Evaluating the outcomes and tracking the trajectory of biodiversity offsets is essential to demonstrating their effectiveness as a mechanism to conciliate development and conservation. We reviewed the literature to determine the principles that should underpin biodiversity offset planning and the criteria for offset evaluation at the project level. According to the literature, the core principles of equivalence, additionality, and permanence are used as criteria to evaluate conservation outcomes of offsets. We applied the criteria to evaluate offsets of a large iron ore mining project in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. We examined equivalence in terms of the amount of area per biodiversity value affected and fauna and flora similarity, additionality in terms of landscape connectivity, and permanence in terms of guarantees to ensure protection and restoration offsets lasting outcomes. We found an offset ratio (amount of affected area:offset area) of 1:1.8 for forests and 1:2 for grasslands. Ecological equivalence (i.e., similarity between affected and offset areas) was found for forested areas, but not for ferruginous rupestrian grasslands or for fauna. Landscape metrics showed that connectivity improved relative to the preproject situation as a result of locating restoration offsets in the largest and best-connected forest patch. Permanence of offsets was addressed by establishing covenants and management measures, but financial guarantees to cover maintenance costs after mine closure were lacking. Offsets should be equivalent in type and size, provide conservation outcomes that would not be obtained without them (additionality), and be lasting (permanence). To monitor and evaluate offsets, it is necessary to determine how well these 3 principles are applied in the planning, implementation, and maintenance of offsets. Achieving measurable conservation outcomes from offsets is a long-term endeavor that requires sustained management support, and is information intensive. Thus, offsets require ongoing monitoring and evaluation as well as adaptive management.

Protected areas are a key instrument for conservation. Despite this, they are vulnerable to risks associated with weak governance, land-use intensification, and climate change. We used a novel hierarchical optimization approach to identify priority areas for expanding the global protected area system that explicitly accounted for such risks while maximizing protection of all known terrestrial vertebrate species. To incorporate risk categories, we built on the minimum set problem, where the objective is to reach species distribution protection targets while accounting for 1 constraint, such as land cost or area. We expanded this approach to include multiple objectives accounting for risk in the problem formulation by treating each risk layer as a separate objective in the problem formulation. Reducing exposure to these risks required expanding the area of the global protected area system by 1.6% while still meeting conservation targets. Incorporating risks from weak governance drove the greatest changes in spatial priorities for protection, and incorporating risks from climate change required the largest increase (2.52%) in global protected area. Conserving wide-ranging species required countries with relatively strong governance to protect more land when they bordered nations with comparatively weak governance. Our results underscore the need for cross-jurisdictional coordination and demonstrate how risk can be efficiently incorporated into conservation planning. Planeación de las áreas protegidas para conservar la biodiversidad en un futuro incierto.

Privately protected areas (PPAs) are a potentially innovative conservation tool. Legal recognition is necessary for their success, especially where there are institutional challenges to nature conservation, such as in South America. Although PPAs have increased in South America since the early 2000s, there is a critical information gap pertaining to their legal frameworks. We analyzed the level of landowner commitment to and governmental support for PPAs across countries in South America that officially recognize PPAs. We analyzed the legal framework governing PPAs and reviewed literature on them. This process was done in English and Spanish. The information we gathered was validated by 16 conservation experts from 10 South American countries. Because Peru is 1 of only 2 South American countries where local communities create and manage PPAs, we studied Peruvian PPAs in more detail by examining official creation documents and interviewing 13 local conservation professionals. We found inadequate minimum duration of PPAs and vague guidelines for conducting economic activities within them and a lack of governmental support (e.g., financial and technical support) for PPAs. Support was limited to the exemption from rural property taxes, which are relatively low compared with countries outside South America. In Peru, PPAs run by individuals and communities needed different legal frameworks because they were created with different objectives and had different sizes and duration of commitments. The prompt improvement of legal frameworks across South America is necessary for PPAs to achieve their aim of being places for enduring nature conservation in the region.

Species translocation is a common tool to reverse biodiversity loss, but it has a high failure rate. One factor that contributes to failure is postrelease hyperdispersal, which we define as the long-distance movement of individuals resulting in their failure to contribute to population establishment. We reviewed reported incidences of hyperdispersal and compared rates of hyperdispersal among taxa, population demographics, release cohorts, and success of mitigation techniques. Of 151 conservation translocations (reinforcements and reintroductions) in which animals were tracked, hyperdispersal was confirmed in 52.1% of programs. The prevalence of hyperdispersal (percentage of studies) was relatively consistent across taxa (42.9-60%), but hyperdispersal rates in birds were likely underestimated because 76.9% of bird translocations showed incidences in which birds could not be located after release, but hyperdispersal was unable to be confirmed. Eutherians exhibited a higher average incidence of hyperdispersal (percentage of hyperdispersing individuals in a cohort) of 20.2% than birds, reptiles, and marsupials (10.4%, 15.7%, and 10.3%, respectively). No significant trends were observed for sex, source population, or translocation type, but there were nonsignificant trends for males to hyperdisperse more than females and for higher incidences of hyperdispersal in reinforcements relative to reintroduction programs. Mitigation techniques included temporary confinement, supplementation of resources, and releasing animals in social groups, but only half of studies examining mitigation techniques found them useful. Hyperdispersal incidence was variable within taxa, and we advise against forming translocations strategies based on results from other species. Hyperdispersal is a significant welfare, economic, and conservation issue in translocations, and we suggest definitions, reporting, and experimental strategies to address it.

A range of conservation and restoration tools are needed to safeguard the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. Aquaculture, the culturing of aquatic organisms, often contributes to the numerous stressors that aquatic ecosystems face, yet some aquaculture activities can also deliver ecological benefits. We reviewed the literature on aquaculture activities that may contribute to conservation and restoration outcomes, either by enhancing the persistence or recovery of one or more target species or by moving aquatic ecosystems toward a target state. We identified 12 ecologically beneficial outcomes achievable via aquaculture: species recovery, habitat restoration, habitat rehabilitation, habitat protection, bioremediation, assisted evolution, climate change mitigation, wild harvest replacement, coastal defense, removal of overabundant species, biological control, and ex situ conservation. This list may be expanded as new applications are discovered. Positive intentions do not guarantee positive ecological outcomes, so it is critical that potentially ecologically beneficial aquaculture activities be evaluated via clear and measurable indicators of success to reduce potential abuse by greenwashing. Unanimity on outcomes, indicators, and related terminology will bring the field of aquaculture-environment interactions into line with consensus standards in conservation and restoration ecology. Broad consensus will also aid the development of future certification schemes for ecologically beneficial aquaculture.

Scientists in higher education institutions around the globe recognize the importance of engaging with public stakeholders to share their enthusiasm, explain their science, and encourage primary and secondary students to enter the sciences. However, without direct consideration of students' and teachers' perspectives and interests, scientists may design activities around their own goals, limiting the impact on school stakeholders (i.e., students, teachers, paraprofessional staff, students' parents, and other caregivers). We drew from natural and social science research to describe how expanding the conception of place beyond the biophysical can help engage school stakeholders in meaningful ways. We describe the multidimensional PLACE framework that we developed to integrate perspectives, knowledge, and values of all stakeholders in engagement programming. The framework is organized around topics that stakeholders should discuss early on to ensure successful partnerships. We recommend that scientists identify and use pedagogy that is inclusive; language framed around dialogic communication methods; aims and motivations centered on engagement; cultural funds of knowledge of place (i.e., disciplinary, personal, or experiential knowledge); and evaluation of engagement based on meaningful metrics. Two case studies are presented to illustrate how the PLACE framework components, when addressed, can lead to robust, successful partnerships between scientists and schools.

Conservation BiologyVolume 37, Issue 1 e13947 ISSUE INFORMATIONFree Access Issue Information - Copyright page First published: 29 January 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13947AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume37, Issue1February 2023e13947 RelatedInformation

For sea turtles, like many oviparous species, increasing temperatures during development threaten to increase embryonic mortality, alter offspring quality, and potentially create suboptimal primary sex ratios. Various methods are being implemented to mitigate the effects of climate change on reproductive success, but these methods, such as breeding programs, translocations, and shading, are often invasive and expensive. Irrigation is an alternative strategy for cooling nests that, depending on location, can be implemented relatively quickly and cheaply. However, multiple factors, including ambient conditions, nest substrate, and species characteristics, can influence irrigation success. Additionally, irrigation can vary in duration, frequency, and the volume of water applied to nests, which influences the cooling achieved and embryonic survival. Thus, it is critical to understand how to maximize cooling and manage risks before implementing irrigation as a nest‐cooling strategy. We reviewed the literature on nest irrigation to examine whether artificial irrigation is feasible as a population management tool. Key factors that affected cooling were the volume of water applied and the frequency of applications. Embryonic responses varied with species, ambient conditions, and the timing of irrigation during development. Nest inundation was the key risk to a successful irrigation regime. Future irrigation regimes must identify clear targets, either primary or adult sex ratios, that maximize population viability. Monitoring population responses and adjusting the irrigation regime in response to population characteristics will be critical. Most studies reported on the manipulation of only one or two variables, further research is required to understand how altering multiple factors in an irrigation regime influences the cooling achieved and embryonic responses.

The global pet trade is a major risk to biodiversity and humans and has become increasingly globalized, diversified, digitalized, and extremely difficult to control. With billions of internet users posting online daily, social media could be a powerful surveillance tool. But it is unknown how reliably social media can track the global pet trade. We tested whether Instagram data predicted the geographic distribution of pet stores and the taxonomic composition of traded species in the emerging pet trade in ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). We visited 138 online stores selling ants as pets worldwide and recorded the species traded. We scraped ∼38,000 Instagram posts from ∼6300 users referencing ants as pets and analyzed comments on post and geolocation (available for ∼1800 users). We tested whether the number of Instagram users predicted the number of ant sellers per country and whether the species referenced as pets on Instagram matched the species offered in online stores, with a particular focus on invasive species. The location of Instagram users referencing ants as pets predicted the location of ant sellers across the globe (R2 =0.87). Instagram data detected 439 of the 631 ant species traded in online stores (70%), including 59 of the 68 invasive species traded (87%). The number of Instagram users referencing a species was a good predictor of the number of sellers offering the species (R2 =0.77). Overall, Instagram data provided affordable and reliable data for monitoring the emerging pet trade in ants. Easier access to these data would facilitate monitoring of the global pet trade and help implement relevant regulations in a timely manner.

The conservation of long‐distance migratory birds requires coordination between the multiple countries connected by the movements of these species. The recent expansion of tracking studies is shedding new light on these movements, but much of this information is fragmented and inaccessible to conservation practitioners and policy makers. We synthesized current knowledge on the connectivity established between countries by landbirds and raptors migrating along the African–Eurasian flyway. We reviewed tracking studies to compile migration records for 1229 individual birds, from which we derived 544 migratory links, each link corresponding to a species’ connection between a breeding country in Europe and a nonbreeding country in sub‐Saharan Africa. We used these migratory links to analyze trends in knowledge over time and spatial patterns of connectivity per country (across species), per species (across countries), and at the flyway scale (across all countries and all species). The number of tracking studies available increased steadily since 2010 (particularly for landbirds), but the coverage of existing tracking data was highly incomplete. An average of 7.5% of migratory landbird species and 14.6% of raptor species were tracked per country. More data existed from central and western European countries, and it was biased toward larger bodied species. We provide species‐ and country‐level syntheses of the migratory links we identified from the reviewed studies, involving 123 populations of 43 species, migrating between 28 European and 43 African countries. Several countries (e.g., Spain, Poland, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo) are strategic priorities for future tracking studies to complement existing data, particularly on landbirds. Despite the limitations in existing tracking data, our data and results can inform discussions under 2 key policy instruments at the flyway scale: the African–Eurasian Migratory Landbirds Action Plan and the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia.