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The Conservation
Biology of Molluscs -
SSC Occasional Paper No. 9
Edited by E. Alison Kay, 1995, 81 pp., GBP13.50, U.S.
$20.00. Available from the IUCN Publications Services
Unit, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, United
Kingdom or in the United States and Canada from Island
Press, Box 7, Covelo, California 95428, U.S.A.
Foreword
Recognizing the importance of molluscs in the life
of humankind and the significant roles they play in
ecosystems, the Mollusc Specialist Group (MSG) believes
that continuing loss of mollusc diversity is detrimental
not only to ecosystems around the world, but, in the
long run, to the welfare of humankind itself. In an
effort to ameliorate the increasing loss of diversity
suffered by molluscs worldwide, this volume has been
developed to provide a resource on the conservation
status of molluscs today and some suggestions for the
conservation of molluscan diversity in the future. There
are two parts: (1) a series of papers summarizing the
current status of molluscs presented at a Symposium
on Endangered Molluscs at the 9th International Malacological
Congress, held in Edinburgh, in September 1986; and
(2) a status report on molluscan diversity worldwide.
The Symposium on Endangered Molluscs was commissioned
by Resolution of the 8th International Malacological
Congress, held in Budapest in September 1983:
“Recognizing that all biotic diversity is
changing in a dramatic manner as a result of increasing
pressures of man, and recognizing the need for the
enunciation of priorities if we are to develop a world
strategy which will insure the survival of species
and genetic diversity, be it resolved that the Unitas
Malacologica encourage and support the activities
of the Species Survival Commission {sic} of the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature, and in particular
the work of the Species Survival Commission on Mollusca.
Be it further resolved that the Unitas Malacologica
encourage and support a climate for research and education
in such areas of concern as those of economically
important species like the giant clam Tridacna, of
endangered species such as the achatinellid snails
of the Hawaiian Islands, and of areas of high molluscan
diversity such as in the Madeira Islands.
And, be it further resolved that a meeting on
the conservation of molluscs be organized for the
9th International Congress in Edinburgh in 1986.”
The eight papers and five abstracts from the symposium
are arranged in Section 1 in four chapters: (1) the
keynote address, a synthesis of what we know and what
we do not know about current pressures on molluscs;
(2) a group of papers that address the pressures on
especially vulnerable groups of Mollusca, namely those
found in island habitats; (3) several papers dealing
with current status of molluscs on continents; and (4)
a final paper representing a major statement on the
economics of the shell trade, a continuing source of
pressure on marine molluscs.
Section 2 presents a report on molluscan diversity.
This status report focuses on the diversity of molluscs
on continents, on islands, in freshwater, on coral reefs,
as economic resources, as alien species, and as model
systems. Five major actions are proposed for the conservation
of molluscan diversity:
- The acquisition and management of threatened habitats
on islands, in aquatic ecosystems, on continents,
and on coral reefs;
- The development of a database necessary for knowledge
of molluscan diversity;
- The prevention of the introduction of alien species
that have negative impacts on native mollusc species,
and control and eradication of those exotic species
where such introductions have already occurred;
- The establishment of self-sustaining captive populations
of endangered mollusc species and support of their
eventual reintroduction into native habitats;
- The promotion of public awareness and concern for
molluscan conservation programs.
Reprinted from The Conservation Biology of Molluscs.
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