Develop/implement species recovery plans

Overall effectiveness category Awaiting assessment
Number of studies: 1
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Background information and definitions

Species recovery plans are documents that set out the actions for species management. Recovery plans are more likely to be effective when they are tailored to the species at risk, revised regularly to ensure that they are up to date, and incorporate evaluation to enable efficient and effective conservation action (Boersma et al. 2001).

^{Boersma P.D., Kareiva P., Fagan W.F., Clark J.A. & Hoekstra J.M. (2001) How Good Are Endangered Species Recovery Plans? BioScience, 51, 643–649.}

Study locations

Key messages

One study evaluated the effects of developing/implementing species recovery plans on reptile populations. This study was in Australia.

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POPULATION RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

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OTHER (1 STUDY)

Conservation status (1 study): One controlled, before-and-after, paired study in Australia found that the chance of a species’ conservation status improving or being stable was similar for those with a recovery plan (including three reptile species) and those without a plan (including three reptile species).

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A controlled, paired species, before-and-after study in 2010 in Australia (Bottrill et al. 2011) found that species with a recovery plan (including 3 reptile species) were not more likely to have improved conservation status compared to species without a plan (including 3 reptile species). The chance of the status of a species being stable or improving was similar for species with a recovery plan (66%) and without a plan (62%). The evaluation assessed species status of 56 species (including 3 reptile species: striped legless lizard Delma impar, Bellinger River Emydura Emydura macquarii signata, Blue Mountain’s water skink Eulamprus leuraensis) with a recovery plan and 67 threatened species (including 3 reptile species: Flinders Ranges worm-lizard Aprasia pseudopulchella, Mary River turtle Elusor macrurus, Krefft’s tiger snake Notechis scutatus ater) without a recovery plan. All species were listed under the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act and either had an approved single-species plan or were lacking a federal recovery plan.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Bottrill M.C., Walsh J.C., Watson J.E.M., Joseph L.N., Ortega-Argueta A. & Possingham H.P. (2011) Does recovery planning improve the status of threatened species? Biological Conservation, 144, 1595-1601.

Please cite as:

Sainsbury K.A., Morgan W.H., Watson M., Rotem G., Bouskila A., Smith R.K. & Sutherland W.J. (2021) Reptile Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for reptiles. Conservation Evidence Series Synopsis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Reptile Conservation

Related Actions

	Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
	Legally protect reptile species Action Link	Awaiting assessment	6	Synopsis Link
	Develop/implement species recovery plans Action Link	Awaiting assessment	1	Synopsis Link