Supporting wildlife conservation by modelling the effectiveness of community-led poacher mitigation

Illegal hunting and poaching are severely threatening biodiversity in Southeast Asia, especially those species that are rare or threatened. Management strategies to address this poaching problem include wildlife patrols that collect and remove wire snares. While studies exist that predict the impact of poaching on biodiversity loss, there are few studies that evaluate the effectiveness of policy strategies. We present a model that predicts how community-led poaching mitigation patrols could help wildlife conservation the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR). The results show that, without intervention, nearly all species will be poached to local extinction over the next 10 years. We show that, with increasing patrol effort, an increasing number of animals and species can be saved. However, there are diminishing returns from increased poaching effort, particularly in terms of species saved – with rare species at most risk of extinction. This is the first time modelling has been undertaken to examine poacher-patrol interaction in the Southeast Asia region. The results—showing
positive effect of patrol effort on the number of endangered species saved—are now being used to inform wildlife management policies in the Lao PDR, with implementation of villager-led patrols that support local communities and sustaining natural resources.