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Introduction
Due to an increasing number of species translocations
worldwide the IUCN in 1987 developed the IUCN Position
Statement on the Translocation of Living organisms
(IUCN, 1987). This position statement acknowledged that
translocation is a powerful tool in the management of the
natural environment and, when properly used, offers great
benefits to natural biological systems and to man but if misused
has the potential to cause enormous damage.
While the position statement helped to raise awareness
of the pros and cons of translocation it was subsequently felt
that there was a need for more detailed guidelines to provide
comprehensive coverage of the much wider issues of re-introduction
for conservation purposes. An international task
force was therefore established to draft more detailed guidelines
and this led to the development of the IUCN Guidelines
for Re-introductions, a general policy document covering both
animals and plants, which was finalised in 1995 and became
official IUCN policy after an exhaustive international review
process. These guidelines have subsequently been translated
into French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic (IUCN,
1998) and printed into booklets that have been extensively
distributed worldwide.
While the development of the general IUCN Guidelines
for Re-introduction provided valuable guidance on many of
the key issues concerning re-introduction, the increasing numbers
of re-introduction projects worldwide involving a growing
number of taxa, have further highlighted the need for more
detailed species- or taxon-specific guidelines. As a first step in
this direction, the IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group
(RSG) finalized in 2002, its first taxon-specific guidelines the
Guidelines for Nonhuman Primate Re-introductions to assist
primate re-introduction practitioners worldwide with “bestpractice”
lessons for re-introducing primates and is currently
working on developing African Elephant Re-introduction and
Translocation Guidelines.
Contributed Papers
CONTRIBUTED PAPERS
Re-introductions: A Comprehensive Approach
By Pritpal S. Soorae
Tapir Conservation n Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group n Vol. 12 / No. 1 June 2003
Aims, Objectives and Definition of Terms
Aim
According to the IUCN Guidelines for Re-introductions
(IUCN, 1998), the principal aim of a re-introduction should
be to establish a free-ranging viable population in the wild of
a species, subspecies or race, which has become globally or
locally extinct, or extirpated in the wild in that particular area.
Objectives
The main objectives of a re-introduction project are as follows:
l To enhance the long-term survival of a species
l To establish a keystone species (in the ecological or
cultural sense)
l To maintain and/or restore natural biodiversity
l To provide long-term economic benefits to the local
and/or national economy
l To promote conservation awareness
Definition of terms
l Re-introduction:
an attempt to establish a species in an area which
was once part of its historical range, but from which it
has been extirpated or become extinct (“Re-establishment”
is a synonym, but implies that the re-introduction
has been successful).
l Re-inforcement/Supplementation:
addition of individuals to an existing population of
conspecifics.
l Conservation/Benign Introductions:
an attempt to establish a species, for the purpose of
conservation, outside its recorded distribution but
within an appropriate habitat and eco-geographical
area. This is a feasible conservation tool only when
there is no remaining area left within a species’ historic
range.
l Translocation:
deliberate and mediated movement of wild individuals
or populations from one part of their range to another.
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