During 19-21 November, 30 members of the Pro-Coast project met physically in Koper, close to the northwest corner of Slovenia, as guests of ESUG member Elena Bužan of Primorska University. Professor Bužan’s group are bringing hunters and residents together on Hunting Ground Strunjan, part of Strunjan National Park, partly using camera traps, to decrease human – wildlife conflicts and illegal waste sites. Julie Ewald, Ben Kenward, Nick Casey and Robert Kenward, from Team-ESUG which coordinates Pro-Coast, presented on the Community Sustainability Platform (CUSP) and a decision support tool (see ESUG year-1 briefing). Julian Mühle provided teaching for building CUSP’s nascent network.

Six members of ESUG, including Chair Julie Ewald, were among the participants at a second physical meeting of the Pro-Coast project in Bergen during 11-13 June 2024. Work is now starting in the nine Case Studies. This is under intensive guidance by social scientists, which reminds us how much this project differs from GEMCONBIO (2006-8), in which study of conservation projects showed that success depended mainly on adaptive management and knowledge leadership, and TESS (2008-11) in which the need for detailed local mapping and ease of collection by trained community volunteers was demonstrated. In Pro-Coast we seek to discover what individual motivations favour conservation behaviour, and to use this knowledge to engender massive roll-out of tools for sustainable use of wild resources. 

Very many congratulations to our member in Kazakhstan and Honourable Professor of Kostanai Pedagogical Institute, Doctor of Biological Sciences Tatyana M. Bragina, for whom an International Conference was dedicated on “Conservation of Biological Diversity and Development of a Network of Specially Protected Natural Areas”. Tatyana (centre with pink/white flowers) was instrumental in creating the Naurzum Nature Reserve and is a long-standing member of IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management. Robert Kenward attended by Zoom and gave introductory words as well as providing a first publication for the Pro-Coast project. Many thanks to Tetiana Gardashuk for help with translation.

Thanks to a successful bid into the EU Horizon programme, ESUG will coordinate a project for PROactive approach for COmmunities to enAble Societal Transformation. Starting on 1 November 2023 and running for 3 years,  PRO-COAST will research motivations for nature conservation based mainly in sustainable use of cultural (e.g. ecotourism) and productive (e.g. fisheries) services from wild species and their ecosystems, initially in nine coastal communities in Europe and then scale up for roll out (e.g on Naturalliance, see last two paras here). For PRO-COAST we now also have a Gender Equality Policy for which Dr Tetiana Gardashuk is Gender Equality Officer.

After being unable to meet during the Covid-19 pandemic, ESUG at last brought its members together, by Teams and physically, in Brussels during 0900-1315 CEST on Wednesday 31 May 2023, in new FACE headquarters (conveniently opposite DG Environment). The meeting was preceded on May 30 by the closing event of two GWCT-led projects, PARTRIDGE & BEESPOKE, on how sustainable use can restore biodiversity by working with communities of interest and local communities (a video of the event is well worth watching) and by a Biodiversity WG meeting of International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey.

Papers for the ESUG General Meeting were as follows:

The Meeting Agenda

The Meeting on Screen

Minutes of the Meeting in Croatia on 24 April 2019

Report of the Chair

Report from Ukraine

Financial Report

Candidates for Chair and Committee

Draft minutes from the meeting will be uploaded here soon.