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SUMMARY:A fifty-year brief analysis of nature conservation in Malaysia and
  pointers for future approaches - Dr John Payne\, Bringing Back Our Rare A
 nimals (BORA)
DTSTART:20241127T120000Z
DTEND:20241127T130000Z
UID:TALK225055@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Diane Lister
DESCRIPTION:After almost fifty years as a nature conservation practitioner
  in Malaysia\, I see little need for further studies or technical data. Ot
 her than the baleful influence of governmental bureaucracy\, “The proble
 m is not to find the answer\, it's to face the answer”. Habitat loss\, d
 eforestation\, fragmentation\, poaching\, lack of public awareness\, lack 
 of funds and climate change are all “givens” that we have to live with
 . The answer to be faced is that all endangered species are on an inevitab
 le trajectory to extinction\, so targeted\, species-specific management in
 terventions will be needed to recover and sustain demographically viable p
 opulations.  For many reasons interventions do not happen\, not least beca
 use the late twentieth century model of powerful governments\, IUCN and ma
 instream NGOs does not allow small groups of passionate\, experienced and 
 competent people to self-organise and decide what to do based on objective
  analysis. But even small groups are subject to a quintet of human cogniti
 ve biases that can be summarised as shifting baseline\, risk aversion and 
 us-and-them\, and subservience to fashions and to opinions. The Hairy rhin
 oceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) will represent the first large mammal ge
 nus extinction in the 21st century for those reasons. Poaching and habitat
  loss ceased to be relevant for this species more than a century ago.\n\nT
 he challenges faced and lessons after five years garnered by a small NGO i
 n Malaysia (Borneo Rhino Alliance\, BORA\; www.bringingbackourrareanimals.
 org) are presented. Despite a perception that endangered large animals are
  being taken care of by governments and mainstream NGOs\, that is not so\,
  because prevailing interventions are based largely on fashions and opinio
 ns. BORA’s approach to recovery of four endangered species and sub-speci
 es (Bornean orangutan\, Bornean elephant\, Bornean banteng and Malayan sel
 adang) is by boosting the availability and productivity of key food plants
  and essential minerals in circumscribed sub-optimal areas\, thereby bring
 ing local animal population density and demography back to pre-Anthropocen
 e\, optimum habitat levels.
LOCATION:Main Seminar Room\, David Attenborough Building\, New Museums Sit
 e. Pembroke Street. Cambridge\, Cambridgeshire CB2 3QZ GB
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