Cat Conservation Compendium
B. Cranke
Cat conservation faces a number of specific challenges as a consequence of biological features of the felids and their particular relations with humans. Cats are admired, feared and hated for their beauty, supremacy and ferocity. Some of the cats are great cultural symbols and have an outstanding ceremonial value, but most living cats are mere mystic shadows in the forest; and some of the smaller species are virtually unknown, even to local people.
The high degree of specialisation that the cats have acquired during their evolution makes them vulnerable to environmental changes; 46% of the assessed cat species are threatened according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. Most cats are solitary and live at low densities and many species need extended areas of suitable habitat with sufficient prey to maintain viable populations. All felids are obligate hunters, many depending on a rather narrow prey spectrum from a single trophic level. Hunting strategies and techniques are often adapted to the main prey and the habitat. The predatory lifestyle brings cats into conflict with humans: they compete for game, but cats also kill livestock ranging from chicken to cattle; and some large cats are even dangerous to humans. All of this makes cat conservation a complex endeavour. It is not enough to grant a cat species legal protection to secure its survival. Typically, cat conservation includes not only the conservation of the species itself but also habitat protection, prey management, conflict mitigation, and law enforcement over large areas and for many years.
Fig. 1. Family going on a mountain hike. The questions represent decisions to be taken at important milestones of the journey. As in conservation planning, careful preparation is a precondition for the success of the journey.
In an initial step, the taxonomic entity and the geographic scope are defined, the partnership between the key players (experts, responsible governmental institutions and authorities, local people) is developed and stakeholders are identified. In the second step, the conservation status and the state of knowledge of the respective (sub)species is reviewed by experts from all Range States. This work may be facilitated by online meetings, electronic communication and/or personal meetings. Part of this status review helps to develop an updated map of the distribution range of the (sub)species. Depending on the extent of the distribution range of the (sub)species, a collection of reports rather than one status report are produced.
The status report(s) serve(s) as Information document(s) for drafting the Range-wide Strategy for the Conservation of the (sub)species. The development of such a Strategy follows a participatory, multiple step approach according to the “Zielorientierte Projekt Planung” ZOPP, including the status reviews and analyses of threats, and results in the development of a logical framework (Fig. 3).
For a conservation programme to be successful, cooperation between various key players is required. These key players include: government institutions, which are responsible for legislation and law enforcement; experts, who provide the necessary information; and local people and stakeholders, who need to coexist with the cats and need to support the implementation of conservation measures. Conservation partnerships have to be carefully built up.
The IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group has developed the Cat Conservation Compendium (CCC). The Cat Conservation Compendium follows the same principals as the IUCN SSC Guidelines for Species Conservation Planning and the IUCN Species Strategic Plan. The CCC is a short document, with a minimum number of references, meant to provide a checklist-like for step-by-step guidance for the development and implementation of a cat conservation programme. A key element of the CCC is the Strategic Planning Cycle (Fig. 2).
The strategic planning process of a conservation strategy includes six steps:
-
Development of an overarching Vision, which is a wishful perspective for the next 25–50 years. It describes the ideal future scenario for the (sub)species. It reflects an optimistic view of the future of the (sub)species and is meant to be a source of inspiration;
-
Development of a Goal, which is more concrete than the Vision. It is a feasible, realistic and measurable long-term aim (10–20 years) for the conservation of the (sub)species;
-
Performing a Threat Analysis and creating a Problem Tree, including (direct) Threats, Drivers and Constraints, in order to understand which obstacles and shortcomings are preventing the achievement of the Goal and Vision (Fig. 4). Evaluation of Threats faced by the (sub)species across its range is a crucial component of strategic planning for its conservation. Threats are ranked according to their severity and the available capacity to address them by country (or region).
-
(Direct) Threats represent the immediate causes of detrimental impacts on a population. Generally, Threats are often a result of human activity, often related to one another and tend to have a cumulative effect; e.g., land use changes.
-
Drivers of Threats are the root causes of a direct Threat to a population; e.g., agricultural subsidies are a Driver of land use changes (direct Threat).
-
Constraints are the factors that do not impact the target subspecies negatively themselves but allow the Threats (and Drivers) to have such impact; e.g., human population growth or political issues.
-
Based on the Problem Tree and the Threat analysis, general themes are identified such as for example: Conservation and sustainable management, human dimensions or policy, legislation and transboundary conservation. These themes are then used to guide the development of Objectives and related Results.
-
Development of Objectives, which support reaching the Goal and directly address important Threats and Drivers;
-
Formulation of Results, which are the concrete achievements or direct outcomes needed to reach every Objective. Results are the direct outcome of Activities and should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound);
-
Development of a number of Activities or Actions to achieve each Result, including a Timeline, Actor, Indicator and a rough Budget. Implementation of Activities/Actions is the ultimate goal of the strategic planning process. Actions can be prioritized per country.
Fig. 2. The Strategic Planning Cycle. The preparatory steps (Points 1 and 2) are important for sensible planning, which is the first step to successful conservation. The actual planning process (done in participatory workshops) is covered by Points 3 and 4. The ultimate goal of the whole procedure is the implementation of conservation actions (Point 5), but these will only be successful if properly planned and subsequently monitored and evaluated (Point 6). The purpose of the whole participatory process is not to have a plan but the effective implementation of conservation measures. This circle implies that conservation is an adaptive process (Breitenmoser et al. 2015). RCS stands for Regional Conservation Strategy and NAP for National Action Plan.
For the practical implementation of the Conservation Strategy, Regional or National Action Plans are developed to concretise the conservation measures according to national needs and prerequisites. These are then implemented.
Rigorous planning takes some time and effort, but it saves time and funding during the implementation. It is key to a successful programme. However, every plan is only as good as its implementation. Generally, not all information needed is available for sensible planning at the beginning of such a process or circumstances change. Therefore, conservation programmes need to be organised as adaptive processes, allowing adjustments to new developments and insights as they come up. Consequently, the implementation of conservation activities needs to be monitored and progress regularly evaluated. According to the findings of the evaluation, the plans may have to be revised and adapted until the desired results have been achieved. The Strategy is finally summarised in a Logical Framework (LogFrame) Matrix, providing a short, tabulated overview of the elements facilitating the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Conservation Strategy (Fig. 5).
Fig. 3. The ZOPP (“Zielorientierte Projektplanung” goal-oriented project planning) pyramid as a scheme to explain the planning process in a participatory workshop. The ZOPP is an analytical process.
Fig. 4. Example of a Problem Tree as developed for the Range-wide strategy for the conservation of the Persian leopard (UNEP CMS 2022a). Brown = Constraints, orange = Drivers, and red = Threats.
Fig. 5. Example of a LogFrame as developed for the Range-wide strategy for the conservation of the Persian leopard (UNEP CMS 2022b).