Conservation biology in the anthropocene: protecting threatened species in urban environments

Mr Henrique Bravo¹, Dr Juan Diego Gaitán-Espitia¹

¹The University Of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

The strong synergy between rapid human population growth and urban environments is leading to major ecosystem changes and increased species extinction risk. Although cities are a perfect example of habitat change, homogenisation, fragmentation and novel niches for invasive species, these environments also offer refugia to many native species able to rapidly adapt to these novel habitats. However, these species are under strong pressure resulting from alterations in their ecological dynamics and behaviour. Therefore, planning conservation strategies and interventions requires more creative and active solutions dealing with biodiversity maintenance and human population growth. Conservation of threatened species in these highly fragmented and modified environments has however been somewhat neglected so far, but there is an ever growing number of examples of endemic species thriving in cities despite the conflicts that arise with urban development.

With the use of a meta-analysis, with data from across the globe and focusing on different groups of species, we were able to identify examples of active conservation strategies and frameworks (e.g. the IUCN in Europe or the Endangered Species Act in the United States of America) that proved successful in reducing local extinctions and enhancing biodiversity in urbanised environments where more passive approaches might be impossible or difficult to achieve.

Biography:

Henrique Bravo Gouveia is a biologist focusing on the communication of science and conservation of all things endangered. He co-founded an NGO named ‘Lonely Creatures’ with the purpose of telling the stories behind threatened species, showing their uniqueness and importance. He is currently doing research on mangroves in Hong Kong and will be starting a PhD soon in the field of conservation biology.