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Extraordinary everything
Every animal, every plant, big or small, plays a remarkable role in both its habitat and the survival of everything else. What's your role?
Quick is all relative, of course. Conservation takes time, and the pace of change can feel glacial. Species can’t be brought back from the brink of extinction overnight. Changing hearts and minds is a long-term process. In some cases, you may not see real results for years, decades even.
In that context, it’s easy to make rash decisions in the name of quick results. An apparently simple conservation solution can cause even bigger, more intractable problems than the original one it was designed to solve. A classic example is the deliberate introduction of a non-native predator to help control harmful species, which often backfires spectacularly. Cane toads devastated native Australian wildlife after they were introduced to eat crop pests, one of many examples of the disastrous global impact of invasive species.
But every now and then, conservation comes up with a neat solution that achieves a relatively quick – and genuinely beneficial – result. Here are seven examples from Fauna & Flora’s projects around the world.
Rare turtles off the hook
Among the many pressures that marine and freshwater turtles face, they are frequent victims of by-catch, when they become tangled in fishing nets or caught on fishhooks. In 2023, three nests of the critically endangered Burmese peacock softshell turtle were found on a beach near Bagan Kyun village in Myanmar, Fauna & Flora set up a protected nesting area in collaboration with the community. A survey revealed that these turtles were sometimes accidentally caught, which senior fishers believed this was due to the use of large hooks. In June 2024, the fishers decided to trial the use of smaller hooks. Since the switch, no turtles have been accidentally caught in the village’s fishing area.
Adult Burmese peacock softshell turtle being released in Indawgyi, Myanmar. © Jeremy Holden / Fauna & Flora
The use of smaller fishhooks by fishers in Myanmar has resulted in fewer turtles being accidentally caught.
Beekeeping keeping elephants at bay
In West Africa, habitat loss and fragmentation are forcing forest elephants to roam beyond the sanctuary of the forest, bringing them into more frequent contact with nearby communities. Crop-raiding by elephants can destroy livelihoods and lead to serious human-wildlife conflict. Fauna & Flora is engaging with local communities in Guinea to resolve the problem. In 2021, we launched a pilot beekeeping project (elephants are afraid of bees), which has the dual benefit of deterring elephants from refuelling at the expense of farmers, while providing an alternative source of income – a win-win for people and wildlife.
Beekeeping in Guinea, supported by Fauna & Flora. © Ruben Bañuelos Bons / Fauna & Flora
Beekeeping is a measure to mitigate human-elephant conflict. Fauna & Flora is supporting beekeeping in local communities that are most affected by crop-raiding elephants.
Ginger spice repels crop-raiding chimps
Western Uganda’s Albertine Rift is one of the last strongholds of the eastern chimpanzee. Local communities here face food insecurity due to low agricultural yields, crop raiding by chimpanzees and other wildlife, and – increasingly – the impacts of climate change. Hard-pressed subsistence farmers regularly encroach on the forest used by chimpanzees for movement, food and nesting. In turn, our closest cousins have adapted by helping themselves to the farmers’ crops. Changing local lives for the better has been a critical success factor in reducing tensions between humans and chimps. One of the most effective solutions has been the introduction of living fences and buffer crops such as ginger that are unpalatable to chimps but can be harvested and sold for a profit. These have proved highly effective in reducing incidences of crop raiding while simultaneously generating extra income.
Rachel Tegume, ginger model farmer, with bags of dried ginger. © Cath Lawson / Fauna & Flora
Rachel Tegume, ginger farmer, with bags of dried ginger. Buffer crops such as ginger, which chimps find unpalatable, help to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
Chimpanzee portrait © Uryadnikov Sergey / Adobe Stock
An end to fatal extraction for lansan
The lansan tree, native to Saint Lucia and several other Caribbean islands, produces an aromatic resin that is highly prized both locally and overseas. Due to increased demand, the traditional method of extracting resin by slashing the bark was threatening the survival of the species, with overharvesting causing irreparable damage to the trees. Working closely with staff from the Saint Lucia Forestry Department, Fauna & Flora conducted a series of studies during which we hit upon a new extraction method that allowed resin to be tapped without killing the tree. The adoption of sustainably harvesting techniques has been a game changer for this economically and culturally important species.
Sean Cyril collecting lansan resin at Barre d L'isle, Saint Lucia. © Jeremy Holden / Fauna & Flora
Sean Cyril collecting resin from a lansan tree at Barre de L'isle, Saint Lucia.
Keeping the wolf from the door
For a Romanian shepherd, life is tough at the best of times. Those who have lost livestock to a hungry bear or wolf might feel the need to take matters into their own hands. Until recently, it was a never-ending story of killing and revenge killing. To break the vicious circle and help resolve human-carnivore conflict, Fauna & Flora trialled the use of Carpathian sheepdogs – a traditional local breed – to safeguard livestock from predation by large carnivores. Once trained and fully grown, the livestock protection dogs have proved to be a highly effective deterrent, preventing the loss of lives and livelihoods and, in effect, saving the wolves from themselves.
Mircea Mărginean with a Carpathian shepherd dog. © Daniel Mîrlea / Fauna & Flora
Mircea Mărginean with a Carpathian shepherd dog. Fauna & Flora is working directly with farmers to reduce conflict with grey wolves. By providing Carpathian shepherd dog puppies, we are helping farmers to reduce the number of incidences of livestock predation.
Carpathian shepherd dog surrounded by sheep. Fauna & Flora is working directly with farmers to reduce conflict with grey wolves. By providing Carpathian sheepdog puppies, we are helping farmers to reduce the number of incidences of livestock predation. © Daniel Mîrlea / Fauna & Flora
A Carpathian shepherd dog surrounded by sheep.
Tunnels for toads
The early 1980s saw a precipitous decline in the UK amphibian population due to habitat loss driven by agricultural expansion and urban development. To reach their ancestral breeding ponds (most of which had been swallowed up), migrating toads had to run the gauntlet of busy roads and speeding cars. Fauna & Flora produced car stickers featuring a warning sign that urged motorists to ‘help a toad across the road’ and lobbied for the creation of the UK’s first tunnel for toads at a particularly hazardous crossing point where the annual casualty count was alarmingly high. Over 3,000 toads were recorded using it within the first month. The concept was successfully replicated across the Atlantic by our US partners, who constructed twin tunnels to enable spotted salamanders to reach their breeding ponds safely.
UK's first toad tunnel. © Fauna & Flora. Common toad in a village pond in Cambridgeshire. © Stephanie Foote Media
Making a meal of invasive lionfish
Global heating has enabled lionfish and other invasive tropical fish species to colonise the Mediterranean Sea, with disastrous consequences for native species and the marine ecosystem. To combat the unwelcome invaders and control their numbers, Fauna & Flora’s partner in Türkiye, AKD, came up with the bright idea of putting lionfish on the local menu. By creating an appetite for the invasives among restaurateurs and diners, AKD has demonstrated to local fishers that targeting lionfish can be profitable and help to relieve the pressure on commercially important native species.
Climate change is causing an influx of invasive lionfish from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean. © Zafer Kizilkaya
Climate change is causing an influx of invasive lionfish into the Mediterranean from the Red Sea.
Steps in the right direction
In conservation, as elsewhere, marginal gains can have a cumulatively large impact. The small steps add up to a giant leap forward. And, in a world where good news can be hard to come by, these successes assume an even greater importance. Fauna & Flora and our partners continue to use every tool at our disposal to combat nature loss and climate breakdown.
An underwater clean-up in Gökova Bay, Türkiye. © Akdeniz Koruma Derneği
Saving nature together
Every success, however small, is a win for nature, contributing to the bigger conservation picture. Every donation we receive takes us one step closer to our targets.
Join us on our journeyThe first official record of Burmese peacock softshell turtle hatchlings in the wild. Fauna & Flora is protecting the nesting sites of the turtles with the local community ‘species guardian group’. © Nyein Chan & Yae Aung / Fauna & Flora
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