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Project Topic
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The purpose and challenges of conservation and restoration of biodiversity are generally perceived at the immediate levels of our social and political contexts and time frames despite the fact that they may constitute major transitions at the scale of evolution. In that context conservation translocations, i.e, the reintroductions, reinforcements, assisted colonisations or movement of wild populations, are conducted in a wide range of ecosystems and involve a variety of stakeholders with different values, interests and expectations. While initially dedicated to restoring populations, they have potential impacts on social-ecosystems which in return may retroactively affect translocation performance. Current research on conservation translocations aims to improve their success to ensure that they contribute to species/ecosystem recovery in the long term. However, few studies have considered a strategic approach in the assessment and optimization of the allocation of translocation efforts at larger scales. Moreover, in the context of global changes including climate change, land use intensification and biological invasions, the extent to which population restoration projects may assist the conservation of biodiversity at regional, continental or global scale remains unclear. Any assessment of the contribution of translocations to biodiversity conservation at large scales needs to consider that the observed patterns reflect a bottom up accumulation of locally implemented actions that are rarely designed to tackle priorities at larger spatial/organizational scales. Given the debates regarding trade-offs in the economic and human costs of translocation programs, the underlying ethical and environmental questions raised by translocation practices, and their integration into wider environmental management schemes e.g., rewilding, it is of first importance to provide evidence-based arguments to describe how conservation translocations may contribute to conservation and restoration of biodiversity in their evolutionary, functional and social dimensions at larger spatial and organisational scales. The main objective of the TRANSLOC project is thus to investigate and quantify how local conservation translocations impact ecological, evolutionary and sociological trajectories of restoration at multiple scales in the Western Palearctic. Mixing large databases and accurate case studies, this project will particularly aim to i) document, quantify and analyse translocation efforts and efficacy, ii) investigate their congruence with future impacts of global change iii) assess their motivations and socio-economic cobenefits, iv) develop and apply generic and multidimensional criteria to assess their impact on socio-ecosystem in the short and long terms v) engage stakeholders and produce robust science-based policy recommendations for local to European-level action.
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