Fauna & Flora magazine - issue 15 (Jun 2012)

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT NOW

IN THE GREAT TREE OF LIFE, ONE BRANCH OF THE MAMMALS HAS A PARTICULAR FASCINATION TO US, FOR WE BELONG TO IT: PRIMATES.

FAUNA&FLORA THE MAGAZINE OF FAUNA & FLORA INTERNATIONAL

SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH, LIFE, BBC

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE Why primates matter

Juan Pablo Moreiras/FFI

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE Why primates matter GORILLAS ON THE LIST Saving Africa’s greatest apes from extinction

BACK FROM THE BRINK Relieving pressure on Vietnam’s endangered primates

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REDD CARPET TREATMENT Safeguarding Ecuador’s vital corridor Innovative conservation since 1903 www.fauna-flora.org

FOLLOW THE FOOTSTEPS Snow-tracking Romania’s large carnivores

Issue 15 | June 2012

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FROM THE EXECUTIVE

Evan Bowen-Jones/FFI

Helen Tinner

CHIEF

FOCUS ON PRIMATES

As I write this, rhino conservation is meeting with success in southern Zimbabwe. Not all news from Zimbabwe or the rest of Africa is good, and we are certainly not used to hearing good news about rhinos. The recent headlines have made grim reading. But we remain positive at Fauna & Flora International. Maybe we don’t have time to sit around worrying, or reading newsprint, or maybe we are pragmatic and like to get things done. Or both.

When weighing up potential new colleagues and partner organisations there is a certain mindset that I look for. I suppose it used to be called spirit. The kind of approach that says: “Rhino conservation? In southern Zimbabwe?

OK, let’s get on with it.”

CONTENTS 4

Relative importance Why primates matter

6

Gorillas on the list Saving Africa’s greatest apes from extinction

Those characteristics are in evidence throughout this latest issue of Fauna & Flora: young conservationists braving hostile conditions in the northern Pacific to deter salmon poachers; research teams in Romania tracking carnivores through deep snow; a senior conservation biologist who still relishes fieldwork despite twice walking into minefields in Cambodia; and rangers risking their lives to safeguard the last remaining Grauer’s gorillas in war-torn eastern DRC.

10

Back from the brink Relieving pressure on Vietnam’s endangered primates

14

REDD carpet treatment Safeguarding Ecuador’s vital corridor

18

Logging off Halting unsustainable rosewood exploitation in Belize

20

On the subject of gorillas, I’m reminded of a story that Sir David Attenborough likes to tell about a female mountain gorilla giving him the kind of inspection to which our people subject prospective partners. Having looked him firmly in the eye she grabbed him by the head, skull really, and opened his mouth to have a good look inside at his teeth. He’s still with us, so evidently there’s something reassuring about his molars. Having passed the test he came back to the UK and gave us a similar kind of examination before telling us to get on with saving mountain gorillas. In many respects, the proposition wasn’t much different to protecting rhinos in Zimbabwe today. To many it looked like a crazy project – three countries, three different conflicts and several partner organisations. You wouldn’t do this in Europe, let alone on the borders of DRC, Uganda and Rwanda. And what did we achieve? Resounding success.

Follow the footsteps Snow-tracking Romania’s large carnivores

22

Desert riches Reconciling commercial and conservation interests in the Central Namib

24

Around the world Project updates

30

Conservation Leadership Programme River deep, mountain high

32

Partner profile Stronger lynx

34

Who’s who Dr Jenny Daltry

36

Please take a good look at us through this magazine and make your own judgement. It may not be the rosiest time to be out there safeguarding wildlife and habitats, but that is not stopping Fauna & Flora International. With every passing year, we are protecting more terrain and more species.

Supporting conservation The last post?

38

Species profile Myanmar snub-nosed monkey

40

MARK ROSE

Tools of the trade

Jeremy Holden/FFI

Sweet smell of success

42

Gallery Family album www.fauna-flora.org | 3

Relative importance Fauna & Flora International (FFI) has been heavily involved in primate conservation around the globe for decades.

Dr Abigail Entwistle, Director of Science, examines FFI’s close association with our nearest relatives.

Primates matter. I don’t need to give you justifications describing their economic value or role in ecosystem services (although let’s not underestimate their importance as seed dispersers in tropical forests). Primates share so many of our characteristics – we see ourselves reflected in their gestures, their facial expressions, their social interactions and the way they nurture their young. Primates hold a mirror up to the human race, and that alone should be enough to justify our working to avoid their extinction.

Let us be clear – primates are facing a crisis. This has been the case for the last 50 years at least, and the threats have not abated. We are now seeing some species and populations bouncing back – as a result of targeted conservation action – but across the board the picture is bleak. Almost half

4 | Fauna & Flora

of all primate species are threatened (49% if you want to be precise), with one in ten considered Critically Endangered (the highest category of threat on the IUCN Red List, for species deemed closest to extinction).

The main threats are habitat loss and hunting, but new dangers are emerging – including disease and that great abyss of uncertainty resulting from climate change. Some of the most endangered species have global populations that now number mere hundreds.

Fauna & Flora International has been committed to primate conservation throughout much of its history. We have contributed to the conservation of at least 43 threatened primate species over the last couple of decades. Indeed, FFI and its partners are actively engaged in protecting 20% of the 40 primate species currently listed as Critically Endangered (and have previously supported work on one third of the list). We can now add another species to this list – the

Myanmar snub-nosed monkey. A new primate species described only last year and profiled in this issue, it too is a racing certainty to be classified as Critically Endangered.

In our work with primates, the mountain gorilla remains one of the best-known recovery stories. FFI has supported work on these charismatic great apes since the early 1970s, when Dian Fossey was pioneering efforts to understand and protect this subspecies. FFI subsequently became more strongly involved with mountain gorilla conservation in the late 1970s and 1980s, helping to initiate what later became the International Gorilla Conservation Programme, established in the wake of Sir David Attenborough’s memorable televised close encounters in the montane forests of Rwanda.

We have since seen the population of mountain gorillas recover substantially: the Virunga population has almost doubled since 1981 and overall numbers are now estimated at some 790 individuals. This is greatly

FOCUS ON PRIMATES

Whilst a number of FFI projects do focus directly on the conservation of specific high-profile primates, we also engage in numerous other activities that contribute more broadly – and discreetly – to primate protection, such as safeguarding key forest habitats, protected area management and community engagement. For example, work to establish adjacent community conservancies has helped to protect the forests of the Tana River Primate Reserve in Kenya, home to the endemic and highly endangered Tana River mangabey and Tana River red colobus monkey. In Tanzania, a forest reserve set up with the Tongwe people is providing an important sanctuary for chimpanzees outside national parks, while our efforts to secure forest habitats, undertake site-based monitoring and reduce hunting pressure in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains help to protect pileated gibbons. In the Brazilian Amazon we have supported local environmental education programmes that are built around the use of the Endangered white-whiskered spider monkey as a flagship species.

The news that half of all primate species are under threat might be expected to send us into acute depression, but we remain optimistic in the face of adversity, choosing to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. We see a glimmer of hope.

We have seen that given sufficient commitment, time and effort, wellfocused conservation programmes can dramatically improve the survival prospects of even the most precariously situated primate species. We draw inspiration from the knowledge that key populations of species such as mountain gorilla, Tonkin snub-nosed monkey and cao vit gibbon are now recovering under effective conservation management, and that the efforts of many of our colleagues and partners in the field are helping to secure the future of numerous other primate species.

Top to bottom: Orang-utans in Asia, spider monkeys in the Americas and chimpanzees in Africa, just three of the many beneficiaries of FFI’s primate conservation efforts around the globe.

Evan Bowen-Jones/FFI

As well as working to protect gorillas and other iconic primates such as orang-utans and chimpanzees, we are involved in conserving many more species that will be less immediately recognisable. In Indochina FFI and its partners have achieved notable success in protecting Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys, cao vit gibbons and blackcrested gibbons, all of which are Critically Endangered and face ongoing threats from habitat loss and hunting (see page 10).

Our contribution to primate conservation over the years has also included substantial financial assistance provided to primate projects through the Flagship Species Fund (which we run jointly with Defra, the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and prior to that through the 100% Fund. Through these funds we have supported work on species as diverse as the kipunji in Tanzania (we helped to fund the first survey of this Critically Endangered species in 2005, immediately after it was first described as a new species), the grey snub-nosed monkey in China and southern muriquis (woolly spider monkeys) in Brazil.

We have to remember, however, that there is one primate species that continues to thrive. Its population is rising inexorably, and it out-competes many of its closest relations in the fight for both space and resources. And this one primate – Homo sapiens – remains the biggest threat to the additional 417 species in the wider community of primates.

Jeremy Holden/FFI

Jeremy Holden/FFI

encouraging, but there is no room for complacency – it is still a small and vulnerable population that will only survive with continuing conservation effort. More recently, the declining fortunes of lowland gorillas have led FFI to focus increasing attention on addressing their urgent conservation needs (see page 6).

Rebecca Foges/FFI

PRIMATES ARE FACING A CRISIS. THIS HAS BEEN THE CASE FOR THE LAST 50 YEARS AT LEAST, AND THE THREATS HAVE NOT ABATED.

www.fauna-flora.org | 5

Gorillas on the list Saving Africa’s greatest apes from extinction

By Daniel Pouakouyou

An alarming number of Africa’s nonhuman primates are in grave peril.

A combination of human population growth and economic development is placing them under increasing pressure. Road network expansion, the insatiable demand for land and resources, and escalating pressure from bush meat hunters are creating a perfect storm that threatens to engulf many of the most vulnerable species.

Forest-dependent primates are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation; the expansion of agricultural, mining and logging activities outside protected areas in the last 50 years has rapidly reduced some of these critical habitats to a size that is no longer ecologically viable. In protected areas, where the destruction of wild habitats has been contained to some extent, the ‘empty forest syndrome’ persists, as commercially important species of primates are routinely extirpated through subsistence or commercial hunting.

The current trend is disturbing and will continue unabated unless appropriate conservation actions and management strategies are developed and effectively put in place. The IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group has taken a proactive approach to addressing these issues and produced the revised edition of the status survey and conservation action plan for African primates, outlining a series of recommendations in collaboration with partner conservation organisations in 1996.

6 | Fauna & Flora

Juan Pablo Moreiras/FFI

Fauna & Flora International (FFI) has been associated with countless conservation success stories throughout the globe, some well documented, others untold, but our continuing

Chloe Hodgkinson/FFI

Arend de Haas/ACF/LWC

FOCUS ON PRIMATES

efforts to protect the charismatic mountain gorilla and other African primates have succeeded in focusing worldwide attention on their plight.

It is over three decades since FFI responded favourably to the ‘Digit Appeal’, named after Dian Fossey’s favourite silverback gorilla, who was killed while trying to defend his family against poachers in Rwanda. Since co-founding the successful International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) in 1991 (which grew out of the Mountain Gorilla Project), FFI has broadened its remit and devoted additional resources to meeting the urgent conservation needs of other gorilla subspecies.

In the last few years we have been working to protect the Cross River gorilla on the Cameroon-Nigeria border in West Africa and the eastern lowland (Grauer’s) gorilla in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). More recently, we have turned our attention to the most numerous and (relatively)

less threatened western lowland gorilla at the Dja conservation complex, one of the important conservation sites for this subspecies in Cameroon.

The success of intensive sensitisation and awareness raising campaigns in recent years means that it has become virtually taboo to hunt and kill a gorilla for bush meat. Nevertheless, the other principal threat to the survival of Cross River gorillas on the Cameroon-Nigeria border still remains. Habitat destruction and fragmentation continues apace, driven by the growing demand for farmland to feed a combined human population estimated today at almost 170 million. Reduced to isolated populations in a sea of humanity, desperately hanging on to patches of predominantly hilltop forest, the Cross River gorilla is even more threatened than the mountain gorilla.

It was recently the beneficiary of a highly successful fundraising appeal

by FFI to support the much needed work to safeguard one of the most

THE ONGOING STRUGGLE TO REDUCE THE IMPACT OF BUSH MEAT CONSUMPTION IS ONE OF THE CORNERSTONES OF FFI’S PRIMATE CONSERVATION STRATEGY IN AFRICA.

isolated populations of this Critically Endangered species in western Cameroon. The plight of these animals is compounded by the fact that some populations are confined to forest blocks that lie outside protected areas, making any effort to reduce and possibly stop the conversion of forest to farmlands an even more arduous task. The stakes were raised recently when a number of large agribusinesses expressed the desire to establish industrial-scale oil palm plantations across the region.

This would result in the inevitable destruction of the last remaining habitats and wildlife migratory corridors in the area.

Opposite: Portrait of a mountain gorilla.

Above: Cross River gorilla (left); Western lowland gorilla (right).

In a region like eastern DRC, where hunting for and trade in bush meat are so widespread, years of armed conflict and the proliferation of firearms have also contributed significantly to a drastic reduction in Grauer’s gorilla numbers. The population has now fallen below a threshold that could not have been anticipated when IGCP was originally established. Bush meat consumption is not the only problem. Conflicting land use interests, including, but not limited to mining inside and outside protected areas, and the political uncertainties that characterise daily life in that part of Africa, are serving only to exacerbate the situation.

www.fauna-flora.org | 7

Left: Western lowland gorilla.

Dr Peter Howard/ www.AfricanWorldHeritageSites.org

Below left: Cross River gorilla.

In light of these growing threats, the protection of Grauer’s gorilla in eastern DRC has become a high priority for FFI and our partners. In particular, we are working to understand the current population status and the relative abundance of these animals in protected and unprotected forests, to restore the rule of law where it is safe to do so, and to provide crucial technical and logistical support to the protected area authority, Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN).

Collateral gains Some of the myriad primate species and subspecies – from familiar apes to obscure monkeys – that have benefited indirectly from FFI’s gorilla conservation work in the past three decades: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Arend de Haas/ACF/LWC

Opposite page: Bareback riding, mountain gorilla style (above).

Adult female Grauer’s gorilla clutching a fistful of foliage (below).

8 | Fauna & Flora

Chimpanzee Bioko Allen’s galago White-naped mangabey Mainland drill Diana monkey Red-bellied monkey Western red colobus Miss Waldron’s red colobus Preuss’s red colobus Geoffroy’s black-and-white colobus

The ongoing struggle to reduce the impact of bush meat consumption is one of the cornerstones of FFI’s primate conservation strategy in Africa. This issue is being addressed through a combination of support to national wildlife authorities and, where viable, the provision of alternative sources of protein and income to those involved in hunting and trade. Whilst classical conservation theory will question the effectiveness of this tactic and may perhaps consider it a tacit compromise with wildlife criminals, FFI’s approach, especially in West Africa, is pragmatic, innovative and daring. It is based on years of experience and a recognition that there is a cultural dimension to bush meat consumption in Africa that cannot be continuously ignored or inadequately portrayed to the wider world. It is also based on our understanding and consideration of the complex linkages that exist between hunting for and trade in bush meat on the one hand, and the fight to reduce poverty and improve rural livelihoods on the other.

FOCUS ON PRIMATES

FFI’s work to combat gorilla poaching and reduce the destruction of forests and other vital habitat benefits other vulnerable species. Whilst primates of the savannah zones in Africa are generally believed to be ecologically more flexible and better able to tolerate large disruptions to their habitats, forest-dependent primates are more specialised, with restricted and narrow niches.

Simon J. Childs/Intergalactic Gorilla Productions

Juan Pablo Moreiras/FFI

Our efforts to protect primary and secondary forests inside and outside national parks and other protected areas in Africa are not only benefiting gorillas, but also proving crucial to the survival of other forest-dependent species including chimpanzees, drills and a broad range of less familiar, but equally important endangered primates. Whether directly or indirectly, FFI’s gorilla conservation initiatives in Africa have benefited species too numerous to mention, and will continue to do so long into the future.

CASE STUDY: CROSS RIVER GORILLA SANCTUARY Establishing the first ever Community Wildlife Sanctuary to protect the Cross River gorilla in south-west Cameroon

Discovered unexpectedly in 2004, the population of Cross River gorillas at the proposed Tofala Hill Community Wildlife Sanctuary is the most isolated of all the eight known populations in western Cameroon.

Since the discovery was made, FFI and our local partners, including Cameroon-based Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF) and the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife, have found ourselves in a race against time. We are working flat out to raise the profile of the project, provide urgently needed support and focus wider attention on this perilously endangered population of Cross River gorillas.

Within no more than 20 kilometres of the site where the gorillas were discovered is an allocated logging concession. Having secured a temporary halt to the exploitation, we proposed the establishment of a migratory wildlife corridor linking the isolated Tofala Hill population to the larger population at the MoneTakamanda complex. Less than three years ago, however, a New York-based company secured a 99-year lease from the government of Cameroon to establish an oil palm plantation within less than 50 kilometres of the proposed Tofala Hill Sanctuary. If the proposed plan is not modified to provide for appropriate buffers and corridors around and between areas of conservation significance, there are real concerns that key ecological functions and processes will be adversely affected across the entire landscape.

The challenge here is not to stand in front of a fast-moving locomotive and try to block this large-scale investment, which is seen locally and nationally as extremely important for the well-being of the community, especially in this part

of anglophone Cameroon that has long felt neglected by the central government in Yaoundé.

Nor is the solution to give up and watch the disaster unfold. It is vital to engage effectively and positively with all the stakeholders at all levels. Only by influencing the investment plan can we ensure that key biodiversity conservation concerns are addressed, that the potential negative impacts of oil palm development are properly understood, and that appropriate mitigation measures are put in place. Building on its experience in countries such as Liberia and Indonesia, FFI is uniquely placed to oversee all stages of the process and ensure a positive outcome for all concerned.

In the meantime, the team is hard at work in the field to ensure that the proposed community wildlife sanctuary is gazetted and the gorilla population effectively protected.

Good progress is being made in this direction. Towards the end of 2011 the government of Cameroon signed and published a public notice expressing its intention to gazette the Tofala Hill forest as a wildlife sanctuary. This is a tremendous achievement for the project and confirms the government’s commitment to the process. The next steps involve extended and targeted consultations, conflict resolution and management, and final agreement with, in particular, the 13 villages that are directly affected. At the same time, FFI is also establishing strategic partnerships, working towards understanding the current and potential land use changes, and putting in place a framework to monitor impact across the entire landscape, especially at the Banyang Mbo Bakossi area of which Tofala Hill forms a part.

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Back from the brink

Relieving pressure on Vietnam’s endangered primates Vietnam boasts one of the most diverse and spectacular concentrations of primate species anywhere in the world.

It also holds the dubious honour of being the country with the highest number of primates in imminent danger of extinction. Dr Ulrike Streicher explains what action Fauna & Flora International and our local partners are taking to protect them.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species categorises seven of Vietnam’s 22 different primate species as Critically Endangered and eight others as Endangered. All these species are in desperate need of conservation action.

In the worst cases, numbers have been reduced to the low hundreds, with populations clinging to survival only in the most remote and inaccessible areas of the country.

Primates decline for two main reasons – hunting and habitat loss. Vietnam’s primates are hunted primarily for use in traditional medicines and (to a lesser degree) for the pet trade. The main threat to all primate species, however, is rapid, wholesale habitat loss and habitat degradation.

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Enforcement and education Fauna & Flora International (FFI) was one of the first organisations to tackle primate conservation issues in Vietnam. We have been spearheading international conservation in this field for more than a decade. In the early stages, FFI’s primate work focused primarily on the discovery and status assessment of various species.

Following the discovery of several highly threatened primate populations, we launched two complementary initiatives to protect them, working to improve law enforcement by training forest rangers, while simultaneously putting in place a raft of conservation awareness and education programmes aimed at local communities. The latter programme spawned two locally managed organisations, established by former FFI staff. Education for

Nature Vietnam (ENV) and People and Nature Reconciliation (PanNature) are now highly successful in their own right.

Harnessing local support Over the years FFI’s approach has progressed from supporting official rangers of the Forest Protection Departments (FPD) to establishing village-based patrol teams, particularly in the limestone reserves, where high-value natural resources are far less prevalent. For this purpose, villagers are recruited from the local communities to increase the manpower and support the patrol efforts of FPD rangers. FFI provides technical support and equipment to these teams who, under the supervision of FPD rangers, patrol the forests that harbour threatened primates.

FOCUS ON PRIMATES

Zhao Chao/FFI

Le Khac Quyet/FFI & Herbert Covert

Power to the people Protected area management in Vietnam has traditionally relied on a top-down approach, with decisions taken unilaterally by the director of a management board.

The establishment of management advisory committees, another crucial facet of FFI’s primate conservation work, is encouraging broader consultation. The new committees

are composed of all those with an interest in the forest that FFI aims to protect. They usually comprise local village representatives, district forest protection authorities and police, district department of agriculture, representatives of the forest protection management board and, for example, hydropower and mining company interests.

FFI helps to establish these advisory committees as legal entities. Once its modus operandi and mandate are clarified in official regulations, a committee meets every three months.

Although cultural norms in Vietnam may initially make some people apprehensive about expressing an opinion during committee meetings, participants soon appreciate the advantages of discussing protected area management issues in such an immediate and direct way. It is intended that these committees not only supervise the overall day-to-day

management of the respective reserves, but also approve the zoning system and assume a leading role in the preparation and implementation of the management plans. The long-term benefits of this approach remain to be seen, but the early signs are positive.

Making plans for primates As often as possible we conduct field surveys to assess the status of the primates that we are striving to protect.

The relevant data contribute to the development of species conservation action plans, another vital component of our work. They may be developed either at a national level, as is the case for the Gibbon Action Plan in Laos, or they may be site-specific action plans. The latter are developed in close cooperation with the local communities around primate habitats and comprise a detailed set of actions required to ensure the survival of the target species at a specific site. Sitespecific species conservation action

FFI WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ORGANISATIONS TO TACKLE PRIMATE CONSERVATION ISSUES IN VIETNAM.

Zhao Chao/FFI

Although these community-based teams have limited authority to respond to violations, their presence in the limestone protected areas and, therefore, the increased likelihood of encountering a patrol in the forest, acts as a strong deterrent to potential hunters. In some areas with valuable natural resources the teams patrol jointly with police, which gives them more legal power to confiscate guns and saws, or even to arrest people.

The community-based patrol teams also provide a strong link between the villages and the forest protection authorities, linking local livelihoods directly to the conservation of a particular species and providing an ideal conduit for conservation awareness activities. Continuous support and training of the community-based patrol teams is fundamental to our success.

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THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE SURVIVAL PROSPECTS OF VIETNAM’S PRIMATES WOULD BE BLEAK IN THE EXTREME WITHOUT FFI’S CONTINUED SUPPORT.

Zhao Chao/FFI

Le Khac Quyet/FFI

Zhao Chao/FFI

plans are particularly effective at new sites, where our initial knowledge of the issues is limited, and the threats to survival are imminent.

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Whilst FFI has adapted its approach to reflect the changing demands of successful conservation in Vietnam, the focus of our work in recent years has remained consistent. The principal target species are still the cao vit gibbon, the western black-crested gibbon and the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (see case study). Sustainability is an FFI watchword. As things stand in Vietnam, we believe conservation is still too novel a concept, development too rapid and these species too rare for us to be confident, at this point in time, that they would survive without continued international technical and financial support.

Money well spent This encumbers FFI with the increasingly onerous task of continually raising funds for our sites, which grow in number as new discoveries are made. Most of the sites where we conserve primates are, to the wider world, relatively insignificant small forest patches whose main value is in providing habitat to critically endangered primate species.

Fundraising for species conservation work at these sites may be increasingly problematic every year, but the positive benefits of our long-term commitment are considerable. Indeed, the positive breeding results recorded among the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey and cao vit gibbon populations in Khau Ca and Trung Khanh respectively indicate that both these species may be capable of staging a recovery.

Official seal of approval Our programme recently received an award from Cao Bang Province for FFI’s conservation achievements in Trung Khanh Species and Habitat Conservation Area. We were also invited to the National Protected Areas workshop in order to outline the concept of management advisory committees, and their potential role in forest management. As a true sign of changing attitudes in Vietnam, local authorities contacted FFI in both 2010 and 2011 after finding populations of endangered primates in their forests and actively solicited our help in protecting these newly discovered survivors. More recently still, in February 2012, the Prime Minister approved co-management within the protected area system of Vietnam, a concept that FFI has been embracing for over a decade at our primate sites in Vietnam.

Ultimately, the survival of primates in Vietnam will depend on the effectiveness of legislation, the continuing cooperation of local communities, the commitment of the authorities and the speed with which attitudes to wildlife may change.

In the shorter term, however, there is no doubt that the survival prospects of Vietnam’s primates would be bleak in the extreme without FFI’s continued support. Having carved out a reputation as the leaders in primate conservation in Vietnam, we find ourselves in a privileged position.

In a country where so many primates are so gravely imperilled, this places FFI under a tremendous obligation for the foreseeable future.

FOCUS ON PRIMATES

CASE STUDY: BIG TROUBLE IN INDOCHINA – PROTECTING PRIMATES IN PERIL

GIVING GIBBONS A CHANCE Western black-crested gibbons are found in Vietnam, Laos and China, with a global population below 2,000. Last year we organised field surveys to provide current data on key populations of these gibbons in China; the findings were incorporated into a new conservation action plan.

We also work to protect the largest remaining groups of this species in Vietnam, which comprise around 130 animals in total. Unfortunately, some of them inhabit areas where

The cao vit gibbon is one of the most endangered apes in the world, with a fragmented population estimated at just 110 individuals, living in 18 groups. Feared extinct until an FFI team helped to rediscover a population in 2002, the entire species is confined to a small forest block in the Trung Khanh district of Cao Bang province, in north-east Vietnam, on the Chinese border.

Local community-based patrol groups now protect and monitor gibbons in the Cao Vit Gibbon Conservation Area, established in 2007 with FFI support.

No hunting has been recorded since the groups were set up; the main threat is now habitat degradation.

To reduce wood collection, we have equipped households with biogas plants, constructed fuel-efficient stoves and established fuelwood plantations. Elephant grass and silage have been introduced as fodder to reduce livestock grazing. A new management advisory committee, set up with FFI’s help in 2011, is encouraging constructive debate about issues affecting the gibbons’ forest habitat.

We are extending our surveys, research and protection activities across the border into China, where additional gibbon groups were discovered in 2006 and FFI supported the establishment of Bangliang Nature Reserve in Jingxi in 2009. A mere 1,000 hectares of suitable habitat remains in China, but restoration work is under way to increase this, thereby allowing the growing population to disperse more widely.

FFI support for studies on both sides of the border has increased understanding of gibbon ecology.

Latest surveys indicate that the population is now stable and possibly increasing. There is a wider appreciation of the cao vit gibbon’s importance, a participatory protected area management system is in place and transboundary cooperation is second to none.

Fan Pengfei

large hydropower developments are under way and pressure on forest resources is severe. FFI is therefore supporting local protection work and improved forest governance to address these issues.

LONG LIVE THE LANGUR Francois’ langur is an Endangered leaf monkey found in the karst forests of southern China and northern Vietnam. The remaining population in Vietnam is highly fragmented and provisionally estimated to comprise around 150 individuals in at least six sub-populations. Having joined forces with the People Resources and Conservation Foundation to protect this species, we discovered what is potentially the second largest remaining population of Francois’ langur in Vietnam, and a new project has begun.

Luo Yang/FFI

Le Khac Quyet/FFI

SNUB VALUE The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey is among the most threatened primates in the world, with a population estimated at fewer than 200 individuals. Habitat loss has taken a heavy toll, but these monkeys also end up as stuffed souvenirs and are still used in traditional medicine. A new protected area has been designated in Vietnam for the largest known population, and community rangers patrol this forest. Monitoring indicates this population is now at least stable.

In 2007 we discovered another, smaller, population on the Chinese border. This group is extremely vulnerable to hunting pressure and we have taken emergency action to ensure its survival. Community-based protection helped to ensure that no monkeys were lost in 2011, but much more support is needed for this site.

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REDD carpet treatment Safeguarding Ecuador’s vital corridor

In 1999, alarmed by the rapid disappearance of the country’s magnificent, unique and biologically rich Chocó rainforest, a group of Ecuadorian conservationists had the foresight to seize the initiative and take radical steps to conserve what remained of their irreplaceable natural heritage. With the support of Fauna & Flora International (FFI) they began promoting the establishment of the Awacachi Biological Corridor, a 10,000-hectare private reserve in north-western Ecuador, close to the border with Colombia.

By Jane Dunlop

As its name implies, the corridor provides a vital link between the region’s two largest remaining tracts of Chocó rainforest, Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve and the Awá Ethnic (Indigenous) Territory, which jointly comprise over 350,000 hectares of forested land. Since 2003 the reserve has been owned and managed by local organisation Fundación Sirua (Sirua), with ongoing support from FFI. Chocó blocks Sirua’s long-term commitment to the region has enabled it to secure, piece by piece, a significant area of forest that might otherwise have been devastated by the commercial activities of, for example, logging companies or palm oil interests. This intervention was only possible thanks to strenuous efforts to raise the required funds internationally.

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Juan Pablo Moreiras/FFI

The reward for all the years of hard work and dedication is a vibrant forest teeming with biodiversity, much of it found nowhere else on the planet. Establishment of the reserve has guaranteed the conservation of vital ecosystems and protected a strategically important strip of Chocó rainforest from wholesale destruction, but there are new challenges ahead.

A vital buffer against runaway deforestation, the Awacachi Corridor exists in a socio-cultural context that is

Juan Pablo Moreiras/FFI

Juan Pablo Moreiras/FFI

ECUADOR

operational activities ground to a halt.

The future of Sirua, and the corridor itself, was in jeopardy.

THE REWARD FOR ALL THE YEARS OF HARD WORK AND DEDICATION IS A VIBRANT FOREST TEEMING WITH BIODIVERSITY.

The importance of providing local communities with viable economic alternatives to cutting down the forest cannot be overstated. Whilst these may not generate the same income as gold mining or hardwood timber exploitation, they can provide local households with a steady income, which helps to reduce exploitation of the local workforce.

There is also an ongoing need to restore degraded lands, in order to enhance the survival prospects of the local wildlife, including endemic and globally threatened bird, amphibian and tree species that depend exclusively on the Chocó forest.

Funding conundrum Like any other conservation organisation, Sirua’s effectiveness is dependent on generating operational income to help tackle these issues. In recent years, it has struggled to raise sufficient funds, due in no small part to external factors, such as security issues, which are beyond its sphere of influence. Some dedicated project staff, including community rangers, could no longer be paid, although many stayed for several years on reduced salaries, such was their commitment to the cause. Many

Below: FFI’s rejuvenated local partner spells out its intentions.

Evan Bowen-Jones/FFI

extremely tough to manage, so tough that many organisations have pulled out or steered clear of the area. Despite its ownership by Sirua, the corridor remains under significant threat.

Poverty and limited livelihood opportunities in the area drive local people to exploit its hardwood timber and wildlife, and soaring international gold prices in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis have lured increasing numbers of miners to the area.

In mid 2011, however, the long-term prospects of the Awacachi Corridor received a welcome fillip from a relatively unfamiliar quarter. FFI’s Environmental Markets programme is focused on harnessing the power and resources of commercial markets to protect threatened habitats and provide real and meaningful benefits for the local communities who depend upon them. In this context, it has forged a productive working relationship with BioCarbon, a private sector investment partner whose mandate is to develop commercially viable projects for the generation of carbon credits.

Opposite and above: Commercial logging continues to take a heavy toll on Ecuador’s rich rainforest heritage.

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While the becalmed United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process remains resolutely immersed in red tape, BioCarbon has been forging ahead, investing in forest conservation projects in places that really need its help. Last year it started funding a commercial project to conserve and enhance forest carbon stocks in the Awacachi Biological Corridor.

Money from trees BioCarbon was initially established by Macquarie Group, a global provider of banking, financial, advisory and investment services. Following an investment in June 2011, it now has three large institutional shareholders: a timber investment fund managed

by Global Forest Partners LP, the IFC (a member of the World Bank Group) and Macquarie Global Investments.

FFI has formed a unique partnership with BioCarbon that aims to address the main drivers of deforestation by creating new ‘green’ economic opportunities. The FFI-BioCarbon collaboration designs and implements high quality projects to conserve ecosystems, reduce carbon emissions, benefit local communities and provide an appropriate return on investment. The collaboration draws on skilled professionals from both FFI and BioCarbon, with expertise in forest carbon accounting, socioeconomics, biodiversity assessment and financial management.

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Unlike many other carbon funds, BioCarbon is funding Sirua’s operational and day-to-day ecosystem management activities – activities essential for the protection of the Awacachi Biological Corridor.

As well as providing funds to Sirua, BioCarbon also funds project development activities that are pursued in line with the two leading carbon standards: The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standard. The VCS is widely considered the most technically prescriptive standard in terms of measurement, reporting and verification of forest carbon stock changes and avoided emissions. The CCB Standard is the leading standard used to demonstrate good-practice REDD+ project design, including social and biodiversity safeguards.

FFI Environmental Markets staff and their Ecuadorian counterparts are working to develop the project in line with these international standards, but also in accordance with Ecuadorian guidelines, laws and regulations for REDD+. Carbon credits generated by the project will be sold in the voluntary carbon market once Ecuador has finished developing the appropriate strategy.

In addition to providing a return on investment for BioCarbon, it is anticipated that funds from the sale of carbon credits will finance Sirua’s conservation efforts for the next 30 years, which is tremendous news for the Awacachi Corridor, for Ecuador’s beleaguered Chocó rainforest and for global biodiversity as a whole.

Juan Pablo Moreiras/FFI

Above: The iconic great green macaw, one of numerous endangered species for which the Awacachi Corridor provides a vital refuge.

REDD IN BLACK AND WHITE

CHOCÓ FOREST FACT FILE

“Deforestation and forest degradation account for nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the entire global transportation sector and second only to the energy sector.

It is now clear that in order to constrain the impacts of climate change within limits that society will reasonably be able to tolerate, the global average temperatures must be stabilised within two degrees Celsius. This will be practically impossible to achieve without reducing emissions from the forest sector, in addition to other mitigation actions.

• Chocó is an ancient and exceptionally wet type of rainforest, found only in a narrow strip along the Ecuadorian, Colombian and Panamanian coast

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.

‘REDD+’ goes several stages beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and encompasses the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

Maintaining forest ecosystems can contribute to increased resilience to climate change. To achieve such benefits, REDD+ will require the full engagement and respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities.”

Extracts from UN-REDD, the website of The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.

• Deforestation has intensified since the mid-1970s and rapid expansion of road networks has increased the extent of logging, agriculture, cattle farming, development and gold mining

• New legislation and the transfer of land • It is one of the most biologically rich rights to local communities has habitats on the planet, with an been exploited by big business, for estimated 400 tree and 800 vertebrate whom it has become cheap and easy species per hectare to buy land for conversion to oil palm plantations • Over 90% of the Chocó forest in Ecuador has already been lost • It harbours a large number of endemics – species that occur nowhere else

WHY THE AWACACHI BIOLOGICAL CORRIDOR MATTERS • The corridor maintains the ecological connectivity between two of the world’s largest remnants of Chocó rainforest, helping to link over 350,000 hectares of forested lands, ranging from lowland ecosystems to high Andean slopes • It contains around 20% of Ecuador’s remaining Chocó rainforest • It represents one of the most significant areas of Ecuador’s highly threatened lowland/hill forest outside the protected area network • Further habitat restoration and reductions in poaching could encourage sloths, peccaries and the Critically Endangered brownheaded spider monkey to repopulate the corridor • It harbours heavily hunted large mammals such as the white-throated capuchin monkey and supports key populations of carnivores including jaguar, puma, ocelot, oncilla, margay and bush dog • Over 40% of amphibian and reptile species recorded in the corridor are endemic to the Chocó forest

• It provides a refuge for species driven out of their original habitat due to high deforestation rates • It supports an estimated 400 bird species, 19% of which are endemic, 7% globally threatened or near threatened and 29% nationally threatened or near threatened, including the iconic and Endangered great green macaw • The trees and waterways in and around the corridor not only protect biodiversity, but also have deep cultural significance for local communities

Juan Pablo Moreiras/FFI

Juan Pablo Moreiras/FFI

ECUADOR

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Logging off The inexorable rise in the extraction of Honduran rosewood in the Toledo District of Belize over the last two years has had a devastating effect on its forest ecosystems. Local television news reports alleged a 600% increase in legal extraction of rosewood in one six-month period alone. Furthermore, illegal logging has been occurring on private lands, fuelling tension within and between Maya communities in the south of Belize.

Ya’axché Conservation Trust (Ya’axché) has been a strident local voice calling for a moratorium on rosewood logging and on the export of large quantities of raw lumber. Fauna & Flora International (FFI) has been working with Ya’axché since 1998, having supported it from inception to the nationally-recognised leader in conservation and sustainable development that it is today.

FFI supported Ya’axché’ s stance on the rosewood exploitation crisis and secured emergency funding from the Mohammed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund to increase patrols in two protected areas (the Golden Stream Corridor Preserve and the Bladen Nature Reserve) and undertake preliminary research into the population biology of the species.

Ya’axché urged the Government of Belize to bring rosewood cutting and export under control. Although the matter was taken to Cabinet in January this year, a press release issued the same day made no mention of a moratorium.

Then in March, following a general election that returned the incumbent government to power, an unexpected turn of events saw the government appointing Ya’axché’s Executive

HOW TO HELP A joint initiative between FFI and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), the Global Trees Campaign is the only international campaign dedicated to saving threatened trees.

Honduran rosewood, Dalbergia stevensonii, is one of several key species that we are helping to safeguard in Belize. For details of how to plant and dedicate a rosewood tree, visit www.tree2mydoor.com

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Director, Lisel Alamilla, as Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Sustainable Development. On stepping up to the position, she acted immediately to establish a moratorium on rosewood.

Not only did Lisel gain Cabinet support for her decisive action, but a number of local and international organisations also publically expressed support for her decision, including the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM, a communitybased indigenous environmental organisation working in southern Belize), the Association of Protected Areas Management Organisations (APAMO), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

“The unsustainable logging of rosewood has consumed me for the last year,” says Lisel. “I saw it as the beginning of a nightmare involving destruction of our forest and eventual extinction of a valuable species. Once they were finished with rosewood they would move on from one species to another until eventually all our biologically-rich forest disappeared.

As Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development I have the opportunity to sit in Cabinet and influence how our beloved Belize finds a balance between conservation and development.”

BELIZE

Rob Bensted-Smith, FFI’s Regional Director of Americas & Caribbean, has been deeply concerned about the rosewood crisis. Reacting to the news of the moratorium, he said: “Earlier this year we feared that the government had not grasped the urgency of the rosewood situation and the damaging effect that illegal logging was having on Belize’s forest ecosystems and the welfare of the Maya communities in the south. However, the Prime Minister’s decision to appoint Lisel as Minister sends a strong message that the government does intend to deal with the rosewood problem and to make nature conservation an integral part of the country’s development.”

Prior to the issue of a moratorium, the Forest Department had commenced an inventory of rosewood stocks on national lands in Toledo. It is expected that the results of this assessment will provide the basis for a management plan for the species. Rob added: “With Lisel’s appointment we can expect to see a determined effort by the Forest Department to keep the illegal loggers at bay and to maintain the integrity of Bladen, along with Belize’s entire impressive nationwide network of protected areas. These are exciting times for conservation in Belize.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE Widely described as the crown jewel of Belize’s protected areas, Bladen Nature Reserve is an IUCN Category 1a Strict Nature Reserve.

Human visitation, use and impacts are supposed to be strictly controlled and limited, in order to safeguard its integrity.

It is considered to be one of the most biologically diverse and geographically unique areas within the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.

The increasing global demand for rosewood is at the root of the crisis in Belize, but the effects of our insatiable appetite for timber are being felt far more widely. Throughout the world, developing nations that are rich in natural resources are being forced to take the strain of the exponential rise in global demand, but have limited capacity to manage those resources in an economically viable and sustainable way.

Above and below: Rosewood is renowned for its durability, rich colour, distinctive grain and exceptional tonal quality. It is highly sought after for furniture and musical instrument manufacture.

Bladen is one of three nature reserves within Belize, and is managed through partnership between the Government of Belize and the Ya’axché Conservation Trust (Ya’axché).

Ya’axché is responsible for the day-to-day management of the reserve.

Ya’axché Conservation Trust

Ya’axché Conservation Trust

Halting unsustainable rosewood exploitation in Belize

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Follow the footsteps Snow-tracking Romania’s large carnivores The Rapid Response Facility is designed to respond to urgent threats to World Heritage sites. Tim Knight investigates how the fund is supporting emergency intervention at one prospective site in Romania.

Picture a landscape of forested mountain slopes that harbour charismatic carnivores and other endangered wildlife, and deep rolling valleys shaped by traditional communities who have lived off the land for countless generations. These are Romania’s Zarand Mountains, not only a shining example of natural and cultural diversity in their own right, but also the core of one of Europe’s most important ecological corridors.

The Zarand Mountains act as a bridge between the Central and Southern Carpathians, a vital refuge for the largest European populations of brown bears, wolves, chamois and lynx.

Fast-forward to 2016 and the picture changes. A long, deep gouge has defaced the idyllic picture-postcard scene. It’s a six-lane wide scar of tarmac, paving the way for the juggernauts of development.

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Collision course There is no stopping the march of progress. The EU-funded A1 motorway makes economic sense. The Mures valley area is the main access route into Romania from its Western border, and is therefore a key transportation corridor for the region.

The problem for conservationists is that this same transportation corridor will intersect the last viable ecological corridor between the Central and Southern Carpathians, punching a motorway-sized hole through pristine wildlife habitat and creating an impenetrable barrier of concrete and steel that even the most fearless and resourceful bear will be unable to cross.

Bear necessities Without suitable mitigation, the impact on the region’s biodiversity will be severe. The movement of most terrestrial wildlife will be badly restricted, causing higher mortality, increasing isolation, preventing dispersal and otherwise interfering with the ecological integrity of the

broader region. Brown bears are at particular risk, as they are wide-ranging, sensitive to human disturbance and reluctant to travel long distances without adequate forest cover. Unless appropriate action is taken, a significant population of brown bears in the Central Carpathians will become geographically isolated, which is likely to lead to serious degradation of their genetic diversity.

Conversely, if appropriate measures are put in place, the overall effect of the new motorway may be positive, since it will take traffic away from the existing, heavily used local roads, which take no account of wildlife needs.

Carnivore crossing In order to minimise the ecological damage, FFI and local partner Zarand Association are advocating more adequate mitigation measures than those originally proposed by the motorway project team. We are working with the Romanian authorities and road planners to ensure that they incorporate safeguards for mobile

ROMANIA

Overpasses and other wildlife crossing points are all very well, but how do you decide where to put them? Which routes do the animals favour? There is an urgent need to gather relevant field data that will increase understanding of the area’s ecology, help monitor the impact of the motorway and pinpoint the most appropriate locations for these structures.

Radu Mot

On the right track Carrying out field surveys on wideranging large carnivores and other mobile wildlife tends to be an expensive and time-consuming business. Realistically, the only costeffective method of locating and tracking these animals is to find footprints in the snow.

Imagine a breathtaking snowscape crisscrossed by the telltale signs of wolf, lynx, wildcat, otter and numerous deer species. A member of the survey team crouches beside a set of impressively huge paw prints and makes meticulous notes to the effect that a brown bear has recently emerged from hibernation and headed off in the direction of the proposed motorway. This is how a snow-tracking survey should unfold.

Rewind to the beginning of February, the proposed date for the survey work to commence, when there is not a snowflake in sight and the field teams are gnawing their redundant snowshoes in frustration. Snowtracking, by definition, requires snow.

Fortunately, the all-important white stuff did finally arrive and the vital work began in earnest in mid-February.

Next steps Once collected, the snow-tracking data will be used to construct GIS and population models of where the animals are moving in the landscape, which in turn will enable the project team to propose appropriate wildlife crossing structures for the motorway.

From footprint to blueprint It is hoped that the fieldwork will not only help to safeguard this particular ecological corridor, but also serve a broader conservation purpose.

Collecting baseline data prior to construction, and monitoring the construction phase and operation of the new motorway, will offer vital information on the impact of transportation infrastructure, and this initiative will constitute one of the first studies of its kind worldwide.

As such, it could serve as a blueprint for improving impact assessment studies and guiding decision-making in future infrastructure projects in Europe and beyond.

Radu Mot

animals such as large carnivores.

These may include tunnels, ecoducts, underpasses, fencing and shielding, controls during the construction phase, and driver warnings.

The Rapid Response Facility is an emergency small grant programme that provides rapid support to sites of global biodiversity importance during times of crisis, with a particular focus on UNESCO designated natural World Heritage sites. It is jointly operated by Fauna & Flora International, UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the United Nations Foundation.

Radu Mot

THE OVERALL EFFECT OF THE NEW MOTORWAY MAY BE POSITIVE, SINCE IT WILL TAKE TRAFFIC AWAY FROM EXISTING, LOCAL ROADS, WHICH TAKE NO ACCOUNT OF WILDLIFE NEEDS.

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Reconciling commercial and conservation interests in the Central Namib

Desert riches Nicky Jenner, Programme Manager, explains how Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and partners are working with Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism to improve the basis for more sustainable land use planning in a unique and fragile desert landscape.

Despite the aridity of Namibia’s Central Namib Desert, its magnificent sand dunes, expansive gravel plains, ephemeral river courses, rocky outcrops and coastal wetlands support remarkable biodiversity, from the iconic Welwitschia mirabilis to the desert elephant.

Unusually high levels of endemism, especially among plants, reptiles and invertebrates, characterise this ancient desert, whilst landscape features and dramatic climatic and topographic gradients foster surprisingly rich biological diversity.

Inselbergs erupt from the surrounding plains, acting as island oases for an array of plants and animals, whilst on the coast a blanket of fog provides vital moisture to some of the world’s most

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diverse lichen fields. The Central Namib also encompasses globally important wetlands – Walvis Bay alone regularly supports over 100,000 birds during summer and is a crucial site for flamingos and Palearctic waders.

People also form a critical part of the Namib’s history, with archaeological evidence revealing that humans have been utilising the desert for millennia.

Rich in mineral deposits (including uranium, gold, copper and zinc), the Central Namib has, however, experienced intensifying pressure from the rapid development of the extractive industry. Today, humans are having an unprecedented impact,

in both scale and intensity, on this unique and fragile environment.

The uranium rush peaked in 2007, when the price of triuranium octoxide reached a high of US$ 136/lb with a surge in demand for large numbers of exploration and mining licences near and even within the Namib Naukluft National Park, one of Namibia’s flagship protected areas. As the Central Namib is an important tourist destination, and tourism is rapidly becoming a significant contributor to national GDP, the unbridled expansion of mining in the Central Namib has fuelled conflict among different land users and prompted calls for proper

WALVIS BAY ALONE REGULARLY SUPPORTS OVER 100,000 BIRDS DURING SUMMER AND IS A CRUCIAL SITE FOR FLAMINGOS.

NAMIBIA

and decision making in the Central Namib, taking into account the relative importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services across the broader landscape.

FFI has been leading this assessment in collaboration with Anchor Environmental, the Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme (BBOP) at Forest Trends, EnviroMEND, Gobabeb Training and Research Centre and the University of Hamburg. The LLA follows systematic conservation planning principles and has used published research, field data and consultations with specialists to classify and map biodiversity patterns (species, ecosystems) and key ecological and evolutionary processes (e.g. river corridors, areas of high topographic diversity) across the Central Namib.

Nicky Jenner/FFI

These spatially explicit patterns and processes form the basis of a decision support tool that has been used to help identify critical biodiversity priority areas and ecological support areas, and to assess the vulnerability of these biodiversity features to different mining-related development scenarios.

Crucially, this tool is ‘live’ and can be actively used and improved as additional, finer-scale information becomes available, and as changes occur in the landscape over time.

planning with regard to sustainable development from many quarters.

Building on recommendations from a Strategic Environmental Assessment for Namibia’s Uranium Province, the UNDP/GEF-supported Strengthening Protected Areas Network Project (SPAN) on behalf of Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism commissioned a Landscape Level Assessment (LLA) of key biodiversity vulnerability and land use in the Central Namib in April 2011. The aim was to strengthen the information base for biodiversity and ecological processes in order to support more integrated land use planning

The LLA’s economic assessment further highlights the significance of the landscape for tourism and the need to retain open spaces devoid of industrial development in order to support growth in this sector. But it is

The LLA represents a crucial step forward in the effort to align new project development with ancient desert systems and will help to give biodiversity a considerably stronger voice in decision-making forums.

Representatives from the LLA team have recently travelled to Namibia to disseminate the findings and demonstrate their application.

They have been working with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and relevant stakeholders to lay the foundations for the ongoing management and use of these tools as part of a dynamic, systematic conservation and land use planning process.

Right: Regarded as a living fossil, the distinctive Welwitschia plant is found only in the Namib Desert.

David Wright/FFI

The big question is whether economic development, particularly in a country striving to tackle persistently high levels of unemployment and poverty, can align with preserving the integrity of ancient desert systems, a unique biodiversity and the livelihood needs of people living in, or dependent on, the Central Namib.

not only direct uses of the landscape and its biodiversity, through tourism and natural resource use, that speak to its value. Many plants and animals have evolved intriguing adaptations to cope with extremely limited water and nutrient supplies. Today, with water at a premium, the physical and behavioural adaptations of Namibia’s fog-harvesting species, such as the tenebrionid beetle that survives by drinking fog water that collects on its shell, are inspiring scientific research and engineering developments, with water collection solutions being trialled that mimic the qualities of the beetle’s shell. The recent discovery of another species of gecko, new to science, is a pertinent reminder of the hidden wealth that remains to be discovered in the Central Namib and the need to ensure that a balance can be found between development and the conservation of key biodiversity and ecosystem services.

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Around the world

Examples from Fauna & Flora International’s current project portfolio

Renowned rat removal service moves in to repel alien invaders (Page 28)

ANGUILLA

NICARAGUA Climate change adaptation planning on Ometepe Island (Page 28)

KENYA Conserving the sole survivors of an ancient antelope dynasty (Page 27)

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AROUND THE WORLD

GEORGIA Protected area dogged by humancarnivore conflict turns to puppy power (Page 29)

TAJIKISTAN Gathering vital information to help reduce unwelcome pear pressure (Page 29)

CAMBODIA Iridescent lizard adds to broad spectrum of dazzling new discoveries (Page 26)

INDONESIA Turning back the tide of mangrove destruction in Java’s wetlands (Page 26)

MADAGASCAR

Reversing the drastic decline of the weird and wonderful Diego baobab (Page 27)

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Around the world Examples from Fauna & Flora International’s current project portfolio From refuse to refuge – restoring Java’s mangroves

Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and our partners are active in over 40 countries. These project updates serve to illustrate the extent of our global reach and the breadth of our activities.

Mangrove forests grow in shallow tidal waters in the tropics and subtropics. A vital habitat for many species, they also offer protection against storms and tsunamis and benefit the marine environment by filtering out excess nutrients and sediment. Some studies suggest that up to half the world’s mangroves have been destroyed since 1980. Indonesia is home to over 20% of the global total, but this habitat is declining and has largely disappeared from densely populated islands such as Java and Bali. Jakarta Green Monster (JGM), a local partner set up and supported by FFI, is working to protect the Muara Angke wetlands – one of Java’s last remaining mangroves.

ASIA-PACIFIC Iridescent lizard adds to broad spectrum of dazzling new Cambodian discoveries Scientists from FFI and Conservation International have discovered a new species of skink in the remote and poorly explored forest of north-east Cambodia. Named Lygosoma veunsaiensis in honour of the Veun Sai-Siem Pang Conservation Area where it was found, the skink has extremely short limbs and a tail considerably longer than its body. In sunlight its shiny scales create a rainbow-like effect along its body. Cambodia is proving a hotbed for new discoveries, which experts put down to a lack of research in the area during the three decades of conflict.

The expedition that led to this discovery is just part of FFI’s work in Cambodia, which aims to strengthen conservation and alleviate poverty by combining community engagement and empowerment, law enforcement, biomonitoring and research.

DID YOU KNOW? WHEN MANGROVE RESTORATION WORK BEGAN AT MUARA ANGKE, AROUND SIX TONNES OF RUBBISH WERE REMOVED IN JUST TWO HOURS.

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Enny Sudarmonowati/FFI

Gabor Csorba

By the time work began, the area was badly degraded and polluted, with few remaining trees. Since then, JGM has overseen a massive clean-up operation, and the group is now turning its attention to replanting and rehabilitation. To achieve this, it has established a seedling nursery and recently held a workshop (attended by over 70 people, mostly from local communities around the protected mangrove forest and conservation area) on mangrove ecology, conservation and planting techniques. JGM aims to raise awareness of the ecological and economic importance of mangroves, encouraging local people to become involved in their conservation.

AROUND THE WORLD

AFRICA

Protecting the Diego baobab tree in Madagascar

Conserving the sole survivors of an ancient antelope dynasty

Six of the world’s eight species of baobab tree are found only on the island of Madagascar. The endemic Diego baobab is facing severe threat from deforestation for firewood and charcoal production. Currently listed as Endangered by the IUCN, this iconic species is now restricted to just three fragmented sub-populations.

In an attempt to reverse the decline, the Global Trees Campaign (a partnership between FFI and Botanic Gardens Conservation International) is working closely with local partner Madagasikara Voakajy to gain a better understanding of the species’ range and threats, and develop a conservation action plan. The first field surveys took place in the Diana Region in November 2011, with new plots established to monitor changes in two of the remaining sub-populations. The team is now working on the latest phase of the project that aims to investigate local perceptions about the status and cultural value of this species, set up monitoring plots in the third subpopulation, and investigate the options for establishing Diego baobab tree nurseries.

FFI is pleased to announce that work is now well under way to establish a dedicated sanctuary to protect the Critically Endangered hirola antelope in Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy in Kenya. As a partner to Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), FFI was closely involved in the early design and promotion of this sanctuary initiative. The hirola is Africa’s most endangered large antelope, its numbers having plummeted from over 14,000 individuals in the 1970s to fewer than 400 today. Of the remaining population, over a third can be found within Ishaqbini, so the survival of the species (and genus) depends heavily on effective conservation within this conservancy. As a member of NRT, Ishaqbini receives ongoing support to strengthen monitoring and anti-poaching operations, uphold good governance, promote tourism development and investment, and encourage sustainable grazing management – all through regular community participation and ownership.

DID YOU KNOW? THE DIEGO BAOBAB’S MASSIVE, SWOLLEN TRUNK SERVES AS A HUGE WATER STORAGE CYLINDER, ENABLING IT TO SURVIVE LONG PERIODS OF DROUGHT.

Madagasikara Voakajy

Kenneth K Coe

DID YOU KNOW? THE SOLE SURVIVOR OF A ONCE DIVERSE GROUP, THE HIROLA ANTELOPE IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS A LIVING FOSSIL.

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AMERICAS & CARIBBEAN Unleashing Dog Island’s potential as an Anguillan wildlife haven

Nicky Jenner/FFI

How does FFI remove an entire population of rats from an island, without missing a single individual and without killing any non-target animals? By using a special rodenticide, carefully placed every 30–40 metres across the island and replenished daily until all rat signs have ceased. In February 2012, staff and volunteers from FFI, the Anguilla National Trust and Department of Environment began laying two tonnes of Klerat ™ bait to eradicate alien black rats from Dog Island and neighbouring cays. FFI’s previous projects to rid islands of these omnivorous rodents have resulted in spectacular increases in nesting birds, marine turtles, endemic reptiles, plants and many other species. If successful, Dog Island (207 hectares) will be the biggest West Indian island to be cleared of rats and will provide a much-needed sanctuary for Anguillan wildlife. The rat eradication is sponsored by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the bait was generously supplied by Syngenta.

Climate change adaptation planning on Ometepe Island

Dr Jenny Daltry/FFI

Ometepe in Nicaragua is one of the largest freshwater islands in the world. It is home to a dazzling array of species as well as around 30,000 people who rely primarily on agriculture and natural resources for a living. Residents are already worried about the effects of climate change, citing higher temperatures, greater seasonal variation in rainfall and more frequent flooding due to the rising level of the lake. With agricultural productivity already being affected, the impacts of climate change are expected to intensify pressure on the island’s biodiversity as farmers seek more land, at higher altitude, to maintain levels of production.

With support from the British American Tobacco Biodiversity Partnership, FFI and its local partner – Fundación Entre Volcanes – are working with small-scale farmers and cooperatives to better understand their vulnerability to climate change and identify strategies for adapting to a changing climate whilst conserving the island’s biodiversity and vital ecosystem services.

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DID YOU KNOW? OMETEPE IS HOME TO AN EXTREMELY RARE AND ENDEMIC LUNGLESS SALAMANDER THAT IS CONFINED TO AN AREA OF JUST 11 SQUARE KILOMETRES.

AROUND THE WORLD

EURASIA

Conservation goes pear-shaped in Tajikistan

Puppy power combats humancarnivore conflict in Georgia

Despite its recognition as a key species in Tajikistan, very little is currently known about the Tajik pear tree.

Classified by the IUCN as Critically Endangered, this species is now thinly distributed across a tiny area, and it is thought that only a few hundred remain. In an effort to address declining numbers, FFI is working in the Darvas valley in southern Tajikistan to gain a better idea of the true numbers of this species, and is collecting seeds for future propagation work. This approach is based on FFI’s existing work with the Niedzwetsky apple tree in Kyrgyzstan, which has already resulted in a tenfold population increase.

DID YOU KNOW? CLOSELY RELATED TO CULTIVATED PEARS, THE TAJIK PEAR IS A STORE OF GENETIC DIVERSITY.

Tillo Boboev

Temo Bardzimashvili

After extensive research and surveying, the Georgian Carnivore Conservation Project (a collaboration between FFI and Georgian partner NACRES) has embarked on a pilot project to investigate whether the reintroduction of traditional sheepdog training techniques on three farms has a positive effect on livestock predation. In early December, the team accompanied specialist Robin Rigg into Vashlovani Protected Area, where they met and trained the three participating farmers. They spent a day with each, going over the finer points of dog socialisation, constructing pens and checking that the farms had the facilities required to raise healthy pups.

At the end of December, the project’s Human-Carnivore Conflict Response Team returned to hand over the six pups, which will be closely monitored over the coming year. It is hoped they will grow up to be trustworthy livestock-guarding dogs that will effectively protect flocks from large predators and feral dogs, helping shepherds and carnivores alike by reducing conflict and increasing tolerance levels.

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River deep, mountain high Stuart Paterson, Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) Manager, explores how small-scale support is making a large-scale contribution to the recovery of two fascinating members of the cold-blooded communities that usually receive less attention than their cuddly mammalian counterparts.

Above: Last gasp.

Work is under way to save the Sakhalin taimen from extinction.

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Fauna & Flora International (FFI) prides itself on being one of the very few international conservation organisations working in the dramatic and diverse landscapes that tend to characterise much of Eurasia.

This is a land of vast, open steppe; pristine, ancient forests; snowcapped mountains and glistening, icy waterways. Against this stunning backdrop, a number of intrepid young conservationists funded by the CLP are setting up camp and enduring extreme conditions – from blistering heat to bitter cold. Their research is helping to conserve otherwise neglected and overlooked plants and animals that are at risk of extinction.

SMALL-SCALE SUPPORT IS MAKING A LARGE-SCALE CONTRIBUTION TO THE RECOVERY OF TWO FASCINATING COLD-BLOODED SPECIES. LOOK EAST On Sakhalin Island, located in the North Pacific off the Russian coast, a team of conservationists working for the Sakhalin Salmon Initiative (SSI) and funded by the CLP is focusing its efforts on conserving the Critically Endangered Sakhalin taimen.

50 kilos. Nicknamed the ‘river wolf’, this apex predator is known to feed on mammals, ducklings and large fish.

Whilst it dominates its own ecological niche, the taimen is struggling to cope with a number of man-made threats and is caught up in a real battle for survival.

Taimen running out The world’s largest and most ancient salmon species, the taimen can attain two metres in length and weigh over

Although it is no longer the target of commercial fishing, the main threat to Sakhalin taimen is poaching on an unsustainable scale. The fish

CONSERVATION LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME

DETAILED STUDIES HAD NEVER BEFORE BEEN CONDUCTED ON THIS SNAKE SO THERE WAS A DESPERATE NEED TO GATHER INFORMATION.

Dmitry Didenko

Quantum leap forward The team’s anti-poaching monitoring work has led to a significant drop in poaching and helped law enforcement officials to reel in the criminals. During a high profile case in 2009, one man was caught with seven tonnes of salmon (the equivalent of 45,000 helpings) and 100 kilos of roe.

The project has also attracted the support of local villagers through a combination of outreach and educational work to help the team with its research. As the second biggest threat to these fish is water pollution, local fishermen have been helping to sample fish for the presence of phenol and other pollutants.

Nicole Portley

“We are confident that our efforts will reduce poaching in rivers and give local people the opportunity to take an active role in environmental protection,” says Sergei Didenko of SSI. The Sakhalin taimen may not be off the hook just yet, but the initial signs of recovery are encouraging.

GO WEST! Up on Javakheti Ridge in northern Armenia, researchers have been conducting groundbreaking work to find out more about the last few hundred Darevsky’s vipers. The species was discovered 50 years ago, confined to a small area of land measuring only 4,000 hectares. “Detailed studies had never before been conducted on this snake so there was a desperate need to gather information about its status, ecology, distribution and conservation,” explains Levon Aghasyan, Scientific Researcher at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences.

These small snakes have specially evolved to live in cold temperatures and at high altitudes (2,300 – 2,800 metres), where they slither over and under scree and stone slabs amongst agricultural land on the mountainside. Farmers lead their livestock to this area to graze, which can disturb the fragile habitat and lead to some unsuspecting snakes being squashed under hoof.

Historic achievement Now in its third term of CLP funding, the Armenian team has achieved excellent results in terms of research and practical conservation outcomes.

The biggest achievement to date has been the addition of all known Darevsky’s viper habitat to the existing Lake Arpi National Park, increasing the park’s total area to 21,179 hectares. They have also worked hard at projecting a positive image for the snake and have garnered local support from farmers who previously had no idea that they shared this land with such a rare and threatened reptile.

Fauna & Flora International is a founding partner of the Conservation Leadership Programme, which has provided grants, training and networking opportunities to young conservationists for over 25 years.

Ring-fencing key habitat One interesting study that the team carried out involved attaching small radio transmitters to Darevsky’s

Levon Aghasyan

are sought after as much for their lucrative roe (eggs) as for their plentiful and tasty flesh.

vipers, in order to monitor their movement, distribution and habitat use. The results of this study have helped the team to calculate overall distribution and pinpoint which areas should be fenced off to prevent livestock trampling. Once fencing is in place, they plan to continue this work to improve their understanding of snake movement, particularly in relation to changing environmental factors.

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The Eurasian black vulture is a much maligned bird, with a reputation almost as dark as its name. It is also a species in steep decline. In Europe, it is mainly restricted to forested habitats in the Balkans and Iberia. The population was in freefall by the mid-20th century, culminating in the extinction of the Portuguese breeding population in the 1970s. Four pairs bred again in centraleast Portugal in 2010, but only two pairs were successful.

The species is now proving pivotal in the fight to prevent the extinction of the world’s rarest cat species, the Iberian lynx. In the south of the Iberian Peninsula black vultures are strongly associated with cork and holm oak woodlands. This ‘montado’ landscape is also the preferred habitat of the Iberian lynx, and the place where Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and local partner Liga para a Protecção da Natureza (LPN) are focusing the majority of our conservation efforts to protect this vanishing feline.

Stronger lynx Vulture initiative not strictly for the birds The Lynx and the Vulture: it sounds like something out of Aesop’s Fables, but as Ally Catterick explains, these two species are the joint beneficiaries of an imaginative conservation project fronted by FFI’s Portuguese partner, Liga para a Protecção da Natureza (LPN).

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Double jeopardy Eduardo Santos, Habitat Lince Abutre LIFE+ Project Manager with LPN, is aware that the species have a lot in common: “As well as a shared habitat and preferred prey, both are susceptible to the same threats that have, over time, reduced them both to Critically Endangered status in Portugal, on the national Red List.”

Save the vulture and you save the lynx. With this in mind, LPN and its LIFE+ project partners are working to counter the primary threats to the black vulture. Eduardo explains: “The limiting factors for the establishment and reproduction of black vultures in Portugal, such as disturbance in critical periods of its breeding cycle, lack of nest sites and scarcity of food resources, will be mitigated by our project activities, with the cooperation of landowners and managers.”

PARTNER PROFILE

Human-induced mortality remains a significant concern. “One of the main causes of unnatural death is the use of poisoned baits for predator or stray animal extermination, although electrocution and collision with power lines and even shooting also occur,” Eduardo confirms.

Food supplements Black vultures are carrion eaters.

They feed mainly on the carcasses of wild rabbit, domestic sheep and goats. The dwindling rabbit population in the south of the Iberian Peninsula has been equally bad news for both vulture and lynx.

Decreased food availability was until recently exacerbated by European Union legislation on carcass disposal, but new regulations have paved the way for the construction of feeding stations to attract these birds into prime lynx habitat, as Eduardo explains: “We are creating a network of feeding stations for black vultures on private estates, encouraging regular visitation and nesting in the area.”

The Iberian Lynx Breeding Programme

Other contributory factors – decreasing availability of food, habitat loss, lack of suitable breeding conditions, disease and lack of scientific knowledge on the species – have all been considered in the design of this LIFE+ project.

planning how to put measures of habitat management and conservation into the field, for positive conservation impact, whilst acknowledging and celebrating the importance of traditional practices.”

The network of estate feeding stations, the first of its kind in Portugal, is currently under construction. It will be implemented in the Special Protection Areas of Mourão, Moura, Barrancos and Guadiana Valley, in southeast Portugal, under the Habitat Lince Abutre EC co-funded LIFE+ project, in partnership with other Portuguese public and private entities, including Centro de Estudos da Avifauna Ibérica.

The success of this venture relies heavily on good community relations, because it is the local people providing the land (and the carcasses) and allowing the feeding stations to be built. Strict veterinary and sanitary control of the carcasses will ensure they pose no threat to public health.

It is hoped that these feeding stations, in conjunction with the wild rabbit recovery efforts that LPN also manages, will kick-start the recovery of the black vulture breeding population in southeast Portugal and provide additional food for the nearby Spanish colony.

Eduardo insists that engaging the community is a key priority of LPN’s programme: “LPN manages habitat in cooperation with landowners, managers and hunters. We work with local people,

The next step under the LIFE+ project is to construct artificial nests at carefully selected sites in the estates and hunting areas where management agreements are being established.

Rafael Palomo

BOTH SPECIES ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE SAME THREATS. SAVE THE VULTURE AND YOU SAVE THE LYNX.

Above: The survival prospects of the Iberian lynx have been considerably enhanced by the action taken to conserve the black vulture.

The human factor One of the main threats to settling populations of black vulture, and other species, is human disturbance.

The impact is particularly destructive during the most critical phases of the breeding cycle. “The black vulture hardly tolerates human activities near its nest. For instance, forestry activities, carried out at the beginning of the breeding cycle, can easily lead to the abandonment of good nest sites and reproductive failure,” Eduardo explains. Deforestation, shrub clearance, opening of trails and paths, new plantations and pruning all have a negative impact.

In most cases, however, proper planning and consultation can help to avoid problems.

“Our good relationships with local communities allow us to have open and frank discussions to devise and agree on realistic alternatives to these activities. Such an approach is sensitive to both human activity and conservation needs, allowing us to be better prepared for the ‘unpredictable’ factors that may jeopardise the success of the project.”

Knowledge gap Scientifically speaking, the black vulture is something of an unknown quantity. These gaps in our knowledge are inhibiting our ability to put in place appropriate conservation measures.

A recent study in India, for example, confirmed that population crashes in three species of Asian vulture were attributable to their feeding on cattle carcasses treated with the drug diclofenac.

“More research is needed to obtain information on population dynamics and deepen our knowledge of this species’ biology in Portugal, particularly on the possible effects of drugs and even lead poisoning. We have a long way to go, but early signs are encouraging. We are optimistic our actions will have a positive impact on both the Iberian lynx and the black vulture,” Eduardo concluded.

To learn more about the current work with the Iberian lynx and black vulture and follow the Habitat Lince Abutre LIFE+ project news and results, please visit www.habitatlinceabutre.lpn.pt

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Dr Jenny Daltry/FFI

Dr Jenny Daltry decided to become a conservation biologist at the age of eight, influenced by the work of Gerald Durrell and Sir David Attenborough. In her teens, she worked as a volunteer with various zoos and projects in the UK and India. Her work on the ecology of venomous snakes in south-east Asia earned her a doctorate from the University of Aberdeen and led to a frontcover article in Nature. Jenny joined Fauna & Flora International (FFI) in 1995 and co-led a successful project to save the world’s rarest snake. She has since worked in more than 20 countries, helping local people and governments to solve conservation problems, and was recently awarded a knighthood from the Royal Government of Cambodia. Despite close encounters with hurricanes, minefields, volcanoes, wild elephants and a submarine, she still relishes fieldwork. Jenny is now FFI’s Senior Conservation Biologist.

WHO’S WHO: A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS WITH FFI STAFF, PARTNERS AND ASSOCIATES

How did you first become involved with the organisation?

I first became a member of FFI (then the Fauna & Flora Preservation Society) when I was 11 years old.

Years later, after completing a PhD on pitvipers in 1995, I was eager to return to conservation. FFI was just starting to work in the West Indies, where there are a large number of globally threatened snakes and other reptiles. A friend in FFI thought I could help.

Why have you stayed loyal to FFI? I like the fact that most FFI projects are set up in response to requests from the countries concerned and we tailor our actions according to their needs. I think some of the other international NGOs try too hard to impose their own agendas and blueprints, and sometimes fail to give local partners enough chance to have their say and take ownership.

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Dr Jenny Daltry

I also like the fact that we are not artificially tied to working with particular types of species or geographical areas. Conservation is a broad church, and FFI can act wherever we are needed.

How has the organisation changed?

FFI has grown by a couple of orders of magnitude since 1995, and I can no longer profess to know all my colleagues by name or know all the projects that are taking place.

Yet size hasn’t dampened our entrepreneurial spirit and I think we have adapted well to new threats and opportunities, such as the global recession, climate change and the emergence of REDD+.

What’s your overall role at FFI? According to my contract, my function is ‘to strengthen the capacity of FFI and its partner institutions to develop,

implement, monitor and promote projects that are based on sound conservation science’. In practice, I develop and manage a number of conservation projects in the Caribbean and south-east Asia, which takes about 70% of my time.

The rest is spent supporting other FFI projects.

What kind of work is involved?

No two years are ever the same, and I enjoy the variety. Last year, for example, I developed a new training module for Tajikistan, launched an invasive species eradication project in Anguilla, worked on a new reintroduction plan for Siamese crocodiles, edited two issues of the Cambodian Journal of Natural History, and helped to solve a problem facing rare lansan trees in Saint Lucia. I also wrote a lot of grant proposals – almost everyone in FFI is a fundraiser.

WHO’S WHO

Are the problems and solutions always the same?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Every species, ecosystem, cultural context, partner and community is unique, so we have to tailor each project accordingly. That said, similar problems can arise and sometimes we can transfer what we have learned from one situation to another. For example, I am drawing on FFI’s experience in Cambodia to help local people develop a sustainable use programme for the lansan tree in Saint Lucia.

Which person in your field do you most admire and why?

I greatly admire Debbie Martyr for her tireless efforts to save tigers in Sumatra. She is a wonderful example of what an unwavering focus and dogged perseverance can achieve.

You’ve garnered a few awards in your time. Which means the most to you?

The most touching was the first: having a little islet named after me by the Forestry Unit in Antigua as a thank you for responding to their call to save the Antiguan racer snake. Jenny Island might not be much to look at, but I am very proud of my long association with Antigua, and thrilled that the Antiguan racer is making a strong recovery.

What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your work?

I love solving problems – and conservation has no end of these.

What is your greatest single achievement?

The incredible Cardamom Mountains of south-west Cambodia were scheduled to be logged out by 2004. I am proud to have been part of the team that, by pooling the combined efforts of sponsors, the government and other international NGOs, managed to bring more than one million hectares of species-rich forests under protection.

Is there a particular project that epitomises what FFI stands for?

Conservation is a peculiar job because our ultimate mark of success is genuine redundancy! We can be most proud of the projects where FFI is no longer needed, either because the problem has been solved or because the local stakeholders have gained the capacity and commitment to carry on the work. In Antigua, for example, most of the work that used to be done by myself and other FFI staff is now being directed and implemented by a national NGO. What is the biggest challenge for conservation in the 21st century?

The elephant in the room – human population growth.

Conservationists aren’t allowed to have ‘favourite’ species, but if you could only save one, what would it be?

The Siamese crocodile. Having been

credited with rediscovering this amazing reptile in 2000, I feel a personal responsibility to make sure it doesn’t go extinct a second time!

Of course, that also means saving all its prey species too (which don’t include humans!).

Do you have any amusing stories from the field?

I once radio-tracked 14 pitvipers on a rubber plantation. Every day, the rubber tappers saw me walking around the estate, twiddling dials and switches on my receiver box. It later transpired that they thought I was driving these venomous snakes around like radio-controlled cars! I’m lucky I wasn’t lynched, but that was my first salutary lesson on the importance of looking at things from the standpoint of local people.

How do you stay positive?

A conservationist has to be an optimistic pessimist! The situations we face daily are often dire, but I still believe almost every problem is soluble as long as we put in the hours and aren’t afraid to try something new.

What gives me hope is the fact that a very large number of species and areas have been rescued in my lifetime, plus the fact that the number of conservationists and supporters is rising in leaps and bounds. We aren’t beaten yet.

What was your scariest moment?

On two occasions while doing surveys in Cambodia I have walked into minefields, and had to very carefully retrace my steps out. To misquote Lady Bracknell, once is misfortune but twice looks like carelessness. In my defence, the minefields were unmapped, unmarked and deep in the jungle.

Dr Jenny Daltry/FFI

And what’s the hardest part?

The juggling act of doing good conservation work while also raising the money to pay for it. Almost every staff member in FFI works hard to secure funds for the projects they work on, and it is dispiriting to spend two weeks on a grant proposal that is rejected.

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The last post Is there life after snail mail?

Dr Chris Greenwood, Director of Development & Communications, explains how Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is looking beyond the more traditional outreach methods to encourage wider support for its activities.

A gentleman telephoned me recently, to thank FFI for inviting him to our event at The Athenaeum, a club in London, held in support of gorilla conservation. As well as to encourage my colleagues to press on with the good work, he wanted to apologise since he would be out of the country.

I managed, however, to share a short conversation with him. It turned out that FFI is one of a pretty substantial group of charities that he supports.

He is far from alone in that respect.

When you look as I do at who supports causes around the world, whether in the Netherlands, USA, Chile or elsewhere, you find small numbers of people with what one might call portfolios of causes. There is a significant contingent of people around the world that bears much of the burden of charitable donation.

FFI itself is similar. We share causes with innumerable organisations, some of whom are governments. Private

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individuals with any level of education recognise a need to play a role in governing the intolerable and limiting anarchy. They recognise that governments are not always strong, quick or reliable. Just as the gentleman on the telephone fixes issues by supporting causes, so too does FFI. We fix conservation problems by promoting the value of various organisations other than ourselves.

International, The Nature Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Society; others tiny and embryonic. We share their interests and we are proud to do so. We help nurture and promote numerous charities and environmental departments and all manner of related institutions in over 40 countries around the world. We like it when people support others. Just as we like them to support us.

Sometimes it seems as though we do this more than we promote ourselves.

To a commercial operator this may seem bizarre, verging on the negligent.

But to us, a stronger environmental department in Cambodia is as interesting as a vast campaigning NGO like WWF. FFI works on projects around the world with many organisations, some of them huge like Conservation

To that end, I would like to draw your attention to the donation website of a non-profit organisation called Kiva (www.kiva.org). This site brings individuals in developing countries into relationships with those in developed places. It does so via microfinance, which in itself may be something of a well-trodden path.

The story of Grameen Bank has been

WE FIX CONSERVATION PROBLEMS

BY PROMOTING THE VALUE OF VARIOUS ORGANISATIONS OTHER THAN OURSELVES.

SUPPORTING CONSERVATION

Tara Capsuto

Left: A Kiva loan helped Silole to expand her small wheat farm and earn extra money that she can spend on educating her six children.

A number of years ago I went to Kiva and was able to lend $25 to a Vietnamese woman. She was selling curios to local tourists and needed some capital to expand. She paid me back at $1.25 per month, as I remember. Kiva operates by contacting big development NGOs to find such people and then presents their needs transparently on its own site.

Effectively, a person in Brussels or Buffalo can help someone in Burkina Faso directly, without the apparent

interference of an NGO. At the time I thought lending was a new form of giving. I cannot say that such a sea change has occurred, but in its very short life Kiva has already moved more than $100m in support from developed to developing countries all over the world.

At FFI we are interested in aspects of this idea. We do, as you might expect, find ourselves involved in microfinance schemes from time to time. But what really interests us is the idea of a website presenting a host of conservation projects and the people who work in them. Such a website would give greater access to a broader community of conservation

We are in the process of developing this idea. If you think it is a good one, or the opposite, do please contact me.

Equally, if you feel able to help, do let us know. We currently send out a lot of items by post. We do not wish to do so forever and are actively investigating better ways of talking about conservation and conservation needs.

As you will have no doubt heard though, postal appeals raise money.

Whilst soliciting money bothered Charles Dickens in the 1840s and the same thing bothers people today, FFI is good at it. There is a pretty large and generous group of people in the world whose list of causes is long. Some of them correspond with charities in the old-fashioned, traditional manner.

Some don’t. Here’s hoping that the latter won’t have slipped through the net when we next review progress.

SUPPORTING THE TONGWE TRUST As part of its collaborative approach to conservation, FFI has teamed up with Size of Wales (a Welsh charity that is bringing people together to protect an area of rainforest as big as Wales) in order to help Tanzania’s Tongwe people protect and benefit from their ancestral land north of Mahale Mountains National Park, on the shores of Lake Tanganika.

To achieve this, FFI and Size of Wales are harnessing support for the Tongwe Trust, enabling this community-based NGO to establish, protect and manage a series of Village Land Forest Reserves (which will help safeguard vital habitat for both chimpanzees and elephants) and encouraging villagers to use their forest resources sustainably.

Thanks to matched funding provided by the Size of Wales, every pound or dollar donated will be doubled. To find out more about how you can support this vital work, visit www.fauna-flora.org/size-of-wales

Jeremy Holden/FFI

Roger Ingle/FFI

told. A less well known, but flourishing, concept is the idea of individuals in developed countries lending to individuals in developing countries using the internet as a medium.

supporters. It would allow those interested specifically in helping snow leopards to make that choice and those interested in supporting fynbos conservation to do just that (same constituency but very different objectives and approaches). It would also offer greater exposure to the breadth of work that we and our partner organisations undertake in some of the wilder, more remote, less visited parts of the world.

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MYANMAR SNUB-NOSED MONKEY SCIENTIFIC NAME: Rhinopithecus strykeri STATUS: The IUCN classification process is still under way, but with the total population estimated to be as few as 260–330 individuals (confined to an area of 270 square kilometres) it is expected that the species will be listed as Critically Endangered.

GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Isolated from related species by the Mekong and Salween Rivers, the monkey was initially thought to be confined to the Maw River area of Kachin state, north-eastern Myanmar, but recent sightings suggest its range may extend across the border into China.

The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey is a species new to science, discovered in northern Myanmar by a team of conservationists from Fauna & Flora International (FFI), The Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA) and the People Resources and Conservation Foundation (PRCF).

The discovery was made during an expedition forming part of the nationwide Myanmar Primate Conservation Programme in early 2010. Hunters had reported the presence of a monkey species with prominent lips and wide, upturned nostrils. As this description did not fit any primate currently known from the area, the team was keen to find evidence of the unidentified animal’s existence.

The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey is geographically isolated from other species by the Mekong and Salween Rivers, which may explain why it had not been discovered earlier.

Whilst the species had been described scientifically from a dead specimen collected from a local hunter, no

38 | Fauna & Flora

photos existed until mid-2011, when a joint team from FFI, BANCA and PRCF captured the first pictures of the monkey on camera traps placed in the high, forested mountains of Kachin state, bordering China.

“These images are the first record of the animal in its natural habitat,” said Ngwe Lwin, the Burmese national who first recognised the monkey as a possible new species. “It is great to finally have photographs because they show us something about how and where it actually lives,” he added.

Heavy snows in January and constant rain in April made expeditions to set the camera traps difficult. “We were dealing with very tough conditions in a remote and rugged area that contained perhaps fewer than 200 monkeys,” said

FFI/BANCA

THREATS: Habitat under pressure from increased logging and development (including one of Asia’s largest hydropower development schemes). New roads built to support these industries allow hunters and illegal loggers easy access to the mountain forests.

There is also increased demand for bush meat, caused by the influx of workers into the region.

Jeremy Holden, who led the camera trapping team. “We didn’t know exactly where they lived, and I didn’t hold out much hope of short-term success with this work.” But in May a small group of snub-nosed monkeys walked past one of the cameras and into the history books.

“We were very surprised to get these pictures,” said Saw Soe Aung, a field biologist who set the cameras. “It was exciting to see that some of the females were carrying babies – a new generation of our rarest primate.”

In addition to the world’s first images of the monkey, the camera traps also caught photos of other globally threatened species including red panda, takin, marbled cat, Malayan sun bear and several rare pheasants such

TO DATE, NO SCIENTIST HAS SEEN A LIVE MYANMAR SNUB-NOSED MONKEY.

SPECIES PROFILE MYANMAR SNUB-NOSED MONKEY

THESE IMAGES ARE THE FIRST RECORD OF THE ANIMAL IN ITS NATURAL HABITAT. Turn-up for the books – Surprise discovery prompts urgent action

FFI/BANCA

In February this year, FFI and the Myanmar Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry held an international workshop in Yangon – the first of its kind for this species – to create a conservation action plan. Hosted by the Ministry, the action plan workshop was attended by scientists from the UK, Germany, China, Vietnam and Myanmar. Having been prompted by the discovery in Myanmar, the Chinese team provided terrific photographic evidence of the new species on the Chinese side of the Goaligonshan. The workshop was full of hard work and concluded with the production of a thorough action plan (including a proposed new national park for the monkey in Myanmar). The delegates could barely hide their delight at the discovery, which means that a fifth member has been added to an important genus of monkey.

as Temminck’s tragopan, showing the global importance of this area for biodiversity conservation.

FFI/BANCA

Since the discovery, FFI has been working with partners and local communities, taking immediate conservation action to ensure the survival of this important new species.

Initial steps have included the monitoring of the snub-nosed monkeys using camera traps and the launch of a comprehensive conservation awareness programme for local communities and Chinese construction workers. A community ranger programme and an alternative livelihoods programme for the forestdependent indigenous peoples have also been set up. FFI aims to facilitate the government in declaring this important biodiversity area in the Sino Myanmar border region as a new national park.

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TOOLS OF THE TRADE An insight into some of the techniques and equipment used by FFI and its partners in the field

Sweet smell of success If someone asked you the best way to count Uganda’s mountain gorillas, the chances are that you wouldn’t suggest doing it from Germany, even with a powerful telescope. So what possessed the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) to set up shop in a Leipzig laboratory almost 4,000 miles from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park? As IGCP’s Anna Behm Masozera explains, there is method in its madness.

The latest census of the Critically Endangered mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda is currently under way. Much of the crucial work, however, is being carried out not in Bwindi’s vast and dense forests, but in a laboratory in Germany.

Above: Face-to-face encounters are not a reliable means of assessing mountain gorilla numbers.

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Whilst there is no such thing as a perfect census, the importance of accurate population counts is obvious.

The clearer the picture conservationists have of a species’ status, the better equipped they will be to monitor changes and respond to downward trends. This is particularly vital in the case of a critically endangered species such as the mountain gorilla, where even a slight population change can have a disproportionately large impact on long-term survival prospects.

GENETIC ANALYSIS OF MOUNTAIN GORILLA FAECES MAY BE A LABORIOUS PROCESS, BUT THE CONSERVATION BENEFITS ARE NOT TO BE SNIFFED AT. Faeces and night nests From George Schaller’s initial direct visual estimates and extrapolations in the 1950s, the effectiveness of data collection has been considerably improved over the decades by using indirect signs as the basis for estimations of mountain gorilla numbers. These include not only faeces, but also night nests. Each mountain gorilla builds a nest of vegetation each night, with infants sleeping with their mothers.

Since the distribution of mountain gorillas is confined to two relatively small areas (450 km2 in the Virunga Massif and 331 km2 in Bwindi), it is

feasible to systematically collect data of these indirect signs throughout their entire range. In Bwindi, this ‘complete sweep ‘census method was conducted in 1997, 2002, 2006 and, most recently, in 2011.

In the complete sweep method, data from fresh nest sites are meticulously recorded, allowing researchers to calculate not only the number of individuals in a family group, but also the sex and age composition as well.

Mature male mountain gorillas, known as silverbacks, may sometimes strike out on their own and lead solitary lives.

The systematic transects used are able to capture information on these lone

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

By creating genetic ‘fingerprints’ for each individual encountered during the census, comparing DNA at 16 microsatellite loci, researchers were able to come up with a more accurate count of the mountain gorillas in the park. The samples collected in 2006 revealed that the complete sweep census method had overestimated the population size in the park by 10.1%, as it transpired that several groups and certain lone silverbacks had

Conservationists must be patient, however, because the paperwork for shipping faecal samples, the processing of samples and subsequent data analysis all take time. The full results from the latest census will not be announced until late 2012, but everyone acknowledges that it will be worth the wait. Genetic analysis of mountain gorilla faeces may be a laborious process, but the conservation benefits are not to be sniffed at. And that’s the bottom line.

Above: A precocious baby mountain gorilla adopts the archetypal silverback pose favoured by its father.

Below: IGCP’s technical adviser, Maryke Gray, helps the census team to collect gorilla faeces in the Virunga Massif.

IGCP

IGCP

Genetic ‘fingerprints’ In 2006, however, a 21st century dimension was added to the census methodology in the form of genotyping. In addition to recording the number and size of night nests and faecal samples, census teams are now adopting what can only be described as a more hands-on approach to their work, scooping gorilla faeces into test tubes. These samples are meticulously labelled at the point of collection, transported out of the forest and shipped to the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany for genetic analysis.

inadvertently been counted twice. It was also determined that occasionally one individual would build two nests in one night. The final, more accurate, number using the genotyping was estimated at 302 individual mountain gorillas. Genetic fingerprinting has the added advantage of giving researchers a way to track one mountain gorilla over time, notwithstanding the regular transfers of gorillas from one group to another. Genetic analysis is now standard practice in the census of mountain gorillas. It has since been applied in the Virunga Massif in 2010 (estimated at 480 mountain gorillas), and in the most recent census of the Bwindi population, which was conducted over a six-week period in late 2011, with teams covering the total area of the park in highly coordinated movements.

IGCP

silverbacks as well. Since all data are collected using a GPS point, this also provides researchers with a snapshot of the location of each family group and lone silverback at a given moment.

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FAMILY ALBUM Whilst it may not be scientifically accurate to refer to our fellow primates as family, there is no denying the unique sense of kinship that we humans feel with our closest living relatives. Sir David Attenborough himself has remarked on the mutual understanding implicit in a glance exchanged with a gorilla.

A five-page picture gallery doesn’t begin to do justice to the breathtaking diversity of the world’s primates. They span the size spectrum from minuscule marmoset to gargantuan gorilla; they vary in appearance from the unprepossessing uakari to the debonair de Brazza’s monkey.

Methods of locomotion include breakneck brachiation, preferred by gibbons; pogoeing on spring-loaded limbs, practised by sifakas; and going nowhere fast, perfected by pottos.

Despite their differences, all these apes, monkeys, lemurs, lorises and tarsiers share a common ancestry. Half of them, unfortunately, have something else in common; they are threatened with extinction. Every primate featured in this gallery is seriously endangered. Take a good look before it’s too late. Better still, support our efforts to save them by donating to FFI.

Anup Shah

Their intriguing, evocative names raise questions in our minds. Exactly who was Miss Waldron? Is angwantibo an anagram?

What does kipunji mean? Can you clean your ears with a cotton-top tamarin?

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Top right: Rampant deforestation in Borneo and Sumatra is having a devastating effect on both species of orang-utan.

Right: The golden lion tamarin is confined to three small patches of Brazil’s rapidly diminishing Atlantic Forest, a habitat that FFI has helped to conserve in the past.

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Mark Bowler

Dave Watts

Opposite: The drill is even closer to extinction than its more familiar cousin, the mandrill. FFI’s primate conservation work in West Africa has made a valuable contribution to the species’ survival.

GALLERY

www.fauna-flora.org | 43

Clockwise from top left: Characterised by a pendulous nose and pot belly, the proboscis monkey is found only on the island of Borneo.

The Bornean white-bearded gibbon faces an uncertain future due to the ongoing destruction of the island’s peat swamp forests, a habitat that it shares with the Bornean orang-utan.

A Zanzibar red colobus monkey reveals its breathtaking agility among the treetops.

Zhao Chao/FFI

Mark Carwardine

Arguably the world’s rarest ape, the Hainan gibbon clings precariously to survival on a single island off the coast of southern China. FFI and its local partners are working to protect the remaining two populations, which comprise around 20 individuals between them.

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Bernard Castelein

Claire Thompson

GALLERY

www.fauna-flora.org | 45

Right: The brown-headed spider monkey is one of the many species to benefit from FFI’s efforts to conserve Ecuador’s threatened Chocó rainforest.

Evan Bowen-Jones

Evan Bowen-Jones/FFI

Below: Like all other lemurs, the indri is endemic to the island of Madagascar.

Its loud, distinctive call is one of the iconic sounds of the diminishing forest habitat on which it depends.

46 | Fauna & Flora

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RELATIVE IMPORTANCE Why primates matter

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RELATIVE IMPORTANCE Why primates matter GORILLAS ON THE LIST Saving Africa’s greatest apes from extinction

BACK FROM THE BRINK Relieving pressure on Vietnam’s endangered primates

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REDD CARPET TREATMENT Safeguarding Ecuador’s vital corridor Innovative conservation since 1903 www.fauna-flora.org

FOLLOW THE FOOTSTEPS Snow-tracking Romania’s large carnivores

Issue 15 | June 2012