Conflictive management of small mammals considered as pests: A long way to evidence-based policy making

Abstract

This paper discusses the controversial management decisions made by policy-makers worldwide regarding poisoning campaigns aimed to control small mammal populations, often considered harmful economic pests. Aside from considerations regarding the biological consequences of these campaigns, we argue that when society rejects all values of science and expertise then only badly supported and negligent decisions will be made about conservation and management issues. The extermination of small mammal species, some of which play crucial ecological roles in several regions of the world, is just an example of such discredit and misinformation. Without a strong commitment towards evidence-based policy-making, economic investments in research and development could be entirely compromised. ; C. Ferreira is supported by a PhD grant (Ref. SFRH/BD/22084/2005) funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia of the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior, Portuguese government and M. Delibes Mateos was supported by a Juan de la Cierva research contract, awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Social Fund. ; Peer Reviewed