tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/national-park-94138/articlesNational park – The Conversation2024-01-04T21:49:56Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2174272024-01-04T21:49:56Z2024-01-04T21:49:56ZCanada’s Nature Agreement underscores the need for true reconciliation with Indigenous nations<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canadas-nature-agreement-underscores-the-need-for-true-reconciliation-with-indigenous-nations" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In late 2023, the federal government, British Columbia and the First Nations Leadership Council signed a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2023/11/government-of-canada-british-columbia-and-the-first-nations-leadership-council-sign-a-historic-tripartite-nature-conservation-framework-agreement.html">$1 billion Nature Agreement</a> to protect 30 per cent of B.C.’s lands by 2030. </p>
<p>The agreement stressed the full collaboration of Indigenous Peoples in alignment with the <a href="https://social.desa.un.org/issues/indigenous-peoples/united-nations-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>. </p>
<p>The Nature Agreement follows a series of <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/conservation/nature-legacy.html">historic federal investments</a> in nature conservation over the <a href="https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2022/12/07/protecting-more-nature-partnership-indigenous-peoples">past several years</a>. Like the previous announcements, the 2023 Nature Agreement includes funding for <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/explainer-ipcas-canada/">Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas</a>, or IPCAs.</p>
<p>Environment <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-nature-agreement-2023/">Minister Steven Guilbeault</a> stated about the agreement:</p>
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<p>“I think people will look at this agreement and say, ‘OK, this is how it needs to be done going forward now in Canada’… It’s nature, it’s conservation, it’s restoration, but it’s also about reconciliation.”</p>
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<p>However, despite advances in Canadian conservation policy and practice, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2023.1286970/full?&utm_source=Email_to_authors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publication&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Human_Dynamics&id=1286970">our research</a> has shown that First Nations advancing IPCAs can still face significant challenges. </p>
<p>Unless Canadian governments meaningfully address these challenges, the reconciliatory potential of IPCAs — and new funding agreements intended to support them — will be undermined.</p>
<h2>Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas</h2>
<p>IPCAs present vast opportunities for nature conservation and reconciliation. However, they also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108271">face multiple pressures</a>. Unlike regular parks and protected areas in Canada, IPCAs are established and maintained by First Nations, Métis and Inuit governments. </p>
<p>Indigenous governments establish IPCAs under their own Indigenous laws, while some also choose to <a href="https://www.landoftheancestors.ca/">pursue protection</a> under Canadian law.</p>
<p>IPCAs are varied, but typically support ecological restoration or protection and local economic development while centring Indigenous cultures, languages, knowledge and laws. At the heart of IPCAs is Indigenous governance over lands and waters for future generations.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qnhMlk0ykMI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An overview of the Mamalilikulla Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area produced by the Mamalilikulla First Nation.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The Indigenous-led conservation movement in Canada is gaining momentum along with growing awareness of how wilderness conservation has disenfranchised Indigenous Peoples through <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/chr.89.2.189">displacement</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198177">criminalization</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12600">limiting access</a>. </p>
<p>Simultaneously, efforts <a href="https://nctr.ca/records/reports/#trc-reports">to advance reconciliation</a> in Canada <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/declaration/index.html">and recognize</a> inherent <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-13.html">Indigenous rights</a> are more widespread.</p>
<p>While a few First Nations in B.C. established the first <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10745-017-9948-8">tribal parks</a> in the early 1980s, IPCAs have been emerging across the country since 2018, some with support from federal funding programs. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cop15s-global-biodiversity-framework-must-advance-indigenous-led-conservation-to-halt-biodiversity-loss-by-2030-195188">COP15's Global Biodiversity Framework must advance Indigenous-led conservation to halt biodiversity loss by 2030</a>
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<p>In 2018, the <a href="https://www.conservation2020canada.ca/s/PA234-ICE_Report_2018_Mar_22_web.pdf">Indigenous Circle of Experts</a>, a national Indigenous-led advisory group, advocated for IPCAs as a solution for Canada to achieve its nature conservation targets while advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>Since 2018, Environment and Climate Change Canada has funded <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/explainer-ipcas-canada/">59 Indigenous-led conservation proposals</a> and a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2022/12/introducing-the-new-first-nations-guardians-network.html">First Nations National Guardians Network</a>.</p>
<h2>Roadblocks to reconciliation</h2>
<p>One of the biggest challenges for IPCAs is the pressure of <a href="https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.4716">resource extraction</a>. Even once an IPCA is declared, it may not be safe from resource extraction, as was the case with <a href="https://theconversation.com/tsilhqotin-blockade-points-to-failures-of-justice-impeding-reconciliation-in-canada-120488">Dasiqox Nexwagwezʔan</a>, an IPCA in B.C.</p>
<p>Canadian governments continue to grant tenures and licences to companies for logging, mining, fish farms and other impactful activities inside IPCAs against the wishes of Indigenous nations. </p>
<p>These actions go against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and its foundational principle of free, prior and informed consent. <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/declaration/index.html">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/indigenous-people/new-relationship/united-nations-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples">B.C.</a> have both implemented legislation on the declaration. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/joEtIUQ1MuU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Video produced by the Coastal First Nations articulating the importance of IPCAs for environmental protection and justice.</span></figcaption>
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<p>This dynamic is not surprising since many Indigenous nations establish IPCAs precisely because Canadian governments do not respect their governance and decision-making authority around extractive industry.</p>
<p>Indigenous governments are sometimes forced to compensate companies by <a href="https://www.trailtimes.ca/news/proposed-qatmuk-ipca-will-involve-buyout-of-glacier-resorts-ltd-s-jumbo-tenure-5040598">buying out tenures</a> to ensure protection of their IPCAs. </p>
<p>While there are examples of <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/jumbo-glacier-deal-enshrines-indigenous-protected-area-consigns-mega-resort-to-history">tenure buyouts</a> that enabled Indigenous nations to establish IPCAs, these are extremely costly, impractical and should not be considered the norm. </p>
<p>Another option is for <a href="https://www.conservation2020canada.ca/s/PA234-ICE_Report_2018_Mar_22_web.pdf">“cooling-off periods”</a> that pause resource extraction while IPCA planning and negotiations are underway.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-conservation-funding-must-reflect-canadas-true-debt-to-first-nations-inuit-and-metis-196772">Indigenous conservation funding must reflect Canada’s true debt to First Nations, Inuit and Métis</a>
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<p>These challenges are particularly acute in instances where IPCAs are not designated under Canadian protected area legislation. The vast majority of Canadian governments have not created new legislation or amended existing legislation to explicitly enable the designation and protection of IPCAs. </p>
<p>This means that Indigenous governments seeking additional legal protection for their IPCAs must make do with regular protected area designations that limit Indigenous authority, even under <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2022-0217">co-management</a> arrangements.</p>
<p>Indigenous governments establishing IPCAs also face financial struggles. Previous federal investments in Indigenous-led conservation revealed high demand for funds but resulted in only a small percentage of projects getting funding, sometimes due to IPCA visions <a href="https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.4716">clashing with resource extraction aims</a>. </p>
<p>A further issue is that funding is only for IPCA establishment and not ongoing stewardship.</p>
<p>At the core of these challenges are fundamental conflicts regarding the Crown’s continued assertion of its ultimate authority. This assertion is in spite of the <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/principles-principes.html">Canadian government’s own guidance</a> for reconciliation and <a href="https://www.bcli.org/wp-content/uploads/PRIMER-3-Legal-Pluralism-in-Canada.pdf">legal pluralism</a> — including the recognition of Indigenous rights and building equal relationships with Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<h2>Systemic change will advance reconciliation</h2>
<p>Canadian governments increasingly view IPCAs as a means of meeting their conservation targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity — especially the goal of protecting 30 per cent of Canada’s lands and waters by 2030. This requires roughly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2022-0118">doubling the total protected area</a> in Canada. </p>
<p>At the recent COP28 climate conference, parties underscored the need to take action on biodiversity loss, climate change and land degradation in a “<a href="https://www.cop28.com/en/joint-statement-on-climate-nature">coherent, synergetic and holistic manner</a>.” This includes <a href="https://unfccc.int/news/cop28-agreement-signals-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-fossil-fuel-era">cutting global greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent</a>, compared to 2019, by 2030 in order to keep global warming under 1.5 C.</p>
<p>While the most recent conservation funding announcement is commendable, it is unclear how the $500 million of new federal funding, which includes previously announced funds, will be distributed. Additionally, <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-nature-agreement-2023/">internal government records</a> allegedly show that B.C. may use the agreement to avoid federal efforts to protect species at risk in the province.</p>
<p>The challenges IPCAs surface can be embraced as catalysts for reconciliation. This involves <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2020-0083">changing mindsets</a>, behaviours, practices, policies and laws at multiple scales. It is the kind of transformative work that the <a href="https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a> called for in all sectors of society.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-peoples-across-the-globe-are-uniquely-equipped-to-deal-with-the-climate-crisis-so-why-are-we-being-left-out-of-these-conversations-171724">Indigenous peoples across the globe are uniquely equipped to deal with the climate crisis – so why are we being left out of these conversations?</a>
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<p>IPCAs offer tremendous potential for addressing the biodiversity and climate crises and repairing relationships with Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>As such, how Canadian governments and the conservation sector respond to the roadblocks encountered by Indigenous governments advancing IPCAs is crucial. Our responses matter not just for the success of IPCAs in supporting nature conservation, but also for advancing reconciliation in meaningful ways.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217427/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine Townsend received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for her doctoral research. She is affiliated with the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership and the IISAAK OLAM Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robin J. Roth receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#895-2019-1019) and is the principal investigator and co-lead of the Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership. </span></em></p>Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas face significant hurdles but nevertheless remain a key way to advance reconciliation and environmental goals.Justine Townsend, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British ColumbiaRobin J. Roth, Professor, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2039512023-04-19T13:53:15Z2023-04-19T13:53:15ZThe long history of Bannau Brycheiniog – the true name of the Brecon Beacons for centuries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521633/original/file-20230418-1223-oh543t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C0%2C4273%2C2827&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Brecon Beacons National Park is now officially only known by its native Welsh name. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/brecon-beacons-sun-rising-over-pen-210410398">Mel Manser Photography/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>You can also read <a href="https://theconversation.com/hanes-cyfoethog-bannau-brycheiniog-203964">this article in Welsh</a>.</em></p>
<p>On its 66th birthday, <a href="https://bannau.wales">Bannau Brycheiniog National Park</a> launched a new <a href="https://bannau.wales/the-authority/press-and-news/press-releases/april-2023/brecon-beacons-national-park-reclaims-its-welsh-name/">management plan</a> seeking to combat its greatest challenges: the nature and climate emergencies. This plan includes projects to plant trees, protect endangered species and their habitats, and improve the quality of its rivers. </p>
<p>But despite the best efforts of a promotional video featuring the actor Michael Sheen, another aspect of the plan has <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65274952">generated most interest</a>. From now on, the national park will use only its Welsh name, Bannau Brycheiniog, rather than Brecon Beacons. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CLP3yh_XSo4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Michael Sheen describes Bannau Brycheiniog as ‘a name from our past, to take us into our future’.</span></figcaption>
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<p>In reality, little has changed. Bannau Brycheiniog was always the Welsh name for the park, used since it was established in 1957. Indeed, the first person to refer to Bannau Brycheiniog in writing was the poet and antiquary <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Leland">John Leland</a>, who lived during the first half of the 16th century.</p>
<p>Leland was an avid traveller and undertook several trips around Wales and England. He took detailed notes of what he saw, heard and learned. One of his trips took him to the mountains of south Wales and he described the mountain, Pen-y-Fan, in his notes. Leland wrote that that there were many “diverse hilles” and together they were called “Banne Brekeniauc” (sic).</p>
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<img alt="A stone with a plaque on it which reads " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521640/original/file-20230418-20-6j3u4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521640/original/file-20230418-20-6j3u4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521640/original/file-20230418-20-6j3u4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521640/original/file-20230418-20-6j3u4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521640/original/file-20230418-20-6j3u4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521640/original/file-20230418-20-6j3u4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521640/original/file-20230418-20-6j3u4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Pen-y-Fan is the highest summit in south Wales.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sign-marking-peak-pen-y-fan-1707274690">Edd Mitchell/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>In Welsh, <em>bannau</em> is the plural of <em>ban</em>, which means “summit” or “peak”, and is a common name for “mountain”. We can see several mountains so-named in the national park today, including Pen-y-Fan, Fan Fawr and Fan Hir. Around Leland’s time, we often see references to <em>Y Fan</em> (a single mountain) and <em>Y Bannau</em> (a collection of mountains). These names are common and it is often difficult to know precisely which mountains are being described. </p>
<h2>Poetry</h2>
<p>For other examples, we can turn to the work of the Welsh poets. In the 15th century, Ieuan Llawdden composed <a href="https://adnoddau.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/Beirdd/31+Gwaith+Llawdden.pdf"><em>Moliant Brycheiniog</em></a> (In Praise of Brycheiniog). As its title suggests, the poem is a celebration of Brycheiniog’s rivers, trees, saints, inhabitants and mountains. The poem encompasses the region “<em>o’r Fan hyd ar Y Fenni</em>” (“from the Fan as far as Y Fenni”). </p>
<p>In an elegy composed in the 16th century, Lewys Morgannwg writes that everywhere is sad <a href="https://adnoddau.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/Beirdd/27+Gwaith+Lewys+Morgannwg.pdf">“<em>o Hafren i’r Bannau</em>”</a> (“from the Severn to the Bannau”). </p>
<p>And a poem by a bard known as Y Nant (the Stream) from the 15th century includes a reference to <a href="https://adnoddau.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/Beirdd/40+Gwaith+y+Nant.pdf"><em>“tu yma i’r Banne”</em></a> (“this side of the Bannau”). We don’t know the poet’s real name or anything about them, but their poems are full of references to the people and places of Brycheiniog. </p>
<p>These were poets not cartographers, of course, writing poems not designing maps. We shouldn’t expect them to have described the location of each and every name they mention specifically. But there is clearly a tradition of referring to the mountains of Brycheiniog as <em>Y Bannau</em>.</p>
<h2>A medieval kingdom</h2>
<p>Brycheiniog was a medieval kingdom in south-east Wales. It was common to add <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25509590?saml_data=eyJzYW1sVG9rZW4iOiIyOTU1ZDhhZi1hMmY4LTRmN2YtODkwYi1jMGZkNGY0N2RkODciLCJpbnN0aXR1dGlvbklkcyI6WyI5OTE5YmNmYi1mOWYwLTRlYTktYmEzNi0wNzMwOTQxODcyMzciXX0">suffixes such as <em>-iog</em> or <em>-ion</em></a> to a personal name to indicate “the people of”, “the descendants of”, or “the territory held by”. We see this in the contemporary county of Ceredigion, which is the personal name Ceredig with the suffix <em>-ion</em>, and in Brycheiniog, with the personal name Brychan and the suffix <em>-iog</em>. </p>
<p><a href="https://biography.wales/article/s-BRYC-APA-0419">Brychan</a> was a 5th- or 6th-century king who, according to medieval lore, came from Ireland. He was also allegedly the father of tens of children, many of them saints, including the Welsh patron saint of love, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-st-dwynwen-wrongly-became-known-as-the-welsh-valentine-71520">Dwynwen</a>. </p>
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<img alt="Mist hangs over a calm lake. On the other side of the shore is a triangular construction." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521674/original/file-20230418-26-l2sxgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521674/original/file-20230418-26-l2sxgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521674/original/file-20230418-26-l2sxgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521674/original/file-20230418-26-l2sxgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521674/original/file-20230418-26-l2sxgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521674/original/file-20230418-26-l2sxgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521674/original/file-20230418-26-l2sxgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A view of Llyn Syfaddan and its crannog, built by the king of Brycheiniog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/llangorse-lake-crannog-island-morning-mist-1947174256">Robert Harding/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>It must be stressed that these are later stories – we don’t know anything for sure about the historical Brychan. But there is evidence of Irish influence on the land of Brycheiniog in the middle ages. For example, there are a number of stones inscribed with <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/story-ogham">ogham</a>, an alphabet used for writing Irish, and these include Irish names.</p>
<p>In the 10th century, the king of Brycheiniog constructed a <em>crannog</em> (artificial island) on <a href="https://museum.wales/articles/1350/The-Palace-in-the-Lake/">Llyn Syfaddan (Llan-gors Lake)</a>. This is the only example of a medieval crannog in Wales, but they are common in Ireland and Scotland. Whatever Brychan’s history, it is likely that real connections with Ireland inspired the stories about his Irish background.</p>
<h2>Reclamation</h2>
<p>The loss of Welsh place-names is a matter of <a href="https://theconversation.com/welsh-place-names-are-being-erased-and-so-are-the-stories-they-tell-197832#:%7E:text=The%20decision%20to%20use%20Eryri,to%20use%20the%20Welsh%20names.">increasing concern</a>. As early as the 12th century, the cleric, historian and traveller <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giraldus-Cambrensis">Gerald of Wales</a> complained that the place name Llanddewi Nant Honddu was being corrupted to Llanthony. </p>
<p>More recently, groups such as the <a href="https://www.cymdeithasenwaulleoedd.cymru/en/">Welsh Place-Name Society</a> have been working tirelessly to protect Welsh names. Bannau Brycheiniog follows <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-63649930">Eryri</a> as the second national park to commit to using only its Welsh version. </p>
<p>And it isn’t just a matter of language either. The park feels the name Bannau Brycheiniog is “more in keeping with its Welsh heritage”. But amid both nature and climate emergencies, much more must be done to protect this precious place and its rich history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203951/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Thomas is Bannau Brycheiniog National Park's Welsh writer in residence (2022/3). </span></em></p>The mountain range in south Wales is now officially only known by its native Welsh-language nameRebecca Thomas, Lecturer in Medieval History, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2009972023-03-15T19:04:03Z2023-03-15T19:04:03ZCultural burning is safer for koalas and better for people too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515074/original/file-20230314-3592-tjavyu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C5160%2C3445&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Koalas are an iconic endangered species living in a fire-prone environment. This makes them an ideal subject when investigating solutions to wildfires. </p>
<p>We explored <a href="https://www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-news/news-archive/2023/february/cultural-burns-can-help-protect-koalas-new-research">how koalas fared</a> before and after cultural burns on Minjerribah island (also known as North Stradbroke Island), near Brisbane on Quandamooka Country. </p>
<p>We used heat-seeking drones to assess population density and collected koala droppings to check hormone levels. We found cultural burns had no detectable effect on these parameters.</p>
<p>The project also found the benefits of cultural burns extended far beyond landscape management. We hope this research further highlights the practice of cultural burning as a strategy to help us manage the risk of wildfire in a warming world. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dr Romane Cristescu crouches over a dead koala in a burnt area during the 2019-20 bushfires" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514354/original/file-20230309-24-h9ha7f.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514354/original/file-20230309-24-h9ha7f.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514354/original/file-20230309-24-h9ha7f.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514354/original/file-20230309-24-h9ha7f.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514354/original/file-20230309-24-h9ha7f.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514354/original/file-20230309-24-h9ha7f.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514354/original/file-20230309-24-h9ha7f.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wildlife rescue teams, some with specifically trained detection dogs, were deployed after the 2019-20 megafires. But sometimes they were too late. Dr Romane Cristescu, pictured, was part of the koala rescue effort after the Black Summer fires, which underlined the need for more cultural burning research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kye McDonald.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/failure-is-not-an-option-after-a-lost-decade-on-climate-action-the-2020s-offer-one-last-chance-158913">'Failure is not an option': after a lost decade on climate action, the 2020s offer one last chance</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Menacing megafires</h2>
<p>The Australian Black Summer bushfires shocked the world. But nothing brought home the terrifying ferocity of the megafires - and our vulnerability to them - more than scenes of dead, dying or distressed koalas in an apocalyptic landscape.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there’s overwhelming evidence that <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/australia%E2%80%99s-black-summer-a-climate-wake-up-call">megafires</a> are part of the new normal. Climate change will continue to create the exceptionally dry fuel loads and dangerous fire weather that lead to catastrophic events. So we need to find ways to minimise the damage.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/moving-beyond-americas-war-on-wildfire-4-ways-to-avoid-future-megafires-168898">Moving beyond America's war on wildfire: 4 ways to avoid future megafires</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Ancestral practices of <a href="https://www.firesticks.org.au/about/cultural-burning/">cultural burning</a> hold great promise all over the world. The California Fire Science Consortium says fire fuel control, such as that derived from cultural burning, can <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/545a90ede4b026480c02c5c7/t/60956e2629910808bb17bbcb/1620405799033/Stephensetal_FirenClimateChange_RB_F_2021.pdf">limit the severity</a> of future wildfires.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Minjerribah koala looks down at the camera while climbing a tree" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514364/original/file-20230309-14-ri9b9d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514364/original/file-20230309-14-ri9b9d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514364/original/file-20230309-14-ri9b9d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514364/original/file-20230309-14-ri9b9d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514364/original/file-20230309-14-ri9b9d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514364/original/file-20230309-14-ri9b9d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514364/original/file-20230309-14-ri9b9d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Koalas on the island of Minjerribah are disease free and precious, both to locals and for koala conservation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Asitha Samarawickrama.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Minjerribah is a haven for wildlife. Half of the land is already national park and there are plans to increase the protected area.</p>
<p>Cultural burns have been a significant part of <a href="http://www.qyac.net.au/QALSMA.html#header3-1a">Minjerribah’s history</a>. However, in recent times, large and intense fires have swept across the island, causing considerable damage to property, ecosystems and cultural resources. A <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/02/07/3940137.htm">megafire on Minjerribah in January 2014</a> burned more than 70% of the island - the largest fire in memory there.</p>
<h2>Living on the edge</h2>
<p>There is scant research on wildfires and koalas. That’s largely because wildfires are dangerous and unpredictable, making them difficult to study. And when monitored koalas happen to be in the path of a wildfire, researchers tend to try to <a href="https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2020/03/koalas-rescued-from-the-bushfires-make-a-return-to-the-blue-mountains/">save them</a>.</p>
<p>Koalas are particularly vulnerable, suffering long <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-find-burnt-starving-koalas-weeks-after-the-bushfires-133519">after the fire</a> has passed. They have <a href="https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/wildlife/animals/living-with/koalas/facts">limited energy</a> reserves and require continuous access to food. </p>
<p>That’s a problem when trees lose their edible leaves. These trees typically require months to produce enough new foliage. After a fire, koalas are also vulnerable to overheating, because they rely on shade and cooling from healthy trees with thick canopies to <a href="https://theconversation.com/tree-hugging-koalas-beat-the-summer-heat-27588">regulate their body temperature</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-find-burnt-starving-koalas-weeks-after-the-bushfires-133519">Scientists find burnt, starving koalas weeks after the bushfires</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The koalas on Minjerribah are virtually disease-free, making this a rare and precious population in southeast Queensland. Wildfires pose the greatest threat to their survival, according to the Quandamooka Native Title rights administrators, Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation (QYAC). It is hoped restoring cultural fire practices will reduce the occurrence of large bushfires. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A QYAC Ranger in protective overalls hoses down trees and areas of value to protect them from the planned burn" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514361/original/file-20230309-22-6rqw54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514361/original/file-20230309-22-6rqw54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514361/original/file-20230309-22-6rqw54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514361/original/file-20230309-22-6rqw54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514361/original/file-20230309-22-6rqw54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514361/original/file-20230309-22-6rqw54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514361/original/file-20230309-22-6rqw54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Specific trees and places are identified and protected from burning by QYAC Rangers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romane Cristescu.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cultural burning on Quandamooka Country</h2>
<p>If cultural burning was a person, one might describe her as patient, slow-moving, calm and quiet. A cultural burn will snake slowly through a site, missing some patches. This creates a burn mosaic. </p>
<p>The fire is not too hot and does not burn high into the tree canopy. </p>
<p>Use of fire in the landscape varied across Australia, between different First Nations groups. Uses for fire can include: fuel and hazard reduction, regeneration of habitat, generation of and management of particular sources of food, fibre and medicines, facilitation of access and movement, protection of cultural and natural assets, or healing Country’s spirit.</p>
<p>Quandamooka people have the <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/237466/naree-budjong-djara-resource-information.pdf">oldest published archaeological occupation site</a> on the east coast of Australia. Their use of fire is a deliberate and integral part of caring for Country. That includes burning and prevention of burning. </p>
<p>As leaders and practitioners of cultural burns on Minjerribah, the Quandamooka people wanted to establish standard practices for wildlife management during burning – specifically, whether thermal imaging drones could establish where koalas and other animals are present in areas to be burnt. This could inform actions to reduce risk.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="QYAC Ranger vehicle in the foreground while a cultural burn is underway on the hillside in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514360/original/file-20230309-24-imhzym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514360/original/file-20230309-24-imhzym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514360/original/file-20230309-24-imhzym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514360/original/file-20230309-24-imhzym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514360/original/file-20230309-24-imhzym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514360/original/file-20230309-24-imhzym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514360/original/file-20230309-24-imhzym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The cultural burn is closely monitored by QYAC Rangers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romane Cristescu.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Studying koalas and cultural burning</h2>
<p>Koalas are difficult to study, as they are exceptionally good at hiding. That has prompted researchers to find more <a href="https://theconversation.com/drones-detection-dogs-poo-spotting-whats-the-best-way-to-conduct-australias-great-koala-count-150634">innovative survey methods</a>.</p>
<p>We used heat-seeking drones to establish koala density, and koala droppings to study their hormone levels. We established a baseline of both measures through repeat surveys prior to the burns. </p>
<p>We also compared sites with and without cultural burns, accounting for seasonal variations that are not due to the burns. We found cultural burns had no detectable impact on either koala density, or hormone levels.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two drones used in research to assess koala numbers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514786/original/file-20230311-3127-j31o82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514786/original/file-20230311-3127-j31o82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514786/original/file-20230311-3127-j31o82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514786/original/file-20230311-3127-j31o82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514786/original/file-20230311-3127-j31o82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514786/original/file-20230311-3127-j31o82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514786/original/file-20230311-3127-j31o82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Koala surveys often require specific methods to be accurate, here we used drones, and multiple sensors (including Hovermap Lidar courtesy of Emescent)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romane Cristescu.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Multiple benefits of more feet on Country</h2>
<p>A perfect cultural burn is lit the right way, at the right place and time of year. Some years, only some places can be burnt, based on the fire interval and soil moisture levels. This requires local knowledge and constant observation all year round, not just during a single pre-burn site visit.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person in protective green overalls with their back to the camera during a blanned burn" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514381/original/file-20230309-18-t1qbal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514381/original/file-20230309-18-t1qbal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514381/original/file-20230309-18-t1qbal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514381/original/file-20230309-18-t1qbal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514381/original/file-20230309-18-t1qbal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514381/original/file-20230309-18-t1qbal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514381/original/file-20230309-18-t1qbal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cultural burns require many feet on the ground to monitor sites all year round and choose the right conditions and places to start a burn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romane Cristescu.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Having people on Country throughout the year also improves social connections between generations, and protects stories and sacred sites on Country. Other benefits include:</p>
<ul>
<li>employment</li>
<li>reducing the risk of megafires </li>
<li><a href="https://www.abcfoundation.org.au/cultural-fire-credits">supporting low-carbon economies</a></li>
<li>improving biodiversity</li>
<li>increasing water protection</li>
<li>improving forest resilience and adaptation to climate change</li>
<li>reducing air pollution</li>
<li>fostering reconciliation. </li>
</ul>
<p>Of course, this needs to be financially supported and done right – following the guiding principles of <a href="https://www.firesticks.org.au/about/cultural-burning/">Responsibility, Respect and Recognition</a>. It’s crucial that First Nations people of the specific land are involved. The process should also be embedded within contemporary natural resource management and supported by government agencies.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Large group of people from various agencies, in uniform, standing at an intersection for a pre-burn meeting. With vehicles nearby" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514366/original/file-20230309-20-nduhuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514366/original/file-20230309-20-nduhuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514366/original/file-20230309-20-nduhuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514366/original/file-20230309-20-nduhuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514366/original/file-20230309-20-nduhuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514366/original/file-20230309-20-nduhuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514366/original/file-20230309-20-nduhuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Collaboration is key to keep koalas safe during burns. On Minjerribah, various agencies and stakeholders are involved, as shown here at a pre-burn meeting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romane Cristescu.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Teamwork vital to success</h2>
<p>As the world warms, we must become increasingly resilient and work together to find solutions. We can draw on past successes as we shape new and better ways of managing landscapes. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/impact/opinion/can-compassion-contribute-in-the-climate-crisis">Compassion</a> will play an important role, including the need to listen and respect all contributions even as the world around us is increasingly stressful, so we can create a better future for all.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w5FqCB8K1AA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Cultural burns can help protect koalas.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200997/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Romane H. Cristescu has received funding from WWF-Australia and the Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) for this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>QYAC received funding from WWF and the Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) to undertake this work. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kye McDonald has received funding from WWF-Australia and the Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) for this research.</span></em></p>Shocking scenes of scorched koalas in the 2019-20 bushfires sparked research into cultural burns for wildlife. A two-year study on the world’s second-largest sand island suggests it’s the way to go.Romane H Cristescu, Researcher in Koala, Detection Dogs, Conservation Genetics and Ecology, University of the Sunshine CoastDarren Burns, Community Land & Sea manager at Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation, Indigenous KnowledgeKye McDonald, PhD Candidate, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1978322023-02-02T17:20:53Z2023-02-02T17:20:53ZWelsh place names are being erased – and so are the stories they tell<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506659/original/file-20230126-14416-c3e4mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C8%2C5964%2C3952&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Welsh name Yr Wyddfa is now used for the mountain instead of Snowdon by the national park authority. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Malgosia Janicka/Shutterstock.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://authority.snowdonia.gov.wales/news/article/?id=14460">decision</a> to use Eryri rather than Snowdonia, and Yr Wyddfa instead of Snowdon by the national park authority last autumn reignited a longstanding debate over the protection of place names in Wales.</p>
<p>The switch to Eryri and Yr Wyddfa was made following <a href="https://www.thebmc.co.uk/snowdon-petition-to-use-welsh-name-for-snowdonia-national-park">a petition</a> calling for the park authority to use the Welsh names. But campaigners have been pushing for better protections and use of <a href="https://www.welshlanguagecommissioner.wales/policy-and-research/welsh-place-names/why-standardise-place-nameseur">Welsh place names</a> for decades. </p>
<p>One of the most significant examples of this was the campaign in favour of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305748808000960">bilingual road signs</a> in Wales, which started in the 1960s. Before then, there were only English-language road signs in Wales. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white image of people in scarves, hats and coats carrying Welsh language signs saying 'defnyddiwch yr iaith Gymraeg'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507353/original/file-20230131-4694-12yugh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507353/original/file-20230131-4694-12yugh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507353/original/file-20230131-4694-12yugh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507353/original/file-20230131-4694-12yugh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507353/original/file-20230131-4694-12yugh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507353/original/file-20230131-4694-12yugh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507353/original/file-20230131-4694-12yugh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The first protest by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg – Welsh Language Society took place in Aberystwyth on February 2 1963.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Geoff Charles/Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg & The National Library of Wales</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>According to protesters at the time, such signs were a way of indicating that Wales was an English and British territory. For the same campaigners, bilingual signs would signify Wales was a different country – one which had its own unique language and identity. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly perhaps, <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2022-04-29/anger-as-caravan-park-replaces-100-year-old-welsh-name-with-english-alternative">some recent examples</a> of English names being adopted in place of old Welsh place names and toponyms (names for geographical features such as hills), have been viewed with consternation by some. </p>
<p>That list is already long but it is one that grows from year to year, as English versions of place names and toponyms are coined. Porth Trecastell on Anglesey being referred to as <a href="https://discovernorthwales.com/cable-bay-anglesey/">Cable Bay</a>, or <a href="https://nation.cymru/opinion/its-llyn-bochlwyd-not-lake-australia-why-we-should-protect-our-welsh-place-names/">Llyn Bochlwyd in Eryri replaced by Lake Australia in tourist guides</a>, are just two examples. </p>
<p>This has <a href="https://www.cymdeithasenwaulleoedd.cymru/en/">led to a campaign</a> to protect, re-emphasise and, in some cases, rediscover Welsh place names.</p>
<h2>Connection</h2>
<p>The situation is exacerbated by the fact that English versions of place names being coined often bear little or no relation to the original Welsh meaning. As such, there is a danger that important elements of the cultural landscape, such as local histories and legends, are being lost.</p>
<p>For example, the original name of the farmhouse <a href="https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/402856/"><em>Faerdre Fach</em></a> (which translates as “little Reeve’s settlement”), near Llandysul in Ceredigion, points to its role as a local administrative centre during the Middle Ages. With the change to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03dk6wm">“Happy Donkey Hill”</a> more than a decade ago, a name meant to appeal to tourists, all sense of historical or local context was lost. </p>
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<img alt="Old map featuring Welsh place names" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507080/original/file-20230130-14-a9cjhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507080/original/file-20230130-14-a9cjhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507080/original/file-20230130-14-a9cjhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507080/original/file-20230130-14-a9cjhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507080/original/file-20230130-14-a9cjhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507080/original/file-20230130-14-a9cjhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507080/original/file-20230130-14-a9cjhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Bank Cornicyll, the Carmarthenshire farm, as seen in the List of Historic Place Names. It is now registered as ‘Hakuna Matata’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">List of Historic Place Names/Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Similarly, <em><a href="https://historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk/placenames/recordedname/d9607c69-a917-4675-880b-375de3712c1e">Banc Cornicyll</a></em>, the former name of a farm in Carmarthenshire translates as Lapwing Bank, thus giving an indication of the local landscape and fauna where the farm is located. Its <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/outrage-historic-welsh-farm-renamed-22917409">replacement name of Hakuna Matata</a> (a Swahili phrase and title of the song from The Lion King), is divorced from the cultural landscape of the area. The owner <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/owner-defends-hakuna-matata-house-22948727">last year defended the change</a>, saying it was a decision made 25 years ago and that the Swahili term has meaning. </p>
<h2>Authority</h2>
<p>Place names are also important because they indicate patterns of power within society. The right to give places and landscape features names reflects the authority of individuals, groups and institutions. This leads us to question who has the right to decide whether a Welsh name or an alternative English name is used. Which institutions and agencies act as gatekeepers for the naming of places in Wales? </p>
<p>Criticism <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61811395">has been levelled</a> at the Ordnance Survey (OS), in this respect, for being slow to correct the misspellings of Welsh toponyms on its current maps. The OS cited historical precedent, namely that these are the names that have appeared on its maps since the late 19th century. </p>
<p>But such a defence does not recognise the <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Map_of_a_Nation/q57yDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">problematic nature</a> of the creation of early maps in places like Wales and Scotland. Native place names were often misspelled on the basis of erroneous information received from English landowners.</p>
<p>Conversely, the farm name Hakuna Matata already appears on OS maps of Carmarthenshire. Despite differences in the contexts of these two examples, they both illustrate the significant, and arguably, arbitrary power of an institution such as the OS in the naming of places in Wales.</p>
<p>Organisations such as the <a href="https://www.cymdeithasenwaulleoedd.cymru/en/">Welsh Place-Name Society</a> and prominent individuals such as <a href="https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/bbcs-huw-edwards-wades-row-17525565">newsreader Huw Edwards</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44481950">comedian Tudur Owen</a> have sought to draw attention to the Anglicisation of place names. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yLQ6XlG0MQ4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Comedian Tudur Owen presents an item about Welsh place names being lost on the BBC programme Wales Live in 2018.</span></figcaption>
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<p>To date, however, the Welsh government <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-39281369">has resisted</a> calls to introduce legislation which would protect place names. That said, it is examining ways of stopping people from using English alternatives for Welsh place names, stating it has an “impact on the visible presence of the language in our communities”. </p>
<p>Jeremy Miles, the minister for education and the Welsh language, further stated in November 2022 that the <a href="https://www.gov.wales/welsh-language-communities-housing-plan-html">Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan</a> would conduct research into feasible ways of stopping Welsh place names from being changed. </p>
<p>All of this points to a <a href="https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/fascinating-welsh-place-names-being-25206390">growing appetite</a> to address this issue. Whether it can be solved through legislation is open to debate, however. Many of the changes discussed in this article are taking place in the context of popular usage, by residents and visitors who, for whatever reason, choose to use English versions of Welsh place names. As such, it is a challenge that will be difficult to address, let alone resolve, in practice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197832/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rhys Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Welsh place names often reflect local legends, fauna and topography. The coining of English names to replace them has sparked an ongoing campaign to protect them.Rhys Jones, Professor of Human Geography, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1945902022-11-24T13:51:03Z2022-11-24T13:51:03ZCommunity wildlife conservation isn’t always a win-win solution: the case of Kenya’s Samburu<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496272/original/file-20221120-18-h0rj85.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A herder grazes cattle alongside wildlife in Samburu, Kenya.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Community-based wildlife conservation is often promoted as a <a href="https://www.conservation.org/places/africa">win-win solution</a>. The idea behind this approach is that the people who live close to wildlife can be involved in protecting it and have an interest in doing so. </p>
<p>This results in wildlife being protected (a win for global biodiversity) and local people benefiting from conservation through tourism revenues, jobs, or new infrastructure like schools, clinics and water supplies. </p>
<p>However, the reality of community-based wildlife conservation is sometimes less straightforward, as the experience of Kenya shows. </p>
<p>Kenya is home to spectacular wildlife, landscape and cultural resources that drive the safari tourism industry. This <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO4eVRLy24Q">brings in</a> millions of visitors – and billions of US dollars – to the country annually. Yet, Kenya’s tourist attractions face significant threats. These include <a href="https://theconversation.com/saving-east-africas-wildlife-from-recurring-drought-183844">climate change</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-us-kenya-cooperation-on-wildlife-and-drug-trafficking-matters-184070">illegal wildlife trade</a>, loss of habitat due to <a href="https://theconversation.com/kenya-has-been-trying-to-regulate-the-charcoal-sector-why-its-not-working-154383">deforestation</a> and <a href="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/data-hub/the-economic-pains-human-wildlife-conflict-3662002">human-wildlife conflict</a>. To address some of these risks, community conservancies have been established across the country. </p>
<p>Community conservancies are wildlife-protected areas established on community owned or occupied land. They make up a significant part of the wildlife protection landscape in Kenya, with implications for thousands of people. </p>
<p>There are currently <a href="https://kwcakenya.com/conservancies/status-of-wildlife-conservancies-in-kenya/">76 such spaces</a>, covering tens of thousands of square kilometres. They date back to the 1980s, but have accelerated in number and extent over the last 20 years. </p>
<p>In northern Kenya, which is characterised by a wide expanse of grasslands, most conservancies are supported by the <a href="https://www.nrt-kenya.org/">Northern Rangelands Trust</a>. This is a national NGO funded by global donors and international conservation agencies. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/kenyan-wildlife-policies-must-extend-beyond-protected-areas-127821">Kenyan wildlife policies must extend beyond protected areas</a>
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<p>It’s difficult to establish how much funding is directed to community conservancies. However, in 2020, the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association, an umbrella body, reported that the country’s conservancies incur about <a href="https://kwcakenya.com/conservancies-receive-historic-support-from-government/">US$25 million</a> in annual operational costs. This is mostly funded through donors and, to a limited extent, the government. </p>
<p>Over 30 years of conducting anthropological fieldwork among Samburu communities in northern Kenya, I noticed that community conservation was gaining in popularity, yet there was little evidence about its operation or effects. I conducted a study to explore the issue in more detail. This research led to a <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793650290/Conservation-and-Community-in-Kenya-Milking-the-Elephant">book</a>, which sets out the impact of conservancies on cooperation and conflict in communities. </p>
<p><a href="https://kws.go.ke/content/national-wildlife-census-2021-report">Wildlife numbers</a> in Kenya are declining, but more wild animals are found on conservancy land than in unprotected areas. While this is promising, my research found that conservancies increased human-wildlife conflict, with communities bearing the brunt of loss and injury caused by wildlife. Further, the economic benefits of community conservancies to members were minimal. </p>
<h2>The roots of community conservation</h2>
<p>Community-based conservation has its roots in the realisation that the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Connections-Perspectives-Community-Based-Conservation/dp/1559633468">“fortress” model</a> of conservation – which is the creation of parks and reserves that exclude all human use – is untenable. Wild animals require vast landscapes to thrive. They cannot be contained within the boundaries of parks. </p>
<p>Equally, when local people are excluded from parks, they are denied access to the resources they need for survival. Treating people as less important than wildlife makes them less inclined to protect wildlife. This is particularly true in a place like northern Kenya, where livestock-herding societies like the Samburu have lived in close proximity to wildlife for centuries. </p>
<p>Understanding that successful conservation depends on local populations having a stake in its success has led to efforts in Kenya to engage communities directly in conservation activities. In this approach, the community sets aside <a href="https://www.nrt-kenya.org/community-conservation-overview">part of its land</a> for conservation activities in exchange for anticipated benefits that will flow from conservation. </p>
<p>In the Samburu case, communities have set aside about 10% to 25% of their land for wildlife, and in some cases for tourism infrastructure. These conservancies are run by paid staff overseen by boards made up of community members and supported by conservation NGOs. </p>
<p>Livestock grazing is prohibited or severely restricted on this land. </p>
<p>Community conservation creates boundaries, which are policed by wildlife scouts who are often armed. Although their stated role is wildlife protection, these scouts are in fact tasked with protecting pasture from outsiders and livestock from theft. </p>
<h2>Heightened tensions</h2>
<p><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793650290/Conservation-and-Community-in-Kenya-Milking-the-Elephant">My research</a> involved spending a year in several Samburu conservancies. I observed how the conservancies operated and talked to members about how they felt about them. I conducted surveys to measure the costs and benefits incurred. </p>
<p>The study revealed a number of impacts of conservancies on local communities that mainly have to do with security and with funding.</p>
<p>I found that conservancies actually heightened tensions among Samburu communities. Creating zones of land use and restricting grazing makes it necessary to maintain boundaries and refuse access to non-members. This goes against Samburu norms of allowing livestock access to pasture, particularly during dry seasons and droughts. On the other hand, members of conservancies see the policing of grazing as a benefit.</p>
<p>Many times in the course of my research, I heard people refer to their Samburu neighbours outside conservancy boundaries as “outsiders” or “encroachers” who must be kept out. Conservancies resemble islands around which herders must navigate to find pasture. If and when they landed on these islands, conflicts often occurred.</p>
<p>Additionally, the amount of funding channelled to conservancies from donor organisations was relatively large compared to other sources of support. Conservancies that have tourism facilities also earn revenue from hotel contracts, bed-night charges and conservation fees. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/elephant-conservation-may-be-undermined-by-twitter-users-who-overlook-main-threats-191788">Elephant conservation may be undermined by Twitter users who overlook main threats</a>
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<p>Members perceived that there was a lot of money circulating in conservancies, controlled by the boards and staff. They reported minimal economic benefits for themselves, mostly in the form of school fees for students and sometimes an annual dividend. This fuelled suspicions among members that the money was being misused by conservancy boards and staff. </p>
<p>Suspicions of misuse of funds have resulted in bitter conflicts within the community over leadership, demands for greater public accountability and legal action.</p>
<p>These unintended consequences of community-based conservation call for more effective models. Conservation that places less emphasis on who may or may not use a piece of land, and that improves accountability, could result in better outcomes for people and for wildlife.</p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>The intentions behind community-based conservation are laudable. It aims to correct past failures, which include isolating wildlife in parks and excluding people from important survival resources. Yet, this approach brings its own set of challenges. There is a risk that if members don’t receive the kinds of benefits they have been promised, their support for conservation could decline, undermining the approach. </p>
<p>Greater engagement of members, and more accountability regarding funding and its uses would enhance confidence and ownership among members.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194590/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolyn K. Lesorogol receives funding from the United States National Science Foundation that funded the research discussed here. </span></em></p>Conservation that places less emphasis on who may or may not use a piece of land could result in better outcomes for people and wildlife.Carolyn K. Lesorogol, Professor, Washington University in St. LouisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1725032021-11-30T19:09:24Z2021-11-30T19:09:24ZBreathtaking wilderness in the heart of coal country: after a 90-year campaign, Gardens of Stone is finally protected<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434645/original/file-20211130-21-e4b477.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C1058%2C734&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the rocky upland wilderness of Wiradjuri Country two hours west of Sydney lies a new protected area with a <a href="https://www.nature.org.au/a_history_of_the_gardens_of_stone_campaign">nine-decade-long history</a> of dogged environmental activism: the Gardens of Stone. </p>
<p>Last month, the New South Wales government <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bill/files/3928/First%20Print.pdf">officially recognised</a> the Gardens of Stone as a State Conservation Area within the National Parks estate. <a href="https://www.nature.org.au/a_history_of_the_gardens_of_stone_campaign">First proposed in 1932</a> and with a small portion of the area designated as National Park in 1994, this decision will see more than 30,000 hectares finally protected. </p>
<p>The government has also earmarked the region <a href="https://mattkean.com.au/news/media-release/gardens-stone-and-lost-city-adventures">for ecotourism</a>. With its epic gorges, the globally unique hanging swamps of Newnes Plateau, craggy cliff ravines and slot canyons, this 250-million-year-old geological landscape is a paradise for adventurers.</p>
<p>But more than anything, the Gardens of Stone is, as stalwart campaigner Julie Favell puts it, a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/13/storybook-of-nature-a-landmark-win-as-gardens-of-stone-in-nsws-blue-mountains-protected">storybook of nature</a>”. This is no simple story, but one of a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421518302489">generational mining community</a> on the brink of social change and an often thankless, hard-won battle for ecological recognition in the heart of coal country. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/4-unexpected-places-where-adults-can-learn-science-169796">4 unexpected places where adults can learn science</a>
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<h2>Sandstone towers and rare wildlife</h2>
<p>Towering sandstone and iron-banded <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNcceomLvs0&ab_channel=IntotheWildFilms">pagoda formations</a> are what you’d most likely find on a Gardens of Stone postcard. These intricately weathered structures breach the eucalyptus canopy and cluster on a cliff, like a cross between the temples of Angkor Wat and a massive beehive complex. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Lost City, Newnes Plateau, in Lithgow.</span></figcaption>
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<p>For close and curious observers, there are also smaller, less dramatic icons. Rare wildflowers abound, including countless native orchids and the pagoda daisy, which grows only in rocky crags. In fact, the park is home to more than 40 threatened species, including the <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10841">regent honeyeater</a> and the <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10207">spotted-tail quoll</a>.</p>
<p>A humble jewel of the Gardens of Stone is its endangered upland peat swamps. Resembling a meadow clearing, up close these swamps form watery spongescapes that function as both kitchen and nursery to hundreds of local species. Inhabitants include the endangered <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10322">Blue Mountains water-skink</a> and <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10600&linkId=99343958">giant dragonfly</a>. </p>
<p>These upland swamps on sandstone are found nowhere else in the world, and they play a critical role in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09640568.2019.1679100">regional water and climate resilience</a>, as they store carbon and mediate flooding and drought. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pagoda daisy, which grows nowhere else in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A rocky battle</h2>
<p>The environmental features of the Gardens of Stone are so intertwined with local, state and national conservation efforts that to tell the story of one is to tell the story of the other. </p>
<p>Local environment groups have worked relentlessly to <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/scipapers/3063/">demonstrate the geological heritage</a> of the pagodas in the <a href="https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/5067592/threat-to-gardens-of-stone-from-proposed-open-cut-mining/">face of open cut mining</a>. They have documented the impacts of mining on <a href="http://www.lithgowenvironment.org/pages/swamp%20watch.php">swamps and waterways</a>, tried to <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/5268473/springvale-fined-for-damage-to-vegetation-in-endangered-swampland/">hold companies accountable</a> for their destruction, and recorded the presence of <a href="http://www.lithgowenvironment.org/pages/flora%20and%20fauna%201.php">many hundreds</a> of previously undocumented plant and animal species in an effort to have the area’s value formally recognised. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gooches Crater swamp, ringed by cliffs and pagodas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This long campaign has also been the subject of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-02/springvale-mine-extension-blocked-in-court/8766742">legal battles</a> in the courts of NSW. The last two decades in particular have seen, for example, countless petitions, <a href="https://gggallery.com.au/anne-graham-2/">public events</a>, <a href="http://www.lithgowenvironment.org/pages/stream%20watch.php">environmental testing and monitoring projects</a>, and the task of sifting through technical mining documents with each new mining proposal.</p>
<p>Two mines are currently in operation within the conservation area, with an extension to an <a href="https://www.centennialcoal.com.au/operations/angus-place/">existing site proposed</a>. The most significant impacts from mining in recent decades have been sandstone cracking, causing swamps to dry out and die, and disruptions to upland water flows and regional water quality.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lithgow Environment Group’s Chris Jonkers in a swamp damaged from nearby mining.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Conserving the Gardens of Stone has been an uphill battle in overcoming indifference and opposition. </p>
<p>At the local level, environmental impacts from mining were <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/2318819/mining-industry-again-a-target/">derided as inconsequential</a> in the face of mining employment, with campaigners bearing the brunt of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/13/storybook-of-nature-a-landmark-win-as-gardens-of-stone-in-nsws-blue-mountains-protected">distrust and hostility</a> from pro-coal locals towards their perceived interference. </p>
<p>At the state level, hard-won environmental protections <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/10/nsw-to-weaken-water-quality-test-for-extensions-to-mines">were overthrown in favour of mining approvals</a>. In 2017, the NSW government weakened laws to allow mining extensions that impacted Sydney’s drinking water quality, with <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/nsw-threatened-species-scientific-committee/determinations/final-determinations/2004-2007/alteration-of-habitat-following-subsidence-due-to-longwall-mining-key-threatening-process-listing">likely damage</a> to legally protected swamps within the Gardens of Stone not addressed. </p>
<p>Due to existing mining developments, the extended Gardens of Stone isn’t officially designated as a National Park, but is instead a “<a href="https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/conservation-and-heritage/state-conservation-areas">conservation area</a>”. This means any new developments, such as extensions to mines, must use processes <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/7368602/centennial-coal-propose-new-project-to-delight-of-environmentalists/">that support</a> conservation requirements. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spotted-tail quolls are one of the rare species living in the Gardens of Stone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Transitioning away from coal</h2>
<p>Hopefully, encouraging responsible developments will avoid further <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-30/gardens-of-stone-conservation-proposal/100103246">ecological damage</a> and help enable a smoother economic transition away from coal in the coming decades.</p>
<p>Despite Australia’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/11/coal-mining-australia-climate-cop26/">national climate strategy</a> remaining entrenched in coal, <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/7291551/angus-place-in-doubt-after-parent-company-pivots-to-clean-energy-future/">local coal</a> prospects are winding down. This seems heralded by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-24/wallerawang-coal-demolition/100643694">last week’s demolition of Wallerawang Power Station</a> just outside the new conservation area. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-transition-from-coal-4-lessons-for-australia-from-around-the-world-115558">How to transition from coal: 4 lessons for Australia from around the world</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The new conservation area comes with a A$50 million investment, and will see hundreds of thousands of visitors flocking to explore a range of proposed new attractions. Chief among these will be the Lost City Adventure Experience, featuring Australia’s longest zipline and an elevated canyon walk, as well as a rock-climbing route and a six day wilderness track. These attractions are expected to create an extra 200 jobs. </p>
<p>This new pivot towards ecotourism provides an example of a strategic and environmentally just transition pathway for the coal community in practice.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pagodas at Newnes in the Gardens of Stone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Gardens of Stone victory may reflect a <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/5577143/mundey-cfmeu-conservationists-talk-39000-hectare-state-reserve/">new dawn of negotiation</a> that could mark an end to the often antagonistic view of conservation as a threat to local livelihoods in this area. </p>
<p>This victory and vision belongs squarely with its environmental campaigners, some of whom have <a href="https://www.nature.org.au/a_history_of_the_gardens_of_stone_campaign">given over 30 years of sustained and dedicated effort</a> to make it a reality.</p>
<p>As the world’s attention is increasingly turned towards climate action, the success of this campaign may provide the surge of momentum we need for a more sustainable future.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-blue-mountains-world-heritage-site-has-been-downgraded-but-its-not-too-late-to-save-it-150954">The Blue Mountains World Heritage site has been downgraded, but it's not too late to save it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172503/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Della Bosca grew up in Lithgow within a coal mining family and is a supporter of the Lithgow Environment Group, a founding member of the Gardens of Stone Alliance. She has no official role within the organisation nor any campaign associated with the proposal, but has conducted associated research in this area since 2016. </span></em></p>This is no simple story, but one of a generational mining community on the brink of social change and an often thankless, hard-won battle for ecological recognition in the heart of coal country.Hannah Della Bosca, PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at Sydney Environment Institute, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1643012021-07-26T08:11:43Z2021-07-26T08:11:43ZSouth Korea is bringing back bears in a country of 52 million people – I went to find out how<p>The return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 popularised the idea of reintroducing long-lost species to modern habitats. While scientists are still trying to fully understand the ecological consequences, the wolf’s reintroduction likely <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/wolf-restoration.htm">benefited other species</a>, illustrating how conservation can not just slow biodiversity loss, but even reverse it. </p>
<hr>
<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/south-korea-is-bringing-back-bears-in-a-country-of-52-million-people-i-went-to-find-out-how-164301&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>That project, however, took place in a vast protected wilderness. Many of the places where biologists now hope to reintroduce large wild animals – whether it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/eurasian-lynx-how-our-computer-model-highlighted-the-best-site-for-restoring-this-wild-cat-to-scotland-113624">lynx in Britain</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-so-fast-why-indias-plan-to-reintroduce-cheetahs-may-run-into-problems-152301">cheetahs in India</a> – are a little closer to where people live, with all of the potential problems that entails in terms of human-wildlife conflict.</p>
<p>In South Korea, a country of similar size and similar human population density to England, conservationists are in the process of restoring the native bear population, Asiatic black bears, or moon bears, to be precise. While slightly smaller than their North American cousins, these are still large wild animals, capable of causing fear and alarm and posing a risk to human life and property. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The head and shoulders of a large black bear with two brown stripes on its chest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410997/original/file-20210713-23-lp7p6y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410997/original/file-20210713-23-lp7p6y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410997/original/file-20210713-23-lp7p6y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410997/original/file-20210713-23-lp7p6y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410997/original/file-20210713-23-lp7p6y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410997/original/file-20210713-23-lp7p6y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410997/original/file-20210713-23-lp7p6y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Asiatic black bear (<em>Ursus thibetanus</em>), or moon bear.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua Powell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I wanted to find out how South Korea is managing this ambitious project, so I travelled to Jirisan National Park, a mountainous region in the far south of the Korean Peninsula. </p>
<p>By the 1990s, along with occasional sightings in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), Jirisan had become the last foothold of the Asiatic black bear in South Korea. An attempted eradication programme by the colonial Japanese regime of the early 20th century and overhunting following independence in 1945 meant bears had fared badly for some time. At the close of the century, there were thought to be just five wild bears left in the country, and the species was on the brink of <a href="http://kmkjournals.com/upload/PDF/RJT/18/ther18_1_051_055.pdf">extinction in South Korea</a>. </p>
<p>These were not the only bears in the country though. A large population lingered on farms producing bear bile and body parts, which are used in traditional medicine, and bear meat. Since the 1990s, South Korea has cracked down on the bear part trade, but the remaining population of around 380 captive bears still substantially outnumbers those in the wild (<a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/05/371_309394.html?WA">around 70 in 2021</a>). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black bear's head looms behind bars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410998/original/file-20210713-21-12ex7x9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410998/original/file-20210713-21-12ex7x9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410998/original/file-20210713-21-12ex7x9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410998/original/file-20210713-21-12ex7x9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410998/original/file-20210713-21-12ex7x9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410998/original/file-20210713-21-12ex7x9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410998/original/file-20210713-21-12ex7x9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A captive Asiatic black bear on a disused bear bile farm in Gangwon-do, South Korea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua Powell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These farm bears might have seemed the ideal animals to rebuild a wild population. But the bears probably belonged to a range of different subspecies and were potential disease risks. Years of being fed by humans also meant that the bears could seek out contact – and cause conflict – with humans. Instead, bears were imported from China, Russia and North Korea. In 2004, the first six cubs were released into Jirisan.</p>
<h2>Why did South Korea’s bear programme succeed?</h2>
<p>No grand claims were made about reshaping the relationship between humans and the natural world, and no changes were promised to centuries-old methods of managing landscapes, ideas which often feature in debates about <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.13487">rewilding</a>. Instead, conservationists in South Korea established a modest initial goal: returning a population of 50 bears to a single protected area. </p>
<p>Soft releases, in which bears are kept in pens to acclimate to their surroundings before being set free, and extensive monitoring of bears post-release, helped increase the likelihood of each released bear surviving. Bears that strayed too far were returned to the national park. </p>
<p>Captive breeding, underpinned by impressive veterinary expertise, has also helped the population grow. One milestone involved the world’s first successful use of <a href="http://koreabizwire.com/artificial-insemination-boosts-genetic-diversity-of-asiatic-black-bears/137622">artificial insemination</a> in this genus of bear, a boon for maintaining genetic diversity in a small population. Bears injured by snares or traffic collisions have also been <a href="https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-021-02834-9">successfully returned to the wild</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An anaesthetised bear lies on a stretcher on top of a metal examination table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410999/original/file-20210713-21-1lnkxa3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410999/original/file-20210713-21-1lnkxa3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410999/original/file-20210713-21-1lnkxa3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410999/original/file-20210713-21-1lnkxa3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410999/original/file-20210713-21-1lnkxa3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410999/original/file-20210713-21-1lnkxa3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410999/original/file-20210713-21-1lnkxa3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Veterinarians prepare to transport a female bear following examination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua Powell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The initial target of 50 bears was exceeded and the population now stands at <a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/05/371_309394.html?WA">over 70</a>. A <a href="http://kmkjournals.com/upload/PDF/RJT/18/ther18_1_051_055.pdf">recent study</a> found that some bears were now dispersing across South Korea, suggesting that Jirisan National Park may be close to reaching the limit of bears it can sustain.</p>
<p>This presents new challenges. Conservationists have, so far, been remarkably successful at reducing conflict between bears and people, and building support for restoring bears to Jirisan National Park with education programmes, presentations for residents and hikers, a centre where visitors can learn about the reintroduction programme and even the use of moon bear mascots for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics.</p>
<p>But the appearance of bears outside of the national park still attracts prime-time media coverage, which can hamper efforts to cultivate tolerance and maintain a reasonable dialogue with the public about the realities of living alongside bears. People feeding bears remains an issue, as does illegal snaring for game species, which can severely injure bears. As South Korea reaches the next stage of its reintroduction programme, is the country prepared to accept bears outside of a protected area?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A rocky mountain vista with streaks of snow." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411000/original/file-20210713-15-5lp40o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411000/original/file-20210713-15-5lp40o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411000/original/file-20210713-15-5lp40o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411000/original/file-20210713-15-5lp40o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411000/original/file-20210713-15-5lp40o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411000/original/file-20210713-15-5lp40o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411000/original/file-20210713-15-5lp40o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bukhansan National Park, near Seoul. Once home to leopards and tigers, could these mountains see bears again?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua Powell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It will be fascinating to follow these bears over the coming years as conservationists address these questions. And Asiatic black bears are just the start. South Korea has since established programmes to restore the <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20121101000970">red fox</a>, which is surprisingly rare in the country, and the <a href="https://scienceon.kisti.re.kr/srch/selectPORSrchArticle.do?cn=JAKO201517052511602&dbt=NART">long-tailed goral</a>, a goat-like mammal whose populations have been depleted by poaching and habitat loss. </p>
<p>These programmes will face challenges, but South Korea has shown considerable expertise in the field of mammal reintroductions. Expertise that other countries could well learn from.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164301/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Powell receives funding from the London NERC DTP. He is a visiting research student at Seoul National University's College of Veterinary Medicine. </span></em></p>Even in small, densely populated countries, reintroducing large wildlife is possible.Joshua Elves-Powell, London NERC DTP PhD Researcher, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1632232021-06-23T16:01:08Z2021-06-23T16:01:08ZYellowstone is losing its snow as the climate warms, and that means widespread problems for water and wildlife<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407749/original/file-20210622-23-a44xbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C3264%2C2428&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Snow melts near the Continental Divide in the Bridger Wilderness Area in Wyoming, part of the Greater Yellowstone Area.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bryan Shuman/University of Wyoming</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When you picture <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm">Yellowstone National Park</a> and its neighbor, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm">Grand Teton</a>, the snowcapped peaks and <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/center-news/a-time-when-old-faithful-wasn-t-so-faithful">Old Faithful Geyser</a> almost certainly come to mind. Climate change threatens all of these iconic scenes, and its impact reaches far beyond the parks’ borders.</p>
<p>A new <a href="https://gyclimate.org/">assessment of climate change</a> in the two national parks and surrounding forests and ranchland warns of the potential for significant changes as the region continues to heat up.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407769/original/file-20210622-28-edp9w6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing the parks and forest land within the Greater Yellowstone Area" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407769/original/file-20210622-28-edp9w6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407769/original/file-20210622-28-edp9w6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407769/original/file-20210622-28-edp9w6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407769/original/file-20210622-28-edp9w6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407769/original/file-20210622-28-edp9w6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407769/original/file-20210622-28-edp9w6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407769/original/file-20210622-28-edp9w6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Greater Yellowstone Area includes both Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, as well as surrounding national forests and federal land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/assessing-the-ecological-health-of-the-greater-yellowstone-ecosystem.htm">National Park Service</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since 1950, average temperatures in the Greater Yellowstone Area have <a href="https://gyclimate.org/">risen 2.3 degrees</a> Fahrenheit (1.3 C), and potentially more importantly, the region has lost a quarter of its annual snowfall. With the region <a href="https://gyclimate.org/">projected to warm 5-6 F by 2061-2080</a>, compared with the average from 1986-2005, and by as much as 10-11 F by the end of the century, the high country around Yellowstone is poised to lose its snow altogether.</p>
<p>The loss of snow there has repercussions for a vast range of ecosystems and wildlife, as well as cities and farms downstream that rely on rivers that start in these mountains.</p>
<h2>Broad impact on wildlife and ecosystems</h2>
<p>The Greater Yellowstone Area comprises <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/greater-yellowstone-ecosystem.htm">22 million acres</a> in northwest Wyoming and portions of Montana and Idaho. In addition to geysers and hot springs, it’s home to the southernmost range of grizzly bear populations in North America and <a href="https://www.perc.org/2019/12/06/the-marvelous-migrations-of-greater-yellowstone/">some of the longest intact wildlife migrations</a>, including the seasonal traverses of elk, pronghorn, mule deer and bison.</p>
<p>The area also represents the one point where the three major river basins of the western U.S. converge. The rivers of the Snake-Columbia basin, Green-Colorado basin, and Missouri River Basin all begin as snow on the Continental Divide as it weaves across Yellowstone’s peaks and plateaus.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bear and cub walking along a river in Yellowstone National Park." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407775/original/file-20210622-16-11sz5oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407775/original/file-20210622-16-11sz5oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407775/original/file-20210622-16-11sz5oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407775/original/file-20210622-16-11sz5oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407775/original/file-20210622-16-11sz5oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407775/original/file-20210622-16-11sz5oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407775/original/file-20210622-16-11sz5oa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Less water in rivers can harm cutthroat trout, which grizzly bears and other wildlife rely on for food.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/grizzly-bear-mother-and-her-cub-walk-near-pelican-creek-news-photo/153663648">Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>How climate change alters the Greater Yellowstone Area is, therefore, a question with implications far beyond the impact on <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/yellowstone-cutthroat-trout.htm">Yellowstone’s declining cutthroat trout</a> population and disruptions to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildlife-climate-change-beetles-bears-climate-b847771d0641e961a38c5c72312a53d6">food supplies</a> critical for the region’s recovering grizzly population. By altering the water supply, it also shapes the fate of major Western reservoirs and their dependent cities and farms hundreds of miles downstream. </p>
<p>Rising temperatures also increase the <a href="https://theconversation.com/rocky-mountain-forests-burning-more-now-than-any-time-in-the-past-2-000-years-162383">risk of large forest fires</a> like those that <a href="https://www.yellowstonepark.com/park/history/1988-fires-yellowstone/">scarred Yellowstone in 1988</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-year-the-west-was-burning-how-the-2020-wildfire-season-got-so-extreme-148804">broke records across Colorado in 2020</a>. And the effects on the national parks could harm the region’s <a href="https://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/news/-792-million-in-local-economic-benefits.htm">nearly US$800 billion</a> in annual tourism activity across the three states. </p>
<p>A group of scientists led by <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cathy-Whitlock">Cathy Whitlock</a> from Montana State University, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Steven-Hostetler">Steve Hostetler</a> of the U.S. Geological Survey <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=S5HWncYAAAAJ&hl=en">and myself</a> at the University of Wyoming partnered with local organizations, including the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, to <a href="https://gyclimate.org/">launch the climate assessment</a>.</p>
<p>We wanted to create a common baseline for discussion among the region’s many voices, from the Indigenous nations who have lived in these landscapes for over 10,000 years to the federal agencies mandated to care for the region’s public lands. What information would ranchers and outfitters, skiers and energy producers need to know to begin planning for the future?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of elk in a grassland area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407748/original/file-20210622-13-150pr5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407748/original/file-20210622-13-150pr5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407748/original/file-20210622-13-150pr5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407748/original/file-20210622-13-150pr5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407748/original/file-20210622-13-150pr5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407748/original/file-20210622-13-150pr5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407748/original/file-20210622-13-150pr5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elk in the Greater Yellowstone Area could be affected by changes in the availability and quality of plants they eat along their migration routes. Changes to the elk population would in turn have an impact on grizzlies, wolves, and other parts of the food chain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bryan Shuman/University of Wyoming</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shifting from snow to rain</h2>
<p>Standing at the University of Wyoming-National Park Service Research Station and looking up at the snow on the Grand Teton, over 13,000 feet above sea level, I cannot help but think that the transition away from snow is the most striking outcome that the assessment anticipates – and the most dire.</p>
<p>Today the average winter snowline – the level where almost all winter precipitation falls as snow – is at an elevation of about 6,000 feet. By the end of the century, warming is forecast to raise it to at least 10,000 feet, the top of <a href="https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/jackson-hole-2/">Jackson Hole’s famous ski areas</a>.</p>
<p>The climate assessment uses projections of future climates based on <a href="https://sos.noaa.gov/datasets/climate-model-temperature-change-rcp-45-2006-2100/">a scenario</a> that assumes countries substantially reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. When we looked at scenarios in which global emissions continue at a high rate instead, the differences by the end of century compared with today became stark. Not even the highest peaks would regularly receive snow.</p>
<p>In interviews with people across the region, nearly everyone agreed that the challenge ahead is directly connected to water. As a member of one of the regional tribes noted, “Water is a big concern for everybody.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407739/original/file-20210622-25-ogvj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407739/original/file-20210622-25-ogvj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407739/original/file-20210622-25-ogvj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407739/original/file-20210622-25-ogvj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407739/original/file-20210622-25-ogvj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407739/original/file-20210622-25-ogvj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407739/original/file-20210622-25-ogvj1l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As temperature has risen over the past seven decades, snowfall has declined, and peak streamflow shifted earlier in the year across the Greater Yellowstone Area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://gyclimate.org/">2021 Greater Yellowstone Climate Assessment</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Precipitation may increase slightly as the region warms, but less of it will fall as snow. More of it will fall in spring and autumn, while summers will become drier than they have been, our assessment found.</p>
<p>The timing of the spring runoff, when winter snow melts and feeds into streams and rivers, has already shifted ahead by about eight days since 1950. The shift means a longer, drier late summer when drought can turn the landscape brown – or black as the wildfire season becomes longer and hotter.</p>
<p>The outcomes will affect wildlife migrations dependent on the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15169">green wave”</a> of new leaves that rises up the mountain slopes each spring. Low streamflow and warm water in late summer will threaten the survival of coldwater fisheries, like the Yellowstone cutthroat trout, and Yellowstone’s unique species like the <a href="https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/jackson_hole_daily/local/teton-dwelling-stonefly-becomes-threatened/article_b55af516-e080-5b0d-9035-8d3fa3817156.html">western glacier stonefly</a>, which depends on the meltwater from mountain glaciers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407752/original/file-20210622-27-j1doxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407752/original/file-20210622-27-j1doxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407752/original/file-20210622-27-j1doxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407752/original/file-20210622-27-j1doxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407752/original/file-20210622-27-j1doxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407752/original/file-20210622-27-j1doxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407752/original/file-20210622-27-j1doxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Temperatures are projected to rise in the Greater Yellowstone Area in the coming decades. The chart shows two potential scenarios, based on different projections of what global warming might look like in the future – RCP 8.5, if greenhouse gas emissions continue at a high rate; and RCP 4.5, if countries take substantial steps to slow climate change. The temperatures are compared with the 1900-2005 average.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://gyclimate.org/">2021 Greater Yellowstone Climate Assessment</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Preparing for a warming future</h2>
<p>These outcomes will vary somewhat from location to location, but no area will be untouched.</p>
<p>We hope the climate assessment will help communities anticipate the complex impacts ahead and start planning for the future. </p>
<p>As the report indicates, that future will depend on choices made now and in the coming years. Federal and state policy choices will determine whether the world will see optimistic scenarios or scenarios where adaption becomes more difficult. The Yellowstone region, one of the coldest parts of the U.S., will face changes, but actions now can help avoid the worst. High-elevation mountain towns <a href="https://www.jacksonholechamber.com/trip-planner/weather/">like Jackson, Wyoming</a>, which today rarely experience 90 F, may face a couple of weeks of such heat by the end of the century – or they may face two months of it, depending in large part on those decisions.</p>
<p>The assessment underscores the need for discussion. What choices do we want to make?</p>
<p>[<em>Get our best science, health and technology stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-best">Sign up for The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryan Shuman receives funding from the National Science Foundation. The Greater Yellowstone Climate Assessment was funded by the Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee, Montana State University, the University of Wyoming, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. </span></em></p>The area’s iconic national parks are home to grizzlies, elk and mountain snowfall that feeds some of the country’s most important rivers. A new report show the changes underway as temperatures rise.Bryan Shuman, Professor of Paleoclimatology and Paleoecology, University of WyomingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1476632020-10-09T05:18:04Z2020-10-09T05:18:04ZHow much the budget undervalued conservation: 16 World Heritage sites received less than Sydney Harbour<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362588/original/file-20201009-24-1jnp2z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C19%2C4241%2C2825&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The proportion of Earth’s surface designated as “protected” has expanded over the past decade. But new findings show these areas have failed to improve the state of the environment, casting doubt on government commitments to biodiversity conservation.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://rdcu.be/b8caZ">global research</a> published in Nature yesterday found between 2010 and 2019, protected areas expanded from covering 14.1% to 15.3% of global land and freshwater environments (excluding Antarctica), and from 2.9% to 7.5% of marine environments. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-how-australia-and-other-nations-play-politics-with-world-heritage-sites-142918">New research reveals how Australia and other nations play politics with World Heritage sites</a>
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<p>However, 78% of known threatened species and more than half of all ecoregions on land and sea remain without adequate protection. In Australia, we found nearly half of land-based ecoregions and threatened species have inadequate protections. </p>
<p>“Adequate” protection is different for individual species, but typically requires 10-100% of a species’ geographic range to be under some form of protection. </p>
<p>The Coalition government’s federal budget allocated A$233.4 million to six Commonwealth-run national parks — but most will be spent on tourism infrastructure upgrades. What’s needed is more staff and equipment to restore, enrich and maintain natural ecosystems, and to secure our most iconic natural places.</p>
<h2>The best and worst performing countries</h2>
<p>Our global assessment examined how nations are tracking a decade <a href="https://www.cbd.int/decision/cop/?id=12268">after committing to UN targets</a> for area-based conservation: at least 17% of land and 10% of ocean must be protected by 2020.</p>
<p>Best-performing countries include Botswana, Hungary and Thailand. Botswana’s protected area estate adequately covers 86% of its ecoregions and 83% of its threatened species. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362353/original/file-20201008-22-s0mu4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362353/original/file-20201008-22-s0mu4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362353/original/file-20201008-22-s0mu4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362353/original/file-20201008-22-s0mu4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362353/original/file-20201008-22-s0mu4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362353/original/file-20201008-22-s0mu4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362353/original/file-20201008-22-s0mu4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362353/original/file-20201008-22-s0mu4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Chobe National Park in Botswana covers 1,170,000 hectares of savannah, woodland and marsh ecosystems. It was designated in 1968.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sean Maxwell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>The worst performing countries — such as Indonesia, Canada and Madagascar — have a long way to go to meet these targets. For example, only 3% of Canada’s ocean waters are under formal protection. </p>
<p>But there are alarming and consistent problems with management. Globally, as much as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21708">90% of marine protected areas</a> have inadequate or below optimum on-site staff capacity. On land, <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fee.2042">some 47% of protected areas</a> suffer from inadequate staff and budget resources. And the global budget shortfall for protected areas likely exceeds <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2773-z">the multi-billion dollar mark</a>. </p>
<h2>Threatened species in Australia</h2>
<p>Australia’s protected area estate is not immune to these management shortfalls. <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/cobi.12904">Between 1997 and 2014</a>, there were more than 1,500 legal changes in Australia that eased restrictions, reduced boundaries or eliminated legal protections in protected areas. </p>
<p>Our research also showed less than 1% of the geographic ranges of the orange-bellied frog (<em>Geocrinia vitellina</em>), carpentarian dunnart (<em>Sminthopsis butleri</em>) and upriver orange mangrove (<em>Bruguiera sexangula</em>) — all threatened species — are protected. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/click-through-the-tragic-stories-of-119-species-still-struggling-after-black-summer-in-this-interactive-and-how-to-help-131025">Click through the tragic stories of 119 species still struggling after Black Summer in this interactive (and how to help)</a>
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<p>Many of Australia’s savanna ecoregions also have poor levels of protection, including the Mitchell grass downs (less than 3% of its range is protected), Brigalow tropical savanna (less than 5% protected) and southeast Australian temperate savannas (less than 4% protected). </p>
<p>But it’s not all bad news. We found around 36% of Australia’s oceans are protected and 76% of our marine ecoregions have adequate protection. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362613/original/file-20201009-15-ttx5hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362613/original/file-20201009-15-ttx5hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362613/original/file-20201009-15-ttx5hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362613/original/file-20201009-15-ttx5hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362613/original/file-20201009-15-ttx5hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362613/original/file-20201009-15-ttx5hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362613/original/file-20201009-15-ttx5hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362613/original/file-20201009-15-ttx5hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Protected areas cover 19% of Australia’s land and 36% of its oceans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sean Maxwell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Previous studies also suggest protected areas governed by Indigenous Australians and local communities <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320718306700?via%3Dihub">effectively reduce deforestation pressure</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901119301042">support similar</a> numbers of species to those inside nationally designated protected areas. </p>
<h2>How should funds be used?</h2>
<p>Protecting our wild places will not come cheap. <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/338/6109/946">One estimate</a> suggests an effective global land-based protected area network would cost US$76 billion annually.</p>
<p>This level of investment would ensure each protected area has sufficient staff, resources and equipment to conserve local species and ecosystems. The spending is justified, given the direct value generated by visits to protected areas around the world is <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002074">valued at US$600 billion per year</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/backwards-federal-budget-morrison-government-never-fails-to-disappoint-on-climate-action-147659">'Backwards' federal budget: Morrison government never fails to disappoint on climate action</a>
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<p>In Australia, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/estimating-the-benefit-of-wellmanaged-protected-areas-for-threatened-species-conservation/A7BAB606062D26432CE6B183FAC15B04">effective conservation</a> typically requires mimicking land and sea use practices that were in place before Europeans arrived, which involves actively managing disturbances such as fire and invasive species. </p>
<p>Funds should also be used to <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12007">track the biodiversity outcomes</a> of protected areas to make sure they’re meeting their objectives. </p>
<p>Beyond budgets, national governments around the world must be more ambitious when negotiating the next round of international environmental targets, <a href="https://www.cbd.int/conferences/post2020">due in mid-2021</a>. These negotiations will define national conservation agendas for the next decade. </p>
<p>Governments must adopt policies that make biodiversity conservation a greater part of broader land and sea management plans. They can, for example, embrace new models for land and sea stewardship that reward good behaviour by farmers, developers and miners. </p>
<h2>Budget breakdown</h2>
<p>In Australia, most national parks are funded and run by state governments. The federal government, through Parks Australia, is responsible for Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Christmas Island, Pulu Keeling, Booderee and Norfolk Island. </p>
<p>The Commonwealth also plays a key role in funding and managing Australia’s 16 natural World Heritage sites, including K'gari and the Ningaloo Coast. </p>
<p>Of the <a href="https://minister.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/budget-infographic-iconic.pdf">A$329.2 million allocated</a> in the budget to protect iconic places, A$233.4 million (71%) is set aside for tourism infrastructure in non-World Heritage national parks in Australia. </p>
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Read more:
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<p>We calculate this provides about A$18,000 for every hectare of Booderee National Park and national parks on Christmas Island, Norfork Island and Pulu Keeling. Most of this will likely be spent on improving visitor amenities or ensuring nearby businesses can stay open, rather than directed to measures such as invasive species control or fire management. </p>
<p>Australia’s 16 natural World Heritage sites will receive just A$33.5 million — less than the $40.6 million promised to maintain and restore historical sites across Sydney Harbour.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362356/original/file-20201008-20-3s15de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Kakadu National Park" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362356/original/file-20201008-20-3s15de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362356/original/file-20201008-20-3s15de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362356/original/file-20201008-20-3s15de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362356/original/file-20201008-20-3s15de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362356/original/file-20201008-20-3s15de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362356/original/file-20201008-20-3s15de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362356/original/file-20201008-20-3s15de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Australia’s 16 natural World Heritage sites will receive just A$33.5 million.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>A further $23.6 million was promised for compliance, enforcement and monitoring activities across Australia’s marine parks. Enforcing no-take marine protected areas improves species <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21708#Sec18">populations</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215001372">biomass</a>, but this funding boost is grossly inadequate. It equates to just 1 cent for every hectare of Commonwealth-run marine parks. </p>
<p>It’s hard to see how these measures will prevent further ecosystem degradation or species extinctions, when conservation of Australia’s biodiversity heavily relies on protected areas. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/invasive-species-threaten-most-protected-areas-across-the-world-new-study-140212">Invasive species threaten most protected areas across the world - new study</a>
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<p>In response to this article, a spokesperson for federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said investment in protecting national parks went beyond infrastructure spending, however infrastructure did assist people to “access parks in a responsible manner”.</p>
<p>Ley’s spokesperson said protecting biodiversity was “a core aspect of park operations” and included eradicating invasive species, and interaction with the National Environmental Science Program and the office of the threatened species commissioner.</p>
<p>In addition to national parks, Australia “also has the world’s largest network of Indigenous protected areas, which the government is already in the process of expanding,” the spokesperson said.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Maxwell receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is a Conservation Fellow with the Wildlife Conservation Society. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Watson receives funding from National Environmental Science Program, the Australian Research Council and The University of Queensland. He is Director of the Science and Research Initiative at the Wildlife Conservation Society and serves as a volunteer on Bush Heritage Australia and BirdLife Australia science committees.</span></em></p>New research found nearly half of land-based ecosystems and threatened species in Australia have inadequate protections. Yet most of the budget for national parks will go to infrastructure upgrades.Sean Maxwell, Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandJames Watson, Professor, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.