| Fighting the extinction crisis: conservation in action |
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Globally threatened species often require a combination of conservation responses to ensure their continued survival. Species can be, and many have already been saved from extinction, but the majority of threatened species require substantially greater action to improve their future.
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The Mauritius or Echo Parakeet (Psittacula eques) is presently restricted to south-west Mauritius within the Black River Gorges National Park. Following assessment by BirdLife International, the Red List authority for birds, it has been moved from Critically Endangered to Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The move comes after a steady and prolonged increase in numbers in the wild population as a result of intensive recovery management led by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation working closely with the government of Mauritius. The reversal of this species’ population decline was achieved through captive breeding and release, nest site enhancement and provision of artificial nest cavities, predator and competitor control and restoration of native habitats. Other activities include supplementary feeding, close monitoring of nesting sites and the rescue of eggs/chicks from failing nests. However, its overall population size remains extremely small and it is restricted to a very small range within which habitat continues to decline in quality. The Mauritius Parakeet remains threatened by ongoing degradation of native habitat caused by invasive plant and herbivore species, competition for native fruits with, and predation by, introduced mammals, and the recently established Psittacene beak and feather disease. Only with a concerted and continuing conservation effort will this species’ fortunes continue to improve.
| Community Conservation of Madagascan flying foxes |
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The Madagascar flying fox (Pteropus rufus) is a large, fruit bat that plays an essential role in seed dispersal and pollination. It is threatened by hunting, persecution and roost disturbance. Protected areas make a low contribution to conserving Madagascar flying foxes because roost sites are always in small forest fragments.
Since 2003, two Malagasy NGOs (Madagasikara Voakajy and ACCE) have been conserving forest fragments in the region. This multi-disciplinary project has also included an important community component that has resulted in the construction of new primary schools linked to flying fox conservation.
A set of community laws (Dina in Malagassy) was established in 2005 to protect the flying fox forest fragments and although they have shown early signs of successfully reducing agricultural incursions into the roost forests, additional activities are needed to develop and focus the framework to encourage its implementation by local communities.
In 2006 members of the IUCN/SSC Chiroptera Specialist Group identified five more P. rufus roosts in the region. All are threatened and currently without any protection.This year, the IUCN Species Programme has provided a Sir Peter Scott Fund for Conservation Action grant in order to harness the existing community support and develop conservation plans at villages located near to five roost sites. In addition, a community-based habitat monitoring initiative will be launched at two of the most threatened roosts sites and link forest conservation to village development.
| Fishery closure gives the Southern Brazilian Wreckfish a chance to recover |
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The Southern Brazilian Wreckfish (Polyprion americanus) is a deep-sea, large-sized, grouper that inhabits the sub tropical oceans from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Argentine with the only known commercially important fishing areas off Southern Brazil.
It is vulnerable to commercial fishing because of its longevity (it lives for over 80 years) and because it reproduces in groups at specific sites and seasons, which are targeted for fishing. During the 1990s, the wreckfish population steadily dropped, decreasing more than 90% under heavy fishing and no regulation.
By 2002, the Brazilian Wreckfish had been listed as critically endangered as part of a regional IUCN Red List assesment. This listing lead to the closure of the national fishery for 10 years, giving the species much needed legal protection. In the last two years, the wreckfish has evidently not been fished. Maintenance of the moratorium is essential to guarantee protection of the species. SSC Grouper and Wrasse Specialist Group  IUCN Marine Programme
| Preventing the extinction of Hawaii's exceptional plant diversity |
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Nearly 200 of the 1500 native plant species in Hawaii are at risk of going extinct in the near furture because they have been reduced to such low numbers. Approximately 90 percent of Hawaii's plants are found nowhere else in the world but they are threatened by alien invasive species such as feral goats, pigs, rodents and non native plants.
The Hawaii Rare Plant Restoration Group is striving to prevent the extinction of the 182 rare hawaiian plants with fewer than 50 individuals remaining in the wild. Since 1990, as a result of their 'Plant Extinction Prevention Programme', sixteen species have been bought into cultivation and three species have been reintroduced. Invasive weeds have been removed in key areas and fencing put up in order to protect plants in the wild.
In the future the Hawaii Rare Plant Restoration Programme aim to collect genetic material from the remaining plants in the wild for storage (as seeds or cuttings) as a 'safety net' for the future. They also aim to manage wild populations and where possible reintroduce species into protected areas.
The IUCN Species Programme has recently provided funding through the Sir Peter Scott Fund For Conservation Action for baseline surveys and the collection of genetic material from seven species on Maui and Molokai which have not yet been surveyed.
| Hope for the Endangered Ganges River Dolphins |
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Protection of Endangered Ganges River dolphins in the Brahmaputra River, Assam, India is an upcoming project to be funded by the Sir Peter Scott Fund for Conservation Action. Ganges River dolphins (Platanista gangetica gangetica) occur in the Ganges-Brahmaputra River system primarily in India and Bangladesh. They are listed as Endangered on the IIUCN Red List due to a probable population decline of at least 50% over the last 50 years and projected future population declines due to factors that have not ceased, are not fully understood and are not reversible.
Dolphins have been extirpated from the upper reaches of many rivers, the population has been fragmented by irrigation barrages and dry season habitat is further reduced by large-scale diversion of water. Dolphins are incidentally captured in fishing nets and are also hunted in some areas.
The project will dramatically increase the amount of information on Ganges dolphins in the Brahmaputra River and will also provide recommendations for suitable protected areas. It is hoped that this will encourage the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests to adopt a cautious approach with regards to exploitation of natural resources within its range. Collection of the robust baseline dataset on dolphin distribution, abundance and behaviour will enable negative impacts associated with oil exploration or other human activities to be quantitatively evaluated. IUCN/ SSC Cetacean Specialist Group
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