Management strategies in urban green spaces: Models based on an introduced exotic pet turtle

Abstract

a b s t r a c tA number of recent authors have emphasised the increasing disconnection from conservation issues among urban dwellers. In a global increase of urbanisation, this disconnect can have an impact on conservation practices. Here, we discuss how managers of public green spaces can contribute to global biodiversity preservation, through combined efforts to preserve local biodiversity and educate the public about conservation issues. We compared several management strategies, including those that mixed direct action on local biodiversity with public education and those that did not. Two kinds of one-way communication were considered as well as a two-way communication process, which take into account different perceptions and practices of nature. We based our model on the introduction of the red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans, into urban French freshwater ecosystems.We found that direct actions only had a limited, short term effect on the abundance of feral turtles in green spaces and had no effect on the level of public concern about environmental questions. We also showed that a mix of different communication strategies improved people's awareness and altered behaviour with respect to introduced species issues. Finally, we showed the importance of a two-way communication that takes into account the diversity of personal perceptions and practices as regards nature in urban areas in order to achieve sustainable conservation measures and objectives.

Invasion risk of the pond slider turtle is underestimated when niche expansion occurs

“…Teillac‐Deschamps et al . (), for example, have already shown that integrating different strategies to talk to the public regarding this invasive turtle may have good results.…”

Urban bird conservation: presenting stakeholder-specific arguments for the development of bird-friendly cities

“…We expect a similar range among other stakeholders and practices other than just gardening. It has been suggested that taking into account the diversity of personal perceptions and practices, thereby providing a range of actions increases the success rate of participation (Teillac-Deschamps et al 2009). In December 2011, at the International Congress on Conservation Biology (Auckland, New Zealand), the Birdlife International Group on Urban Birds (BIG-UB) organized a symposium and workshop to discuss the current state of art in urban bird science and conservation.…”

“…They have mosaics of divergent land uses, with each land use having its own habitat quality for each bird species. Moreover, cities present a high multistakeholder environment, where people have different roles and stakes in different settings (CBD 2012;Teillac-Deschamps et al 2009). An urban dweller can be a home-owner, an employee, a shopping mall client, a sportsman … all the same person, but not at the same time.…”

Double-crested cormorants and urban wilderness: conflicts and management

“…In relation to cormorants, site users will continue to influence the spatial extent of the colonies as cormorants will not likely expand close to areas of the Spit used extensively by humans. Therefore, we should not separate humans further, with a laissez-faire approach, from the already sparse nature areas in urban settings (see Pincetl and Gearin 2005), but focus instead on education (Adams 2005;Teillac-Deschamps et al 2009) and experiential engagement (Gill et al 2009;Gruenewald 2003). Ecological change, while sometimes aesthetically undesirable, is an inevitable outcome, and examples of species modifying their landscape can be used in experiential learning to explore this fundamental concept in ecology.…”

“…Urban environments often possess degraded conditions and a paucity of 'natural' space, and as such "conservation strategies that merely set aside land of conservation interest are not destined to succeed, and require, therefore, intervention in the form of restoration management" (Heneghan et al 2009: 66). To improve the applicability and effectiveness of urban nature conservation and the environmental education level of the populace, management intervention should incorporate humans into conservation goals (Brunson 2000;Kendle and Forbes 1997), engage stakeholder perceptions (Bauer 2005;Teillac-Deschamps et al 2009), respond to current science (Heneghan et al 2009), and even advocate specific values towards non-human life (Davidson and Ridder 2006).…”