Wildlife Crime: From Theory to Practice (Book Review)
Wildlife Crime: from Theory to Practice, an edited volume of 13 contributions from 26 authors across multiple continents, brings crime science and criminology to bear on the illegal exploitation of wildlife.
Kuiper, T. (2019). Wildlife Crime: From Theory to Practice edited by William D. Moreto (2018) 306 pp., Temple University Press, Philadelphia, USA. ISBN 978-1-4399-1472-4 (pbk), USD 37.95. Oryx, 53(4), 788-788. doi:10.1017/S0030605319000930
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters

Campaigning to bring about change (Open Access)
This chapter examines campaigning: what it is, when it is needed and who conducts campaigns. Drawing upon examples from the NGO conservation sector, we discuss how to plan and execute a campaign, and explore the different types of campaign: behaviour change, policy change and fundraising. Finally, we consider some of the potential pitfalls, including a lack of a strong evidence base, overstating claims of success, the introduction of bias, conflicting views of co-organising partners, the inappropriate use of emotion and the risk of unintended consequences.
C. Dean and A. Hinsley (2020). Campaigning to bring about change. In Sutherland, W. J., Brotherton, P. N. M., Davies, Z. G., Ockendon, N., Pettorelli, N., Vickery, J. A. (Eds) (2020) Conservation Research, Policy and Practice. Cambridge University Press.
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters

Taking pangolin conservation to scale
This chapter draws on the contents of this volume and considers what the next 20 years may look like for pangolin conservation. The chapter envisions a future scenario, whereby healthy, representative populations of each species thrive across a diversity of sites in Asia and Africa. Key challenges to achieving this vision are outlined, including high human population growth rates in some pangolin range countries and the increasing organization of pangolin trafficking networks. However, the chapter posits that there is cause for optimism based on greater knowledge of pangolins and necessary conservation actions, increasing levels of interdisciplinary collaboration to address threats, and growing interest from donors in funding urgently needed conservation interventions.
Challender, DWS., Nash, H.C., Waterman, C., Hoffmann, R. (2020). Taking pangolin conservation to scale. In: Challender, DWS., Nash, H., Waterman, C. (Eds.) (2020). Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Academic Press.
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters

Conservation strategies and priority actions for pangolins
This chapter recognizes pangolins as historically overlooked species and the lack of established conservation strategies for them. It discusses the rationale and urgent need for the development of such strategies in order to guide successful pangolin conservation, especially given the threats they face, but also the growth in their profile and associated funding support. The chapter draws upon IUCN best practice guidance for developing conservation strategies, and in particular embraces IUCN SSC’s “Assess-Plan-Act” model and how it can be used to ensure that future strategies are integrative, rigorously analysed, and of a high technical standard. The chapter concludes that developing strategies is essential to determining the most appropriate conservation interventions for pangolins and ensuring that limited funding is spent wisely.
Challender, DWS., Hoffmann, R., Hoffmann, M. (2020). Conservation strategies and priority actions for pangolins. In: Challender, DWS., Nash, H., Waterman, C. (Eds.) (2020). Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Academic Press.
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters

Research needs for pangolins
Pangolins are among the most poorly known mammalian orders, in part because they have historically received little research and conservation attention. This chapter provides an overview of key research needs for pangolins and their conservation. Since pangolins are principally threatened by overexploitation, there is a critical need to quantify the impact of exploitation, both for local use and international trafficking, on pangolin populations. This is reliant on the development of methods to accurately and reliably monitor populations, which, in turn, necessitates the need for research into pangolin life history, ecology, and biology, for which there is little knowledge for some species. Evaluation of the impact of policy decisions on trade dynamics is also needed. Other research needs in the areas of genetics, forensics, trade and policy, husbandry, veterinary care, and climate change are also discussed.
Pietersen DW., Challender, DWS. (2020). Research needs for pangolins. In: Challender, DWS., Nash, H., Waterman, C. (Eds.) (2020). Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Academic Press.
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters

Developing robust monitoring methodologies for pangolin conservation
There is a need for pangolin-specific monitoring methods to increase understanding of pangolin ecology, allow for formal assessment of conservation interventions, and inform future management decisions. This chapter presents a general systems ecology model to outline current understanding of what drives pangolin densities and distributions, and elucidate gaps in knowledge. It presents key challenges to monitoring pangolin populations across species and geographic ranges and identifies methods with proven success, and those with promise. Recognizing the critical status of some pangolin populations, it highlights the need for targeted monitoring objectives over surveillance monitoring and identifies how monitoring methods and study designs structured around well-developed questions can contribute to adaptive monitoring and management frameworks.
Morin, D., Challender, DWS., Ichu, IG., Ingram, DI., Nash, HC., Panaino, W., Panjang, E., Sun, NCM., Willcox, D. (2020) Developing robust monitoring methodologies for pangolin conservation. In: Challender, DWS., Nash, H., Waterman, C. (Eds.) (2020). Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Academic Press.
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters

Evaluating the impact of pangolin farming on conservation
Pangolins are subject to an international commercial trade ban but demand for pangolin derivatives persists and may be growing in parts of Africa and Asia. Some actors are attempting to breed pangolins in captivity for commercial purposes, raising concerns about potential adverse impacts upon wild populations. This chapter introduces key variable factors and theoretical insights, economic and otherwise, that warrant consideration when evaluating the potential impact of wildlife farming, and elucidates their relevance to pangolin conservation. The immediate conservation impact of pangolin farming is unclear due to a number of uncertainties. Research priorities to understand potential future impacts are identified and discussed. These include economic incentives for wild harvesting, the nature of consumer demand and substitutability of pangolin products, how legal and illegal markets for pangolin products may interact, and stockpile policies. Further research is needed in order to improve understanding of the potential impacts of pangolin farming.
‘t Sas-Rolfes, M., Challender, DWS. (2020). Evaluating the impact of pangolin farming on conservation. In: Challender, DWS., Nash, H., Waterman, C. (Eds.) (2020). Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Academic Press.
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters

Engaging local communities in responses to illegal trade in pangolins: who, why and how?
The conservation of pangolins and protecting them from poaching and illegal trade can generally best be achieved with the support and partnership of the indigenous peoples and local communities who live in and around key habitats and wildlife areas. This chapter summarizes key lessons and findings on engaging and supporting communities in reducing illegal wildlife trade from a joint program of work carried out by the IUCN CEESP/SSC Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (SULi), IIED, TRAFFIC and partners over several years. It introduces a theory of change with four pathways outlining how community-level actions can alter incentives for poaching, and sets out some broader lessons for fostering trust and cooperation with local communities and indigenous peoples critical to the conservation of pangolins.
Cooney, R., Challender, DWS. (2019). Engaging local communities in responses to illegal trade in pangolins: who, why and how? In: Challender, DWS., Nash, H., Waterman, C. (Eds.) (2019). Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Academic Press.
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters

Addressing trade threats to pangolins in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Pangolins have had a complex history in CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. This chapter introduces CITES and discusses how pangolins have been managed in the convention, whether it has been effective at ensuring sustainability in international pangolin trade, and future options for conserving pangolins using CITES. The introduction of zero export quotas for international commercial trade in wild-caught Asian pangolins in the year 2000, in combination with unilateral measures, appears to have contributed to the near cessation of trade in Asian pangolin skins by the early 2000s. However, CITES has otherwise largely failed to ensure sustainability in international trade in pangolins. As all eight pangolin species are included in Appendix I, mechanisms that deal with non-compliance (e.g., Article XIII, Resolution Conf. 14.3) and illegal trade (e.g., a bespoke illegal trade system) offer means of furthering pangolin conservation using CITES.
Challender, DWS., O’Criodain, C. (2020). Addressing trade threats to pangolins in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In: Challender, DWS., Nash, H., Waterman, C. (Eds.) (2020). Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Academic Press.
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters

International trade and trafficking in pangolins
Pangolins have long been in commercial international trade. This chapter examines international trade and trafficking in the species from 1900 to July 2019. In the 20th century, trade mainly involved Asian pangolin skins, scales, and individuals, and contributed to population declines, especially in the Chinese and Sunda species. This included illegal trade that dwarfed international trade reported to CITES. Between August 2000 and July 2019 the equivalent of an estimated ~895,000 pangolins were trafficked globally, though the actual figure is likely higher. This involved Asian and African pangolins, predominantly scales and individuals, and was predominantly destined to Asian markets, mainly China and Vietnam. The drivers of pangolin poaching and trafficking are complex and addressing them requires multi-faceted interventions, including effective protection at source sites, strong law enforcement along trafficking routes, and changes in consumer behaviour.
Challender, DWS., Shepherd, CR., Heinrich, S., Katsis, L. (2020). International trade and trafficking in pangolins, 1900-2019. In: Challender, DWS., Nash, H., Waterman, C. (Eds.) (2020). Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Academic Press.
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters

Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation
Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation brings together experts from around the world to document the most up-to-date scientific knowledge on pangolins and their conservation. It chronicles threats facing the species, explores the current initiatives required to protect them, and looks ahead at the future of pangolin science and conservation efforts. Led by a team of editors with more than 20 years collective experience in pangolin conservation, this book includes accounts of the species’ evolution, morphology, and systematics. It discusses the role of pangolins in historically symbolic, mythological, and ritualistic practices across Africa, Asia, and Europe, as well as contemporary practices including international trafficking. Chapters in the latter portion of this book focus on conservation solutions, including law enforcement and international policy, behaviour change, local community engagement, ex situ conservation, tourism, and other interventions needed to secure the future of the species.
Challender, DWS., Nash, H., Waterman, C. (2020). Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Academic Press.
Published: May 2021 | Categories: Books & Chapters