: Nafeesa Esmail

Report on Wildlife trade in Amazon countries: an analysis of trade in CITES-listed species released

This report presents the first comprehensive overview of international trade in CITES-listed wildlife in the Amazon countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. The analysis provides a baseline of information on trade levels and trends in these countries for the ten-year period 2005-2014, in order to inform trade management in the region. Produced in close collaboration with national experts, the report also presents contextual information and insights into the management of wildlife trade in the region. Authors of this report include: Pablo Sinovas, Becky Price, Emily King, Amy Hinsley, Alyson Pavitt

The report can be downloaded here.

Biodiversity and Security: BIOSEC project

In September 2016, the University of Sheffield launched the project, Biodiversity and Security: Understanding environmental crime, illegal wildlife trade and threat finance (BIOSEC). Running until August 2020, BIOSEC is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and is led by Professor Rosaleen Duffy in the Department of Politics. The project examines the growing links between biodiversity conservation, militarisation and global security concerns, including the caviar trade within the EU, use of green surveillance technologies in conservation and the impact of illegal wildlife trade in both source and end user countries.

To find out more about the BIOSEC team, their current research and upcoming events, you can visit their website, follow BIOSEC on Twitter and read a copy of their latest newsletter.

1st International Symposium on Sun Bear Conservation and Management to be held 4– 6 September 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Free the Bears, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and the IUCN Bear Specialist Group are pleased to announce that the first international symposium dedicated to the conservation and management of the world’s smallest ursid – the Sun bear – will be held from the 4th to 6th September 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The symposium will bring together field researchers, conservation managers, environmental educators and conservation breeding specialists, as well as government and industry representatives to share experiences and create a coordinated plan for the conservation of one of Southeast Asia’s least known large mammals.

The symposium will be designed to encourage presentations and discussions that will contribute towards a range-wide conservation strategy for Sun bears which will be developed during a conservation planning workshop to be held on the 7th and 8th September, immediately after the symposium.

Find out more here or contact for further details.

New IUCN SSC sub-group on the global orchid trade established

The majority of species traded are plants and orchids are one of the main taxonomic groups. This includes the international horticultural industry, ingredients in traditional medicines, high-end cosmetics, and edible products. Every orchid species is listed in the CITES, accounting for >70% of all species listed by the Convention.

Recognising the importance of this trade and the conservation implications of unsustainable exploitation, in October 2016, the IUCN Species Survival Commission Orchid Specialist Group established a new sub-group focused on the global orchid trade. The sub-group aims to generate and coordinate expert inputs on the trade of orchids and their derivatives, to inform domestic regional and international conservation and sustainable use efforts. This includes engaging with policy makers, practitioners and the public to provide information and expertise and raise the profile of orchid trade.