PACES decision tool

Ex-situ (literally, “off-site”) conservation management of a threatened species involves taking and maintaining the species away from its natural setting, ideally in an environment which is free of the threats that are impacting the species in its original location. Ex-situ actions can increase the long-term persistence of a species in the wild by supplementing or creating new wild populations. As with any management intervention, there is a chance that ex-situ management will fail to produce the desired conservation outcomes. Also, there is a risk that sourcing individuals from wild populations could decrease their viability in the short term. These factors must be considered when evaluating whether an ex-situ management plan is the best strategy for conserving a species in the wild over the long term. To address this challenge, we have created an Excel-based ex-situ decision tool (Planning and Assessment for Conservation through Ex-Situ management;