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This monthly Bulletin, as a supplement to SPECIES, SSC’s published newsletter, is to keep staff, members and the wider IUCN network up-to-date with news and announcements from the Commission. This issue and all previous issues are available on the SSC website: www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/ Previous issues: visit the archives In this issue:
SUBSTANTIAL INCREASES IN MAJOR SOUTHERN AND EASTERN AFRICA SAVANNAH ELEPHANT POPULATIONS The number of savannah elephants in major populations in Eastern and Southern Africa has increased substantially in recent years, according to a study published by SSC’s African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG). In the first objective statistical analysis of changes in elephant populations ever conducted at this scale, researchers selected and analyzed elephant population estimates from sites where surveys were repeated using comparable methods between the late 1990s and 2002. The data were drawn from the African Elephant Database, maintained by the AfESG. The estimated number of elephants in Southern and Eastern Africa sites increased from around 283,000 to nearly 355,000, which translates to an estimated overall rate of increase of around 4.5% per year. Full story GARAMBA NATIONAL PARK : NO RHINO, NO WORLD HERITAGE SITE The World Heritage Committee is considering removing Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo from the World Heritage List in 2006 if the northern white rhino becomes extinct by then. “No rhino, no World Heritage site” was the echoing comment of the World Heritage Committee meeting in July during a long and heated debate about the situation of the national park. Full story TAKAHE TAKE-OFF – POPULATION INCREASE FOR ONE OF THE WORLD’S RAREST FLIGHTLESS BIRDS This summer’s Takahe Recovery Programme census in Fiordland National Park, South Island, New Zealand, has returned a great result. The takahe Porphyrio hochstetteri is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, so it is excellent news that the number of adult birds is up 13.6% on last year’s figures, from 147 to 167, and the number of pairs up 7.9% from 63 to 68. The total world population (confined to New Zealand) is now 286, more than double what it was 23 years ago. Nothing happens quickly when dealing with a long-lived, slow breeding species, so increases of this level are significant. Conservation measures have been multi-faceted, involving habitat improvement and reduction in predation by the control of invasive species as well as a captive breeding for a release programme. The Programme is run by the New Zealand Department of Conservation and includes members of the SSC Reintroduction Specialist Group. Full story SLOW BUT STEADY - GIANT TORTOISES HELP CLEAR INVADING SPECIES FROM ISLAND PARADISE Conservation needs all the help it can get. On the beautiful Mauritian island of Ile aux Aigrettes, some unlikely assistance is being provided by giant tortoises which are happily dining on invasive weeds that are threatening the island’s natural balance. Ile aux Aigrettes, a 26ha offshore islet, harbours Mauritius's last remnant of coastal ebony forest but is under constant threat of degradation from invasive plant species. A restoration project to remove invasive alien species and re-establish native ones began in 1985. Now 80% of the island’s forests has been restored. A grant from SSC’s Sir Peter Scott Fund for Conservation Action is helping complete the restoration work, safeguarding this unique habitat and its associated threatened wildlife. Full story IUCN COMMENTARY ON CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON SPECIES’ SURVIVAL Climate change is rapidly joining habitat destruction as a major conservation problem and will be a key factor driving species towards extinction in the coming century. For this reason, the SSC Climate Change Task Force and Red List Programme are studying ways to incorporate climate change impacts into the IUCN Red List Criteria for assessing individual species’ extinction risk. The recent attempt to loosely adapt concepts from the IUCN Red List Criteria by several scientific groups, including Thuiller et al. in Climate change threats to plant diversity in Europe in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is an important step forward in increasing knowledge on the impact of climate change on species’ survival. However, IUCN is concerned about certain aspects of the methodology used and these are outlined in a commentary. Full story
The 18th Working Meeting of the SSC Crocodile Specialist Group is scheduled to be held in Montélimar, France, 19-23 June 2006. Details can be viewed on the group’s meeting website.
New online: The latest issue of Species, SSC’s newsletter, is now available. Issue 43 covers a message from SSC’s new Chair, Holly Dublin, news of various conservation successes and challenges, reports from the Commission’s Specialist Groups from iguanas to tapirs, and updates from the IUCN Species Programme. Due to a growing SSC network and escalating mailing costs, Species is now available in electronic format. A limited print-run is being produced for those members who have poor Internet access. They should contact species@iucn.org. POLAR BEAR SPECIALIST GROUP MEETING PROCEEDINGS The SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group held its 14th meeting recently in Seattle, US, a summary of which is available on the group website together with resolutions and a press release. SAD LOSS OF PROMINENT ANDEAN ORNITHOLOGIST Sandra Caziani, a member of the Flamingo, Threatened Waterfowl, and Cracid Specialist Groups, passed away on 1 July in Argentina. She was a driving force behind better conservation and management of High Andean Wetlands, and especially flamingos, and her untimely parting is a great loss to conservation. IUCN/SSC GUIDELINES FOR REINTRODUCTION AVAILABLE IN JAPANESE The IUCN Guidelines for Reintroductions have been translated into Japanese by Katsutoshi Watanabe of the Graduate School of Sciences, Kyoto University, Japan and can be accessed here.
SSC MEMBER’S NEW BOOK WINS CRITICAL ACCLAIM BY TOP JOURNAL The new book Insect Diversity Conservation by Michael Samways, of the SSC Steering Committee has been glowingly reviewed in the leading journal Nature (2 June 2005, p. 566). The reviewer, Norman Myers of Oxford University, described our “bug-driven word” “as being dealt with in splendid detail” and says “There are very few insect books of such expansive scope, and this one could be a standard text for years.” *************************************************************** If you would like more information on any of the items included in this issue or wish to submit an item to future issues, please contact Anna Knee (alk@iucn.org) or Andrew McMullin (mcmullina@iucn.org); tel: +41 (0)22 999 0153.
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