Most politicians have jumped on the conservation bandwagon, and nobody running for public office these days can afford to take an overtly anti environment stand. The fascination that children have for nature, the gen erous donations people make to conservation organizations, the votes cast for 'Green Parties,' the continuing popularity of zoos and wildlife films, and the strong sales of books about the environment all provide evidence to politicians that the general public supports the idea of conservation. Conservation has become a major issue for governments. No longer is it necessary for conservationists to campaign for getting the cause on the agenda: it is already there, at least as a talking point. The issue now is how to convert this generalized interest into real action. And among the many priorities competing for attention, how is a govern ment (or a private organization) to decide wh at to do first? From a very limited budget - for budgets will always be limited - what is the package of activities that is most likely to lead to the results that the public wants? lan Spellerberg attempts to address these questions which are at the he art of modern conservation action. It is relatively easy to prescribe useful activities that will benefit both the environment and the public at large.

This book, previously published in hardback, has now been republished in paperback and added to the growing number of titles in Chapman & Hall's Conservation Biology Series. Evaluation and Assessment for Conservation contains pertinent examples and case studies from around the world illustrating the issues faced by conservationists. In addition, it summarizes a very large amount of material from the scientific literature.

Here are the tools and skills needed to conduct meaningful, comprehensive evaluations How do we know if a conservation education or outreach program is working? Practical Evaluation for Conservation Education and Outreach: Assessing Impacts & Enhancing Effectiveness presents a simple approach to using evaluation to design, monitor and assess education and outreach. It is for anyone whose organization or work involves creating educational programs designed to raise conservation awareness and promote pro-conservation behaviors. Even more than a how-to book, it can help you to build your organization’s capacity to conduct meaningful, comprehensive evaluations. The book’s purpose is to provide specific skills and knowledge that they can immediately put to use in conducting evaluation studies of conservation education programs. The reader will build an understanding that: - Evaluation yields useful information - Evaluation should be a part of a program’s design process - Evaluation can be a positive experience - Evaluation contributes to conservation education and outreach program’s success The reader will build their knowledge of: - Key evaluation terms and concepts - The relationship between evaluation and research - How evaluation processes and finding can contribute to decision making - The strengths and weaknesses of different evaluation approaches and data collection methods - The relationship among a program’s goals, objective, activities and expected outcomes The readers will be able to - Develop and refine key evaluation questions - Review and contribute to an evaluation plan - Construct and improve data-collection instruments - Collect credible and reliable data - Interpret results and draw conclusions This book provides practical advice on conducting evaluation that is specific for conservation professionals. Case studies describe how evaluation has led to program improvements in a range of conservation settings. While there are numerous books that describe how to conduct program evaluation, none provide specific examples and tools relevant to improving environmental outcomes.

Designed as a “how-to” manual, Practical Preservation and Conservation Strategies for Libraries provides librarians with practical information to help them grapple with specific preservation challenges by identifying areas of concern, optimizing the use of resources put towards preservation, and establishing goals for continual improvement over time. Straightforward and pragmatic, it helps a library to reduce immediate and long-term preservation costs, and strengthen a library’s collection development goals. Topics include: Preservation in the digital age Establishing long-term preservation goals Environmental conditions Preservation needs of specific collections Understanding use patterns for library materials Identifying potential threats to a collection Recognizing readily available preservation resources Almost 50 photographs, figures, checklists, and other tools make this a practical guide libraries will use on a day-to-day basis.

Measures of Success is a practical, hands-on guide to designing, managing, and measuring the impacts of community-oriented conservation and development projects.

In the mid 1970s two events led me to get to know the Yorkshire Dales better than I had previously. Since 1964 I had been to the Malham Tarn Field Centre with groups of students, first from the University of Edinburgh and then from the University of York, and my family very much enjoyed the summer days we spent amid this magnificent hill scenery. In 1976, the British Ecological Society and the National Trust jointly worked on a survey of the biological interest of the National Trust properties of the Kent, East Anglian and Yorkshire Regions. Malham Tarn itself, and the surrounding farms, formed one of the twenty properties of the Yorkshire Region. I spent the bank holiday, that commemorated the Queen's Silver Jubilee, at Malham, looking fairly closely at the National Trust's landholding there. Miss Sarah Priest, who also looked at the National Trust properties, and I produced a report in late 1977, attempting both to describe and to evaluate the nature resources of the National Trust in Yorkshire. In the following year, 1978, the Nature Conservancy Council wanted to survey the whole of the upland area that was known as the Malhaml Arncliffe SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). A contract to look at such an exciting area, considering where boundaries should go, and looking to see if there were important areas of habitat that should be brought within the SSSI, was a superb practical antidote to an office in the University.

Results of regular monitoring of the species diversity and structure of plant communities is used by conservation biologists to help understand impacts of perturbations caused by humans and other environmental factors on ecosystems worldwide. Changes in plant communities can, for example, be a reflection of increased levels of pollution, a response to long-term climate change, or the result of shifts in land-use practices by the human population. This book presents a series of essays on the application of plant biodiversity monitoring and assessment to help prevent species extinction, ecosystem collapse, and solve problems in biodiversity conservation. It has been written by a large international team of researchers and uses case studies and examples from all over the world, and from a broad range of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The book is aimed at any graduate students and researchers with a strong interest in plant biodiversity monitoring and assessment, plant community ecology, biodiversity conservation, and the environmental impacts of human activities on ecosystems.

'Risk Assessment for Object Conservation' reflects Dr Jonathan Ashley-Smith's personal interests and views in areas including materials science, the ethics of restoration, the costs of conservation and the philosophy of museums. This valuable book explains the mechanisms of deterioration of museum artifacts, quantifying the probability that damage will occur and estimating the rate of progress when it does. The principles outlined and the information provided will form a foundation for cost-benefit analysis of conservation proposals. Dr Ashley-Smith also gives comprehensive explanations of scientific of mathematical material to take into consideration the readers who have no background in these areas, alongside a basic introduction. The structure of the book provides a logical progression through tools, concepts information and examples. This is a must-have purchase for all conservators, curators and administrators of historic artifacts at both student and professional level.

Despite widely voiced concerns about some of the negative implications of protected areas, and growing pressures to ensure that they fulfil social as well as ecological objectives, no standard methods exist to assess social impacts. This report aims to provide some.

Reviews the quantitative tools used in the study of subjects such as biodiversity, resource management and endangered species preservation. Topics covered include population viability analysis, population dynamics, metapopulation models, estimating timing of extinctions, quasi-extinction and more.