Who is What Works in Conservation for?
The Conservation Evidence project
Which conservation interventions are included?
What does What Works in Conservation include?
Expert assessment of the evidence
Categorization of interventions
How to use What Works in Conservation
1.1 Threat: Residential and commercial development
Protect brownfield or ex-industrial sites
Restrict herbicide, fungicide and pesticide use on and around ponds on golf courses
1.2.1 Engage farmers and other volunteers
Engage landowners and other volunteers to manage land for amphibians
Pay farmers to cover the costs of conservation measures
1.2.2 Terrestrial habitat management
Manage silviculture practices in plantations
1.2.3 Aquatic habitat management
Exclude domestic animals or wild hogs from ponds by fencing
1.3 Threat: Energy production and mining
Artificially mist habitat to keep it damp
1.4 Threat: Transportation and service corridors
Close roads during seasonal amphibian migration
Install barrier fencing along roads
Install culverts or tunnels as road crossings
Use humans to assist migrating amphibians across roads
1.5 Threat: Biological resource use
1.5.1 Hunting and collecting terrestrial animals
Reduce impact of amphibian trade
Use legislative regulation to protect wild populations
Commercially breed amphibians for the pet trade
1.5.2 Logging and wood harvesting
Retain riparian buffer strips during timber harvest
Use shelterwood harvesting instead of clearcutting
Leave coarse woody debris in forests
Use patch retention harvesting instead of clearcutting
Leave standing deadwood/snags in forests
Use leave-tree harvesting instead of clearcutting
Harvest groups of trees instead of clearcutting
1.6 Threat: Human intrusions and disturbance
Use signs and access restrictions to reduce disturbance
1.7 Threat: Natural system modifications
Mechanically remove mid-storey or ground vegetation
Use herbicides to control mid-storey or ground vegetation
Use prescribed fire or modifications to burning regime (forests)
Use prescribed fire or modifications to burning regime (grassland)
1.8 Threat: Invasive and other problematic species
1.8.1 Reduce predation by other species
Remove or control fish by drying out ponds
Remove or control fish population by catching
Remove or control invasive bullfrogs
Remove or control invasive viperine snake
Remove or control fish using Rotenone
Encourage aquatic plant growth as refuge against fish predation
Remove or control non-native crayfish
1.8.2 Reduce competition with other species
Reduce competition from native amphibians
Remove or control invasive Cuban tree frogs
Remove or control invasive cane toads
1.8.3 Reduce adverse habitat alteration by other species
Prevent heavy usage/exclude wildfowl from aquatic habitat
1.8.4 Reduce parasitism and disease – chytridiomycosis
Use temperature treatment to reduce infection
Use antifungal treatment to reduce infection
Immunize amphibians against infection
Remove the chytrid fungus from ponds
Sterilize equipment when moving between amphibian sites
Treating amphibians in the wild or pre-release
Use gloves to handle amphibians
Use antibacterial treatment to reduce infection
Use antifungal skin bacteria or peptides to reduce infection
Use zooplankton to remove zoospores
1.8.5 Reduce parasitism and disease – ranaviruses
Sterilize equipment to prevent ranaviruses
Create walls or barriers to exclude pollutants
Reduce pesticide, herbicide or fertilizer use
Prevent pollution from agricultural lands or sewage treatment facilities entering watercourses
Add limestone to water bodies to reduce acidification
Augment ponds with ground water to reduce acidification
1.10 Threat: Climate change and severe weather
Create microclimate and microhabitat refuges
Deepen ponds to prevent desiccation
Use irrigation systems for amphibian sites
Artificially shade ponds to prevent desiccation
Protect habitat along elevational gradients
Retain buffer zones around core habitat
Protect habitats for amphibians
Retain connectivity between habitat patches
1.12 Habitat restoration and creation
Create artificial hibernacula or aestivation sites
Create ponds (amphibians in general)
Create ponds (natterjack toads)
Create ponds (salamanders including newts)
Deepen, de-silt or re-profile ponds
Create ponds (great crested newts)
Remove specific aquatic plants
Remove tree canopy to reduce pond shading
Add nutrients to new ponds as larvae food source
Add specific plants to aquatic habitats
Create refuge areas in aquatic habitats
Translocate amphibians (amphibians in general)
Translocate amphibians (great crested newts)
Translocate amphibians (natterjack toads)
Translocate amphibians (salamanders including newts)
Translocate amphibians (toads)
Translocate amphibians (wood frogs)
Translocate amphibians (frogs)
1.13.2 Captive breeding, rearing and releases
Release captive-bred individuals (amphibians in general)
Release captive-bred individuals (frogs)
Breed amphibians in captivity (frogs)
Breed amphibians in captivity (harlequin toads)
Breed amphibians in captivity (Mallorcan midwife toad)
Breed amphibians in captivity (salamanders including newts)
Breed amphibians in captivity (toads)
Head-start amphibians for release
Release captive-bred individuals (Mallorcan midwife toad)
Release captive-bred individuals (toads)
Use artificial fertilization in captive breeding
Use hormone treatment to induce sperm and egg release
Release captive-bred individuals (salamanders including newts)
Freeze sperm or eggs for future use
Release captive-bred individuals (green and golden bell frogs)
1.14 Education and awareness raising
Engage volunteers to collect amphibian data (citizen science)
Provide education programmes about amphibians
Raise awareness amongst the general public through campaigns and public information
2.1 Threat: Residential and commercial development
Provide foraging habitat in urban areas
Change timing of building works
Conserve existing roosts within developments
Conserve old buildings or structures as roosting sites for bats within developments
Create alternative roosts within buildings
Maintain bridges and retain crevices for roosting
Retain or relocate access points to bat roosts
Retain or replace existing bat commuting routes within development
Protect or create wetlands as foraging habitat for bats
Retain or plant trees on agricultural land to replace foraging habitat
Conserve old buildings or structures on agricultural land as roosting sites for bats
Retain old or dead trees with hollows and cracks as roosting sites for bats on agricultural land
Retain or replace existing bat commuting routes on agricultural land
Introduce agri-environment schemes
2.3 Threat: Energy production – wind turbines
Switch off turbines at low wind speeds to reduce bat fatalities
Deter bats from turbines using ultrasound
Deter bats from turbines using radar
Automatically switch off wind turbines when bat activity is high
Close off nacelles on wind turbines to prevent roosting bats
Leave a minimum distance between turbines and habitat features used by bats
Modify turbine design to reduce bat fatalities
Modify turbine placement to reduce bat fatalities
Remove turbine lighting to avoid attracting bats
2.4 Threat: Energy production – mining
Legally protect bat hibernation sites in mines from reclamation
Provide artificial hibernacula to replace roosts lost in reclaimed mines
Relocate bats from reclaimed mines to new hibernation sites
2.5 Threat: Transportation and service corridors
Install underpasses as road crossing structures for bats
Divert bats to safe crossing points with plantings or fencing
Install bat gantries or bat bridges as road crossing structures for bats
Install overpasses as road crossing structures for bats
Install green bridges as road crossing structures for bats
Install hop-overs as road crossing structures for bats
Replace or improve habitat for bats around roads
2.6 Threat: Biological resource use
Educate local communities about bats and hunting
Introduce and enforce legislation to control hunting of bats
Introduce sustainable harvesting of bats
Introduce and enforce legislation to regulate the harvesting of bat guano
Introduce sustainable harvesting of bat guano
2.6.3 Logging and wood harvesting
Incorporate forested corridors or buffers into logged areas
Use selective harvesting/reduced impact logging instead of clearcutting
Use shelterwood cutting instead of clearcutting
Retain residual tree patches in logged areas
Manage woodland or forest edges for bats
Retain deadwood/snags within forests for roosting bats
2.7 Threat: Human disturbance – caving and tourism
Impose restrictions on cave visits
Use cave gates to restrict public access
Educate the public to reduce disturbance to hibernating bats
Legally protect bat hibernation sites
Maintain microclimate at underground hibernation/roost sites
Provide artificial hibernacula for bats to replace disturbed sites
2.8 Threat: Natural system modification – natural fire and fire suppression
Translocate to predator or disease free areas
Increase population resistance
Modify cave environments to increase bat survival
2.10.1 Domestic and urban waste water
Change effluent treatments of domestic and urban waste water
2.10.2 Agricultural and forestry effluents
Introduce legislation to control use of fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides
Change effluent treatments used in agriculture and forestry
2.10.3 Light and noise pollution
Leave bat roosts, roost entrances and commuting routes unlit
Minimize excess light pollution
Use low pressure sodium lamps or use UV filters
Impose noise limits in proximity to roosts and bat habitats
Use mammal safe timber treatments in roof spaces
2.11 Providing artificial roost structures for bats
Provide artificial roost structures for bats
2.12 Education and awareness raising
Provide training to professionals
Educate homeowners about building and planning laws
Educate to improve public perception and raise awareness
Legally protect habitats for birds
Provide or retain un-harvested buffer strips
Ensure connectivity between habitat patches
3.2 Education and awareness raising
Raise awareness amongst the general public through campaigns and public information
Provide bird feeding materials to families with young children
Enhance bird taxonomy skills through higher education and training
Provide training to conservationists and land managers on bird ecology and conservation
3.3 Threat: Residential and commercial development
Angle windows to reduce bird collisions
Mark windows to reduce bird collisions
Plant wild bird seed or cover mixture
Provide (or retain) set-aside areas in farmland
Create uncultivated margins around intensive arable or pasture fields
Increase the proportion of natural/semi-natural habitat in the farmed landscape
Manage ditches to benefit wildlife
Pay farmers to cover the costs of conservation measures
Plant grass buffer strips/margins around arable or pasture fields
Plant nectar flower mixture/wildflower strips
Leave refuges in fields during harvest
Reduce conflict by deterring birds from taking crops (using bird scarers)
Relocate nests at harvest time to reduce nestling mortality
Use mowing techniques to reduce mortality
Offer per clutch payment for farmland birds
Manage hedges to benefit wildlife
Reduce conflict by deterring birds from taking crops (using repellents)
Take field corners out of management
Mark bird nests during harvest or mowing
Cross compliance standards for all subsidy payments
Food labelling schemes relating to biodiversity-friendly farming
Manage stone-faced hedge banks to benefit birds
Reduce field size (or maintain small fields)
Support or maintain low-intensity agricultural systems
Create ‘skylark plots’ (undrilled patches in cereal fields)
Leave uncropped cultivated margins or fallow land (includes lapwing and stone curlew plots)
Sow crops in spring rather than autumn
Undersow spring cereals, with clover for example
Increase crop diversity to benefit birds
Plant more than one crop per field (intercropping)
Plant cereals in wide-spaced rows
Revert arable land to permanent grassland
Add 1% barley into wheat crop for corn buntings
Leave unharvested cereal headlands within arable fields
Delay mowing date on grasslands
Leave uncut rye grass in silage fields
Maintain species-rich, semi-natural grassland
Maintain traditional water meadows
Mark fencing to avoid bird mortality
Plant cereals for whole crop silage
Reduce management intensity of permanent grasslands
Exclude livestock from semi-natural habitat
Create open patches or strips in permanent grassland
Protect nests from livestock to reduce trampling
Provide short grass for waders
Raise mowing height on grasslands
Use traditional breeds of livestock
Maintain wood pasture and parkland
3.4.4 Perennial, non-timber crops
Manage perennial bioenergy crops to benefit wildlife
Deter birds from landing on shellfish culture gear
Provide refuges for fish within ponds
Use electric fencing to exclude fish-eating birds
Use ‘mussel socks’ to prevent birds from attacking shellfish
Use netting to exclude fish-eating birds
Increase water turbidity to reduce fish predation by birds
Translocate birds away from fish farms
Use in-water devices to reduce fish loss from ponds
Disturb birds using foot patrols
Spray water to deter birds from ponds
3.5 Threat: Energy production and mining
Paint wind turbines to increase their visibility
3.6 Threat: Transportation and service corridors
Scare or otherwise deter birds from airports
3.6.2 Power lines and electricity pylons
Remove earth wires from power lines
Use perch-deterrents to stop raptors perching on pylons
Add perches to electricity pylons
Reduce electrocutions by using plastic, not metal, leg rings to mark birds
Use raptor models to deter birds from power lines
3.7 Threat: Biological resource use
3.7.1 Reducing exploitation and conflict
Use legislative regulation to protect wild populations
Use wildlife refuges to reduce hunting disturbance
Employ local people as ‘biomonitors’
Increase ‘on-the-ground’ protection to reduce unsustainable levels of exploitation
Introduce voluntary ‘maximum shoot distances’
Mark eggs to reduce their appeal to collectors
Move fish-eating birds to reduce conflict with fishermen
Promote sustainable alternative livelihoods
Provide ‘sacrificial grasslands’ to reduce conflict with farmers
Relocate nestlings to reduce poaching
Use education programmes and local engagement to help reduce persecution or exploitation of species
Use alerts during shoots to reduce mortality of non-target species
3.7.2 Reducing fisheries bycatch
Use streamer lines to reduce seabird bycatch on longlines
Mark trawler warp cables to reduce seabird collisions
Reduce seabird bycatch by releasing offal overboard when setting longlines
Weight baits or lines to reduce longline bycatch of seabirds
Set lines underwater to reduce seabird bycatch
Set longlines at night to reduce seabird bycatch
Dye baits to reduce seabird bycatch
Thaw bait before setting lines to reduce seabird bycatch
Turn deck lights off during night-time setting of longlines to reduce bycatch
Use a sonic scarer when setting longlines to reduce seabird bycatch
Use acoustic alerts on gillnets to reduce seabird bycatch
Use bait throwers to reduce seabird bycatch
Use high visibility mesh on gillnets to reduce seabird bycatch
Use shark liver oil to deter birds when setting lines
Use a line shooter to reduce seabird bycatch
Reduce bycatch through seasonal or area closures
Reduce ‘ghost fishing’ by lost/discarded gear
Reduce gillnet deployment time to reduce seabird bycatch
Set longlines at the side of the boat to reduce seabird bycatch
Tow buoys behind longlining boats to reduce seabird bycatch
Use a water cannon when setting longlines to reduce seabird bycatch
Use high-visibility longlines to reduce seabird bycatch
Use larger hooks to reduce seabird bycatch on longlines
3.8 Threat: Human intrusions and disturbance
Provide paths to limit disturbance
Start educational programmes for personal watercraft owners
Use signs and access restrictions to reduce disturbance at nest sites
Use voluntary agreements with local people to reduce disturbance
Habituate birds to human visitors
Use nest covers to reduce the impact of research on predation of ground-nesting seabirds
Set minimum distances for approaching birds (buffer zones)
3.9 Threat: Natural system modifications
Create scrapes and pools in wetlands and wet grasslands
Provide deadwood/snags in forests (use ring-barking, cutting or silvicides)
Use patch retention harvesting instead of clearcutting
Clear or open patches in forests
Employ grazing in artificial grasslands/pastures
Employ grazing in natural grasslands
Employ grazing in non-grassland habitats
Manage water level in wetlands
Raise water levels in ditches or grassland
Use prescribed burning (grasslands)
Use prescribed burning (pine forests)
Use prescribed burning (savannahs)
Use prescribed burning (shrublands)
Use selective harvesting/logging instead of clearcutting
Manage woodland edges for birds
Plant trees to act as windbreaks
Provide deadwood/snags in forests (adding woody debris to forests)
Remove coarse woody debris from forests
Replace non-native species of tree/shrub
Use environmentally sensitive flood management
Use greentree reservoir management
Use prescribed burning (Australian sclerophyll forest)
Use shelterwood cutting instead of clearcutting
Use variable retention management during forestry operations
Apply herbicide to mid- and understorey vegetation
Treat wetlands with herbicides
Use prescribed burning (coastal habitats)
Use prescribed burning (deciduous forests)
Protect nest trees before burning
3.10 Habitat restoration and creation
Restore or create wetlands and marine habitats (inland wetlands)
Restore or create traditional water meadows
Restore or create wetlands and marine habitats (coastal and intertidal wetlands)
Restore or create wetlands and marine habitats (kelp forests)
Restore or create wetlands and marine habitats (lagoons)
3.11 Threat: Invasive alien and other problematic species
3.11.1 Reduce predation by other species
Control mammalian predators on islands
Remove or control predators to enhance bird populations and communities
Control avian predators on islands
Control invasive ants on islands
Reduce predation by translocating predators
Control predators not on islands
3.11.2 Reduce incidental mortality during predator eradication or control
Distribute poison bait using dispensers
Use coloured baits to reduce accidental mortality during predator control
Do birds take bait designed for pest control?
3.11.3 Reduce nest predation by excluding predators from nests or nesting areas
Physically protect nests from predators using non-electric fencing
Physically protect nests with individual exclosures/barriers or provide shelters for chicks
Protect bird nests using electric fencing
Use artificial nests that discourage predation
Guard nests to prevent predation
Plant nesting cover to reduce nest predation
Use multiple barriers to protect nests
Use naphthalene to deter mammalian predators
Use snakeskin to deter mammalian nest predators
Play spoken-word radio programmes to deter predators
Use ‘cat curfews’ to reduce predation
Use lion dung to deter domestic cats
Use mirrors to deter nest predators
Use ultrasonic devices to deter cats
Can nest protection increase nest abandonment?
Can nest protection increase predation of adults and chicks?
3.11.4 Reduce mortality by reducing hunting ability or changing predator behaviour
Reduce predation by translocating nest boxes
Use collar-mounted devices to reduce predation
Use supplementary feeding to reduce predation
Use aversive conditioning to reduce nest predation
3.11.5 Reduce competition with other species for food and nest sites
Reduce inter-specific competition for food by removing or controlling competitor species
Protect nest sites from competitors
Reduce competition between species by providing nest boxes
Reduce inter-specific competition for nest sites by modifying habitats to exclude competitor species
Reduce inter-specific competition for nest sites by removing competitor species (songbirds)
Reduce inter-specific competition for nest sites by removing competitor species (woodpeckers)
3.11.6 Reduce adverse habitat alteration by other species
Control or remove habitat-altering mammals
Reduce adverse habitat alterations by excluding problematic species (terrestrial species)
Reduce adverse habitat alterations by excluding problematic species (aquatic species)
Use buffer zones to reduce the impact of invasive plant control
3.11.7 Reduce parasitism and disease
Remove/control adult brood parasites
Remove/treat endoparasites and diseases
Alter artificial nest sites to discourage brood parasitism
Exclude or control ‘reservoir species’ to reduce parasite burdens
Remove brood parasite eggs from target species’ nests
Use false brood parasite eggs to discourage brood parasitism
3.11.8 Reduce detrimental impacts of other problematic species
Use copper strips to exclude snails from nests
Use visual and acoustic ‘scarers’ to deter birds from landing on pools polluted by mining or sewage
Relocate birds following oil spills
Use repellents to deter birds from landing on pools polluted by mining
Leave headlands in fields unsprayed (conservation headlands)
Provide food for vultures to reduce mortality from diclofenac
Reduce pesticide, herbicide and fertiliser use generally
Reduce chemical inputs in permanent grassland management
Restrict certain pesticides or other agricultural chemicals
Make selective use of spring herbicides
Provide buffer strips along rivers and streams
Provide unfertilised cereal headlands in arable fields
Use buffer strips around in-field ponds
Use organic rather than mineral fertilisers
Use lime to reduce acidification in lakes
Shield lights to reduce mortality from artificial lights
Turning off lights to reduce mortality from artificial lights
Use flashing lights to reduce mortality from artificial lights
Use lights low in spectral red to reduce mortality from artificial lights
Reduce the intensity of lighthouse beams
Using volunteers to collect and rehabilitate downed birds
3.13 Threat: Climate change, extreme weather and geological events
Replace nesting habitats when they are washed away by storms
Water nesting mounds to increase incubation success in malleefowl
3.14 General responses to small/ declining populations
3.14.1 Inducing breeding, rehabilitation and egg removal
Remove eggs from wild nests to increase reproductive output
Use artificial visual and auditory stimuli to induce breeding in wild populations
3.14.2 Provide artificial nesting sites
Provide artificial nests (falcons)
Provide artificial nests (owls)
Provide artificial nests (songbirds)
Provide artificial nests (wildfowl)
Clean artificial nests to increase occupancy or reproductive success
Provide artificial nests (burrow-nesting seabirds)
Provide artificial nests (divers/loons)
Provide artificial nests (ground- and tree-nesting seabirds)
Provide artificial nests (oilbirds)
Provide artificial nests (raptors)
Provide artificial nests (wildfowl — artificial/floating islands)
Artificially incubate eggs or warm nests
Provide artificial nests (gamebirds)
Provide artificial nests (grebes)
Provide artificial nests (ibises and flamingos)
Provide artificial nests (parrots)
Provide artificial nests (pigeons)
Provide artificial nests (rails)
Provide artificial nests (rollers)
Provide artificial nests (swifts)
Provide artificial nests (trogons)
Provide artificial nests (waders)
Provide artificial nests (woodpeckers)
Provide nesting habitat for birds that is safe from extreme weather
Provide nesting material for wild birds
Remove vegetation to create nesting areas
Repair/support nests to support breeding
Use differently-coloured artificial nests
3.14.3 Foster chicks in the wild
Foster eggs or chicks with wild conspecifics (raptors)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild non-conspecifics (cross-fostering) (songbirds)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild conspecifics (bustards)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild conspecifics (cranes)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild conspecifics (gannets and boobies)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild conspecifics (owls)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild conspecifics (parrots)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild conspecifics (vultures)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild conspecifics (waders)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild conspecifics (woodpeckers)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild non-conspecifics (cross-fostering) (cranes)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild non-conspecifics (cross-fostering) (ibises)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild non-conspecifics (cross-fostering) (petrels and shearwaters)
Foster eggs or chicks with wild non-conspecifics (cross-fostering) (waders)
3.14.4 Provide supplementary food
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (songbirds)
Place feeders close to windows to reduce collisions
Provide calcium supplements to increase survival or reproductive success
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (cranes)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (gulls, terns and skuas)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (owls)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (raptors)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (songbirds)
Provide perches to improve foraging success
Provide supplementary food through the establishment of food populations
Provide supplementary food to allow the rescue of a second chick
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (gamebirds)
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (gulls, terns and skuas)
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (hummingbirds)
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (nectar-feeding songbirds)
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (pigeons)
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (raptors)
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (vultures)
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (waders)
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (wildfowl)
Provide supplementary food to increase adult survival (woodpeckers)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (auks)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (gamebirds)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (gannets and boobies)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (ibises)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (kingfishers)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (parrots)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (petrels)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (pigeons)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (rails and coots)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (vultures)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (waders)
Provide supplementary food to increase reproductive success (wildfowl)
Provide supplementary water to increase survival or reproductive success
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (birds in general)
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (raptors)
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (parrots)
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (pelicans)
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (rails)
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (songbirds)
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (wildfowl)
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (woodpeckers)
Use decoys to attract birds to new sites
Use techniques to increase the survival of species after capture
Use vocalisations to attract birds to new sites
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (gamebirds)
Alter habitats to encourage birds to leave
Ensure translocated birds are familiar with each other before release
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (auks)
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (megapodes)
Translocate birds to re-establish populations or increase genetic variation (owls)
Translocate nests to avoid disturbance
Ensure genetic variation to increase translocation success
3.15 Captive breeding, rearing and releases (ex situ conservation)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (raptors)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (seabirds)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (songbirds)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (waders)
Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations (raptors)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (bustards)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (cranes)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (gamebirds)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (parrots)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (penguins)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (rails)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (storks and ibises)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (vultures)
Artificially incubate and hand-rear birds in captivity (wildfowl)
Freeze semen for artificial insemination
Use artificial insemination in captive breeding
Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations (bustards)
Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations (cranes)
Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations (pigeons)
Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations (rails)
Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations (seabirds)
Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations (songbirds)
Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations (storks and ibises)
Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations (tinamous)
Use puppets to increase the success of hand-rearing
Wash contaminated semen and use it for artificial insemination
Can captive breeding have deleterious effects?
3.15.2 Release captive-bred individuals
Provide supplementary food after release
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (cranes)
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (raptors)
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (songbirds)
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (vultures)
Release birds as adults or sub-adults not juveniles
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (bustards)
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (gamebirds)
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (owls)
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (parrots)
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (pigeons)
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (rails)
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (waders)
Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations (wildfowl)
Release chicks and adults in ‘coveys’
Use ‘anti-predator training’ to improve survival after release
Use appropriate populations to source released populations
Use ‘flying training’ before release
Use holding pens at release sites
Use microlites to help birds migrate
Create uncultivated margins around intensive arable or pasture fields
Plant grass buffer strips/margins around arable or pasture fields
Plant nectar flower mixture/wildflower strips
Plant wild bird seed or cover mixture
Provide or retain set-aside areas in farmland
Manage ditches to benefit wildlife
Manage hedgerows to benefit wildlife (includes no spray, gap-filling and laying)
Pay farmers to cover the cost of conservation measures (as in agri-environment schemes)
Provide supplementary food for birds or mammals
Connect areas of natural or semi-natural habitat
Increase the proportion of semi-natural habitat in the farmed landscape
Make direct payments per clutch for farmland birds
Manage the agricultural landscape to enhance floral resources
Mark bird nests during harvest or mowing
Provide nest boxes for bees (solitary bees or bumblebees)
Provide other resources for birds (water, sand for bathing)
Provide refuges during harvest or mowing
Apply ‘cross compliance’ environmental standards linked to all subsidy payments
Implement food labelling schemes relating to biodiversity-friendly farming (organic, LEAF marque)
Introduce nest boxes stocked with solitary bees
Maintain in-field elements such as field islands and rockpiles
Manage stone-faced hedge banks to benefit wildlife
Manage woodland edges to benefit wildlife
Plant in-field trees (not farm woodland)
Protect in-field trees (includes management such as pollarding and surgery)
Provide foraging perches (e.g. for shrikes)
Reduce field size (or maintain small fields)
Restore or maintain dry stone walls
Support or maintain low intensity agricultural systems
Leave cultivated, uncropped margins or plots (includes ‘lapwing plots’)
Undersow spring cereals, with clover for example
Convert or revert arable land to permanent grassland
Create rotational grass or clover leys
Plant cereals in wide-spaced rows
Plant crops in spring rather than autumn
Sow rare or declining arable weeds
Add 1% barley into wheat crop for corn buntings
Leave unharvested cereal headlands in arable fields
Use new crop types to benefit wildlife (such as perennial cereal crops)
Implement ‘mosaic management’, a Dutch agri-environment option
Plant more than one crop per field (intercropping)
Take field corners out of management
4.3 Perennial (non-timber) crops
Manage short-rotation coppice to benefit wildlife (includes 8 m rides)
Restore or create traditional orchards
Restore or create species-rich, semi-natural grassland
Use mowing techniques to reduce mortality
Delay mowing or first grazing date on grasslands
Leave uncut strips of rye grass on silage fields
Maintain species-rich, semi-natural grassland
Maintain upland heath/moorland
Reduce management intensity on permanent grasslands (several interventions at once)
Restore or create traditional water meadows
Add yellow rattle seed Rhinanthus minor to hay meadows
Exclude livestock from semi-natural habitat (including woodland)
Maintain wood pasture and parkland
Plant cereals for whole crop silage
Raise mowing height on grasslands
Restore or create upland heath/moorland
Restore or create wood pasture
Use traditional breeds of livestock
Reduce grazing intensity on grassland (including seasonal removal of livestock)
Mark fencing to avoid bird mortality
Plant brassica fodder crops (grazed in situ)
Create open patches or strips in permanent grassland
4.5 Threat: Residential and commercial development
Provide owl nest boxes (tawny owl, barn owl)
Maintain traditional farm buildings
Provide bat boxes, bat grilles, improvements to roosts
Leave headlands in fields unsprayed (conservation headlands)
Reduce fertilizer, pesticide or herbicide use generally
Use organic rather than mineral fertilizers
Reduce chemical inputs in grassland management
Provide buffer strips alongside water courses (rivers and streams)
Make selective use of spring herbicides
4.7 Threat: Transport and service corridors
Manage land under power lines to benefit wildlife
4.8 Threat: Hunting and trapping (for pest control, food or sport)
Enforce legislation to protect birds against persecution
Provide ‘sacrificial’ grasslands to reduce the impact of wild geese on crops
Use alerts to reduce grey partridge by-catch during shoots
Use scaring devices (e.g. gas guns) and other deterrents to reduce persecution of native species
4.9 Threat: Natural system modification
Raise water levels in ditches or grassland
Manage heather by swiping to simulate burning
Manage heather, gorse or grass by burning
Remove flood defence banks to allow inundation
4.10 Threat: Invasive and other problematic species
Control predatory mammals and birds (foxes, crows, stoats and weasels)
Control weeds without damaging other plants in conservation areas
Protect individual nests of ground-nesting birds
Erect predator-proof fencing around important breeding sites for waders
Control invasive non-native plants on farmland (such as Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed)
Provide medicated grit for grouse
4.11 Threat: Education and awareness
Provide specialist advice, assistance preparing conservation plans
Provide training for land managers, farmers and farm advisers
5.1 Threat: Residential and commercial development
Compensate for woodland removal with compensatory planting
Incorporate existing trees or woods into the landscape of new developments
Provide legal protection of forests from development
5.1.2 Tourism and recreation areas
Create managed paths/signs to contain disturbance
Re-route paths, control access or close paths
Use warning signs to prevent fire
Use wire fences within grazing areas to exclude livestock from specific forest sections
Prevent livestock grazing in forests
Reduce the intensity of livestock grazing in forests
Shorten livestock grazing period or control grazing season in forests
Provide financial incentives not to graze
5.3 Threat: Transport and service corridors
Maintain/create habitat corridors
5.4 Threat: Biological resource use
5.4.1 Thinning and wood harvesting
Log/remove trees within forests: effects on understory plants
Thin trees within forests: effects on understory plants
Thin trees within forests: effects on young trees
Use shelterwood harvest instead of clearcutting
Thin trees within forests: effects on mature trees
Log/remove trees within forests: effects on young trees
Use partial retention harvesting instead of clearcutting
Use summer instead of winter harvesting
Remove woody debris after timber harvest
Log/remove trees within forests: effect on mature trees
Log/remove trees within forests: effect on effects on non-vascular plants
Thin trees within forests: effects on non-vascular plants
Adopt continuous cover forestry
Use brash mats during harvesting to avoid soil compaction
Sustainable management of non-timber products
Use prescribed fire: effect on understory plants
Use prescribed fire: effect on young trees
Use prescribed fire: effect on mature trees
Mechanically remove understory vegetation to reduce wildfires
Use herbicides to remove understory vegetation to reduce wildfires
Construct water detention areas to slow water flow and restore riparian forests
Introduce beavers to impede water flow in forest watercourses
Recharge groundwater to restore wetland forest
5.5.3 Changing disturbance regime
Use clearcutting to increase understory diversity
Use group-selection harvesting
Thin trees by girdling (cutting rings around tree trunks)
Use thinning followed by prescribed fire
Adopt conservation grazing of woodland
Imitate natural disturbances by pushing over trees
Pollard trees (top cutting or top pruning)
5.6 Threat: Invasive and other problematic species
Manually/mechanically remove invasive plants
Use herbicides to remove invasive plant species
Use grazing to remove invasive plant species
Use prescribed fire to remove invasive plant species
Manually/mechanically remove native plants
Use wire fences to exclude large native herbivores
Use electric fencing to exclude large native herbivores
Control large herbivore populations
Control medium-sized herbivores
Use fencing to enclose large herbivores (e.g. deer)
Remove nitrogen and phosphorus using harvested products
5.8 Threat: Climate change and severe weather
Prevent damage from strong winds
Adopt community-based management to protect forests
Adopt Protected Species legislation (impact on forest management)
5.10 Habitat restoration and creation
5.10.1 Restoration after wildfire
5.10.2 Restoration after agriculture
Restore wood pasture (e.g. introduce grazing)
5.10.3 Manipulate habitat to increase planted tree survival during restoration
Apply herbicides after restoration planting
Cover the ground using techniques other than plastic mats after restoration planting
Cover the ground with plastic mats after restoration planting
Use selective thinning after restoration planting
5.10.4 Restore forest community
Build bird-perches to enhance natural seed dispersal
Plant a mixture of tree species to enhance diversity
Water plants to preserve dry tropical forest species
Restore woodland herbaceous plants using transplants and nursery plugs
Use rotational grazing to restore oak savannas
5.10.5 Prevent/encourage leaf litter accumulation
Remove or disturb leaf litter to enhance germination
Encourage leaf litter development in new planting
5.10.6 Increase soil fertility
Use vegetation removal together with mechanical disturbance to the soil
Use soil scarification or ploughing to enhance germination
Add lime to the soil to increase fertility
Use soil disturbance to enhance germination (excluding scarification or ploughing)
5.11 Actions to improve survival and growth rate of planted trees
Prepare the ground before tree planting
Use mechanical thinning before or after planting
Fence to prevent grazing after tree planting
Use herbicide after tree planting
Use prescribed fire after tree planting
Apply insecticide to protect seedlings from invertebrates
Add lime to the soil after tree planting
Add organic matter after tree planting
Cover the ground with straw after tree planting
Improve soil quality after tree planting (excluding applying fertilizer)
Manage woody debris before tree planting
Use tree guards or shelters to protect planted trees
Use weed mats to protect planted trees
Mechanically remove understory vegetation after tree planting
Use different planting or seeding methods
Use fertilizer after tree planting
Apply fungicide to protect seedlings from fungal diseases
Infect tree seedlings with mycorrhizae
Introduce leaf litter to forest stands
Plant a mixture of tree species to enhance the survival and growth of planted trees
Reduce erosion to increase seedling survival
Use pioneer plants or crops as nurse-plants
5.12 Education and awareness raising
Provide education programmes about forests
Raise awareness amongst the general public through campaigns and public information
6. SOME ASPECTS OF CONTROL OF FRESHWATER INVASIVE SPECIES
6.1.1 Floating pennywort Hydrocotyle ranunculoides
Chemical control using herbicides
Combination treatment using herbicides and physical removal
Biological control using co-evolved, host-specific herbivores
Biological control using fungal-based herbicides
Biological control using native herbivores
Environmental control (e.g. shading, reduced flow, reduction of rooting depth, or dredging)
6.1.2 Water primrose Ludwigia spp.
Biological control using co-evolved, host specific herbivores
Chemical control using herbicides
Combination treatment using herbicides and physical removal
Biological control using fungal-based herbicides
Biological control using native herbivores
Environmental control (e.g. shading, reduced flow, reduction of rooting depth, or dredging)
Use of mats placed on the bottom of the waterbody
6.1.3 Skunk cabbage Lysichiton americanus
Chemical control using herbicides
Biological control using co-evolved, host-specific herbivores
Biological control using fungal-based herbicides
Biological control using native herbivores
Combination treatment using herbicides and physical removal
Environmental control (e.g. shading, or promotion of native plants)
6.1.4 New Zealand pigmyweed Crassula helmsii
Chemical control using herbicides
Decontamination to prevent further spread
Use lightproof barriers to control plants
Use a combination of control methods
Use dyes to reduce light levels
Use hot foam to control plants
Use hydrogen peroxide to control plants
Biological control using fungal-based herbicides
Biological control using herbivores
Physical control using manual/mechanical control or dredging
Plant other species to suppress growth
Use of gas-impermeable barriers
Exposure to disease-causing organisms
Public awareness and education
6.3 Threat: Invasive crustaceans
Dewatering (drying out) habitat
Biological control using predatory fish
Exposure to disease-causing organisms
6.3.2 Procambarus spp. crayfish
Trapping combined with encouragement of predators
Remove the crayfish by electrofishing
6.4.1 Brown and black bullheads
Biological control of beneficial species
Biological control using native predators
Increasing carbon dioxide concentrations
Trapping using sound or pheromonal lures
Using a combination of netting and electrofishing
Use of barriers to prevent migration
Biological control of beneficial species
Biological control using native predators
Increasing carbon dioxide concentrations
Trapping using visual, sound and pheromonal lures
Using a combination of netting and electrofishing
6.5.1 Red-eared terrapin Trachemys scripta
Biological control using native predators
Search and removal using sniffer dogs
6.6 Threat: Invasive amphibians
6.6.1 American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeiana
Biological control using native predators
Biological control of co-occurring beneficial species
7. SOME ASPECTS OF ENHANCING NATURAL PEST CONTROL
7.1 Reducing agricultural pollution
Alter the timing of insecticide use
Incorporate parasitism rates when setting thresholds for insecticide use
Use pesticides only when pests or crop damage reach threshold levels
Grow non-crop plants that produce chemicals that attract natural enemies
Use chemicals to attract natural enemies
Leave part of the crop or pasture unharvested or uncut
Combine trap and repellent crops in a push-pull system
Use crop rotation in potato farming systems
Incorporate plant remains into the soil that produce weed-controlling chemicals
Exclude ants that protect pests
Allow natural regeneration of ground cover beneath perennial crops
Isolate colonies of beneficial ants
7.5 Livestock farming and pasture
Grow plants that compete with damaging weeds
Delay mowing or first grazing date on pasture or grassland
Use grazing instead of cutting for pasture or grassland management
8.1 Reducing agricultural pollution
Change the timing of manure application
Reduce fertilizer, pesticide or herbicide use generally
Control traffic and traffic timing
Change the timing of ploughing
Amend the soil using a mix of organic and inorganic amendments
Grow cover crops when the field is empty
Amend the soil with formulated chemical compounds
Grow cover crops beneath the main crop (living mulches) or between crop rows
Amend the soil with fresh plant material or crop remains
Amend the soil with manures and agricultural composts
Amend the soil with municipal wastes or their composts
Incorporate leys into crop rotation
Amend the soil with bacteria or fungi
Amend the soil with composts not otherwise specified
Amend the soil with crops grown as green manures
Amend the soil with non-chemical minerals and mineral wastes
Amend the soil with organic processing wastes or their composts