Agnese and her blog

What are the aspects to consider when performing a biosecurity risk analysis for biodiversity protection?   Biosecurity comprises the protection of human, animal, plant and environment health against biological outbreaks and contaminations. The design of such frameworks of actions should as well comprise the consideration and protection of biosecurity policies on markets of farmers and international trade. The Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) by the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a practical example of such applications. This framework aims at recognizing sovereign rights for Member States to adopt customized policies as well as avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy on international trade where no real impact for biodiversity would be achieved. When applying such framework in real life scenarios, it is required that a risk assessment be carried out to determine the required levels of health protection. Such risk analysis comprises four steps - h...

MAMMAL ERADICATION PROGRAMS to prevent extinction of threatened native vertebrate species: Islands present a great opportunity and need for biodiversity conservation as they host 75% of known extinction species since 1500 as well as 36% of species classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Given the relevance of these territories and also the increasing pace of biodiversity loss of the last decades, it is important to develop a framework which would allow us to prioritize projects for conservation in isolated ecosystems. Such frameworks must include considerations on financial resources, political will as well as stakeholders involvement. Moreover, it is important to mention that a big obstacle arises from the availability of reliable data on species distributions which would consequently influence the assessment of eradication options. Finally, political feasibility must be carefully considered and incorporated through an objective methodology as it would eventually imp...

With the development of society towards a more globalized and interconnected community as well as the significant changes in demographics during the late 20th early 21th century, a re-emergence of infectious diseases has been registered. The origin of the recent rise of epidemiology is zoonotic (61%) and the majority of recently developed human pathogens originated from animals (75%). This represented a shift in the recent decades from curative to preventive medicine and thus with it the emergence of the concept of biosecurity as related to the necessity and benefit of preventing by securing. Biosecurity has as objective the defence for humans, animals and environment against risks posed by diseases and organisms. The primary tools are "exclusion, eradication and control, supported by expert system management, practical protocols, and the rapid and efficient securing and sharing of vital information." Biosafety is complementary to biosecurity and it's defined as "the...

How might conservation objectives conflict with local needs and wellbeing?  Generally speaking, when perceptions of social outcome and governance are associated to fairness and equity, the effectiveness of the PA conservation and management increases.  Whereas global conservation objectives in the past might have been strictly related to ecological success of restoration, when such measures are applied in practice at the local level they might contrast with the needs and traditions of indigenous communities and thus lead to a more costly and challenging management experience. By integrating all relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process as well as developing a continually adaptable and dynamic methodology of conservation and management, PA would be able to achieve more sustained and long-term results. What are the different dimensions of social justice to consider in assessing the equity of conservation governance?  Dawson et al. in 2018 define equity in the con...