CONSERVATION managers are not taking scientific evidence into account when drawing up their plans, a survey of projects in the UK and Australia has found. Faced with species or habitats on the brink of extinction, managers are taking emergency action that may leave them as vulnerable as ever in the long term.
The need for a more rigorous approach is highlighted by an analysis of the acclaimed breeding programme that has rescued the Española tortoise in the Galapagos Islands. From just 14 individuals, the population has increased to over 800.
“It is obvious that the Espñaola tortoise would be extinct by now [without] this programme,”…
