Plant Translocations in France: Identifying Gaps between Knowledge, Practice and Perception by Conservation Actors

Abstract

In the current context of global changes, threatened flora is declining and homogenising at the expense of rare and protected species. Among conservation biology and ecological restoration techniques, plant translocation is one of the recommendations increasingly used. However, translocation remains risky and is recommended as a last resort to conserve protected flora in land use planning. Furthermore, it raises ethical questions partly linked to genetic processes. In this context, we studied how plant translocations are perceived by conservation actors in France, including their genetic aspects. The analysis of translocation perception complements that of feedback on concrete translocation operations and allows us to provide a qualitative assessment of current practices. We have adopted an interdisciplinary approach to survey different types of actors in nature conservation, involved or not in at least one stage of translocation operations (preparation, implementation and monitoring). Three main types of translocation perception divide our sample quite strongly (50% favourable/ 45% unfavourable/ 5% undecided). Surprisingly, their professional activity or the level of involvement in such an operation have no influence on their opinion on translocation, nor on the proposals of alternative measures. Only 15% of the actors involved in translocations used genetic data at least once. To conclude, it would be necessary to promote the sharing of feedback from past experiences. This would allow an up-to-date list of species unacceptable for translocation. Comparing the results of different protocols and implementation conditions for the same species or group should improve overall translocation success rates.