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and establishing strong and effective relationships among
tapir conservationists to stimulate communication and
cooperation.
In 2013, the TSG continued to make steady progress in
developing National Action Plans for Tapirs in each tapir range
country in South and Central America and Southeast Asia.
TSG country coordinators and committees are working
tirelessly towards implementing the priority actions and goals
developed for each plan. The TSG is well on its way to the
implementation of the TSG Strategic Plan 2012–2014. A new
three-year Strategic Plan will be developed during the Sixth
International Tapir Symposium to be held in Brazil in November
2014. The TSG has completely revamped the TSG
Conservation Fund (TSGCF); increasing its donor basis and
running a successful 2013 funding cycle. Five proposals were
selected for funding, including projects in Belize, Colombia,
Ecuador, Myanmar and Nicaragua. The TSG made significant
progress on the review and update of several of its
publications including the TSG Veterinary Manual, TSG
Protocols for Genetic Studies and TSG Guidelines for
Reintroductions and Translocations. Tapirs continued to have
significant exposure in the media and the tapir conservation
cause has received a lot of attention from the general public,
particularly in Brazil.
The TSG would like to acknowledge the generous support
of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Tapir Taxon
Advisory Group (TAG), Copenhagen Zoo, European
Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) Tapir Taxon
Advisory Group (TAG), Houston Zoo, and hundreds of other
zoos worldwide!
Patrícia Medici
Chair, Tapir Specialist Group
Task Force on Systemic Pesticides (TFSP)
In recognition of the fact that the rapidly growing global use of
highly persistent systemic pesticides, unprecedentedly toxic to
Bumblebee. © D.A.Noome
invertebrates (including pollinators), poses a major threat to
biodiversity and ecosystem services, a number of independent
scientists established a Task Force on Systemic Pesticides in
2009. This Task Force now resides under the IUCN Species
Survival (SSC) and Ecosystem Management (CEM)
Commissions. At present, the group consists of 49 experts
and scientists from 15 countries, in addition to a number of
correspondents in other countries. Dr.Maarten Bijleveld van
Lexmond, of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, former Executive Officer
of the IUCN Commission on Ecology, has been asked to be its
Chairman, while Dr J.P. van der Sluijs of the University of
Utrecht, Netherlands, agreed to become its Science
Coordinator.
The Task Force aims to describe clearly the ever-increasing
risks to ecosystems and biodiversity; to demonstrate the
imbalance in present knowledge; to determine the
consequences for public health; to look for alternatives and to
inform the public at large. In order to achieve the goals of the
this Task Force, a strategy with its objectives and phases of
execution was developed through working meetings in Paris,
France (2010), Bath, UK (2011), Cambridge, UK (2012), Padua,
Italy (2012), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium (2013) and Tokyo,
Japan (2013), with financial support of twelve European
organizations and foundations in Germany, Japan and The
Netherlands. The Task Force reviews its progress at biannual
meetings and has entered into a formal partnership with
Utrecht University, Netherlands.
This year, two scientific papers were published concerning
the impact of systemic pesticides on macro-invertebrates in
surface water, as well as the impact on bees and pollinator
ecosystem services.
In Asia, a public symposium was organized in Tokyo on
2–3 September 2012, which involved leading Japanese
experts and NGO’s, in collaboration with the Act Beyond Trust
and Japan Endocrine-Disruptor Preventive Action, JEPA. This
was followed by symposia on “Human Health Effects of Neonicotinoid
Pesticides” and on “Impacts on Honey Bees, Aquatic
Ecosystems and Rice Cultivation” in Tokyo, 9–11 June 2013.
The Task Force’s 7th international working meeting took
place in Legnaro, Italy on 4–8 November 2013, incorporating a
Phytoiatric Forum organized by Veneto Agricoltura. During the
forum, the Task Force examined the final version of its
extensive synthesis report on the ecological risks of systemic
pesticides.
Maarten Bijleveld van Lexmond
Chair, Task Force on Systemic Pesticides
Temperate South American Plants Specialist
Group
There are more than 19,800 species of plants under the
scope of the Temperate South American Plants Specialist
Group; evaluating such a large number of species is an
extraordinary challenge. Considering that the SSC Strategic
Plan indicates that the assessment of plants needs to be
substantially enlarged to represent adequately the diversity
of life, we are focusing our efforts on endemic species, with
the objective to assess at least 1,000 endemic species in
the period 2013–2016. Our key strategy is to involve local
provincial governments in financing assessment workshops;
such meetings provide excellent opportunities to interact with
officials of local administrations in charge of conservation
Specialist Groups, Task Forces and Red List Authorities
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