Hope for the Jaguar and other migratory species

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) has held the 13th Conference of Parties Wildlife Summit in Gandhinagar, Gujurat, India, this week.

One of the big headlines has been around an initiative to help strengthen protections for the Jaguar across the Americas. It ranges across an area stretching from the southern US border with Mexico, down through Central America and into South America, where it can be found as far down as Paraguay and northern Argentina.

It has seen about 40% of its habitat lost over the last hundred years, and while laws exist in each country it can be found in, it is hoped that new measures for migratory species will strengthen protection for it (and other species) as it goes across international borders. Threats include deforestation and poaching.

The CMS covers all migratory species, including the jaguar, and its existence can help bring about protection to vital habitats, and maintaining vital wildlife corridors that allow animals to move between areas. Without these, animals can become isolated - once isolated, the chances of them facing extinction grow....

Jaguar (image: Wikipedia)

Rebecca Regney, Deputy Director for the Human Society International, hopes that the CMS will create a vital legal framework. "This will provide increased incentives and funding opportunities for this work and that is crucial for curbing habitat destruction, maintaining key migratory corridors and addressing killings for retaliation and trafficking."

Help for the Asian elephants - and more:

The CMS also provides hope for many other migratory species, including the Asian elephant. It too has faced loss of habitat, poaching, poisoning and disruption of its habitats, such as blockages by rail lines and the like.

India hosts around 60% of the remaining numbers of the species, but cross-border migration occurs with some of its neighbours, such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal. Mark Simmonds, also of the Humane Society International says of the CMS, "The highly migratory Asian elephant for example, is endangered throughout much of its substantial range, trying to survive in continually shrinking, degraded and fragmented habitats."

Representatives of 130 nations have signed the CMS, which will increase the conservation status of many species, including;

• Oceanic whitetip shark - now one of the most endangered shark species
• Great Indian bustard
• Antipodean albatross

Getting giraffes off the endangered list:

A century ago, there were over one million giraffes in sub-Saharan Africa. They used to roam at least 28 countries, but are now extinct in at least seven of them (Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria and Senegal). There are now estimated to only be around 100,000 left, and they are generally in fragmented populations.

This massive decline, 40% in just the last 30 years, has seen the species as a whole labelled as 'vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List. Two sub-species, the Nubian and Kordofan giraffes, are now 'critically endangered'; while two more, the Reticulated and Masai giraffes, are 'endangered'.

Nubian giraffe (image: Wikipedia)

What is the IUCN Red List?

Established in 1964, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungus and plant species.

The IUCN Red List is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity. Far more than a list of species and their status, it is a powerful tool to inform and catalyze action for biodiversity conservation and policy change, critical to protecting the natural resources we need to survive. It provides information about range, population size, habitat and ecology, use and/or trade, threats, and conservation actions that will help inform necessary conservation decisions.

As part of an effort to halt this decline, conservation measures have been submitted by six of the countries where giraffes can still be found; Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. They cite a number of issues faced by giraffes across their range:

• Fragmentation of habitat - roads, railways, power lines etc. all hinder their migration.
• Habitat loss - wildfires, livestock encroachment and human spread all increase this issue.
• Poaching / snaring - for bushmeat, skins and traditional medicine.

These issues are all further exacerbated by factors like disease, war and a lack of awareness and knowledge of the issues. The 'Concerted Action for the Giraffe' is calling for an Africa-wide strategy, with much more trans-boundary collaboration, better exchange of information and the creation of an international database. This, it is hoped, will lead to better legal protection, more research and ultimately a raising of awareness around the issues, which in itself may help to push it up the priority list for various governments.

Other stories from the Convention:

There is a commitment to evaluate the impacts of climate changes on migration, specifically through the lens of some focal species and ecosystems. It is hoped this will help animals adapt to a warming world, especially as January was the hottest one globally on record. This year it reached a point where it was 1.14°C above the global average for the twentieth century.

Ethiopia this week signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia (luckily more commonly known as the Raptors MOU). It was signed on behalf of the Ethiopian government by Kumara Wakjira, the Director General of the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority - bringing the total number of signatories to 61.

Wakjira said, on his country signing, "The country is a staging post for migratory birds, including raptors. Most species are coming from Europe and Asia for wintering. Nonetheless, due to growing habitat threats, the distribution and status of raptor species is declining. Ethiopia is thus pleased to sign the Raptors MOU to strengthen the protection of raptors."

Ethiopia is indeed a strategically important country for this, especially as it is located on the East African flyway, a significant route for millions of migrating birds of prey. 40 of the 93 species featured in the MOU can be found in Ethiopia, including the Steppe eagle, Sakar falcon and Egyptian vulture.

Research:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51561697 

https://www.cms.int/en/news 

https://www.cms.int/en/news/africa-wide-conservation-strategy-giraffe 

https://www.cms.int/en/news/cms-raptors-mou-welcomes-ethiopia-signatory 

https://www.iucnredlist.org/about/background-history 

The Road Ahead for Peru

Manu National Park in Peru is over 1.5 million hectares in size. It is designated as a World Heritage Site and UNESCO has said that it has an "unrivalled variety of plant and animal species." Those include Spider monkeys, Emperor tamarinds, Ocelot, Jaguar and Puma.

Eilidh Munro is a self-taught photographer and filmmaker from Edinburgh. She spent many evenings and weekends building her portfolio by learning from other filmmakers and editors, all whilst working a day job in an advertising agency.

Eilidh Munro films in the rainforest.

The Film:

These worlds have now collided, as Munro has managed to put together a film called 'Voices on the Road' about the park - but this time it is about the people more than the animals.

"They have never been asked what life is like in the middle of the rainforest," says Munro of the people she interviewed while making the film. They have no clean water, no sewerage and no easy access to markets to sell produce and make a living.

The 23 minute film is the result of ten months of work, with journalist Bethan Jones and biologist Shirley Jennifer Serrano-Rojas. The work centres on the 'better life' that is promised by a controversial road through the middle of the National Park and adjacent Amarakaeri Communal Reserve.

The Road:
The road is intended to link all the isolated communities in the park, with the outside world. Although construction started in 2015, work on the road was stopped by the Peruvian Environment Ministry. Regional Governors argue that the road will help with wealth creation for the local tribes, when they can sell their produce in new markets. This, they say, will ultimately lead to people being able to clothe and educate their children, as well as gain other luxuries like internet access.

Edgar Morales Gomez, a District Mayor in the region says, "The road will bring water, communications, internet - so many things. Only with the road can we change our life."

Illegal work on the road continued despite the order to cease; loggers carried on by hand and the destruction of the forest continued pretty much unabated. Then, in November 2018, after a three year battle, construction of the road was approved again.

Other say the benefits have been over-hyped. There could end up being 40,000 hectares of deforestation, which could also have a fishbone effect (lots of smaller side roads being cut to join up with it), lead to more loggers moving in and the possibility of the smugglers setting up base.

The Expedition:

Funding of the film came from the Scientific Exploration Society, with an additional £15,000 raise via crowdfunding.

Munro and Serrano-Rojos undertook a 40-day expedition to visit four communities in the making of the film; Diamante, Isla de los Valles, Shintuya and Shipetiari. They interviewed the community leaders first and didn't film at all for the first few days, in order to be discreet and put the communities at ease.

The film (which has been shown at a variety of small film festivals, but has had no general release yet) captures how these people are feeling; some long for the promised profit the road might bring - while others fear the havoc and loss of culture that it might herald.

The Communities:

Poor Andean farmers were encouraged into Manu with cheap land from the state, to exploit untapped natural resources. They were encouraged to farm with the promise that they would prosper from agriculture as the road advanced - and this has not happened.

The communities of Shipetiari and Shintuya have both struggled, even with the road connection already made, as they are forced to sell their goods through intermediaries. In the case of Sintuya, there has been a road to them for 50-years, without any of the supposed benefits, but with additional pollution and deforestation.

They are also in danger of losing their customs - "[we are] trying to rescue our culture, our identity, our respect," says Victoria Crispera. It seems that the desperation of the people may have been used, with the promise of empowerment, but only politicians profiting from a black economy.

© Eilidh Munro / Bethan Jones

Luis Otsuka Salazar:

Luis Otsuka Salazar is a former regional governor: "Here I see this poverty that disgusts me!" But this may be lip-service of fake promises.

It is illegal in Peru to build a road for the purpose of exploring for gas and oil, and the road would appear to be bordering on that illegality. Otsuka used to be the President of Mining Federation of Madre de Dios (Federmin). In Madre de Dios, 90% of the gold mining there is illegal and modern slavery is rife, with trafficking of women and girls into sex work being common. The final destination of the road is pretty much the epicentre of this illegal gold mining area!

The advance of the road, technically illegal or otherwise, seems to be unstoppable. Cocaine is now the new cash crop here, although it is declining elsewhere, production of coca in Madre de Dios is up by 52%.

This is a frightening prospect for some. Waldir Gomez Zorrillo says, "They could make us accomplices. The army, when they catch you, they catch you innocently because they think you're working. They blame us, It's us who pay!"

But the road hasn't reached Diamante yet. For them the road remains a symbol of hope, as they have become so obsessed with the possibility that it will improve their lives, that they will overlook all of the other negative potential outcomes. Oscar Guadalupe Zevallos, a director of human rights organisation Asociacion Huarayes, says, “We have a state that doesn’t worry about the employment of people. They play with people’s natural desire; they sell us roads, but they don’t sell us development. How are we going to use this tool - the road - to improve the family economically, to improve the education of our children?”

Munro believes there is still hope; “There’s also a big movement which is proving that protecting indigenous land rights is by far the best way to protect the environment and there are recent examples of South American indigenous groups who have successfully sued governments for misleading them in discussions around construction on their indigenous land, so there are small steps being made."

You can watch the 'Voices on the Road' trailer here - and also check if there are any other screenings planned.

Research:

Transform magazine: 'A perilous road ahead' - December 2019

https://theecologist.org/2019/may/07/voices-road

https://www.voicesontheroadfilm.com/

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/voices-on-the-road-scottish-filmmaker-explores-why-indigenous-communities-are-contributing-to-amazons-environmental-demise/