Baraza

Up to 25% of the worlds 91 known species of antelopes are in danger of extinction according to a statement released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to the report

Five species of antelope are in the highest category of threat, Critically Endangered, including the Dama Gazelle (Nanger dama), Aders’ Duiker (Cephalophus adersi), the Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica), Hirola (Beatragus hunteri) and Addax (Addax nasomaculatus). The Scimitar Horned Oryx (Oryx dammah) is already Extinct in the Wild, but there are ongoing efforts to reintroduce it.

The Hirola for example, is one of East Africa’s most endangered species of antelope. The Hirola is endemic to north-east Kenya and south-west Somalia. In Kenya, Hirola currently occur between Garsen, Bura and Galma Galla/Kolbio. Current status in south-west Somalia is not known, but its former range has been badly affected by prolonged civil and military conflicts that continued up to early 2007.

There is a small translocated population in Tsavo East National Park, outside the species’ natural range. This originated from a translocation of 30 animals from Garissa District conducted in 1963. It is thought that most of these perished soon after release and that the size of the “effective founder population” was only 11 to 19 animals. A further 10 animals were translocated to Tsavo East in 1996.

As usual, continued over-harvesting for meat and medicine as well as human encroachment are the culprits for the declining population of antelopes. Dr Philippe Chardonnet, Co-Chair of the IUCN Antelope Specialist Group, is quoted in the IUCN press release saying, “Unsustainable harvesting, whether for food or traditional medicine, and human encroachment on their habitat are the main threats facing antelopes,”.

If you look at these rather sombre news from another perspective, it might seem like antelopes are not doing so bad after all. But look a little closer and you will see that the situation is still dire. We might lose 25 species of antelopes and these are not the only ones who’s population is declining. As a matter of fact the springbok, a native of southern Africa, is the only antelope species whose numbers have increased over the long term.

I could kick myself for canceling a trip to attend the IUCN World Conservation Congress meeting in Barcelona. I attended the previous Congress in Bangkok which was a great meeting of conservation professionals, except in retrospect I realise that there was alot of talk and not much achieved … except species continue to slide towards extinction. In its first of the 10 days of meeting the report has revealed an alarming statistic that a quarter of the world’s mammal species are at risk of extinction.

It seems that every study on biodiversity reveals increasing threats to species – many of my colleagues form university were involved in this study so I believe the statistics.

Mammals are not faring very well

Imagine if one in four mammals actually went extinct! Some of the species at greatest risk include Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) which may number fewer than 150 and continue to decline due to a shortage of its primary prey, the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

The Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) has declined by more than 60 percent in the last 10 years due to a fatal infectious facial cancer, while Southeast Asias  Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) has become endangered due to habitat loss in wetlands.

Mammals in Asia are especially vulnerable because they are hunted for food and traditional medicines. Rapid rates of development and population growth also means that habitats are shrinking and as a result of these combined threats, more than 70 per cent of known species in Asia, are now under threat.

Reptiles and amphibians are doing much worse

Other groups of animals are faring even worse. Thirty-one percent of reptiles, 30 percent of amphibians and 37 percent of fish are deemed threatened. In total, 22 percent of assessed species are nearing extinction, and thousands more animals, especially reptiles and fish, have yet to be evaluated. Birds are not faring as badly as the other groups,  almost one in eight birds are threatened.The main reason for these threats include habitat loss and over exploitation of terrestrial mammals and marine mammals, and pollution, and global warming …it is ironic that human populations meanwhile are on the increase.

African Elephants are recovering in some places

Thankfully it’s not all bad news. Apparently African elephants are less endangered than before as a result of effective conservaiton efforts and the ivory ban in Southern and Eastern Africa. Five percent of mammals are actually doing better than before, these include the black footed ferret which was extinct in the wild but has now been reintroduced. The Chinese Père David’s Deer (Elaphurus davidianus) though now extinct in the wild may yet recover. The captive population has increased in recent years and it is possible that free-ranging populations could soon be re-established.

The IUCN study and related issues are under discussion by more than 8,000 peope who are attending the World Conservation Congress.  I wish I could feel hopeful, somehow I doubt that they will actually come up with a workable game plan for a sustainable future. However I was pleasantly surprised to read Cindy Ellen Hills article explaining how the Institute for Environmental Security handles the threat of lack of security to species in an article called Waging a Sustainble Peace

“key military leaders at an invitation-only roundtable to spearhead a paradigm shift in thinking about the intersection of environmental issues and local, regional, and national security.

The IUCN Roundtable on Environment and Security will match representatives from the military (USA, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, Nepal, Mauretania), NATO, and other members of the world’s security community with key environmental leaders to explore strategies for waging an environmentally sustainable peace.”

I am curious about what the security meeting will conclude but in general I doubt that “Barcelona” will get enough attention to really gain political will for conservation. One major problem is timing, this meeting couldn’t have come at a worse time with global attention focused on the worlds unfolding financial crisis.  It’s a pity, many scientist are convinced that we are witnessing the sixth wave of extinctions, and it’s entirely man made. We could lose nearly a quarter of the worlds species just because we don’t care enough. I was looking at these photos from the wildlife photographer of the year competition and couldn’t help feeling  sad that some species will never be photographed in the wild again.

For more detailed info and official documents go here I can’t find a single blog from the congress… if you find any please send me the link.

Hello everyone. Apologies for the absence, it has been very busy, first week back to school for the brat – uniform, books, shoes….its never easy.

I have been monitoring the blog activity and donations and wanted to say a big thank you to all those who have helped us over the past 12 months. We have just spent the last three days processing the donations for the virunga blogs which they will receive today.  It will go a very long way to helping through this crisis.

On the Mara Triangle we recently received a thank you from their board  for the donations received so far through the blog. Not only has the blog been superb, but a proposal we submitted to US Fish and Wildlife Service for them was approved bringing in another $50,000 towards emergency costs. It feels great to have had that much of an impact.

We’re now looking at a few new blog requests, one for rhino conservation in the Aberdares, another for dolphin conservation in Argentina amongst others.

I’m also preparing for a trip to USA for the launch of our book ‘looking for Miza’ and then to the IUCN World Conservation Union meeting in Barcelona. The African NGO’s are organizing to coordinte conservation in Africa.  If you had three points to say to the head of the IUCN , what would they be?

Greetings everyone,

I’m in Chattanooga Tennessee attending the Society for Conservation Biology Meeting (SCB).

Today the plenary speaker was Jeffry McNeely, the IUCN chief scientist, and someone I and all scientists I know, have enormous respect for. In his stunning slide presentation he introduced us to Asia and China where the next SCB meeting will take place next year. He gave a wonderful overview of the region from prehistoric times to today, and raised issues about the great biodiversity in the region, an highlyighted the concerns.

In this post I’m going to focus on the trade issue that he raised since I’m preoccupied with ivory and china .. so Yes he did bring up illegal trade as a major concern for biodiversity. He said and I quote

“Wildlife Trade is a huge problem, most of it is illegal, most of it is not controlled by CITES, most of it is going to China”

So at the end I politely raised my hand thanked him for the great presentation, reminded him about the massive population, fantastic economic growth in China, and reminded him about his statement about illegal trade. I then asked how CITES, which was aware of yet was unable to control illegal trade to China, could endorse China as the sole buyer of the southern African ivory? And, if it goes through at the Standing Committee this week, what were his predictions?

He restated and emphasized that there is basically no control of wildlife trade and that the worst situation was across teh Chinese borders with Laos, Vientam and Myanmar (Burma) but he also said

“When China puts their mind to something they can do anything”.

He used the example of rhino horn trade and said that it had been stamped out. So, his conclusion was

“Maybe there will be a payoff, maybe they will negotiate and China will be allowed to trade on condition that they will have to reign in the illegal trade on these borders”

I nodded but my mind was screaming

“WHAT, WHERE THE HELL IS THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE IN ALL THIS? Shouldn’t they have proven this capability BEFORE they asked for permission to buy the ivory? Since when did CITES start operating on FAITH?”

What do you think? Am I over reacting here?

Is it true that China can do anything it puts it’s mind to? Will giving China ivory be a means to force the country to adopt proper illegal ivory trade controls?

I am going to go back to Jeffrey and continue the conversation so send me your questions and I’ll get them answered!