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talk · Tuesday 22 September · 09:45–⁠10:00 · SAL B

Using wildlife trade data to support proactive RASD decision-making

Charlotte Lassaline · To see or not to see - that is the question. Managing restricted access data (RASD)

Recording time 1:05:57–1:17:16Open on Vimeo ↗

Summaries and key moments are machine-produced. Check the recording for the speaker’s exact words.

The short versionWildlife trade data can act as an early warning system to protect species' locality data before formal conservation assessments catch up.

Overview

What this was about

PhD researcher Charlotte Lassaline argued that RASD lists, which rely on formal conservation assessments, are biased towards well-studied vertebrates and miss poorly known, range-restricted invertebrates that are increasingly sought in wildlife trade. Using the Kangaroo Island pygmy trapdoor spider, whose public data were restricted within about two weeks of a reported poaching incident, she contrasted reactive and proactive approaches. She proposed a wildlife trade species sensitivity framework combining trade-demand measures with weighted biological sensitivity factors into a vulnerability index to flag species for data protection before formal assessment.

Why it matters. Offers a practical, evidence-based way to prioritise species for data restriction, particularly for invertebrates that formal lists overlook.

Key ideas

In the room

  • Wildlife trade is predicted to affect one in five species worldwide; poachers use public occurrence data to locate species.
  • RASD lists are largely informed by formal assessments (IUCN Red List, CITES, government lists) that are slow and data-hungry.
  • Only about 1.4% of insects and just over 1% of arachnids have been evaluated by the IUCN Red List, versus most vertebrates.
  • Invertebrates are often newly described, range-restricted and data deficient, yet increasingly desired by collectors; public occurrence data may be the only information on where they occur.
  • There is a 'window of vulnerability' between exploitation starting and formal recognition and legal protection.
  • Kangaroo Island pygmy trapdoor spider: nationally endangered after bushfires but data still public; a poaching incident reported to the ALA led to restriction within about two weeks (reactive).
  • Proposed framework: trade demand (number of adverts, individuals traded, market value) plus weighted biological sensitivity factors (distribution, population size, reproductive output, dispersal) produce a vulnerability index.
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Notable moments

In their words

Transcript

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Programme abstract

Using wildlife trade data to support proactive RASD decision-making

Charlotte Lassaline

The poaching of wildlife is a growing biodiversity threat, with online trade increasingly facilitating exploitation. Wildlife traders monitor publications, biodiversity repositories, and social media to identify desirable species, and trade activity reveals species being poached prior to formal conservation assessment. While biodiversity data are fundamental to conservation and research it can also increase exploitation of vulnerable taxa. A challenge for RASD frameworks is the time lag between species discovery, conservation assessment, and data restriction. During this period, biodiversity databases may expose species to collection pressure before threats are formally recognised. Current approaches to sensitive species data management are often reactive, relying on formal conservation status or legal protection. This issue is particularly relevant for terrestrial invertebrates, many of which are newly described, range-restricted, data deficient, and increasingly targeted in wildlife trade. Public occurrence datasets are often the only available locality information for these taxa. In Australia, the recent restriction of occurrence data for the trapdoor spider Moggridgea rainbowi following a suspected poaching incident demonstrates adaptive data governance and underscores the value of extending precautionary approaches to additional vulnerable wildlife taxa. We propose that wildlife trade data can function as an early-warning indicator for identifying species subject to poaching and exploitation, and for determining when occurrence data warrant precautionary restriction, prior to formal conservation assessment. Incorporating wildlife trade data into RASD frameworks supports proactive biodiversity data governance and can reduce exploitation risk from data accessibility.

Submitted to the conference programme before the talk, so the talk itself may differ.