Conservation‐reliant species and the future of conservation

Abstract

Species threatened with extinction are the focus of mounting conservation concerns throughout the world. Thirty-seven years after passage of the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1973, we conclude that the Act's underlying assumption-that once the recovery goals for a species are met it will no longer require continuing management-is false. Even when management actions succeed in achieving biological recovery goals, maintenance of viable populations of many species will require continuing, species-specific intervention. Such species are "conservation reliant." To assess the scope of this problem, we reviewed all recovery plans for species listed as endangered or threatened under the Act. Our analysis indicates that 84% of the species listed under the Act are conservation reliant. These species will require continuing, long-term management investments. If these listed species are representative of the larger number of species thought to be imperiled in the United States and elsewhere, the challenge facing conservation managers will be logistically, economically, and politically overwhelming. Conservation policies will need to be adapted to include ways of prioritizing actions, implementing innovative management approaches, and involving a broader spectrum of society.

The changing fates of the world's mammals

“…Finally, there are species that might not improve beyond the Near Threatened category so long as they remain conservation-reliant [85]. White Rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum-arguably the biggest conservation success story in history-serves as a case in point.…”

A review of on-ground recovery actions for threatened freshwater fish in Australia

“…Decisions to list species as threatened are justifiably decoupled from the management costs that such listing might entail, but failure to devote adequate resources to recovery management means that such species will require perpetual conservation management, may not persist or never be delisted (Scott et al 2005(Scott et al , 2010Doremus and Pagel 2001;Joseph et al 2008). Threatened species recovery plans guide management activities; however, prioritisation of resources among threatened species or among activities within a species recovery plan is problematic (Briggs 2009;Joseph et al 2008Joseph et al , 2009).…”

Mapping and navigating mammalian conservation: from analysis to action

“…We need to understand how to involve all those whose support is necessary to achieve successful species conservation [15] as well as to understand that conservation is forever. As shown by Scott et al [85], for the USA, 67 per cent of the mammals listed under the US Endangered Species Act are 'conservation reliant', requiring continuing species-specific interventions by humans. To avoid increasing the number of mammalian species whose fate is directly in our hands, we must develop a proactive, forward-looking approach to conservation that offers hope and action to a world anxious to keep its treasured mammal fauna intact.…”