In the last 30 years Brazil has significantly expanded its network of protected areas (PAs) : nowadays over 17% of terrestrial land and inland waters and 1.5% of coastal and marine areas are protected. The Brazilian protected area system is the largest in the world. Brazil is recognised internationally for its leadership in biodiversity conservation
By Paul Jepson, Richard J. Ladle and Susanne F. Schmitt. Photo; Richard J. Ladle When we were started out in conservation in the 1980s the Golden Lion Tamarin (hereafter GLT) was the poster child for species conservation. The species is restricted to the Atlantic rainforests of southeast Brazil (Rio de Janeiro State) and in
By Paul Jepson and Richard Ladle Ilha Grande is a prize asset within Rio State’s protected area portfolio. This former leper colony and political prison has exceptional scenic beauty – rainforest clad mountains meet sandy coves and azure seas. We visited the island to test and develop our Protected Asset Framework. There are no roads and
Ten years ago Rio State invested in the creation of a portfolio of state parks. Over Easter we visited Tres Picos, located 100k m outside Rio de Janerio, to field test our protected area asset framework. The biophysical assets associated with Tres Picos are outstanding: scenic rock massifs rise out of rainforest clad mountains which
Originally published on the Freshwaterblog on 24 June 2016 Back in May I presented a policy brief authored by Frans Schepers of Rewiding Europe and myself to aRewilding Dorset meeting organised by Adrian Newton and Arjan Gosal of the University of Bournemouth. The county of Dorset is located on the South coast of Britain and
Originally published by Rewilding Britain, 7 June 2016 Paul Jepson makes the case for an enabling policy space for rewilding as a new and complementary conservation approach in Europe Rewilding is the biggest, most exciting idea to emerge in conservation since the 1970s. The challenge now is to create the spaces within conservation policy and
Each spring half term I go camping with my family and we visit a different British Isle. Its a week when I meet young conservationists out in the field - putting the hours in protecting tern colonies, showing visitors nesting peregrines, doing vegetation transects and the many other time-consuming seasonal tasks that conserving our nature
By Richard Ladle, Paul Jepson & Ricardo Correia Nature conservation was one of the defining cultural forces of the 21st century but there are indications that its influence is waning: research suggests protected areas are under pressure to justify their existence in the face of competition with other land uses and that societies as a
Back in March I was asked to provide a conservation perspective on the topic of “A homogenous world: Global culture and the future of mankind” at Oxford's 21CC debates I contributed these reflections from my career. When I was a young man in the 1980s I travelled the world motivated by my passion for
Originally published in The Conversation on 1 Oct 2014 Full marks to colleagues at the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London for the Living Planet Report 2014 and its headline message which one hopes ought to shock the world out of its complacency: a 52% decline of wildlife populations in the past
