Proponents of community conservation present it as a means of reconciling conservation and development objectives by ensuring that the interests of local people are taken into account in making trade-offs. Conservation critics see it as a challenge to the state-led, scientific management that is necessary to guarantee the preservation of biodiversity. In this paper, we argue that community conservation is not one thing but many. It is evolving both as a concept and as a practice that must be built on. It is not a project or policy ‘choice’ that can be simply accepted or rejected. The key questions about community conservation are who should set the objectives for conservation policy on the ground and how should trade-offs between the diverse objectives of different interests be negotiated.

Coniferous forests are an important component of the Lebanese landscape. Ten species of conifers in five genera are found as wild populations in Lebanon: Cilician fir Abies cilicica, cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani, Mediterranean Cyprus Cupressus sempervirens, Syrian juniper Juniperus drupacea, Grecian juniper J. excelsa, willdenow J. foetidissima, prickly juniper J. oxycedrus, Calabrian pine Pinus brutia, Aleppo pine P. halepensis and stone pine P. pinea. Although none of these species are seriously threatened in a global context, they exist in Lebanon mostly as fragmented and degraded populations, and their habitats are under great pressure from urbanization and associated development. Conservation efforts in Lebanon have concentrated mainly on the cedar of Lebanon, with two cedar of Lebanon forests protected as Nature Reserves. Large areas of forest, coniferous and otherwise, remain unprotected. In this review, the need for an integrated approach to conservation of the coniferous landscape of Lebanon and the importance of the participation of local communities in this process are emphasized.

Species reintroduction programmes are an important feature of global conservation efforts. There is evidence within the texts of some international and European laws of legal obligations to reintroduce species to their former habitats. However, these obligations are inconsistent between legal instruments, and it is not at all clear exactly what it is they are legislating to recreate. In particular, definitions of native species are either absent from the law or unclear, especially in an historical context. Attempts to reintroduce some predators have been met with legal challenges, and so it is essential that conservation authorities have a clear mission in their reintroduction activities and that this mission is reflected in their national law. Successful reintroductions will be achieved only with public support, and this is more likely where clear objectives have been established after public consultation. Conservation authorities undertaking reintroduction projects should use the legal system and the international commitments made by their governments to validate their efforts.

Two parrot species, Tanimbar corella Cacatua goffini and blue-streaked lory Eos reticulata, endemic to the Tanimbar Islands, Indonesia, were regularly trapped and sold into the international wild bird trade prior to 1992. Following concerns about numbers entering the trade, but with little knowledge of the remaining wild population or socio-economic role of bird trapping on the islands, international trade in both species was suspended at the 1992 CITES meeting. This paper reports on a rapid survey conducted on the islands in 1993 as a follow-up to the decision on trade. The survey attempted to determine the status of the wild populations, the distribution and activity of the human population, the interaction between Tanimbar corella and agriculture, and the structure of the local commodity-chain for wild-caught parrots. We found that: (a) both parrot species were widely distributed and present at relatively high densities across the largest island in the group, Yamdena; (b) catching of parrots is geographically limited; (c) in the case of Tanimbar corella, at least, the catching is of birds raiding crops and probably involves mainly immature and non-reproductive birds; (d) the international and domestic ban on catching was generally adhered to locally but the reasons for the ban were not widely understood, contributing to a general mistrust of conservationists that still remains. Although not advocating a lifting of the ban on trapping, we do conclude that in this case invoking the precautionary principle without proper consideration of local context may have been counterproductive to conservation goals.

Controversy has surrounded the role of intervention in studies of African wild dogs Lycaon pictus. Following the death or disappearance of all wild dogs under study in the Serengeti ecosystem, it was suggested that immobilization, radio-collaring or administration of rabies vaccines might have caused high mortality by compromising wild dogs′ immune response to rabies virus. Planning future management and research on wild dogs and other species demands an assessment of the risks associated with such intervention. This paper critically reviews the available evidence and concludes that it is extremely unlikely that intervention contributed to the extinction of wild dogs in the Serengeti ecosystem. A more likely scenario is that vaccination failed to protect wild dogs exposed to rabies virus. Radio-collaring is an important component of wild dog research; hence, the benefits of immobilization appear to outweigh the risks, as long as (i) research is orientated towards wild dog conservation, (ii) radiocollaring is followed up by efficient monitoring, (iii) the number of animals immobilized is kept to the minimum necessary to maintain scientific rigour, and (iv) full data on disease and genetics are collected from all immobilized animals. By contrast, rabies vaccination currently seems to confer few benefits, at least when a single dose of vaccine is given. Further research, on captive animals, is in progress to establish more effective protocols, and to assess the role that vaccination might play in future management of wild dog populations.

The current distribution of Lepus corsicanus (recently considered to be a distinct species from L. europaeus) in peninsular Italy and Sicily is presented in this paper. Our data suggest that L. corsicanus is declining markedly in mainland Italy, and perhaps also in Sicily, and that it should be categorised as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Conservation recommendations for this species are presented.

The current status and distribution of the red panda Ailurus fulgens in the wild is poorly known. The subspecies fulgens is found in the Himalaya in Nepal, India, Bhutan, northern Myanmar and southwest China, and the subspecies styani occurs further to the east in south-central China. The red panda is an animal of subtropical and temperate forests, with the exception of Meghalaya in India, where it is also found in tropical forests. In the wild, red pandas take a largely vegetarian diet consisting chiefly of bamboo. The extent of occurrence of the red panda in India is about 170,000 sq km, although its area of occupancy within this may only be about 25,000 sq km. An estimate based on the lowest recorded average density and the total area of potential habitat suggests that the global population of red pandas is about 16,000–20,000. Habitat loss and poaching, in that order, are the major threats. In this paper the distribution, status and conservation problems of the red panda, especially in India, are reviewed, and appropriate conservation measures recommended, including the protection of named areas and the extension of some existing protected areas.

In 1998 and 1999, relict populations of the Nile crocodile Crocodylus niloticus were rediscovered in south-eastern Mauritania, 70 years after the last reports of their existence and 6 years after the IUCN Species Survival Commission listed them as extirpated in that country. Crocodiles' were found in four different types of wetlands, herein described. Preliminary observations on their natural history and their interactions with humans are provided, and the main threats and the prerequisites for their protection are discussed.