Species 33

Species 

Newsletter of the Species Survival Commission 

IUCN—The World Conservation Union 

Number 33, Spring 2000

S p e c i e s is the newsletter of the Species 

S u rv ival Commission of I U C N— The 

Wo rld Conservation Union. Commission 

m e m b e rs ,in addition to providing leaders h i p 

for conservation effo rts for specific plant 

and animal gro u p s , c o n t ri bute technical 

and scientific counsel to biodive rsity 

c o n s e rvation projects throughout the 

wo rl d. Commission members also serve 

as re s o u rces to gove rn m e n t s ,i n t e rn at i o n a l 

c o nve n t i o n s ,and conservation orga n i z ations. 

E d i t o r 

M i chael Klemens 

Assistant Editor 

M i chelle Black 

C o py Editor 

M a ria Sadow s k i 

D e s i g n e rs 

Diane Cava l i e ri 

K rista Mozdzierz-Skach 

S P E C I E S S U R V I V A L C O M M I S S I O N 

Opinions ex p ressed in this publ i c ation do not 

n e c e s s a ri ly re flect official views of I U C N / S S C. 

ISSN 1016-927X 

S p e c i e sis printed on re cy cled pap e r. 

©2000 I U C N– The Wo rld Conservation Union

C o n t e n t s 

The S S C— O p e rations and Plans 

From the Chairm a n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 

S S C O ffice Rep o rt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 

The Second I U C N Wo rld 

C o n s e rvation Congre s s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 

I nv i t ation to the Second I U C N Wo rl d 

C o n s e rvation Congre s s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 

N ew s 

The Status and Conservation of A rgali 

in Mongo l i a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 3 

C o n s e rvation Pro blems of the 

M o n golian Saiga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 3 

Species Info rm ation Serv i c e : B ri e f 

U p d ate of A c t iv i t i e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 4 

Peter Scott Awa rd for Conservation Merit 

P resented to Dr. To ny Cunningham . . . .1 6 

XXI IUFRO C o n gress 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 7 

D evelopment and Sustainable Use of 

N at u ral Resources in A f ri c a : 

C o n flict or Complement? . . . . . . . . . . . .1 8 

Fi rst Intern ational Scientific Meeting: 

The Biology and Ecology of A l p i n e 

Amphibians and Rep t i l e s . . . . . . . . . . . .1 9 

In Memori a m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 0 

Fe at u re s 

The I U C N / S S CRed List Progra m : 

Towa rd the 2000 IUCN Red List 

of Th re atened Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 1 

Zamia furfura c e a : N at u ral Heri t age 

of Ve ra c ru z ,M ex i c o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 0 

S S C Plants Progra m : S t rat egi c 

Planning and Pri o ri t i e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 2 

Ap p ro a ches to the Conservation 

of Species Used in Tra d i t i o n a l 

M e d i c i n e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 6 

Ve rt eb rate Species Richness 

and Endemism in Russia . . . . . . . . . . . .3 9 

Specialist Group Rep o rt s 

A n i m a l s 

A n t e l o p e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 3 

A f rican Elep h a n t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 4 

C a n i d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 6 

C ap ri n a e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 7 

C racid (S S C / W PA / B i rd L i fe ). . . . . . . . . . . . .4 8 

C ro c o d i l e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 0 

D e e r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 2 

E q u i d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 3 

G ro u p e rs and W ra s s e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 4 

M a rine Tu rt l e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 5 

O t t e r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 6 

Wo l f . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 7 

P l a n t s 

Au s t ralasian Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 8 

C o n i fe r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 0 

Medicinal Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 1 

Palm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 2 

Species i

ii Species

The SSC—Operations and Plans 

From the Chairm a n 

This is the last issue of S p e c i e s b e fo re the 

Second I U C N Wo rld Conservation Congre s s , 

and you will find here an inv i t ation to at t e n d 

both the ge n e ral meeting of the Species Survival 

Commission, and the Congress itself. I 

u rge you to give serious consideration to these 

i nv i t at i o n s ,and to come to A m m a n , Jo rdan to 

p a rt i c i p ate in wh at promises to be an ex c i t i n g 

set of meetings. 

This past month marked a major milestone 

in the development of the Red List Progra m , 

one of the fl agships of the S S C. As Chair, I wa s 

able to write to a wide ra n ge of Specialist 

G roup Chairs inviting them to take up an ap p- 

ointment as a Red List Au t h o ri t y. With the 

appointment of Red List Au t h o ri t i e s , we are 

taking the next step to improving the I U C NR e d 

List of Th re atened Species as the most re s p e c t- 

ed source of authori t at ive advice on the global 

c o n s e rvation status of wild species. The establishment 

of such Au t h o rities is also a necessary 

s t ep to the cre ation of an effe c t ive ap p e a l 

p rocess for the Red List Progra m , and furt h e r 

bu t t resses its cre d i b i l i t y. In this issue you will 

find an art i cle from the I U C N / S S C Red List 

P rogram further describing the process leading 

t owa rds the Red List 2000 ( p age 22). 

The credibility of advice from the S S C 

u n d e rlies another of our important activ i t i e s . 

As I write this message in early December, t h e 

Wi l d l i fe Trade program is now fully immers e d 

in prep a rations for the next meeting of the 

C o n fe rence of the Pa rties to C I T E S. Chief 

among those prep a rations is the deve l o p m e n t 

of the next edition of the A n a lyses of Pro p o s a l s 

to Ammend the C I T E SAp p e n d i c e s. Once aga i n , 

I expect the A n a ly s e s to provide a solid basis 

for decision-making by the Pa rties at the meeting 

in Nairo b i , Ke nya in Ap ril 2000. As such , 

the A n a ly s e s will be dedicated to ensuring the 

Pa rties have easy access to the best ava i l abl e 

i n fo rm ation on conservation status and thre at s , 

and the best ava i l able and cre d i ble info rm a- 

tion on tra d e, with respect to C I T E S p ro p o s- 

als. Wo rking together with T R A F F I C and with 

the support of seve ral ge n e rous donors and a 

c o n t ri bution from the C I T E STrust Fund itself, 

we expect to deliver the A n a ly s e s to Pa rt i e s 

well in advance of the meeting, for maximu m 

e ffe c t ive n e s s . 

The S S C is also playing an incre a s i n g ly visi 

ble and important role in support of the 

C o nvention on Biological Dive rsity (C B D) . 

The Inva s ive Species Specialist Group re c e n t ly 

completed the long-awaited I U C N G u i d e l i n e s 

for the Prevention of Biodive rsity loss caused 

by Alien Inva s ive Species and these we re submitted 

to the Ja nu a ry 2000 meeting of the 

S u b s i d i a ry Body on Scientifi c, Te ch n i c a l ,a n d 

Te ch n o l ogical A dvice (S B S T TA) as a major 

c o n t ri bution to the deb ate on the effects of 

i nva s ive species. The Sustainable Use Specialist 

Group and its Global Support Team playe d 

an important role in shaping the deb ate in 

S B S T TA rega rding the concept of sustainabl e 

use of wild species. Of particular interest is a 

submission that begins to draw the linkage s 

b e t ween the principles of an ecosystem 

ap p ro a ch to conservation with the principles of 

s u s t a i n able use. 

Species 1

I believe the engagement of the S S C in such 

c o nventions is an important role for the Commission. 

The Commission acts as a cre d i bl e, 

i n d ependent source of scientific info rm at i o n . 

Another example is the advice nu m e ro u s 

Specialist Groups have been able to provide in 

s u p p o rt of A greements developed by the Convention 

on Migrat o ry Species. One of the 

s t rengths of our volunteer netwo rk is our ab i l- 

ity to distri bute curre n t , re l evant conservat i o n 

i n fo rm ation and management re c o m m e n d a- 

tions to the parties to conve n t i o n s . 

Fi n a l ly, I would draw your attention to the 

c o n t i nuing development of the Species Info rmation 

Service (S I S). I continue to believe that 

the effe c t ive implementation of the S S C 

Species Info rm ation Serv i c e, with the full and 

enthusiastic support of all of our Specialist 

G ro u p s , will be an absolute necessity if the 

S S C is to continue to play an important role in 

b ri n ging our advice and ex p e rience to bear in 

the solution of global and local conservat i o n 

p ro blems. The field of biological info rm at i o n 

n e t wo rks has become crowded in the past couple 

of ye a rs. The tech n o l ogy is evo l v i n g 

q u i ck ly, but consensus on standards is not 

ke eping pace. Nor do we have all of the 

a n swe rs with respect to such important matt 

e rs as safeg u a rding Intellectual Pro p e rt y 

Rights and the custodianship of data. As the 

d evelopment of S I S c o n t i nu e s , we are conscious 

of the need to ensure that yo u , as a 

member of S S C, feel confident in knowing the 

d ata you contri bute is used to ach i eve impor- 

tant synergi e s , while still cl e a rly maintained 

under your control and the S S C c u s t o d i a n s h i p . 

I am constantly amaze d, and encourage d, by 

the breadth and depth of know l e d ge ava i l abl e 

t h rough this ve ry special netwo rk in wh i ch we 

all part i c i p at e. We must do our best to put a 

functional S I S in place so we can make the best 

use of that know l e d ge. 

As we enter the final few months of this 

I U C N t ri e n n i u m , we can all look back on a 

re c o rd of significant ach i evement by the 

Species Surv ival Commission. We have deve l- 

oped a strong vision of the future course for the 

Commission through the strat egic planning 

p ro c e s s , and used that vision to influence the 

p rogram planning process of the I U C N as a 

wh o l e. The next issue of S p e c i e s will be 

released at the Second Wo rld Conservat i o n 

C o n gre s s , and I hope eve ry Specialist Gro u p 

will take the opportunity to provide a short 

rep o rt of its activities over the triennium. I look 

fo r wa rd to meeting as many of you as possibl e 

in Jo rd a n . 

D avid Bra cke t t 

2 Species

SSC Office Rep o rt 

This rep o rt cove rs the second half of 1999, 

another busy and pro d u c t ive period in the wo rk 

of the S S C S e c re t a ri at. This rep o rt cove rs only 

the ge n e ral highlights. Th e re have been nu m e r- 

ous other S S C a c t iv i t i e s ,e s p e c i a l ly in the individual 

Specialist Gro u p s , t h at continue to 

i m p ress us, but wh i ch time and space do not 

p e rmit us to mention here. We do encourage 

m o re Specialist Groups to provide reg u l a r 

rep o rts in S p e c i e s. The rest of the Commission 

needs to learn of your good wo rk ! 

S t rat egic Planning 

S S C’s strat egic planning process continu e s . 

The wo rk that was completed at the Djerba 

wo rkshop in March 1999 has been re fined at 

subsequent meetings and now we have fo u r 

key objectives. These have been sent out to 

Specialist Group Chairs to rev i ew. More info r- 

m ation is provided in a special art i cle in this 

issue of S p e c i e s. We are now in the process of 

wo rking on the more specific results and activities 

re l ated to these objectives and a fi n a l 

wo rkshop is planned for March 2000. In the 

m e a n t i m e, the I U C N planning process has bene 

fited from the hard wo rk of the S S C c o m mun 

i t y. The S S C goal has been adopted as an 

ove rall I U C N go a l , making it mu ch more cl e a r 

t h at the wo rk of the S S C an integral part of 

wh at I U C N d o e s . 

For more info rm ation on the strat egic 

p l a n , see http://iucn.org / t h e m e s / s s c / m e m o n ly / 

s t p l 2 0 0 0 . h t m 

Species Info rm ation Service (SIS) 

The second trial (or beta) ve rsion of the S I S 

s o f t wa re is curre n t ly being tested by seve ra l 

Specialist Groups. Intensive testing will be 

done by the Pri m at e, M o l l u s c, L ago m o rp h , 

A n t e l o p e, M a rine Tu rt l e, O rch i d, and Mediterranean 

Island Plant Specialist Groups. Th e s e 

we re selected to ensure a wide ra n ge of species 

and data complexity in order to ensure that the 

system will be able to accommodate the dat a 

m a n agement needs of the entire S S C n e t wo rk . 

Other Specialist Groups are also being give n 

the opportunity to contri bu t e. 

Ve rsion 1.0, the final and full wo rking ve r- 

s i o n , is expected to be fully developed by 

S eptember 2000 with the goal of pre s e n t i n g 

and offi c i a l ly launching it at the Second I U C N 

Wo rld Conservation Congress. Ve rsion 1.0 will 

be distri buted to all S S C Specialist Groups and 

s i g n i ficant other re l evant part n e rs in the S S C 

n e t wo rk. With this distri bu t i o n , i m p l e m e n t a- 

tion of the Species Info rm ation Service will 

s t a rt. It is anticipated that S I S full implement 

ation will phase in over a period of seve ra l 

ye a rs. 

In support of the S I S, va rious fund-ra i s i n g 

i n i t i at ives have been deve l o p e d. Thus far we 

h ave been successful in obtaining support fro m 

the U S S t ate Dep a rtment (through their annu a l 

vo l u n t a ry contri bution to I U C N) , the Pa ck a rd 

Fo u n d at i o n , the Margot Marsh Biodive rs i t y 

Fo u n d at i o n ,and the Norc ross Wi l d l i fe Fo u n d- 

at i o n , as well as from one anonymous donor. 

M o re info rm ation is ava i l able at http://iucn. 

o rg / t h e m e s / s s c / p rogra m s / s i s . h t m 

Red List Program 

C raig Hilton Tay l o r, our Red List Offi c e r, h a s 

been ve ry busy coord i n ating the Red List 

C ri t e ria Rev i ew and the Nat i o n a l / R egional Red 

List Guidelines process. The Cri t e ria Rev i ew 

p rocess was rep o rted on at length in the last 

issue of S p e c i e s. This process began with a 

scoping wo rkshop in March 1998 and is now 

n e a ring completion. One final wo rk s h o p ,d e a l- 

ing with Cri t e rion B, will be held in Swe d e n 

in Ja nu a ry 2000. It is expected that the rev i s e d 

c ri t e ria will be adopted during the course of the 

year 2000. 

S eve ral wo rkshops have been held to begi n 

the process of re fining nat i o n a l / regional guidelines. 

Wo rkshops we re held in Spain and Sri 

Lanka in Sep t e m b e r, and in South A f rica 

in Nove m b e r. Future wo rkshop locations include 

Costa Rica, Ke nya , and China. Th e s e 

wo rkshops are providing training in the use of 

the Red List cri t e ri a , as well giving the opportunity 

to develop the nat i o n a l / regional guidelines 

furt h e r. 


C raig has also been busy wo rking on 1 9 9 9 

I U C N Red List and on the 2000 I U C NRed List. 

The fo rm e r, wh i ch will be amalga m ating the 

t rees list and the animals list, will appear on 

S S C’s Web site in early 2000. This list will also 

i n clude some other updat e s , and will be the 

fi rst time that both animals and plants have 

been compiled toge t h e r. 

The 2000 list will be a more substantial 

u p d at e. In Nove m b e r, D avid Bra ckett sent out 

a series of letters to Specialist Groups and to 

some orga n i z ations that collab o rate cl o s e ly 

with S S C, d e s i g n ating them as fo rmal Red List 

Au t h o rities (R L As). This is part of the pro c e- 

d u re to make the Red Listing process more 

t ra n s p a re n t , and to harm o n i ze the ap p ro a ch e s 

and standards used by diffe rent assessors. In 

f u t u re, ch a n ges to the Red List can only be 

done by the R L As , or by the Standards Wo rking 

Group that ove rsees the whole pro c e s s . 

Another new development is that future 

ch a n ges to the I U C N Red List will be re q u i re d 

to be mu ch more fully documented than has 

h i s t o ri c a l ly been the case. A set of document 

ation standards has been circ u l ated to the 

R L As. This does mean that the process of Red 

Listing is becoming more time-consuming, bu t 

the final product will cert a i n ly be mu ch more 

useful. Howeve r, to assist the R L As with this 

i n c reased wo rk l o a d, some new softwa re (called 

R A M A S ® Red List) that has been deve l o p e d 

by Applied Biomat h e m atics in New Yo rk , i s 

being made ava i l abl e. 

One final development is that a petitions 

p rocess has been establ i s h e d, wh e reby ch a l- 

l e n ges can be made to existing listings on the 

I U C N Red List. F u rther details of this petitions 

p rocess are given in this issue of S p e c i e s. To 

assist Craig with this ve ry heavy wo rk l o a d, 

C a roline Po l l o ck has joined the team in 

C a m b ri d ge as an intern assigned to prep a rat i o n 

of the I U C N Red List 2000. 

For more info rm ation on the Red List Progra 

m , see http://iucn.org / t h e m e s / s s c / re d l i s t s 

/ rl i n d ex . h t m 

Plants Program 

The Intern ational Botanical Congress was held 

in St. Louis in August 1999, and included the 

l a u n ch of the draft S S C Plant Conservat i o n 

P rogram as both an S S C 50th annive rs a ry item 

and a “ n ew millennium” i n i t i at ive. The Plant 

C o n s e rvation Program was fo rm a l ly endors e d 

in a resolution by the 6,000 botanists at t e n d- 

ing the Congress. In add i t i o n ,the S S C gave the 

Peter Scott Awa rd for Conservation Merit to 

D r. To ny Cunningham, a we l l - k n own ethnobotanist 

and S S C m e m b e r, for his outstanding 

commitment to plant conservation. 

The Plant Conservation Subcommittee 

(P C S) met in the Ozark mountains in the U S 

in August 1999. The Plant Conservation Program 

was the main topic of discussion and 

enthusiastic part i c i p ation resulted in an ambitious 

document. P C S m e m b e rs are now wo rking 

on the difficult process of pri o ri t i z ation. 

In the meantime, we are hap py to announce 

the imminent re c ruitment of a new Plants 

O fficer to be based in Cambri d ge, U K. Th i s 

position is being supported as a secondment 

funded by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and 

Scottish Nat u ral Heri t age. We hope to have our 

c a n d i d ate in place in early 2000. 

For more info rm ation on the Plant Conservation 

Progra m , see http://wwwcjb. u n i ge. ch / 

B VAU I C N / B P L A N T S. H T M 

Wi l d l i fe Trade Program 

In October, the Wi l d l i fe Trade Program held a 

second wo rkshop to develop guidelines fo r 

C I T E S S c i e n t i fic Au t h o rities on the making of 

n o n - d e t riment findings. The wo rkshop part i c i- 

pants fi n a l i zed the guidelines and agreed to a 

t abular fo rm at for making findings for both 

plants and animals. The C I T E S S e c re t a ri at 

plans to make use of these guidelines in an 

upcoming training wo rkshop for C I T E Si m p l e- 

menting age n c i e s . 

S S C c o n t i nues to contri bute to the deve l o p- 

ment of the system for Monitoring the Illega l 

Killing of Elephants (M I K E) , as mandated by 

the C I T E S Pa rties in Hara re at the last C I T E S 

C o n fe rence of the Pa rties. For the past six 

months we have coord i n ated the pilot phase 

i m p l e m e n t ation in both Central A f rica (undert 

a ken by the Wi l d l i fe Conservation Society) 

and in Southeast A s i a ,and developed data protocols 

and training modules. 

In Ap ri l ,with funding from the U K G ove rnm 

e n t ’s Darwin Initiat ive, a project in Togo 

s t a rted to assess the status of seven C I T E S- 

listed species of reptiles and to train counter- 


p a rts in assessment techniques. The pro j e c t 

b rings together rep re s e n t at ives from a local 

u n ive rs i t y, the wildlife dep a rt m e n t ,and rep t i l e 

b re e d e rs and tra d e rs. The Project Officer ran a 

c o u rse on basic reptile taxonomy, i d e n t i fi c a- 

t i o n ,e c o l ogy, and population assessment metho 

d s , and field activities are now underway. 

The European Commission and a C I T E S- 

funded project on chameleons in Madaga s c a r, 

in collab o ration with unive rsity and wildlife 

d ep a rtment staff from Madagascar and another 

Darwin Initiat ive pro j e c t , has produced some 

of the fi rst density estimates for a ra n ge of ra i n 

fo rest chameleon species. The project rep o rt 

details a new rapid assessment technique fo r 

collecting population density info rm ation; 

p rev i o u s ly only inve n t o ry studies have been 

p u blished on these species. A second C I T E S- 

re l ated project to assess the status of two parro t 

species in Madagascar has just completed fi e l d 

wo rk , and results are expected in the ye a r 

2 0 0 0 . 

We cannot fo rget that the next C I T E S 

C o n fe rence of the Pa rties will be held in 

N a i robi in Ap ril and that means that the 

Wi l d l i fe Trade Program team is ve ry busy completing 

the A n a lyses of Proposals to Amend the 

C I T E SAp p e n d i c e s .This is a ga rgantuan job that 

must be completed by 14 Feb ru a ry, and has 

been funded by the C I T E S Trust Fund, t h e 

E u ropean Commission (D G X I) , and the gove 

rnments of Au s t ra l i a , G e rm a ny, Jap a n , t h e 

N e t h erl an d s ,and Switze rl a n d. To help with the 

wo rkload in Cambri d ge, we welcome a new 

i n t e rn ,N eville A s h , who will sure ly be tired of 

C I T E S by May! We are wo rking cl o s e ly with 

our part n e rs at T R A F F I C and look to the S S C 

n e t wo rk to provide the Pa rties with the most 

a c c u rate and up-to-date info rm ation on the 

species cove red in the pro p o s a l s . 

For more info rm ation on the Wi l d l i fe 

Trade Progra m , see http://iucn.org/themes/ssc/ 

p rogra m s / t ra d e. h t m 

Po l i cy A dvice and 

C o n s e rvation Guidelines 

One of S S C’s strengths is the ability of the vo l- 

unteer netwo rk to gather info rm ation and use it 

to cre ate policy statements and guidelines. 

M a ny of these are ava i l able on the S S C web 

site at http://iucn.org / t h e m e s /s s c/ p u b s / p o l i cy 

/ i n d ex . h t m . 

• D raft I U C N Guidelines for the Placement 

of Confi s c ated Live A n i m a l s—Led pri m a- 

ri ly by the Reintroduction Specialist Gro u p , 

these guidelines we re circ u l ated for rev i ew 

to all I U C N M e m b e rs in the spring of 1999. 

The guidelines include a decision-tree to 

identify the most ap p ro p ri ate method fo r 

dealing with confi s c ated species, on a caseby-case 

basis. We hope to be able to fi n a l i ze 

these guidelines by the end of 1999 and 

submit them for adoption by the I U C N 

Council in Feb ru a ry 2000. 

• D raft I U C N Guidelines for the Preve n- 

tion of Biodive rsity Loss due to Biologi c a l 

I nva s i o n s— D raft ve rsions and revisions of 

these guidelines have been circ u l ating since 

the Fi rst Wo rld Conservation Congress in 

1996. Fo l l owing a planning meeting for the 

I U C N Global Initiat ive on Inva s ive Species 

in Ap ril 1998, the Inva s ive Species Specialist 

Group decided to compile a cl e a re r, 

m o re concise ve rsion. This has been rev i ewed 

by all I U C N M e m b e rs and has been subm 

i t t e d, as we go to pre s s , for adoption by 

I U C N C o u n c i l . 

• D raft I U C N Po l i cy Statement on Sustainable 

Use of Wild Living Resourc e s— 

D eveloped by S S C’s Sustainable Use netwo 

rk with input from I U C N M e m b e rs , t h i s 

p o l i cy statement is intended to be a bri e f, 

concise document wh i ch defines the Uni 

o n ’s ove r- a rching position on sustainabl e 

u s e. It was not conceived as a detailed elabo 

ration of how to undert a ke sustainable use 

a c t iv i t i e s , and the target audience is the 

U n i o n ’s Secre t a ri at and its Members. Th e 

t h i rd draft of the statement has been circ u- 

l ated to I U C N M e m b e rs for a final round of 

comments. It will be fi n a l i zed and pre s e n t e d 

at the Second Wo rld Conservation Congre s s 

in October. 

• S S C P u bl i c at i o n s ,i n cluding Action Plans 

for the Conservation of Species—S S C’s 

vo l u n t e e rs continue to put a signifi c a n t 

amount of effo rt into the cre ation of A c t i o n 

Plans. S S C’s 50th Action Plan was completed 

in 1999, and many Specialist Gro u p s 

c o n t ri buted to the conservation commu n i t y 

by cre ating Action Plans and Occasional 

Pap e rs. Two intern s , Anna Knee and Dav i d 


B e a m o n t , joined us in the late summer to 

help bring Action Plans to the publ i c at i o n 

s t age. Those publ i s h e d, in pre s s , or neari n g 

completion as S p e c i e sgoes to press incl u d e : 

Action Plans: 

• C o n i fe rs : S t atus Survey and Conservat i o n 

Action Plan. Compiled by Aljos Farjon and 

C h ris Page. (publ i s h e d ) 

• West Indian Iguana: S t atus Survey and 

C o n s e rvation Action Plan. Compiled and 

edited by Allison A l b e rts. (in pre s s ) 

• Pa rro t s : S t atus Survey and Conservat i o n 

Action Plan. Edited by Noel Sny d e r, P h i l i p 

M c G owa n , James Gilard i , and A l e j a n d ro 

G rajal. (in pre s s ) 

• A f rican Rhino: S t atus Survey and Conservation 

Action Plan. Compiled by Rich a rd 

Emslie and Martin Brooks. (in pre s s ) 

• M o s s e s ,L ive r wo rt s ,and Horn wo rt s :S t at u s 

S u rvey and Conservation Action Plan fo r 

B ryo p hy t e s . Compiled by Tomas Hallingb 

ä ck and Nick Hodgetts. (in advanced stage 

of prep a rat i o n ) 

• C u ra s s ow s ,Guans and Chach a l a c a s : S t atus 

Survey and Conservation Action Plan fo r 

C racids (1999-2003). Compiled by Stuart 

D. Strahl and Daniel M. Brooks. (in 

a dvanced stage of prep a rat i o n ) 

Occasional Pap e rs : 

• A f rican Antelope Dat abase 1998. C o m p i l e d 

by Rod East. (publ i s h e d ) 

• A f rican Elephant Dat abase 1998. C o m p i- 

ed by Rich a rd Barn e s , Colin Cra i g, H o l ly 

D u bl i n , G reg Ove rt o n , Wi l ly Simons, a n d 

C h ris Thouless (in pre s s ) 

• B i o l ogy and Conservation of Fre s h wat e r 

Cetaceans in A s i a . Compiled by Randall 

R e eves. (in advanced stage of prep a rat i o n ) 

Linette Humphrey rep resents S S C on the I U C N 

P u bl i c ations Task Fo rce wh i ch , in light of 

a dvances in electronic publishing opport u n i- 

t i e s , is rev i ewing the I U C N p u bl i c ations strategy 

and developing guidelines for all I U C N 

p rograms. As S S C has one of the largest and 

l o n ge s t - running publishing programs in I U C N, 

it will make a va l u able contri bution to this 

p rocess. 

F u rther info rm ation on SSC publ i c at i o n s 

can be found on http://iucn.org / t h e m e s / s s c / 

p u b s / p u b s - i n t . h t m 

C re ating the Wo rld Conservat i o n 

D i gital Libra ry 

We await the release of a prototype ve rsion of 

the Wo rld Conservation Digital Libra ry late in 

1 9 9 9 ,in celeb ration of S S C’s 50th A n n ive rs a ry 

ye a r. The prototype will include the 50 A c t i o n 

Plans and 20 Occasional Pap e rs that the vo l- 

u n t e e rs of S S C h ave cre ated over the ye a rs , 

t ogether with other S S C and I U C N d o c u m e n t s 

t h at have been published in a digital fo rm at in 

1999. It will also include meta-data (ex t e n s ive 

b i bl i ographic detail) on all of I U C N’s publ i c a- 

tions. Future ve rsions of the Digital Libra ry 

will include publ i c ations from other I U C N 

P rogra m s , C o m m i s s i o n s , and Regional and 

C o u n t ry Offi c e s , building up the Digital Libra 

ry over time. 

S e c re t a ri at New s 

The Chair’s office re l u c t a n t ly bade fa rewell to 

Ruth Barreto who has moved to the I U C N 

S u s t a i n able Use Initiat ive office in Wa s h i n g t o n 

DC. Howeve r, we have been fo rt u n ate to rec 

ruit Carolina Caceres as the new Special 

Assistant to the Chair and hope that she enjoy s 

the hectic times ahead for the S S C— f rom the 

C I T E S and C B D C o n fe re n c e s , to orga n i z i n g 

the Commission activities for the Second 

Wo rld Conservation Congress in A m m a n . 

At I U C N h e a d q u a rt e rs in Gland we also 

said go o d - bye to Clotilde Mack , our fi n a n c e 

o fficer for the last five ye a rs , who is planning 

a hap py “ re t i re m e n t ”at home with her fa m i ly. 

In her place, we welcome Isabelle Croset to the 

S S C team in Switze rl a n d. 

C a rolina Cacere s , M a riano Gimenez-Dixon, 

Linette Humphrey, Sue Mainka, We n dy 

S t ra h m ,and Simon Stuart 


The Second IUCN Wo rld Conservation Congre s s , 

A m m a n , Jo rd a n ,4-11 October, 2 0 0 0 

Dear S S C M e m b e r : 

The Second I U C N Wo rld Conservation Congre 

s s , the senior gove rning body of I U C N– Th e 

Wo rld Conservation Union, will be held in 

A m m a n ,Jo rd a n ,4-11 October, 2000. As Chair 

of the S S C, I invite all S S C m e m b e rs to at t e n d 

the S S C Commission meeting and the 

C o n gress itself. The Wo rld Conservat i o n 

C o n gress brings together conservation ex p e rt s 

to discuss and make decisions that infl u e n c e 

the global conservation agenda. As a member 

of the Species Surv ival Commission, your cont 

ri bution to this process is significant. Toge t h e r, 

we can continue to strive towa rds our stat e d 

v i s i o n :A wo rld that values and conserves pre s- 

ent levels of biodive rs i t y, within species, 

b e t ween species and of ecosystems. 

I U C Nhas a long history of holding tri e n n i a l 

G e n e ral A s s e m blies at wh i ch members set out 

the direction of the Union’s global program fo r 

the next triennium. Howeve r, in 1992, at the 

G e n e ral A s s e m bly in Buenos A i re s , it wa s 

decided that future assemblies should be open 

to a wider audience. The Fi rst Wo rld Conservation 

Congress was held in Montreal in October 

1996. The Congress acts as a fo rum fo r 

discussion of global conservation issues. 

Th rough the Congre s s , I U C N ge n e rates ex c i t e- 

m e n t ,c o m m i t m e n t , and action towa rds ach i eving 

the Union’s mission. 

The Congress has become a major opportunity 

for sharing info rm ation and ex p e ri e n c e s 

among the members of the Union, its Commission 

members , and the ge n e ral publ i c. Vo t i n g 

m e m b e rs of the I U C N a re invited to contri bu t e 

to the development of the Triennial Progra m , 

and to submit policy motions for considerat i o n . 

Th rough this instru m e n t , the membership has 

s i g n i ficant input into the gove rn a n c e, p o l i cy, 

and program of I U C N. Members can define the 

U n i o n ’s policy, b ring their influence to bear 

on conservation pro bl e m s , and gain Union 

e n d o rsement on policies important in their 

c o u n t ry or region. Members also have the duty 

of electing the Offi c e rs of I U C N, i n cluding the 

P re s i d e n t ,R egional Councillors , and Commission 

Chairs. 

At the Fi rst Wo rld Conservation Congre s s , 

for the fi rst time wo rkshops and special eve n t s 

we re open to a more ge n e ral audience. It wa s 

a tremendous success and the fo rt h c o m i n g 

C o n gress will provide another opportunity fo r 

ge n e ral discussions. A series of intera c t ive sessions 

are curre n t ly planned for the second and 

fo u rth days of the Congress (see the prov i- 

sional A genda on page 12). Each day will have 

six wo rkshops fo l l owing the theme “ E c o- 

s p a c e ”( d ay two) or “Ecospace in A c t i o n ”( d ay 

four). Descriptions of the proposed wo rk s h o p s 

a re found in the Congress new s l e t t e r, S wa n s a n 

posted at the Congress Web site:http://iucn.org / 

a m m a n / i n d ex.html. 

The Species Surv ival Commission is partn 

e ring with the Society for Conservat i o n 

B i o l ogy to deliver an intera c t ive session titled, 

I n t egrating Conservation Science into Po l i cy 

and Management. We hope to use this fo rum to 

a dd ress the questions, “ H ow can I U C N m a i n- 

tain effe c t ive links with the conservation science 

base?” and “ H ow does better science lead 

to better management of ecospaces?” D u ri n g 

the session, discussions between conservat i o n 

s c i e n t i s t s , p ra c t i t i o n e rs , decision make rs , a n d 

other interested Congress participants will 

focus on how to incorp o rate the fast deve l o p i n g 

science base of conservation theory and pra c- 

tice into conservation policy. 

The S S C Commission-wide meeting will be 

held on Tu e s d ay and We d n e s d ay, 3-4 October, 

2000. This meeting will be open to all S S C 

m e m b e rs and to interested I U C N M e m b e rs . 

The theme of the S S C meeting is, “ M o b i l i z i n g 

Scientists to A dd ress Conservat i o n .” Th e re is 

a fee of U S $150 to attend the Congre s s , 

reduced to U S $100 if paid befo re 31 May, 

2000. Commission members who do not plan 

to attend the Congress but wish to attend the 


S S C meeting will be asked to pay a modest 

regi s t ration fee of U S $25. 

The fi rst session of the S S C C o m m i s s i o n 

meeting will be an open Steering Committee 

m e e t i n g, fo l l owed by Specialist Group rep o rt s . 

This will be an opportunity to highlight our 

a ch i evements during the four ye a rs since the 

Fi rst Wo rld Conservation Congre s s , i n cl u d i n g 

the new S S C S t rat egic Plan. The S S C m a n d at e 

to be presented at Congress is based on 

the results of the S S C S t rat egic Planning 

p rocess. The goals and objectives will be presented 

to Congress as S S C p ri o rities for the 

n ext tri e n n i u m . 

This meeting will also offer the opport u n i t y 

to showcase some of the products the S S C h a s 

been deve l o p i n g. The 2000 I U C N Red List w i l l 

be fe at u re d, as will the new ly developed Species 

Info rm ation Service softwa re. We also 

hope to host a wo rkshop introducing some of 

the issues that will be tre ated more intensive ly 

in the intera c t ive Congress session, “ I n t egrating 

Conservation Science into Po l i cy and 

M a n age m e n t .” 

D u ring the Congre s s , the S S C will pre s e n t 

the Peter Scott Awa rd for Conservation Meri t . 

The awa rd is given in the name of the late Sir 

Peter Scott, in re c ognition of commitment to 

global conservation and to I U C N and S S C. It 

is presented to indiv i d u a l s ,c o m mu n i t i e s , i n s t i- 

t u t i o n s , or orga n i z ations who have demons 

t rated a significant dedication to conservat i o n 

science and the pre s e rvation of biologi c a l 

d ive rs i t y. 

Please note that the Species Surv iva l 

Commission itself is not able to provide funding 

assistance for anyone wishing to attend 

the Second I U C N Wo rld Congress or the S S C 

meeting at Amman. Assistance is like ly to be 

ava i l able for members from developing count 

ries planning to attend the Congress as 

p a rt of the delegation of an I U C N M e m b e r 

o rga n i z ation. 

In this issue of S p e c i e s, you will find a copy 

of the letter of Inv i t ation to the Congress sent 

by the I U C N D i rector Genera l , wh i ch my 

o ffice fo r wa rded to S S C m e m b e rs in a mailing 

in December. I trust you have had a chance to 

see it and re s p o n d. If you have not re c e ived this 

i nv i t ation and wish to part i c i p ate in the 

C o n gre s s , or if you intend to attend the S S C 

m e e t i n g, please fax the enclosed “Intent to 

Pa rt i c i p at e ”fo rm to the add ress given as soon 

as possibl e. 

I hope you will be able to join us in A m m a n . 

S i n c e re ly, 

D avid Bra cke t t 


I nv i t ation to the Second IUCN Wo rld Conservat i o n 

C o n gre s s ,A m m a n , Jo rd a n ,4-11 October, 2 0 0 0 

N ovember 1999 

Dear S S C Commission Member: 

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jo rdan has grac 

i o u s ly offe red to host the Second Wo rl d 

C o n s e rvation Congress of The Wo rld Conservation 

Union–I U C Nf rom 4 to 11 October 2000. 

It gives me gre at pleasure to invite you to join 

us in Amman for this event as an Observe r 

without voting ri g h t s . 

The Amman Congress is expected to be the 

b i ggest conservation gat h e ring ever to be held 

in the Middle East, and the largest intern at i o n a l 

e nv i ronmental gat h e ring of the Year 2000. 

O ver two thousand participants rep re s e n t i n g 

I U C N’s global membership of State and nongove 

rnmental orga n i z ations as well as its Commissions 

are ex p e c t e d. 

B eyond the stat u t o ry function of the 

Amman Congre s s , it will also serve to highlight 

key ch a l l e n ges at the outset of the new 

millennium. Its theme will be “ E c o s p a c e ” — 

the need to focus on spatial integration at va rious 

ge ographical scales as a pre requisite fo r 

meaningful conservat i o n ,s u s t a i n able deve l o p- 

m e n t , and securi t y. For ex a m p l e, we want to 

focus on shared rive r b a s i n s , regional seas, 

mountain env i ronments or rain fo rests aro u n d 

the wo rl d. While emphasizing the spat i a l 

dimensions of ecosystem conservat i o n ,we will 

seek to build on I U C N’s traditional stre n g t h s 

in species and protected areas. Species ex t i n c- 

t i o n , as well as the degra d ation of water and 

soil re s o u rc e s , a re our most pressing ch a l- 

l e n ges. We hope that gre ater spatial integration 

of conservation effo rts beyond customary 

a d m i n i s t rat ive and political boundaries can add 

hope for the pre s e rvation of ecosystems. 

We welcome your views and invite you to 

t a ke an active part in the series of intera c t ive 

“ E c o s p a c e ” sessions on days 2 and 4 of the 

E vent. These Sessions are being designed to 

re flect the interests of I U C N m e m b e rs in the 

d evelopment of the Program that will guide the 

Union in the coming tri e n n i u m . 

We would also like to draw your attention to 

the Opening Cere m o ny in the presence of 

H.M. King Abdullah and I U C N’s ch e ri s h e d 

Pat ro n , H.M. Queen Noor. This Grand Opening 

will be held on the evening of 4 October in 

the impre s s ive Roman Th e at re, built 138-161 

A . D. and located in dow n t own Amman. 

An ove rv i ew of the main elements of the 

C o n gress and a timetable outlining the program 

for the eight days is at t a ch e d. 

In addition to delegates from I U C Nm e m b e r 

o rga n i z ations and members of I U C N C o m- 

m i s s i o n s ,we are extending inv i t ations to some 

n o n - m e m b e rs. Other netwo rks and A dv i s o ry 

G roups are being invited to attend the A m m a n 

C o n gress as observe rs ,t ogether with rep re s e n- 

t at ives from I U C N p a rtner orga n i z at i o n s , t h e 

United Nations fa m i ly, other key intern at i o n a l 

o rga n i z ations concerned with conservation and 

s u s t a i n able deve l o p m e n t , the mu l t i l at e ral and 

b i l at e ral development assistance commu n i t y 

and rep re s e n t at ives of the env i ro n m e n t - c o n- 

scious business commu n i t y. 

Please feel free to consult the A m m a n 

C o n gress website at http://www. i u c n . o rg / 

a m m a n / i n d ex.html wh e re current info rm at i o n 

and documentation has been posted and will be 

u p d ated on a regular basis. 


If you are planning to come to the Congre s s 

and/or the Commission meeting, please re t u rn 

the enclosed ‘Intention to A t t e n d ’ fo rm to us 

by 31 Ja nu a ry 2000. This will ensure that we 

i n clude your name on our mailing list for further 

info rm ation on both meetings. We will 

also send you an official Regi s t ration Bro chu 

re, d o c u m e n t ation on the Royal Hashemite 

Kingdom of Jo rdan and logistical info rm at i o n 

( t rave l , hotel accommodat i o n ,ex c u rs i o n s ,e t c ) . 

This info rm ation will be mailed within one 

month to all those who indicate their intention 

to attend by re t u rning this fo rm. We would like 

to stress the importance of pre - regi s t e ring fo r 

the Congress. 

In order to help your planning, please note 

t h at neither I U C N nor the Commission is abl e 

to allocate any financial assistance to support 

the part i c i p ation of observe rs in the A m m a n 

C o n gre s s . 

We look fo r wa rd to seeing you in A m m a n 

n ext October. 

Yo u rs sincere ly, 

M a ritta R. von Bieb e rstein Ko ch - We s e r 

I U C N D i rector Genera l 

The Amman Congress will include the 

fo l l owing five main eve n t s : 

• Meetings of I U C N’s six Commissions, 

to be held on 4 October. C o m m i s s i o n s 

will discuss their mandates and future 

wo rk . 

• A series of Members ’ Business Sess 

i o n s , to be held on 6, 10 and 11 

O c t o b e r. This will deal specifi c a l ly 

with I U C N business mat t e rs , i n cl u d- 

ing the election of the Pre s i d e n t , 

Tre a s u re r, R egional Councillors and 

Commission Chairs , m e m b e rs h i p 

i s s u e s ,p rogram and bu d ge t . 

• A Te chnical Meeting, to be held on 9 

O c t o b e r. This session will provide an 

o p p o rtunity for Members to info r- 

m a l ly discuss the Commission Rev 

i ew s ,the Membership Po l i cy and the 

Triennial Program and bu d ge t . 

• A series of Intera c t ive Sessions, h e l d 

over two and a half days on 5 and 7 

O c t o b e r, as well as the morning of the 

9 t h . This will include part i c i p at o ry 

sessions under the ove rall theme of 

E c o s p a c e. 

• An Exhibition wh i ch is being orga n- 

i zed by the Host Country. 

We are contemplating possible add i t i o n a l 

side eve n t s , about wh i ch we will info rm 

you at a more advanced stage. 

Fi n a l ly, we are planning to allocate one 

d ay, 8 October, for ex c u rsions that will be 

o rga n i zed to seve ral of Jo rd a n ’s histori c 

and scenic locat i o n s . 


Intention to Attend and Request for Regi s t ration Info rm at i o n 

Second Wo rld Conservation Congre s s , A m m a n , Jo rd a n ,4-11 October, 2 0 0 0 

Please complete using capital letters . 

S u rn a m e : 

Fi rst name(s): 

❑ I intend to part i c i p ate in the Wo rl d 

C o n s e rvation Congress as an observe r. 

Please note all Congress participants will 

be re q u i red to pay a regi s t ration fee of U S 

$150. Howeve r, if you register and pay 

b e fo re 31 May, 2 0 0 0 , the regi s t ration fe e 

will be only U S $ 1 0 0 . 

Please send further info rm ation and 

documents in: 

Name of orga n i z at i o n : 

_____ Fre n ch 

_____ Spanish 

_____ English 

_____ A rab i c 

Mailing add re s s : 

❑ I intend to part i c i p ate in the meeting of the 

Species Surv ival Commission wh i ch will 

t a ke place on Tu e s d ay and We d n e s d ay, 3 - 4 

O c t o b e r, 2 0 0 0 , p rior to the Wo rld Conservation 

Congre s s . 

Please photocopy and fax this fo rm 

by 31 Ja nu a ry, 2000 to: 

Wo rld Conservation Congress Offi c e r 

I U C N 

Rue Mauve rn ey 28 

1196 Gland 

S w i t ze rl a n d 

Fa x : 41 22 999 0020 


P rovisional A genda (subject to ongoing discussion) 

Second Wo rld Conservation Congre s s ,A m m a n , Jo rd a n ,4-11 October, 2 0 0 0 

D ay 1—We d n e s d ay, 04 October 

M o rn i n g :0 9 h 0 0 - 1 2 h 0 0 

Commission meetings 

L u n ch t i m e :1 2 h 0 0 - 1 4 h 0 0 

Commission awa rds pre s e n t at i o n 

A f t e rn o o n :1 4 h 0 0 - 1 7 h 0 0 

Commission meetings 

1 6 h 0 0 

I n fo rmal members ’s e s s i o n 

M e m b e rs ’business session 

E ve n i n g :1 9 h 0 0 - 2 2 h 0 0 


(Opening cere m o ny ) 

D ay 2—Th u rs d ay, 05 October 

M o rn i n g :0 9 h 0 0 - 1 2 h 0 0 

I n t e ra c t ive sessions 

L u n ch t i m e :1 2 h 0 0 - 1 4 h 0 0 

C a n d i d at e ’s pre s e n t at i o n 

A f t e rn o o n :1 4 h 0 0 - 1 7 h 0 0 


L ate aftern o o n : 1 7 h 0 0 - 1 9 h 0 0 


E ve n i n g :1 9 h 0 0 - 2 2 h 0 0 

( Ava i l able for regional members meetings) 

D ay 3—Fri d ay, 06 October 

M o rn i n g :0 9 h 0 0 - 1 2 h 0 0 


A f t e rn o o n :1 4 h 0 0 - 1 7 h 0 0 




E ve n i n g :1 9 h 0 0 - 2 2 h 0 0 


D ay 4—Sat u rd ay, 07 October 

M o rn i n g :0 9 h 0 0 - 1 2 h 0 0 


L u n ch t i m e :1 2 h 0 0 - 1 4 h 0 0 

M e m b e rs ’business session (elections) 

A f t e rn o o n :1 4 h 0 0 - 1 7 h 0 0 




D ay 5—Sunday, 08 October 

E a rly morn i n g : 0 7 h 0 0 

E x c u rs i o n 

D ay 6—Monday, 09 October 

M o rn i n g :0 9 h 0 0 - 1 2 h 0 0 

Results of intera c t ive sessions 

L u n ch t i m e :1 2 h 0 0 - 1 4 h 0 0 

M e m b e rs business session 

( results of elections) 

A f t e rn o o n :1 4 h 0 0 - 1 7 h 0 0 

Te chnical discussions 


R e u t e rs awa rd 

E ve n i n g :1 9 h 0 0 - 2 2 h 0 0 

Host country eve n i n g 

D ay 7—Tu e s d ay, 10 October 

M o rn i n g :0 9 h 0 0 - 1 2 h 0 0 


A f t e rn o o n :1 4 h 0 0 - 1 7 h 0 0 



M e m b e rs ’business session (re s o l u t i o n s ) 

D ay 8—We d n e s d ay, 11 October 

M o rn i n g :0 9 h 0 0 - 1 2 h 0 0 


A f t e rn o o n :1 4 h 0 0 - 1 7 h 0 0 


( closing cere m o n i e s ) 


N ew s 

The Status and Conservation 

of A rgali in Mongo l i a 

The arga l i , a wild sheep ch a ra c t e ristic of the 

M o n golian fa u n a , was stat e - p rotected as early 

as 1953. In 1987 the argali was included in the 

Red Data Book as a species with a decl i n i n g 

p o p u l ation and ra n ge. During the last five 

ye a rs , with the advent of massive privat i z at i o n 

of domestic live s t o ck ,the destruction of arga l i 

h ab i t at took place, aggravated by poaching (the 

hides and horns of argali are widely sold 

ab road) and the ousting of the animals fro m 

their ra n ges by domestic live s t o ck. With the 

d e cline in hab i t ats that could meet their ecol 

ogical re q u i re m e n t s , a rgali populations have 

d e c reased in certain regions. Because it is difficult 

to census a vast are a , the number of arga l i 

dwelling in Mongolia has not been determ i n e d 

re c e n t ly. A c c o rding to the Institute of Genera l 

and Experimental Biology, in the 1970s there 

we re about 40,000 argali in Mongolia. Dulamt 

s e ren (1992) found that arga l i ’s ra n ge occupies 

ap p rox i m at e ly 264,000 km 2 . We counted 

a rgali in 1993 in the high mountains of A l t a i . 

O ver two weeks of walking and hors eb a ck 

censuses we re c o rded 85 individuals per 176 

k m 2 of land, of wh i ch number 41.18% we re 

m a l e s ,50.59% fe m a l e s ,and 8.23% young animals. 

On the ave rage, the herds consisted of 

8.7 individuals. A c c o rding to our own dat a , 

scanty literat u re sourc e s , and also the data of 

nu m e rous orga n i z at i o n s , specialists and local 

residents that we re interv i ewed by us in diffe r- 

ent parts of the ra n ge, the total nu m b e rs of 

a rgali in Mongolia to date can be estimated at 

no more than 20,000. But during the last two 

ye a rs the ra n ge of argali expanded eastwa rd 

and is incre a s i n g. 

Since the 1960s, s p o rts hunting has become 

a popular development in Mongolia. Seve n 

hunting tourist stations (o t og s) we re establ i s h e d 

to hunt argali and other mountain ungulat e 

species in the region. Th e re are curre n t ly ten 

hunting fi rms in Mongo l i a , but the oldest one 

is the tourist fi rm “ Z h u u l ch i n ”, 

wh i ch states that 

l o n g - t e rm selective harvests to obtain arga l i 

h o rns for intern ational tro p hy exhibitions have 

s h a rp ly declined the number of argali males 

with horns in excess of 56 inches. 

The hunting pre s s u re combined with intens 

ive competition with domestic live s t o ck has 

been re s p o n s i ble for a decline in the populat i o n 

and the decrease in the ove rall ra n ge of arga l i 

in Mongolia. Conservation of the argali as an 

ex c ep t i o n a l ly va l u able species is ve ry import 

a n t . ◆ C o n t ri buted by A. Lushchekina and S. 

D u l a m t s e re n . 

C o n s e rvation Pro blems of 

the Mongolian Saiga 

(S a i ga tat a rica mongo l i c a) 

The Mongolian saiga is an endange red subspecies 

and one of the seve ral ungulates included 

in the Red Data Book of Mongo l i a 

(1987). At the 9th Confe rence of the Pa rties of 

C I T E S (U S A, N ovember 1994) the Mongo l i a n 

s a i ga was added to Appendix II of C I T E S. Th e 

M o n golian saiga ’s present condition is a mat t e r 

of concern. 

D u ring last five ye a rs ,due to recent political 

and economic ch a n ge s , the Mongolian saiga ’s 

s i t u ation has become critical. A sharp incre a s e 

in illegal hunting and smu ggling saiga horn s , 

competition with live s t o ck , mass mort a l i t y 

under unfavo rable ecological fa c t o rs , and the 

absence of special protected areas are important 

fa c t o rs in this decl i n e. Only two isolat e d 

p o p u l ations re m a i n : in Shargin Gobi/Gobi- 

Altai aimag / ( a rea about 2000 km 2 ) , and in 

Mankhan district /Hovd aimag/(200 km 2 ). Th e 

abundance of the Mongolian saiga is subject 

to significant fl u c t u ations from year to ye a r — 

f rom 300 to 1,700 animals. 

In August 1997 we conducted a survey on 

c o n s e rvation status and biology of the Mongolian 

saiga sponsored by Fauna and Flora 

I n t e rn ational and C . I . C. In total, we cove re d 

a round 9,000 km via transects. For direct saiga 

counts we cove red 1,213 km in parallel tra n- 

sects (2 km wide) that have been made off 

roads. We made our observations in two know n 

p a rts of the saiga ’s ra n ge — a round Sharg 

somon (813 km) and near Mankhan somon 

(400 km). We have seen 607 saigas in Shargi n 

Gobi (0.7 animal per 1 km) and only two 


s a i gas near Mankhan somon. We discove red a 

n ew expansion of the ra n ge to the North fro m 

S h a rgin Gobi, but its permanence will re q u i re 

a dditional monitori n g. In total on our tra n s e c t s 

t h e re we re 97 points with a maximum nu m b e r 

of 40 animals in one herd and an ave rage nu m- 

ber of 6.2 animals per herd. 

The highest concentration of saigas duri n g 

this period was found in the petro p hyte fe at h e r 

gra s s - s a l t wo rt and saltwo rt - fe ather grass steppes 

on gravel and stony brown soil in intermountane 

hollows and on the lower slopes of 

the Mongolian and Gobi Altai ra n ges. A c c o rding 

to info rm ation obtained from local admini 

s t rations during recent decades the region of 

the Shargin Gobi has been used as a pasture fo r 

domestic animals (mostly sheep) but on a mode 

rate scale. But now we observed here a cons 

i d e rable increase in the nu m b e rs of sheep . 

Competition on pastures with domestic animals 

could be a factor negat ive ly impacting 

f u t u re surv ival of saigas. Another factor affe c t- 

ing saiga abundance is the higher mortality 

of males due to illegal hunting and the high 

m o rtality of young animals from pre d at o rs 

( wo l ve s ,foxe s , e agles) and parasites. We have 

seen a golden eagle at t a ck and kill a yo u n g 

s a i ga , and we collected many diffe rent specimens 

for lab o rat o ry studies on parasites. 

With an account of the anthro p ogenic pre s- 

s u res on isolated saiga populat i o n s , we conclude 

that it is necessary to set up a pro t e c t e d 

re s e rve with sufficient number of ra n ge rs and 

s c i e n t i fic staff in the Shargin Gobi as soon as 

p o s s i bl e. ◆ C o n t ri buted by A. Lushch e k i n a ,L . 

A m ga l a n ,and V. Nero n ov. 

Species Info rm ation Serv i c e : B ri e f 

U p d ate of A c t iv i t i e s 

This rep o rt is an update of progress in deve l- 

opment of the S S C Species Info rm ation Service 

(S I S). Since planning for S I S b egan in 

1 9 9 4 ,the planning team has provided peri o d i c 

u p d ates in S p e c i e s. We are hap py to rep o rt that 

the system design will be completed in 2000. A 

fo rmal launch is planned at the Second Wo rl d 

C o n s e rvation Congre s s . 

S I S D e s i g n 

S I S design has advanced considerably since our 

last rep o rt. The ove rall system design comp 

rises three elements: s o f t wa re, a data custodian 

model, and a central service unit. Th e 

s o f t wa re will be used by S S C Specialist Gro u p s 

and I U C N Red List Au t h o rities (in those 

instances wh e re they are not the same entity), 

a l l owing them to collect and orga n i ze their dat a 

in a standard i zed fo rm. A Red List module is 

i n cluded within the softwa re, wh i ch will assist 

Specialist Groups with their Red Listing 

responsibilities. Data will be managed in the 

c o n t ext of a distri buted data custodian model, 

with an aim to manage data as close to the 

s o u rce as possibl e, and cap t u re the most curre n t 

i n fo rm ation ava i l abl e. In most cases the dat a 

custodian will be the Specialist Group. Th e 

c e n t ral service unit (C S U) will be the main 

s e rvice unit for coord i n ation within a fl ex i bl e, 

d e c e n t ra l i zed infra s t ru c t u re for sharing info r- 

m ation. C S U will be staffed by ex p e rts in info r- 

m ation manage m e n t , who will manage S I S 

t e chnical deve l o p m e n t , c o o rd i n ate Specialist 

G roup and staff tra i n i n g, and execute tech n i c a l 

links to the Biodive rsity Conservation Info r- 

m ation System (BCIS). Th rough the centra l 

s e rvice unit, the S I S ge o - re fe rencing component 

will allow GIS linkage, thus enhancing 

S S C’s capacity to monitor ch a n ges in biodive r- 

sity and contri bute to conservation planning. 

Building S S C C ap a c i t y 

S I S will build capacity at three leve l s : ( 1 ) 

Specialist Groups and their members will be 

p rovided with the tools and training needed to 

s t rengthen their info rm ation manage m e n t 

c apacity; (2) S S C as a whole will be able to 

d raw from the netwo rk-wide common fra m e- 

wo rk to effi c i e n t ly produce re l evant and timely 

b i o d ive rsity conservation info rm ation pro d- 

ucts; and (3) S S C will be positioned to cont 

ri bute to integrated info rm ation pro d u c t s 

t h rough the BCIS, the consortium of twe l ve 

i n t e rn ational conservation orga n i z ations wo rking 

together to ensure that their dat a , i n fo rm a- 

t i o n , and ex p e rtise influences conservat i o n 

decisions. 


P rogress to Date 

L u i gi Boitani (S S C E xe c u t ive and Steeri n g 

Committees) and A n d rew Smith (Chair, L agom 

o rph Specialist Group) are leading the S I S 

d evelopment process. The S I S D ata Management 

Wo rking Group (D M W G) guides development 

of the S I S s o f t wa re tool. It compri s e s 

m e m b e rs with ex p e rtise in info rm at i c s , i n fo r- 

m ation manage m e n t , and biodive rsity analyses. 

Careful selection of the D M W G h a s 

e n s u red ex p e rtise rep re s e n t at ive of terre s t ri a l 

and aquatic species, p l a n t s ,a n i m a l s , and inve r- 

t eb rates. As with the I U C NRed List Cat ego ri e s 

and Cri t e ri a , it is part i c u l a rly ch a l l e n ging to 

d evelop a system re l evant to the wide va riety of 

l i fe fo rms add ressed by the S S C n e t wo rk , a n d 

the S I S planning team is committed to deve l- 

oping a softwa re pack age and system that will 

s u p p o rt the needs and ch a ra c t e ristics of all 

types of species. 

G e n e ral Program Deve l o p m e n t 

O ver the past 18 months, the S I S p l a n n i n g 

team has focused on development of the full 

S e rv i c e. This has included softwa re deve l o p- 

m e n t , planning for sufficient support into the 

n e t wo rk , composition of the Central Serv i c e 

U n i t ,and planning for analytical products (biod 

ive rsity analyses). A significant amount of 

time has been devoted to raising funds for system 

implementat i o n , i n cluding an effo rt to 

s e c u re funds for Specialist Group part i c i p at i o n , 

to cover some of the essential costs of setting 

up and running the system within the vo l u n t e e r 

n e t wo rk. Most of these fundraising effo rts are 

ve ry recent. At a later date we will rep o rt on 

h ow successful we have been. 

C o l l ab o rat ive projects that will draw on S I S 

h ave been planned at the BCIS consort i u m 

l evel. For ex a m p l e, S S C, B i rd L i fe Intern 

at i o n a l , the I U C N Wo rld Commission on 

P rotected A re a s , and the Wo rld Conservat i o n 

M o n i t o ring Centre have designed a project to 

identify high concentrations of thre at e n e d 

species and analyse them against pro t e c t e d 

a reas. Although the aim is to develop this 

c apacity globally, B C I Sis fi rst proposing to test 

the concept in Mesoameri c a , in collab o rat i o n 

with the I U C N R egional Office there (O R M A) . 

S S C has chosen to pursue this project for seve 

ral re a s o n s ,i n cluding re l evance to info rm at i o n 

demands emerging from the C B Dand the funding 

potential for S I S d evelopment (incl u d i n g 

s u p p o rt to Specialist Groups). The concep t 

p ap e r, “Enhancing the Role of Protected A re a s 

and Bio-Regional Planning in the Conservat i o n 

of Th re atened Species,” is also ava i l able fro m 

the S S C s e c re t a ri at upon re q u e s t . 

S I S S o f t wa re Deve l o p m e n t 

As with any info rm ation management system 

designed for a large number of users with va rying 

intere s t s , user part i c i p ation in system 

d evelopment is critical. Th e re fo re, the fi rs t 

(0.1) ve rsion of the S I S s o f t wa re was prov i d e d 

to all S S C Specialist Groups in 1997 for eva l- 

u ation. Responses we re considered at a November 

1998 wo rk s h o p , at wh i ch seve ra l 

Specialist Groups and partner orga n i z at i o n s 

we re rep re s e n t e d. 

Based on the results and decisions made at 

t h at meeting, the final stages of S I S c o n c eptual 

development we re planned. One of the 

main tasks in the fi rst half of 2000 will to complete 

the development of the softwa re. Seve n 

rep re s e n t at ive Specialist Groups have been 

selected to carry out an in-depth analysis of 

the second (0.2) ve rsion softwa re betwe e n 

Ja nu a ry and March 2000 (Antelope, L agom 

o rp h , M a rine Tu rt l e, M e d i t e rranean Island 

P l a n t , M o l l u s c, O rch i d, and Pri m ate Specialist 

G roups). At the end of March , a wo rkshop will 

be held to agree to final revisions to ve rs i o n 

0 . 2 , wh i ch will lead to the full wo rking re l e a s e 

ve rsion (Ve rsion 1.0). Bird L i fe Intern at i o n a l 

and Wetlands Intern ational will test the system 

with their re s p e c t ive Specialist Groups 

as well. Rep re s e n t at ives of the selected testing 

Specialist Gro u p s , d i s c i p l i n a ry Specialist 

G ro u p s , and S S C p a rt n e rs will part i c i p ate in 

the wo rkshop. 

S I S I m p l e m e n t at i o n 

The softwa re is expected to be fully deve l o p e d 

by September 2000 with the goal of pre s e n t- 

ing and offi c i a l ly launching it at the Second 

Wo rld Conservation Congress. Fo l l owing its 

p re s e n t ation at the Congress the softwa re will 

be distri buted to all Specialist Groups and to 

other re l evant part n e rs in the S S C n e t wo rk . 

D i s t ri bution will be done by diskette or C D - 

RO M. With this implementat i o n , the Species 


I n fo rm ation Service will start. It is anticipat e d 

t h at full S I S i m p l e m e n t ation will phase in ove r 

a period of seve ral ye a rs. Specialist Gro u p 

C h a i rs should discuss timing with their re s p e c- 

t ive S S C P rogram Offi c e rs , and determ i n e 

re s o u rce needs and fe a s i ble phase in. At that 

t i m e, an ap p ro p ri ate S I S focal point within the 

Specialist Group will be discussed (noting that 

in most cases this will be someone other than 

the Specialist Group Chair). 

Questions are we l c o m e. Please direct them to 

M a riano Gimenez Dixon at the S S C P rogra m 

O ffice in Switze rl a n d. ◆ C o n t ri buted by Luigi 

Boitani and A n d rew Smith, C o - ch a i rs , S I S 

D ata Management Wo rking Gro u p . 

Peter Scott Awa rd for 

C o n s e rvation Merit Presented 

to Dr. To ny Cunningham 

O ver the course of the Species Surv ival Comm 

i s s i o n ’s 50 year history, the fl exibility of the 

S S C’s netwo rk and capacity to mobilize aro u n d 

e m e rging issues has allowed S S C to undert a ke 

a dive rse array of activities—all on a vo l u n t e e r 

basis. Howeve r, the collective ach i evements of 

the S S C a re only possible through the wo rk of 

d e d i c ated individuals. As such , it was ap p rop 

ri ate to mark S S C’s annive rs a ry by re c og n i z- 

ing and celeb rating an individual contri bu t i o n . 

At the Intern ational Botanical Congress in 

August 1999, one special S S C member wa s 

re c og n i zed for his outstanding contri bution to 

c o n s e rvation. The 50th annive rs a ry Peter Scott 

Awa rd for Conservation Merit was presented to 

D r. To ny Cunningham. 

The Peter Scott Awa rd re c og n i zes highly 

s i g n i ficant ach i evements in conservation. In 

the case of To ny Cunningham, this awa rd wa s 

p resented in re c ognition of his ye a rs of important 

and influential wo rk re l ated to the conservation 

dimension in the use of plant re s o u rc e s 

in A f rica. To ny ’s terminal degree was a PhD 

in Botany from the Unive rsity of Cape Tow n 

and his field of re s e a rch is the complex area of 

e t h n o e c o l ogy — i nvolving re s o u rce use by people 

and the consideration of both cultural and 

e c o l ogical fa c t o rs in ap p ro a ching issues such 

as land-use planning, non-timber plant re s o u rc e 

h a rve s t i n g, and collab o rat ive manage m e n t . 

His wo rk has invo l ved important pro j e c t s 

s u ch as surveys of A f rican medicinal plants fo r 

the Wo rld Wide Fund for Nat u re (W W F) , wo rk 

in Ke nya re l ated to improving sustainability 

in the wood carving tra d e, and collab o rat ive 

m a n agement wo rk in Bwindi Impenetrabl e 

N ational Pa rk , U ganda. In Uga n d a , he wo rke d 

to identify the interests of local people vis-avis 

park re s o u rces and his wo rk helped fo rm 

the basis of nego t i ations and agre e m e n t s 

b e t ween park authorities and local commu n i- 

ties. This has been instrumental in easing tensions 

in that are a . 

Since 1992, To ny has been re s p o n s i ble fo r 

the A f rica component of the People and Plants 

I n i t i at ive, a joint program of W W F / U N E S C O / 

R oyal Botanic Gardens Kew on ethnobotany 

and sustainable use of plant re s o u rces. Much 

of this wo rk has invo l ved building cap a c i t y 

among re s o u rce management agencies to 

enhance their ability to wo rk collab o rat ive ly 

with local communities. Training has been a 

major part of this, and To ny has helped infl u- 

ence training methodologi e s , o rienting science 

to be more useful to conservat i o n . 

In 1993, S S C b egan to dire c t ly benefit fro m 

To ny ’s fo rm i d able know l e d ge of the intera c t i o n 

b e t ween cultures and plants and his energy, 

v i s i o n , and commitment, as he was ap p o i n t e d 

C o - chair of the S S C Medicinal Plants Specialist 

Gro u p ,t ogether with Uwe Schippmann. Th e 

Medicinal Plant Specialist Group is ve ry active 

in undertaking surveys of pri o rities in medicinal 

plant conservation and providing tech n i c a l 

a dvice and support to C I T E S. 


To ny stepped down as Co-chair of the 

Medicinal Plants Specialist Group in 1998, 

although he continues to be an import a n t 

member of the Group. It is hoped the S S C w i l l 

c o n t i nue to benefit from his skills, w i s d o m , 

and ex p e rtise for many ye a rs to come. It wa s 

t ru ly befitting to awa rd this special S S C m e m- 

ber with our gre atest honor, the Peter Scott 

Awa rd for Conservation Meri t .◆ C o n t ri bu t e d 

by the Office of the S S C C h a i r. 

XXI IUFRO C o n gress 2000 

The Intern ational Union of Fo re s t ry Research 

O rga n i z ations (I U F RO) , a re n owned intern a- 

tional body in fo re s t ry re s e a rch , has entru s t e d 

M a l aysia to host the pre s t i gious X X I I U F RO 

Wo rld Congress to be held in Au g u s t , 2000 at 

the Putra Wo rld Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur. 

This Congress will see the conve rgence of 

3,000 fo reign and local part i c i p a n t s ,making it 

the largest scientific congress on fo re s t ry to be 

held in Malay s i a , the fi rst developing country 

ever to host the Congress in the 100 year hist 

o ry of I U F RO. 

The theme of the Congre s s , “ Fo rests and 

S o c i e t y : The Role of Research ,” was ch o s e n 

to re flect the increasing importance of re s e a rch 

and development in sustainable fo rest management. 

The Congre s s , with the support of the 

M a l aysian Gove rn m e n t , will be orga n i zed by 

the Organizing Committee headed by Fo re s t 

R e s e a rch Institute Malaysia (F R I M) . 

I U F RO, a non-pro fit and non-gove rn m e n t a l 

i n t e rn ational scientific body, was established in 

1892. Among the tasks undert a ken since its 

fo rm ation have been to promote intern at i o n a l 

c o o rd i n ation and cooperation in re s e a rch and 

d evelopment on va rious aspects of fo rest scie 

n c e. I U F RO n ow has 676 member orga n i z a- 

tions from 105 countri e s . 

The Congress will cover pertinent issues 

s u ch as sustainable management of nat u ra l 

re s o u rc e s ,fo rest and society needs, ch a n ges in 

e nv i ronment and society, c u l t u ral dive rsity in 

fo rest manage m e n t , and the global vision of 

fo rest and society. A re n owned speaker will 

a dd ress each of these topics at the Congre s s 

d u ring the keynote add re s s e s . 

Ap a rt from keynote add re s s e s ,t h e re will be 

nu m e rous scientific sessions comprising technical 

paper and poster pre s e n t ations based on 

the ab ove theme and issues. Pre s e n t ations fo r 

S c i e n t i fic A ch i evement Awa rd, O u t s t a n d i n g 

D o c t o ral Research Awa rd, and Best Po s t e r 

Awa rd will also be some of the highlights of 

the Congress. Commemorat ive stamps will 

also be launch e d. 

A one-day tour within Klang Va l l ey, re l at e d 

to fo re s t ry activities to highlight Malay s i a ’s 

commitment towa rds ach i eving Sustainabl e 

Fo rest Manage m e n t ,will be conducted. For the 

a c c o m p a nying pers o n s , special programs will 

be orga n i ze d. Po s t - C o n gress ex c u rsions will 

also be orga n i zed cove ring Malaysia and selected 

neighboring Asian countri e s . 

The promotional activities initiated by 

the Congress Organizing Committee and 

I U F RO H e a d q u a rt e rs in Vienna have bro u g h t 

e n c o u raging response from scientists, fo re s t 

m a n age rs , p l a n n e rs and decision-make rs 

wo rl dw i d e. Bro ch u re s , ge n e ral info rm at i o n , 

p o s t e rs , an info rm ation pack age, car sticke rs , 

and souvenir items have been produced to promote 

the Congress. 

To further promote the Congre s s , m o re 

a c t ivities are being planned and implemented. 

The regi s t ration pack age will be re a dy for dist 

ri bution by the end of 1999. It will contain 

detailed info rm ation on the scientific progra m , 

t o u rs and ex c u rs i o n s , as well as accompanying 

pers o n s ’p rogram. The regi s t ration fees fo r 

p a rticipants are listed as fo l l ow s : 

D eveloped countri e s : 

B e fo re 31 March , 2 0 0 0 : U S $ 4 0 0 

After 31 March , 2 0 0 0 : U S $ 4 8 0 

G77 countries and China: U S $ 3 6 0 

A c c o m p a nying pers o n : U S $ 1 0 0 

Local part i c i p a n t s : 

B e fo re 31 March , 2 0 0 0 : RM 500 

After 31 March , 2 0 0 0 : RM 600 

S t u d e n t s : 

O ve rs e a s: U S $ 3 6 0 

L o c a l : RM 500 


To fa c i l i t ate trave l l i n g, M a l aysian A i rl i n e s 

( M A S ) , the official carri e r, will offer re fe re n- 

tial rate to participants attending the Congre s s . 

For further info rm at i o n ,please contact: Th e 

C o n gress Secre t a ri at , t e l : 0 3 - 6 3 7 2 1 3 5 / 6 3 0 

2153; e-mail: i u f rox x i @ f ri m . gov. my; web s i t e : 

h t t p : / / f ri m . gov. my / i u f ro . h t m l . 

D evelopment and Sustainable Use 

of Nat u ral Resources in A f ri c a : 

C o n flict or Complement? 

Second Pan A f rican Symposium 

on the Use of Nat u ral Resources in A f ri c a 

Ju ly, 2 0 0 0 ,O u aga d o u go u ,B u rkina Fa s o 

The Fi rst Pan A f rican Symposium on the 

S u s t a i n able Use of Nat u ral Resources in A f ri c a 

( Z i m b ab we, 1 9 9 6 ) ,called for the further deve l- 

opment of the S S C S u s t a i n able Use Specialist 

G roup (S U S G) to cover We s t , C e n t ra l , N o rt h , 

E a s t e rn , and Southern A f rica. These netwo rk s 

h ave since been established to promote and 

fa c i l i t ate re s e a rch and learning on optimal natu 

ral re s o u rce management strat egies for A f ri c a . 

S U S G is pleased to announce that the Second 

Pan A f rican Symposium on Sustainabl e 

Use will be held on 24-27 Ju ly, 2000 in 

O u aga d o u go u , B u rkina Faso. The purpose of 

the symposium is to ex p l o re the impact of 

d evelopment on the sustainable use and cons 

e rvation of nat u ral re s o u rces in A f rica. Repre 

s e n t at ives of gove rn m e n t s ,u n ive rs i t i e s ,n o n - 

gove rnmental orga n i z at i o n s ,c o m mu n i t y - b a s e d 

o rga n i z at i o n s ,p rivate companies, and intern a- 

tional orga n i z ations will part i c i p at e. 

Fo c u s : Due to the continent’s heavy re l i- 

ance on nat u ral re s o u rces for economic deve l- 

o p m e n t , t h e re is an emerging A f rican vo i c e 

claiming that sustainable use strat egies are key 

to env i ro n m e n t a l ly sustainable development. A 

c o n t ra ry view claims that conservation and 

d evelopment should be pursued sep a rat e ly, o n 

d i ffe rent land, with diffe rent re s o u rc e s , a n d 

with diffe rent benefit streams. Other A f ri c a n 

voices claim that these strat egies can be comp 

l e m e n t a ry. The symposium will ex p l o re these 

ap p ro a ches to deve l o p m e n t ,d rawing on ava i l- 

able scientific know l e d ge as well as pra c t i c a l 

ex p e ri e n c e, and will seek to fa c i l i t ate a unifying 

vision for development and conservat i o n 

on the A f rican continent. 

O b j e c t ive s : To assess the success and fa i l- 

u re of va rious conservation and deve l o p m e n t 

p rograms re l evant to the management of 

re n ewable nat u ral re s o u rces across A f rica; to 

distill critical lessons for the future; and to 

i m p rove Pan A f rican sch o l a rship in this fi e l d. 

S t ru c t u re : A wide va riety of fo rm ats will 

be utilized to maximize part i c i p ation and learni 

n g, i n cluding wo rking group sessions, p a n e l 

d i s c u s s i o n s ,and dynamic intera c t ive pre s e n t a- 

tions. Critical thematic issues will stru c t u re the 

p rogram. Te chnical data and written analy s e s 

f rom the va rious case studies will be prov i d e d 

as handouts. 

Th e m e s : R e flecting the complexity of the 

issues the symposium seeks to add re s s ,a wide 

ra n ge of themes will be ex p l o re d, i n cl u d i n g : 

• R egional similarities and diffe rences in sust 

a i n able use strat egies in A f ri c a 

• D evolution and the ch a n ging role of gove 

rnment in nat u ral re s o u rce manage m e n t 

• C o m munity-based conservation and nat u ra l 

re s o u rce manage m e n t 

• Te nu re and nat u ral re s o u rce manage m e n t 

• C o - m a n age m e n t 

• Modes of use—commercial and non-comm 

e rc i a l ,c o n s u m p t ive and non-consumptive 

• Issues of scale (social, e c o l ogi c a l , h i e ra r- 

chies of manage m e n t , e t c. ) 

• Tra n s b o u n d a ry issues in nat u ral re s o u rc e 

m a n age m e n t 

• I n fluence of intern ational conventions and 

p o l i cy deb at e s 

• I n t e rn ational trade regimes and nat u ra l 

re s o u rce manage m e n t 

• Role of nort h e rn hemisphere advo c a cy 

R e s u l t s :The proceedings of the symposium 

will be published by I U C N and commu n i c at e d 

to the Second Wo rld Conservation Congre s s 

as well as to a wide va riety of A f rican audiences. 

All technical pap e rs prep a red for the 

symposium will be considered for publ i c at i o n 


in a new peer rev i ewed journal that will be published 

by the A f rican Regional Sustainable Use 

Specialist Groups with assistance from the 

I U C N S u s t a i n able Use Initiat ive. 

For more info rm at i o n : Bihini Won Wa 

M u s i t i , S U I A f rican Regional Coord i n at o r, 

I U C N R egional Office for Central A f ri c a , 

B P 5506 Ya o u n d é , C a m e roon; Te l : 237 216 

496; fa x : 237 216 497; e-mail: ro c a i i . i u c n @ 

c a m n e t . c m . 

Fi rst Intern ational Scientifi c 

M e e t i n g :The Biology and Ecology 

of Alpine Amphibians and Rep t i l e s 

Fi rst A n n o u n c e m e n t 

The DPPVN (Society for Bird Research and 

N at u re Protection) is pleased to invite you to 

the fi rst scientific meeting on the Biology and 

e c o l ogy of Alpine Amphibians and Rep t i l e s . 

The meeting dates will be 1-3 Sep t e m b e r, 

2000. The site will be defined in the second 

announcement (pro b ably by the end of Ap ri l ) , 

wh i ch will be mailed only to those wh o 

respond to this announcement. 

The goals of the meeting are : 

• to bring pro fessional and amateur re s e a rche 

rs together to ex ch a n ge ideas and ex p e riences 

on studies of alpine amphibians and 

rep t i l e s ; 

• to promote amphibian and reptilian re s e a rch 

in alpine regions and strengthen the collabo 

ration between amphibian and rep t i l i a n 

s p e c i a l i s t s ; 

• to present results of new re s e a rch on all 

aspects of the biology of amphibians and 

reptiles from alpine hab i t ats; and 

• to present new results of conservat i o n 

actions focused on these orga n i s m s . 

L a n g u age : The official language of the 

meeting will be English. 

A b s t ra c t s : A b s t racts of oral and poster 

p re s e n t ation will be publ i s h e d. All ab s t ra c t s 

should be submitted in English, and all part i c- 

ipants will re c e ive a booklet of ab s t racts at the 

s t a rt of the meeting. The info rm at ive ab s t ra c t s 

should not exceed 250 wo rds and should not 

contain tables and fi g u res. A b s t racts should be 

submitted by e-mail (see below) in Rich - Tex t 

Fo rm at (rtf) along with your pre fe rence for an 

o ral or poster pre s e n t at i o n . 

Meeting fe e : Ca. 60 E U RO, wh i ch will 

i n clude the program and ab s t ra c t s , re f re s h- 

m e n t s , and a meeting ex c u rsion. 

E x c u rs i o n s : Th e re will be meeting ex c u r- 

sion arra n ged free of ch a rge. For those wh o 

will wish to stay longer a post-meeting ex c u r- 

sions will also be offe re d. 

R egi s t ration fo rm :Those intending to part 

i c i p ate are kindly asked to send to the orga n- 

izing committee by 1 Ap ri l , 2 0 0 0 : n a m e, 

i n s t i t u t i o n ,a dd ress (including e-mail and fa x ) , 

the (ge n e ral) title of the contri bu t i o n , and the 

ab s t ract. 

Trave l l e rs adv i c e : I n fo rm ation on accomm 

o d ations (e. g. re s e rvat i o n s , m e a l s ) , wh i ch 

will pro b ably be arra n ged by the orga n i ze rs , 

will be sent in the second announcement. 

Contact add ress of the organizing comm 

i t t e e : D P P V N, Nusa Vogri n , Ptujska c. 91, 

SI-2327 Race, S l ove n i a ,fa x :386 62 788 30 51; 

e - m a i l :m i l a n . vogri n @ g u e s t . a rn e s . s i . 

A second announcement will be distri bu t e d 

o n ly to those who respond to this announcem 

e n t . 


In Memori a m 

Colonel Ja ck Vi n c e n t , M B E ( 1 9 0 4 - 

1999). Ja ck Vincent was born in London in 

1904. He went to school at Wi l l i n g t o n , b e fo re 

e a rning a sch o l a rship to Chri s t ’s Hospital at 

H o rs h a m ,S u s s ex ,wh e re he went at the tender 

age of 10. He left school at 16, and wo rked as a 

fa rm pupil in Sussex . 

At the age of 21 he emigrated to South 

A f rica on the 1820 Settlers sch e m e, and wo rked 

on two fa rms in the Richmond district of 

N atal befo re re t u rning to England to wo rk fo r 

the British Museum. In the late 1920s and early 

1 9 3 0 s , he was sent on a number of bird - c o l- 

lecting expeditions wh i ch took him to most 

p a rts of A f rica. On one ex p e d i t i o n ,he trave l l e d 

in the company of A d m i ral Hubert Lynes of the 

B attle of Jutland fa m e. 

On his re t u rn from the last trip in 1934 he 

met a Scottish wo m a n , M a ry Russell, in Cap e 

Town and proposed to and married her within a 

week. Th ey travelled together to London, 

wh e re they lived for the next ye a r. He then took 

a post with Ja rdine Matheson Co., who sent 

him to Zanzibar to start the fi rst cl ove distille 

ry in that most famous the “ cl ove isles”. Th e re 

he spent three ye a rs building up the industry, 

b e fo re being tra n s fe rred to a sisal plantation in 

Ta n ga nyika. The health situation there was too 

poor for a wife and tiny ch i l d, so Ja ck moved to 

South A f rica aga i n , wh e re he bought a fa rm he 

named Fi rle (after the fa rm he wo rked on in 

S u s s ex) in the Mooi River distri c t , in 1937. 

The war interve n e d, and Mary was left to 

run the fa rm on her own while Ja ck served with 

the then Royal Natal Carbineers in East and 

N o rth A f ri c a , wh e re he was awa rded the M B E 

for his serv i c e. In 1942 he was seconded to the 

B ritish A rmy as an officer at the Staff College 

in Haifa , Pa l e s t i n e. It was there that he earn e d 

the PSC Dagge r, the only South A f rican ever to 

h ave done so. 

On his re t u rn to South A f ri c a , he wa s 

u n able to get the fa rm back on its feet after his 

five - year ab s e n c e, and he had to find wo rk. In 

1949 Douglas Mitchell asked him to take ove r 

the fledgling Natal Pa rks Board. The rest is 

h i s t o ry. Under his guidance, the Board became 

one of the most famous of the wo rl d ’s nat u re 

c o n s e rvation authori t i e s , p a rt i c u l a rly for the 

role it played in saving the white rhino fro m 

ex t i n c t i o n . 

In 1963, Ja ck accepted a post with the 

I n t e rn ational Council for Bird Pre s e rvat i o n , 

and moved with Mary to Morge s ,S w i t ze rl a n d, 

wh e re he wo rked in intern ational conservat i o n 

for four ye a rs. It was during this time that he 

wo rked cl o s e ly with the S S C, by producing the 

fi rst ever bird Red Data Book. In the 1970s, h e 

was awa rded the Wo rld Wi l d l i fe Fund Gold 

Medal and the Order of the Golden A rk by 

P rince Bern h a rd of the Netherl a n d s . 

He re t u rned to rejoin the Natal Pa rks Board 

in 1967, b e fo re fi n a l ly re t i ring in 1974. He 

re t u rned to Fi rle until the death of Mary in 

1 9 8 9 , after 55 ye a rs of marri age. In 1993, h e 

was awa rded one final accolade: The Unive r- 

sity of Natal confe rred an honora ry Doctorat e 

on him for his services to env i ronmental cons 

e rvation in the Prov i n c e. He lived with his son 

John until his death on 3 Ju ly, 1999 at the age 

of 95. 

Th roughout his life, Ja ck Vincent earned the 

respect of all those with whom he wo rked and 

l ive d. He had a ve ry simple philosophy on life, 

wh i ch was that if a job was wo rth doing, it wa s 

wo rth doing pro p e rly. His axiom was that if 

something he was about to do was mora l ly and 

j u s t i fi ably ri g h t , then he pressed on rega rd l e s s . 

His ach i evements bear testimony to this. Th ey 

we re not done for himself, but always in the 

i n t e rests of others. He showed he was a leader 

who gained the confi d e n c e, re s p e c t , and love 

of his staff. 

His son John and daughter Th a m a r, a l o n g 

with seven gra n d ch i l d ren and seven gre at 

gra n d ch i l d re n ,s u rv ive Ja ck Vi n c e n t .◆ S u b m i t- 

ted by John Vi n c e n t . 


Fe at u re s 

The IUCN/SSC Red List Progra m : Towa rd the 

2000 IUCN Red List of Th re atened Species 

O ve rv i ew 

The I U C NRed Lists are re c og n i zed as the most 

c o m p re h e n s ive, non-political ap p ro a ches fo r 

eva l u ating the global conservation status of 

plant and animal species. The I U C N Red Lists 

ap p ly a scientifi c a l ly ri go rous ap p ro a ch to 

d e t e rmine risks of extinction and produce an 

o b j e c t ive list of thre atened species. Red List crit 

e ria are re l evant to all taxa and cover all 

regions of the wo rl d. The I U C NRed Lists draw 

upon a netwo rk of scientists and partner orga n- 

i z ations in almost eve ry country in the wo rl d. 

C o l l e c t ive ly, these scientists hold wh at is like ly 

the most complete scientific know l e d ge base on 

the biology and conservation status of species. 

For more than three decades I U C N R e d 

Lists and Red Data Books have been pro d u c e d 

by the Species Surv ival Commission (S S C) of 

I U C N– The Wo rld Conservation Union. In re s- 

ponse to calls for a more objective and scient 

i fi c a l ly ri go rous system for determ i n i n g 

t h re atened stat u s , the S S C d eveloped the current 

I U C N Red List Cat ego ries and Cri t e ri a , 

wh i ch we re fo rm a l ly adopted by I U C NC o u n c i l 

in 1994. As most S S C m e m b e rs are awa re, t h e 

system has been under intense peer rev i ew. Th e 

C ri t e ria Rev i ew fo rms part of a process to 

d evelop a fo rm a l i zed I U C N Red List Progra m , 

with a management and gove rnance plan that 

will ensure the highest standards of document 

at i o n ,i n fo rm ation manage m e n t , t ra i n i n g, a n d 

s c i e n t i fic ove rsight. The I U C N Red List Program 

and its companion info rm ation management 

system (the Species Info rm ation Serv i c e ) 

will provide fundamental baseline info rm at i o n 

vital for tra cking the status of biodive rsity as it 

ch a n ges over time. 

The goals of the I U C N Red List 

P rogram are to: 

1 . P rovide a global index of the state of dege n- 

e ration of biodive rsity; and 

2 . Identify and document those species most 

in need of conservation attention if global 

extinction rates are to be re d u c e d. 

To ach i eve these go a l s , the fo l l owing 

o b j e c t ives are pro p o s e d : 

1 . To assess, in the long term , the status of all 

s p e c i e s ; 

2 . To establish a baseline from wh i ch to monitor 

the status of species; 

3 . To provide a global context for the establishment 

of conservation pri o rities at the 

local level; and 

4 . To monitor, on a continuing basis, the stat u s 

of a rep re s e n t at ive selection of species (as 

b i o d ive rsity indicat o rs) that cover all the 

major ecosystems of the wo rl d. 

The I U C N Red List Cat ego ries and Cri t e ri a 

and the proposed goals and objectives of the 

Red List Program are leading I U C N in new 

d i rections that will enable the capacity to perfo 

rm sophisticated biodive rsity analyses. Th e s e 

will contri bute signifi c a n t ly to scientific disc 

ove ry and to political policies re l ated to cons 

e rvation at nat i o n a l , regi o n a l , and global 

scales. The compre h e n s ive I U C N Red List 

P rogram will ensure that sound, ri go ro u s , a n d 

consistent science is used in decision-making 

and re s o u rc e - p l a n n i n g. In re l ation to all this it 

is proposed that the I U C N Red List be ch a ra c- 

t e ri zed by the fo l l owing Operating Pri n c i p l e s : 

1 . The I U C N Red List should be ava i l able to 

all potential users ; 

2 . The process of undertaking status assessments 

of species should be clear and tra n s- 

p a re n t ; 

3 . The listings of species should be based on 

c o rrect use of the cat ego ries and cri t e ria and 

should be open to ch a l l e n ge and corre c t i o n , 

based on the cat ego ries and cri t e ri a , wh e n 

n e c e s s a ry ; 


4 . All status assessments of species should be 

c o rre c t ly documented and supported by the 

best scientific info rm ation ava i l abl e ; 

5 . The I U C N Red List should exist as an elect 

ronic ve rsion on the Wo rld Wide Web to 

be updated once a ye a r ; 

6 . An analysis of the findings of the I U C N R e d 

List should be published ap p rox i m at e ly 

eve ry five ye a rs; and 

7 . The info rm ation on the web should be intera 

c t ive, p roviding a mechanism to allow people 

(through ap p ro p ri ate pro c e d u res) to 

p rovide info rm ation for consideration wh e n 

u p d ating the list. 

E s t ablishment of Red List Au t h o r- 

ities and their Responsibilities 

The improved objectivity of the 1994 I U C N 

Red List Cat ego ries and Cri t e ria has show n 

t h at the current ad hoc process of listing a 

species needs improvement. To ach i eve this, i t 

is proposed that Red List Au t h o ri t i e sbe established 

for all taxonomic groups included on the 

I U C N Red List. In most cases, the Red List 

Au t h o rity will be the S S C Specialist Gro u p 

re s p o n s i ble for a species, group of species, o r 

s p e c i fic ge ographic area. In the case of bird s , 

B i rd L i fe Intern ational will be designated as the 

Red List Au t h o rity and they will liaise with the 

b i rd Specialist Groups and Wetlands Intern ational 

wh e re ap p ro p ri at e. In cases wh e re the 

S S C and its partner netwo rks do not cover a 

p a rticular taxonomic group or ge ograp h i c 

regi o n , the Red List Program Subcommittee 

will recommend the appointment of other 

ap p ro p ri ate orga n i z ations or netwo rks to act as 

Red List Au t h o rities. No new species will be 

i n cluded on the I U C N Red List until it has been 

eva l u ated by an appointed Red List Au t h o ri t y 

and/or by the Red List Standards Wo rk i n g 

G roup (a group established under the Red List 

P rogram Subcommittee). Th e re will be some 

ove rl ap in the jurisdictions of Red List Au t h- 

o ri t i e s , e s p e c i a l ly wh e re regional groups consider 

taxa under the scope of a taxon group and 

vice ve rsa. In such cases, no Red List Au t h o ri t y 

has precedence over another and both authorities 

need to collab o rate in eva l u ating the stat u s 

of the taxon concern e d. 

22 Species 

A key re q u i rement for all Red List Au t h o r- 

i t i e s ,whether or not they are part of the fo rm a l 

S S C or partner netwo rk s , is that they should 

a d h e re to specific agreed upon terms of re fe r- 

e n c e. Acting on the advice of S S C s t a ff, p a rt i c- 

u l a rly the I U C N Red List Program Offi c e r, t h e 

Red List Standards Wo rking Group will maintain 

ge n e ral ove rsight of the perfo rmance of 

Red List Au t h o rities to ensure that terms of re f- 

e rence are fo l l owe d. A crucial aspect of this 

p roposed pro c e d u re is that acceptance of any 

listing re q u i res that two or more named people 

within the re c og n i zed Red List Au t h o rity eva l- 

u ate and then accept each assessment submitted 

for inclusion. In the case of ove rl aps in 

j u ri s d i c t i o n ,w ritten support for the assessment 

should be obtained from the other re l evant Red 

List Au t h o ri t y. 

To help with the eva l u at i o n s , e a ch Red 

List Au t h o rity will be issued with a copy of 

R A M A S ® Red List. R A M A S ® Red List is a 

s o f t wa re pack age developed by Applied Biom 

at h e m at i c s , an ecological softwa re deve l o p- 

ment company, t h at implements the I U C N R e d 

List Cri t e ria for classifying species into one of 

the Red List Cat ego ries of thre at (Cri t i c a l ly 

E n d a n ge re d, E n d a n ge re d, Vu l n e rabl e, or Lower 

Risk). When any method for cl a s s i fi c ation of 

c o n s e rvation status is used, u n c e rtainties may 

a rise from nat u ral va ri ab i l i t y, m e a s u re m e n t 

e rro r, or semantic uncert a i n t y. R A M A S ® R e d 

List ex p l i c i t ly allows for the incorp o ration of 

s u ch uncertainties in the input data and then 

p ro p agates the uncertainties in calculating the 

Red List asessment. Depending on the uncert 

a i n t i e s , the resulting cl a s s i fi c ation can be a 

single cat ego ry of thre at or a ra n ge of plausible 

cat ego ries. Using this pack age, a ny uncertainties 

associated with the I U C N Red List 

assessments will be made ex p l i c i t . 

The Red List Program Subcommittee has 

decided to use the softwa re on a trial basis fo r 

the 2000 I U C N Red List. The Red List Stand 

a rds Wo rking Group will seek to ensure that 

e a ch Red List Au t h o rity re c e ives suffi c i e n t 

guidance and training in the ap p l i c ation of the 

I U C N Red List Cri t e ria and the R A M A S ® R e d 

List softwa re. The Wo rking Group will also be 

re s p o n s i ble for ensuring that standards are 

a d h e red to and that , as far as possibl e, t h e re is 

c o n s i s t e n cy between Red List Au t h o rities in 

listing pro c e d u re s ,p a rt i c u l a rly the ap p l i c at i o n 

of the cri t e ri a .

The I U C N Red List on the Web will be 

i n t e ra c t ive, in that it will allow users to submit 

comments and additional info rm ation. This info 

rm ation will be fo r wa rded to the ap p ro p ri at e 

Red List Au t h o rities for consideration. External 

users will not be authori zed to ch a n ge anything 

on the list. All ch a n ges and additions will 

be authori zed by the Red List Standards Wo rking 

Group or the I U C N Red List Progra m 

O fficer (acting as their proxy) based on the re c- 

o m m e n d ations of the Red List Au t h o ri t i e s . 

All taxa on the I U C N Red List must be re - 

eva l u ated by the appointed Red List Au t h o r- 

ities at least once eve ry ten ye a rs. A ny taxon 

t h at has not been re - eva l u ated for more than ten 

ye a rs will reve rt to the Not Eva l u ated cat ego ry. 

The I U C N Red List Program Officer will give 

Red List Au t h o rities notice one year befo re the 

t e n - year deadline. 

D o c u m e n t ation Requirements and 

Taxonomic Standard s 

A major weakness of the existing I U C N R e d 

Lists is that they are poorly documented. As a 

result the listings in them are unsubstantiat e d. 

To rectify this we a k n e s s ,a new system of mini 

mum documentation re q u i rements is being 

d eve l o p e d. All species added to the I U C N R e d 

L i s t , or any listings that are ch a n ge d, must be 

documented from the year 2000 onwa rd s , fo l- 

l owing the re q u i rements adopted. Red List 

Au t h o rities will also be encouraged to start 

documenting all of their taxa curre n t ly on the 

I U C N Red List. The aim is to get all species on 

the I U C N Red List documented by the ye a r 

2 0 0 3 , ex c ept for those cat ego ri zed as Lowe r 

Risk Least Concern. Documentation may be 

re q u i red for some of the Lower Risk species if 

petitions about their inclusion have been or are 

l i ke ly to be re c e ive d. 

Another weakness of the current I U C N R e d 

Lists is the lack of suffi c i e n t ly clear taxonomic 

s t a n d a rds. Taxonomic standards have been 

adopted and all species on the I U C N Red List 

should confo rm to these by the year 2003. A l l 

n ew species’ l i s t i n g s ,and any revisions to listi 

n g s , must also be in accordance with the taxonomic 

standards. Dev i ations are perm i t t e d 

p rovided they are fully documented and subs 

t a n t i at e d. 

The documentation re q u i rements and taxonomic 

standards will be rev i ewed at reg u l a r 

i n t e rvals. These new, and seemingly complex , 

re q u i rements are not intended to deter Red List 

Au t h o rities and potential contri bu t o rs. Th e 

d o c u m e n t ation re q u i rements and taxonomic 

s t a n d a rds are drafted as guides and dev i at i o n s 

f rom them are accep t abl e, p rovided they are 

f u l ly substantiat e d. A d h e rence to these stand 

a rds will bring gre ater credibility and tra n s- 

p a re n cy to listings on the I U C N Red List a n d 

will fa c i l i t ate better analysis of the fi n d i n g s . 

Th ey will also provide a basis on wh i ch listings 

can be contested. 

The 2000 IUCN Red List of 

Th re atened Species 

In 1998 the Red List Program Subcommittee 

decided that instead of producing sep a rate animal 

and plant Red Lists there should be a single 

I U C N Red List of Th re atened Species. Th e 

fi rst step in this process was the amalga m at i o n 

of the updated thre atened animal and tree lists 

to fo rm the 1999 I U C N Red List of Th re at e n e d 

S p e c i e s .The launch of this new I U C N Red List 

will be early in 2000 and it will be ava i l abl e 

on the Wo rld Wide Web only. The 1999 I U C N 

Red List will fo rm the basis for the compilat i o n 

of the 2000 I U C N Red List. 

The move towa rds an amalga m ated animal 

and plant I U C N Red List t ogether with the 

adoption of the new documentation re q u i rements 

means that it is highly unlike ly that a 

h a rd copy of the complete I U C N Red List w i l l 

be published in the near future. Such a large 

p u bl i c ation would re q u i re two or more vo l- 

u m e s , and this would re q u i re major sponsorship. 

Instead, an update to the I U C N Red List 

will be made ava i l able on the Wo rld Wide Web 

e a ch ye a r. Consideration is also being given to 

p roviding the I U C N Red List as a search abl e 

d at abase on a C D - RO M, or on a set of diskettes. 

The analysis of the major findings of the 

I U C N Red List will be published in hard copy 

at least eve ry five five ye a rs , a l l owing a little 

fl exibility for adjustments to align the launch 

with major events. The fi rst published edition 

of the analysis will be launched at the Second 

Wo rld Conservation Congre s s . 

The data underlying the I U C N Red List w i l l 

be maintained in a series of dat abases within 


the S S C’s emerging Species Info rm ation Service 

(S I S). Each Red List Au t h o rity will be 

i nvited to manage a dat abase within the S I S, 

and softwa re will be provided free of ch a rge fo r 

this purp o s e. This final ve rsion of the softwa re 

is expected to be ava i l able towa rds the end of 

2 0 0 0 , and so for the 2000 I U C N Red List we 

shall continue to centra l i ze the info rm ation in 

the manner that S S C has used tra d i t i o n a l ly. 

The centra l i zed ve rsion of the I U C N R e d 

L i s t will be maintained as a n o n - p u blic dat a- 

b a s e wh i ch will be a summari zed amalga m a- 

tion of the data held by Red List Au t h o ri t i e s 

and wh i ch will be updated continu a l ly as info r- 

m ation is provided by re c og n i zed Red List 

Au t h o rities. A p u blic dat ab a s e will also be 

m a i n t a i n e d, wh i ch will be ava i l able on the 

Wo rld Wide Web, to be updated annu a l ly. Th i s 

will be the official I U C N Red List of Th re atened 

Species. The tra n s fer of new info rm at i o n 

f rom the non-public dat abase to the Web will 

be done once a year and this update will incorp 

o rate all ch a n ges made during the prev i o u s 

ye a r. Each new annual edition of the I U C N R e d 

L i s t will be identified by the year (i.e. , 1 9 9 9 

I U C N Red List of Th re atened Species, 2 0 0 0 

I U C N Red List of Th re atened Species, etc). A 

t able indicating all ch a n ges from the List of the 

p revious year will also be made ava i l able on 

the Web. 

Ti m e t able for the 2000 

IUCN Red List 

In order to ensure the gre atest possible level of 

a d h e rence to the standards and pro c e d u res of 

Red Listing, to make the process of listing 

s m o o t h e r, and to allow all the part i c i p at i n g 

o rga n i z ations and Red List Au t h o rities time to 

plan their inputs well in adva n c e, the fo l l ow i n g 

ap p ro a ch for the 2000 I U C N Red List is prop 

o s e d : 

• Red List Au t h o rities to be appointed in 

December 1999-Ja nu a ry 2000. 

• R ep o rts on taxa curre n t ly listed on the 

I U C N Red List will be sent by the Red List 

P rogram Officer to all Red List Au t h o ri t i e s 

in Feb ru a ry 2000. 

• All new assessments, ch a n ge s , c o rre c t i o n s 

and petitions should be submitted to the 

ap p ro p ri ate Red List Au t h o rities or to the 

Red List Program Officer by 30 Ap ri l ,2 0 0 0 . 

• All ch a n ge s , c o rre c t i o n s , a dd i t i o n s , a c c epted 

petitions, e t c. , should be submitted by 

the Red List Au t h o rities to the Red List Program 

Officer by 30 Ju n e, 2 0 0 0 . 

• For petitions re fe rred to the Petitions Committee 

(see petitions process below) justific 

ations by both the Red List Au t h o rity and 

petitioner must be submitted to the Red List 

P rogram Officer by 31 Au g u s t , 2 0 0 0 . 

• The Red List Standards Wo rking Gro u p 

will meet in September 2000 to rev i ew any 

p ro blems with the proposed ch a n ge s , and 

to rule on petitions (see petitions pro c e s s 

b e l ow ) . 

• The 2000 I U C N Red List of Th re at e n e d 

S p e c i e s will be launched at the Second 

Wo rld Conservation Congress to be held in 

A m m a n , Jo rdan in October 2000. 

The submissions should be in accordance with 

the documentation re q u i rements and taxonomic 

standards adopted. The submissions, 

e s p e c i a l ly if they are additions to the I U C NR e d 

L i s t , should pre fe rably be submitted as 

R A M A S ® Red List input files. If R A M A S ® R e d 

List is not used, submissions should be along 

the lines of the documented examples presented 

in the A n n ex below. In order to meet 

the target of having all species on the I U C N 

Red List f u l ly documented by the year 2003, 

the Red List Au t h o rities have been asked to 

b egin this documentation process in a step - 

wise fashion. For the 2 0 0 0 I U C N Red List we 

would like to include documentation on hab i- 

t at s , major thre ats and ove rall populat i o n 

t rends for each species. 

Handling of Petitions A ga i n s t 

C u rrent Listings 

S t atus assessments presented in the I U C N R e d 

L i s t a re now open to ch a l l e n ge. Petitions may 

be made against particular listings. Howeve r, 

s u ch petitions may only be made on the basis 

of the Red List Cat ego ries and Cri t e ria and in 

re fe rence to any supporting documentat i o n 

a c c o m p a nying the listing. It is not possible to 

ch a n ge listings for political, e c o n o m i c, or other 


easons not based upon the cat ego ries and crit 

e ria. The process for filing petitions is as fo l- 

l ow s : 

1 . Completed petitions should be submitted 

to the I U C N / S S CRed List Program Offi c e r. 

The Red List Officer will ch e ck with the 

Red List Standards Wo rking Group to 

d e t e rmine whether or not the petition has 

been filed on the basis of the cat ego ries and 

c ri t e ri a . 

2 . If the petition is not made on the basis of the 

c ri t e ri a , it will be re t u rned to the petitioner 

with an ex p l a n ation as to why the petition 

cannot be considere d. 

3 . If the petition is made on the basis of the 

c ri t e ri a , it will be re fe rred to the re l eva n t 

Red List Au t h o ri t y. If the Red List Au t h o r- 

ity agrees with the petition, or if the petitioner 

and the Red List Au t h o rity come 

to agre e m e n t , then the petition will be 

a c c ep t e d. The ch a n ge will appear in the fo l- 

l owing update of the I U C NRed List. A notifi 

c ation of the ch a n ge in listing will be 

placed in S p e c i e s and on the S S C Web Site. 

4 . If the petitioner and the Red List Au t h o ri t y 

a re unable to agre e, the matter will be 

re fe rred to the Petitions Committee fo rm e d 

under the Red List Standards Wo rk i n g 

G ro u p . 

5 . The petitioner and the Red List Au t h o ri t y 

will each submit justifi c ations for their case 

to the Petitions Committee. These justifi c a- 

tions should not be longer than eight sides 

of A4 pap e r, 12-point pri n t , and should provide 

the data to support their position. Th e 

d ata provided should be cl e a rly linked to the 

use of cri t e ria. The justifi c ations should be 

submitted to the I U C N / S S C Red List Program 

Officer by 31 August each ye a r. 

6 . The justifi c ations will be circ u l ated to independent 

ex p e rt rev i ewe rs for confi d e n t i a l 

comments prior to the meeting of the Pe t- 

itions Committee. 

7 . The Petitions Committee will meet or consult 

once a ye a r, in September or October, t o 

rev i ew petitions that could not be re s o l ve d. 

It will make rulings on such cases based on 

the info rm ation provided in the justifi c a- 

tions coming from the petitioner and the 

Listing Au t h o ri t y. All ch a n ges will ap p e a r 

in the next update of the I U C N Red List. A 

n o t i fi c ation of the judgement on any petit 

i o n , and any resulting ch a n ge in listing, 

will be placed in S p e c i e s and on the S S C 

Web site. 

In order to prevent continuing petitions on the 

same species, the Red List Standards Committee 

will only accept a petition if it is based on 

n ew info rm ation or re - i n t e rp re t ation of ex i s t i n g 

i n fo rm ation. Potential petitioners should note 

the timetable laid down for the 2 0 0 0I U C N R e d 

L i s t and must ensure that their petitions conc 

e rning taxa listed on the 1999 I U C N Red List 

of Th re atened Species re a ch the Red List 

P rogram Officer by 30 Ap ri l , 2000 for circ u l a- 

tion to the re l evant Red List Au t h o ri t i e s . 

F u rther Info rm at i o n 

For further details about the Red List Progra m 

e s p e c i a l ly the Red List Au t h o ri t i e s , d o c u m e n- 

t ation re q u i re m e n t s , taxonomic standard s , 

R A M A S ® Red List softwa re, or the petitions 

p ro c e s s , please contact Craig Hilton-Tay l o r, 

I U C N / S S C Red List Program Offi c e r, 219 c 

Huntingdon Road, C a m b ri d ge CB3 0DL, 

United Kingdom, fa x : 44 - 1223 - 277845 , e - 

m a i l : c ra i g. h i l t o n - t ay l o r @ s s c - u k . o g. r 

To purchase copies of R A M A S ® Red List 

please contact: I s abelle Cro s s e t , I U C N / S S C, 

Rue Mauve rn ey 28, Gland CH-1196, S w i t ze r- 

l a n d, fa x : 41-22-999 0015; or Applied Biom 

at h e m at i c s , 100 North Country Road, 

S e t a u ke t ,N Y 11733 ,U S A, fa x : 516-751 3435. 

Single-user and site-licensed copies of the softwa 

re sell for U S $295 and U S $445 re s p e c- 

t ive ly (plus postage and pack aging). These are 

discounted prices. A portion of the amount 

re c e ived for eve ry copy bought t h rough IUCN 

will be re i nvested in the Red List program. See 

h t t p :// w w w. ramas.com for further details ab o u t 

the softwa re. 

A ck n ow l e d ge m e n t s 

C raig Hilton-Taylor grat e f u l ly ack n ow l e d ge s 

a ge n e rous fe l l owship from the Center fo r 

Applied Biodive rsity Science (Conservat i o n 

I n t e rn ational Fo u n d ation); and the U K D ep a rt- 


ment of Env i ro n m e n t , Trade and the Regi o n s 

for funding a significant portion of the Red List 

P rogram; and Conservation Intern ational and 

W W F (U K) for funding va rious aspects of the 

Red List Progra m . 

A n n ex : 

Examples of Documented Species 

The fo l l owing examples are large ly based on 

fa c t , but va rious items have been modified so 

t h at the documentation re q u i rements can be 

i l l u s t rat e d. Hence they should not be interp 

reted or used as valid assessments. Full docu 

m e n t ation as used in the examples here will 

f re q u e n t ly not be ava i l abl e, so most assessments 

will be accompanied by mu ch bri e fe r 

and simpler accounts. The Antelope Specialist 

G ro u p , B i rd L i fe Intern at i o n a l , and the Cetacean 

Specialist Group are thanked for prov i d- 

ing the info rm ation for these examples and 

a l l owing them to be used here. 

Example 1 

C l a s s :Aves; O rd e r :P s i t t a c i fo rmes; 

Fa m i ly : P s i t t a c i d a e 

Taxon Name: A ra glaucog u l a ri s 

( D abbene 1921) 

Common Name: B l u e - t h ro ated macaw 

S t at u s :C ri t i c a l ly Endange red (CR C2b) 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :B o l iv i a 

R a n ge :18,000 km 2 

Po p u l at i o n :50 

H ab i t at s :Tropical gra s s l a n d / s avanna 

and fo re s t 

Th re at s : C o m m e rcial ex p l o i t at i o n , l ive s t o ck 

fa rm i n g, l oggi n g 

R at i o n a l e :Q u a l i fies due to its ex t re m e ly small 

p o p u l ation in a single are a , wh e re it continu e s 

to decline as a result of illegal tra d e. 

R a n ge and Po p u l at i o n : K n own from the 

Llanos de Majos in nort h e rn Bolivia at an altitude 

of 200-300 m. Concentrated east of the 

upper río Mamoré, B e n i , wh e re the wild popu 

l ation was re d i s c ove red in 1992 (Duffield and 

Hesse 1997; Yamashita and Barros 1997). A 

pair in Amboró Protected A re a , Santa Cru z , i n 

1984 pro b ably escaped from cap t iv i t y, bu t 

m a c aws could wander to this area (Clarke et al. 

1996). Po p u l ation estimates va ry from 50-100 

i n d ividuals distri buted over 18,000 km 2 ( D u- 

ffield and Hesse 1997; Hesse 1998) to c. 200 

b i rds within 8,000 km 2 ( D u ffield and Hesse 

1997; Yamashita and Barros 1997). An estim 

ated 1,200 or more wild-caught birds we re 

ex p o rted from Bolivia during the 1980s, s u g- 

gesting that the population was fo rm e rly mu ch 

higher (Yamashita and Barros 1997). 

H ab i t at :I n h abits a mosaic of seasonally inu n- 

d ated sava n n a , palm grove s , fo rest islands and 

p o s s i bly ga l l e ry fo re s t ,in the humid low l a n d s . 

Its presence is corre l ated with ava i l ability of its 

palm fruit fo o d, n o t ably the locally abu n d a n t 

Attalea phalerat a (Hesse 1998). 

Th re at s : S eve re ly thre atened by illega l 

ex p l o i t ation for the national and intern at i o n a l 

c age - b i rd tra d e. All known sites are on privat e 

c attle ra n ch e s , wh e re bu rning and cl e a ring fo r 

p a s t u re and tre e - felling for fuel have re d u c e d 

the number of suitable nest trees and inhibited 

palm tree rege n e ration (Duffield and Hesse 

1997; Hesse 1996). Nest-site competition fro m 

other large macaws may become a thre at as 

potential nest trees decrease (Hesse 1996). 

C o n s e rvation Measure s : Listed under C I T E S 

Appendix I, and live ex p o rt from Bolivia wa s 

banned in 1984. Illegal ex p o rt continues as 

t h e re are no mechanisms to control intern a- 

tional trade (Duffield and Hesse 1997). 

Attempts to reve rse this situation have start e d 

t h rough an agreement with a fe d e ration of 

local landow n e rs to control access and deter 

potential trap p e rs (Hesse 1998). Known subp 

o p u l ations are pat rolled by local guards and 

local env i ronmental awa reness campaigns are 

in progress (Mart u s chelli et al. 1 9 9 8 ) . 

A s s e s s o r :B i rd L i fe Intern at i o n a l 

D at e : 01/08/ 1998 

E va l u at o rs : S t at t e rs fi e l d, A. and N. Collar 

( B i rd L i fe Intern at i o n a l ) ,D at e : 0 5 / 1 1 / 1 9 9 9 

R e fe re n c e s : [All the re fe rences cited ab ove 

would norm a l ly be given here in full, but to 

s ave space they have been omitted from the 

ex a m p l e] . 


Example 2 

C l a s s : A n gi o s p e rmae; O rd e r : M ag n o l i a l e s ? ; 

Fa m i ly : C a n e l l a c e a e 

Taxon Name: Wa r bu rgia salutari s ( B e rtol. f. ) 

C h i ov. 1937 

Common Name: Pep p e r b a rk tre e 

S t at u s :E n d a n ge red (EN A1 a c d ) 

D i s t ri bu t i o n : South A f rica (Kwa Z u l u - N at a l , 

M p u m a l a n ga , N o rt h e rn Prov i n c e ) , M o z a m- 

b i q u e, S waziland and Zimbab we. 

R a n ge :18,000 km 2 

Po p u l at i o n : 

H ab i t at s :S u b t ropical savanna and fo re s t 

Th re at s : Traditional ex p l o i t at i o n , ex p a n s i o n 

of arable agri c u l t u re and human settlement, 

l oggi n g 

R at i o n a l e : D e cline in parts of the ra n ge is 

almost 100%; in others it is not as seve re. A 

d e cline of 50% ap p e a rs re a s o n able based on 

d i rect observat i o n s , the decline in area of 

o c c u p a n cy, and continuing high levels of 

ex p l o i t at i o n . 

Taxonomic Reliab i l i t y : This species may be 

c o n s p e c i fic with W. ugandensis sprag u e. If so, 

this would gre at ly extend the ra n ge of this 

species into East A f rica and its global stat u s 

would have to be re a s s e s s e d. 

R a n ge and Po p u l at i o n :O c c u rs from nort h e rn 

K wa Z u l u - N atal in South A f rica nort h wa rd s 

t h rough Swaziland into Mpumalanga and 

N o rt h e rn Province of South A f rica and into 

Mozambique and eastern Zimbab we. Th e re are 

re c o rds from southern Malaw i , but it is not 

clear if these re c o rds are of this species or the 

cl o s e ly re l ated W. uga n d e n s i s . Although having 

a ve ry wide distri bu t i o n , s u b p o p u l at i o n s 

a re highly scat t e red and mostly ve ry small, 

c o m p rising just a few mat u re individuals in 

e a ch. Large, re l at ive ly untouched subpopulations 

occur in the Nort h e rn Prov i n c e. In 

K wa Z u l u - N at a l ,t h e re is ve ry little seed set and 

no seedlings have been rep o rted; all plants seen 

h ave rep roduced vege t at ive ly. 

H ab i t at : Found in fo rests and savanna wo o d- 

l a n d. 

Th re at s : Th e re has been hab i t at loss due to 

agri c u l t u ral activ i t i e s , expansion of human 

h ab i t at i o n , and logging for fi rewood and timb 

e r. The main thre at is the re m oval of bark , 

s t e m s , and roots for traditional medicinal purposes. 

Extensive re m oval of bark has lead to 

the death of many plants and the near ex t i n c- 

tion of the species in a large part of its ra n ge. 

C o n s e rvation Measure s : Th e re are a nu m b e r 

of projects underway to provide a cultivat e d 

s o u rce of the plant mat e ri a l , and millions of 

clones have been produced for distri bu t i o n . 

Plants have been re i n t roduced into two ga m e 

re s e rves in Kwa Z u l u - N atal. Although plants 

occur in a number of protected fo re s t s ,it is difficult 

to prevent deb a rking taking place. 

A s s e s s o r :H i l t o n - Tay l o r, C . , D at e : 1 5 / 0 1 / 1 9 9 8 

E va l u at o rs :Wi l l i s , C. and J. Golding (Southe 

rn A f rican Plant Specialist Gro u p ) , D at e : 

05/11/ 1999 

R e fe re n c e s : [The re fe rences for the ab ove 

account have been omitted from the example to 

s ave space] . 

Example 3 

C l a s s :Mammalia; O rd e r :Cetacea; 

Fa m i ly :B a l a e n i d a e 

Taxon Name: Balaena mysticetus ( L i n n a e u s 

1 7 5 8 ) 

Common Name: B owhead wh a l e 

S t at u s :E n d a n ge red (EN D1) 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :G reenland (Denmark ) , N o r way, 

Russia (Sva l b a rd s - B a rents Sea Subpopulat i o n ) 

R a n ge :? km 2 

Po p u l at i o n : 

H ab i t at s :D e ep sea, s h o re - l i n e s 

Th re at s :Po l l u t i o n ,cl i m ate ch a n ge 

R at i o n a l e : The total subpopulation is like ly 

to number less than 250 indiv i d u a l s , so there 

a re cert a i n ly fewer than this number of mat u re 

i n d iv i d u a l s . 


R a n ge and Po p u l at i o n : An A rctic species 

c e n t e red in the Greenland and Barents Seas, 

i n cluding wat e rs around Franz Jo s eph Land. 

N o rmal limits are considered to extend fro m 

n o rt h e a s t e rn Greenland to the Kara Sea and 

south at least occasionally to Fi n m a rk and Ja n 

M ayen. Th e re is no estimate of population size. 

Sightings from 1945 to 1990 we re summari ze d 

by Moore and Reeves (1993) and incl u d e d 

o n ly a few involving tens of individuals. Zeh 

et al. (1993) described the current populat i o n 

as a “ s eve re ly depleted frag m e n t ” and agre e d 

with Christensen et al. (1992) that it fo rm e rly 

nu m b e red tens of thousands and now may 

number only tens of individuals. Wo o d by and 

Botkin (1993) estimated that there we re at least 

25,000 whales in the 1670s. Most recent observations 

have been in the ge n e ral vicinity of 

S va l b a rd and Franz Jo s eph Land (Moore and 

Randall 1993). Th e re ap p e a rs to be ve ry little, 

if any, m ovement of individuals into this subp 

o p u l ation from other subpopulat i o n s . 

H ab i t at : B owhead whales are migrat o ry and 

their seasonal distri bution is stro n g ly infl u- 

enced by pack ice (Moore and Reeves 1993). 

D u ring the winter they occur in open-wat e r 

a reas near the ice edge, in poly n a s ,and in are a s 

of unconsolidated pack ice. During the spri n g 

these whales use leads and cra cks in the ice to 

p e n e t rate areas that we re inaccessible duri n g 

the winter due to heavy ice cove rage. Duri n g 

the summer and autumn they are widely dist 

ri buted in high lat i t u d e s , with concentrat i o n s 

in areas wh e re zooplankton production is high. 

The autumn migration is coastal and marke d 

by fo raging along the way. 

Th re at s :This subpopulation is not hunted and 

incidental mortality or serious injury fro m 

entanglement in fishing gear and ship stri ke s 

has not been rep o rt e d. Env i ronmental thre at s , 

s u ch as pollution (Bratton et al. 1993) and 

global wa rming (Tynan and DeMaster 1997) 

could be important but are difficult to defi n e 

and eva l u at e. Of all bowhead subpopulat i o n s , 

this one may be the most exposed to ra d i o nuclides 

in the food chain because of Sov i e t 

releases into the marine env i ro n m e n t . 

C o n s e rvation Measure s : All ra n ge stat e s 

belong to the Intern ational Whaling Commiss 

i o n , and the legal protection from hunting 

a c c o rded this stock is considered effe c t ive. No 

s p e c i fic mechanisms are curre n t ly in place to 

p rotect bowhead hab i t at or to prevent incidental 

mortality in fishing ge a r. Howeve r, m o re 

ge n e ral measures taken for env i ronmental protection 

of the northeast Gre e n l a n d, S va l b a rd, 

and Franz Jo s eph Land may have some beneficial 

effect on the hab i t at of bowh e a d s 

A s s e s s o rs :R e eve s , R. and Cetacean Specialist 

G roup Members , D at e :0 4 / 0 5 / 1 9 9 9 

E va l u at o rs :Tay l o r, B. and Reeve s , R. (Cetacean 

Specialist Gro u p ) , D at e :2 9 / 0 7 / 1 9 9 9 

R e fe re n c e s : [The re fe rences have been omitted 

from the example to save space] . 

Example 4 

C l a s s : Mammalia; O rd e r :A rt i o d a c t y l a ; 

Fa m i ly : G i ra ffi d a e 

Taxon Name: O k apia johnstoni ( P.L. Scl at e r 

1 9 0 1 ) 

Common Name: O k ap i 

S t at u s :L ower Risk Near Th re atened (LR/nt) 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :D e m o c ratic Rep u blic of Congo , 

U ganda (RE) 

R a n ge :100,000 sq. km 

Po p u l at i o n :?/ 

H ab i t at s :Tropical fo re s t 

Th re at s : Local ex p l o i t at i o n , expansion of 

human settlement, and arable agri c u l t u re 

R at i o n a l e : Although fa i rly re s t ri c t e d, t h e 

major protected area subpopulations are ap p a r- 

e n t ly stabl e, but nu m b e rs are declining outside 

of these and the future of some re s e rves is prec 

a ri o u s . 

R a n ge and Po p u l at i o n :O c c u rred in both the 

D e m o c ratic Rep u blic of Congo (D C R) and 

U ga n d a , but fo l l owing the extinction of the 

U gandan portion of the population thro u g h 

p o a ching and hab i t at loss, it is now endemic 

to the D C R. The Ituri Fo rest and Maiko National 

Pa rk support major populations. A l s o 

p resent in small, d e clining nu m b e rs along the 

Semliki River in the nort h e rn section of the 


Vi ru n ga National Pa rk. Ve ry little is know n 

about the status of the species outside the protected 

areas. Its total ra n ge cove rs an area of 

about 100,000 sq. km and density estimat e s 

based on radio telemetry studies indicate that 

t h e re could be more than 10,000 indiv i d u a l s . 

H ab i t at s : I n h abits areas of dense, l ow undergrowth 

within the equat o rial fo re s t , e s p e c i a l ly 

in areas interm i xed with tre e falls. Pre fe rs older 

s e c o n d a ry fo re s t s . 

Th re at s : Local ex p l o i t ation for skins and 

bu s h m e at is the major thre at. Expanding human 

settlement and agri c u l t u ral activities is also 

h aving an impact on hab i t at loss. The Ituri 

region has re c e n t ly become a deve l o p m e n t 

f rontier with growing nu m b e rs of agri c u l t u ra l 

i m m i grants and pro s p e c t o rs , and the okap i ’s 

s t atus could deteri o rate rap i d ly if the regi o n ’s 

fo rests are opened up to orga n i zed commercial 

ex p l o i t at i o n . 

C o n s e rvation Measure s : O c c u rs in a nu m b e r 

of national parks and re s e rves. A unique system 

of locally controlled fo rest re s e rve s , 

i n cluding the Okapi Faunal Reserve, h ave been 

e s t ablished in the Ituri region. The okapi has 

become the fl agship species for the conservation 

of the Ituri ecosystem. Ituri wa s , u n t i l 

re c e n t ly, p rotected by its remoteness and inacc 

e s s i b i l i t y. Even during the 1996-97 ove rt h row 

of the fo rmer gove rn m e n t ,the Ituri Fo rest subp 

o p u l ation remained stable despite a complete 

l a ck of law enfo rcement in the region. The stability 

of the Maiko National Pa rk subpopulation 

is also due to its remoteness and ve ry low 

human population density, rather than active 

c o n s e rvation measure s . 

A s s e s s o rs : Antelope Specialist Gro u p , D at e : 

0 9 / 0 8 / 1 9 9 9 

E va l u at o rs : E a s t , R. and R. Estes (Antelope 

Specialist Gro u p ) , D at e : 0 9 / 0 8 / 1 9 9 9 

R e fe re n c e s : [The re fe rences have been omitted 

from the example to save space] . 

C raig Hilton-Tay l o r 

S S C Red List Program Offi c e r 


Zamia furfura c e a: N at u ral Heri t age of Ve ra c ru z ,M ex i c o 

Rescue from Extinction and 

S u s t a i n able Use 

Zamia furfura c e a , 

also known as wild 

c o rn and ball palm, i s 

a wild Mexican plant 

endemic to centra l 

Ve ra c ruz. It lives on 

the coastal dunes, 

ge n e ra l ly close to 

b e a ch e s ,along a narrow littoral strip. The type 

of soil wh e re it grows is sandy and nu t ri e n t - 

p o o r, u n s u i t able for agri c u l t u re. The ball palm 

s t ab i l i zes the dunes wh e re it grows. It may 

grow to one meter tall; its trunk is undergro u n d 

and commonly bra n ches off when adult. Th e 

z a m i abelongs to the order of Cycadales, gy m- 

n o s p e rm plants with pri m i t ive ch a ra c t e ri s t i c s 

and in ge n e ral of a fe rn- or palm-like ap p e a r- 

a n c e. Like the gre at majority of the cy c a d s , t h e 

zamias are highly valued as exotic orn a m e n t a l 

plants in the United Stat e s , Jap a n , Au s t ra l i a , 

and in the gre ater part of Euro p e. 

Zamia furfura c e a is in danger of ex t i n c t i o n 

b e c a u s e : 

1 . Its nu m b e rs have become substantially 

reduced in their nat u ral stat e. 

2 . Its hab i t at is being reduced due to the expansion 

of agri c u l t u re and the raising of 

l ive s t o ck . 

3 . Th ey are ove rexploited through illega l 

t ra d e. 

We do not know when the illegal ex p l o i t at i o n 

s t a rt e d, but it became notorious for the fi rs t 

time in the 1960s and part i c u l a rly intense in the 

1 9 8 0 s , with volumes of up to 40 tons of plants 

a we e k , and about four tons of seeds a ye a r. 

This illegal ex p l o i t ation continues to be a serious 

thre at for the surv ival of this species in its 

n at u ral env i ronment. If the illegal ex t ra c t i o n 

of adult plants and seed continu e s , in less than 

ten ye a rs zamias may disappear as a nat u ra l 

re s o u rce and as an important component of the 

vege t ation that lives on the dunes. 

Clandestine ex t raction in the countryside is 

a lucrat ive activity in wh i ch people without any 

k n ow l e d ge about the plant part i c i p at e, as most 

of them are peasants with limited re s o u rc e s . 

The present price of a zamia in the countryside 

is 10 pesos for an adult plant, while a kilogram 

of seeds (containing around 820 seeds) 

costs only 25 pesos. In the limited nat i o n a l 

m a rket the selling price ra n ges between 20 and 

100 pesos, while ab road it ra n ges from 235 to 

755 pesos. Florida in the United States constitutes 

the chief market. Besides North A m e ri c a , 

Asia and Europe are among the markets with 

a major demand not only for zamias but for the 

cycads in ge n e ra l . 

To prevent its disap p e a ra n c e, the cultivat i o n 

of Zamia furfura c e a has re c e n t ly been promoted 

among local peasants in accord a n c e 

with national standards of wild life pro t e c t i o n . 

Tree nu rs e ries managed by ru ral cooperat ive 

societies with technical and scientific superv i- 

sion by re s e a rch e rs from the Unive rsity of 

Ve ra c ruz have been set up. These tree nu rs e ri e s 

can produce gre at quantities of plants to be 

l ega l ly traded and re i n t egrated to their nat u ra l 

h ab i t at. At the same time, the objective is to 

i n c rease the economic re s o u rces of the ru ra l 

p o p u l ation in order to guarantee the surv iva l 

of the species in its place of ori gi n , by diminishing 

the danger of ex t raction it is subject to in 

its nat u ral stat e. The tree nu rs e ries function as 

e d u c ation and re s e a rch centers , wh e re studies 

on the basic biology of these plants are carri e d 

o u t , methods of pro p agation and cultivat i o n 

d eve l o p e d, and methods of production eva l u- 

at e d. Together with the people in ch a rge of the 

t ree nu rs e ri e s ,we attempt to make effe c t ive the 

gove rnmental measures on the protection of 

species in danger of extinction through the 

i n fo rmed part i c i p ation of local peoples. 

The project was fi rst established in a coastal 

peasant community orga n i zed as ejido (common 

land), in an area with little possibility of 

economic development. The main activities are 

the ex t e n s ive live s t o ck raising in pasture l a n d s 

with a ve ry low index of summer pasture and 

the cultivation of sugar cane. As the inhab i t a n t s 


obtain ve ry little income from wo rking their 

own land, m a ny of them wo rk as tempora ry 

l ab o re rs on neighboring ra n ch e s , e m i grate to 

the United Stat e s , or simply carry out other 

c o m p l e m e n t a ry activities such as fi s h i n g, gat h- 

e ri n g, c at ching and selling sand crab s , or selling 

plants and seeds of Zamia furfura c e a. 

The plantation was ru s t i c a l ly constru c t e d 

with local mat e ri a l s , using a minimum of 

financial and technical re s o u rces. The Unive r- 

sity of Ve ra c ruz and the National Council of 

Science and Te ch n o l ogy of Mexico (Consejo 

Nacional de Ciencia y Te c n o l ogia de Mex i c o ), 

as well as the orga n i z ation G T Z ( D e u t s ch e 

G e s e l l s chaft fur Te ch n i s che Zusammenarbeit) 

of Germ a ny, granted the financial support fo r 

its establishment and functioning. More ove r, 

P RO F E PA (the fe d e ral A t t o rn ey ’s Office of 

E nv i ronmental Pro t e c t i o n ), 

S E M A R NA P 

( M i n i s t ry of Env i ro n m e n t , N at u ral Resourc e s 

and Fishing) and C I T E S s u p e rvise the plantation. 

Sixty ru ral fa m i l i e s , re s e a rch e rs in ecology 

and botany, and students of biology 

p a rt i c i p ate in the daily activities. 

The Unive rsity of Ve ra c ruz together with 

the S E M A R NA P and P RO F E PA will issue the 

c e rt i fi c ate of ori gin of the plants, wh i ch fulfills 

the C I T E S s p e c i fi c ations. Th e re are 

200,000 plants re a dy to be sold and the potential 

exists to produce up to 600,000 eve ry ye a r. 

The tree nu rs e ry is planned to be self-sufficient 

and self-reg u l at e d, on a small scale, w i t h 

ve ry little technical invo l vement (this idea 

i n cludes the progre s s ive sep a ration of re s e a rche 

rs and students) and using elements ge n e rat e d 

in the country s i d e. Howeve r, all of this grav i- 

t ates towa rd the logical conclusion for any system 

of pro d u c t i o n : its income-yield cap a c i t y. 

It is pre c i s e ly this aspect that remains to be cove 

red in order to attain all the objective s . 

The wo rking group has not yet made 

contact with the intern ational markets wh e re 

these plants are in demand. The Genera l 

A d m i n i s t ration of Research of the Unive rs i t y 

of Ve ra c ruz and the G T Z, as well as other intern 

ational institutions for the conservation and 

t rade of wild life are helping to re m e dy this 

s i t u at i o n . 

The attempt to comply with the pri n c i p l e s 

of sustainability led the wo rking group of the 

t ree nu rs e ry to consider eve rything from minor 

t e chnical details to the stru c t u ral aspects of the 

s o c i e t y, s u ch as consumption pat t e rn s ,i n c o m e 

d i s t ri bu t i o n ,t e ch n o l ogy employe d, p at t e rns of 

using space and re s o u rc e s , the ava i l ability of 

re s o u rc e s ,speed of rege n e ration and the fa c t o rs 

a ffecting them, methods of managing re s o u rce 

s , a l t e rn at ives between conflicting positions 

and va l u e s , and a balance between the urge n t 

and the import a n t . 

Fi n a l ly, eve rything leads us to ask: H ow to 

decide between conflicting va l u e s , wh e re, i n 

a dd i t i o n ,it is not clear wh at is fair and wh at is 

c o rrect? And how to persuade society to adopt 

d evelopmental practices that are env i ro n m e n- 

t a l ly healthier? The topic is not only a mat t e r 

for a wo rking group; it merits urgent discussion 

by all society invo l ved there i n . 

The small-scale cultivation of zamia in the 

region contrasts with the huge extensions destined 

for low-yield stock ra i s i n g. 

It is important to point out that this 

agro t e ch n o l ogy was started ex p e ri m e n t a l ly 

s even ye a rs ago , and that now the techniques of 

c u l t ivation have been mastered and the fo l l owing 

proved benefits have been obtained: 

• The risk of extinction becomes remote as 

local people learn how to distri bute the 

Zamia furfura c e a . 

• Its cultivation in rustic conditions constitutes 

a real altern at ive for the sustainabl e 

use of a wild re s o u rc e. 

• The peasant ow n e rs of this re s o u rce become 

the main guardians of its nat u ral conservat 

i o n . 

• The replenishment of the reduced populations 

through re i n t roduction becomes 

another plausible ach i eve m e n t . 

P u rchasing cycads with a valid cert i fi c ate of 

o ri gin helps avoid nat u ral extinction in the 

w i l d, m o re peasant families are employe d, a n d 

i l l egal trade of cycads is discourage d. 

M a rio Vazquez To rre s , Instituto de Inve s t i gaciones 

Biologicas de la Unive rs i d a d 

Ve ra c ru z a n a ,Ap a rtado Postal 294, 

C . P. 91000 Xalap a , Ve ra c ru z ,M ex i c o 

Phone and fax (28) 12 57 57 


SSC Plants Progra m : 

S t rat egic Planning and Pri o rities 

S S C is mobilizing to meet the ch a l l e n ge of 

global plant conservation ex p ressed by a nu m- 

ber of speake rs at the recent Intern at i o n a l 

Botanical Congress (I B C) through deve l o p- 

ment of the S S C Plant Conservation progra m . 

The most recent meeting of the Progra m ’s 

s t e e ring group took place in August 1999 in the 

O z a rk Mountains, M i s s o u ri. This meeting wa s 

the third in a series aimed at developing a 

l o n ge r- t e rm plant conservation strat egy for the 

S S C. Pri o rities emerging from this meeting 

we re : 

• Finalizing S S C’s strat egic plan for global 

plant conservation. 

• D eveloping the “ Top 50” c o n c ep t , e s p e- 

c i a l ly to serve as a commu n i c ation tool 

about plant conservation issues. 

• M oving fo r wa rd on Red Listing. 

• S e c u ring funding for a series of wo rk s h o p s 

on developing cri t e ria for selecting important 

plant conservation sites. 

• Implementing action on wild crop re l at ive s , 

medicinal plants, and in situ c o n s e rvat i o n . 

• Fa c i l i t ating meetings of Specialist Gro u p 

rep re s e n t at ives and increasing opport u n i t i e s 

for their part i c i p ation in the S S C plant cons 

e rvation planning pro c e s s . 

• P roviding advice on plant conservat i o n 

issues to the S S C S u s t a i n able Use Initiat ive. 

• E n s u ring Action Plan implementation. 

• D eveloping an annual wo rkplan and pri o ritizing 

of S S C Plant Strat egy activ i t i e s . 

Highlights of recent plant wo rk of S S C i n cl u d- 

ed organizing an S S C symposium on global 

plant conservat i o n ,and an associated launch of 

the concept of a global S S C s t rat egy for plants; 

p u bl i c ation of the Conifer Action Plan and its 

l a u n ch at the Wo rld Conifer Congress in lat e 

1999; significant progress in the Orchid Specialist 

Group wh i ch has raised funds for a full 

time Exe c u t ive Officer; nego t i ations to fo rm 

m o re regional Specialist Groups; a special 

plant conservation issue of the I U C N p u bl i c a- 

tion Wo rld Conservat i o nin 1998; and a second 

Plants Officer to move the program fo r wa rd. 

M u ch of the recent effo rts of the plant program 

steering committee has been in prep a ri n g 

a strat egy for plant conservation. The fi n a l 

d raft of this is rep roduced here and, in the spiri t 

of this being a living document, we invite comments 

on the stru c t u re and substance of the 

s t rat egy, wh i ch should be directed to We n dy 

S t ra h m ,S S C Plants Offi c e r. 

Major foci for 2000 are determining pri o rit 

i e s ,identifying funding and collab o rat ive partn 

e rs , and fa c i l i t ating action in those places and 

with those people who can make a diffe re n c e. 


IUCN/SSC Plant Conservat i o n 

P rogra m : 2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 5 

G o a l : The extinction crisis is ack n ow l e d ge d 

as a global pro bl e m , and the current rate of 

loss of plant dive rsity is decre a s e d. 

O b j e c t ive 1. Sound interd i s c i p l i n a ry scient 

i fic info rm ation underpins decisions and 

policies affecting plant dive rs i t y. 

Output 1.1: The S S C Plants Program promotes 

conservation of important plant sites by 

re fining the cri t e ria for identifi c ation of Cent 

e rs of Plant Dive rsity and other pri o rity plant 

s i t e s , and assisting in implementing progra m s 

to conserve such sites at ap p ro p ri ate regi o n a l , 

n at i o n a l ,and local scales. 

• A c t ivity 1: U n d e rt a ke a rev i ew of cri t e ri a 

for selecting pri o rity plant conservat i o n 

sites involving ap p ro p ri ate stake - h o l d e r 

gro u p s , with a view to re fining cri t e ria at a 

ra n ge of ge ographic scales. 

• A c t ivity 2: D evelop a Centers of Plant 

D ive rsity booklet on how to determine prio 

rity plant sites (along the lines of the Red 

List Cri t e ria) and associated conservat i o n 

a c t i o n s . 

• A c t ivity 3: Th rough wo rkshops encourage 

the process of selecting important plant 

sites at regi o n a l , n at i o n a l , and local leve l s , 

in association with I U C N m e m b e rs , I U C N 

regional offi c e s , and other ap p ro p ri at e 

o rga n i z ations and age n c i e s . 

• A c t ivity 4: Th rough part n e rships with 

n at i o n a l ,regi o n a l ,and local netwo rk s ,fa c i l- 

i t ate one or more wo rkshops for the deve l- 

opment of site-based Action Plans fo r 

p ri o rity plant sites and plant site cl u s t e rs , 

and ensure that Action Plans are ava i l able to 

local gro u p s . 

• A c t ivity 5: P romote and develop ap p ro p riate 

monitoring programs for tra cking action 

and implementation of site-based A c t i o n 

P l a n s . 

Output 1.2: The S S C Plants Program part i c i- 

p ates in projects on specific conservat i o n 

i s s u e s , s u ch as the conservation of wild plants 

of importance for food and agri c u l t u re and 

other selected economic plants, and the study 

and mitigation of major thre ats by prov i d i n g 

inputs to the development and implementat i o n 

of these projects. 

• A c t ivity 6: C o l l ab o rate in rev i ews and 

a n a lysis of existing guidelines for in situ 

c o n s e rvation of plants and their furt h e r 

d eve l o p m e n t ,utilizing the ex p e rience ga i n- 

ed from in situ re s e a rch and management. 

• A c t ivity 7: C o l l ab o rate in projects on the 

c o n s e rvation of wild re l at ives of cro p 

plants; for ex a m p l e, in the development of a 

c at a l ogue of wild re l at ives and the distri bution 

and use of protected areas for their i n 

s i t u c o n s e rvat i o n . 

• A c t ivity 8: Pa rticular attention is paid to 

building capacity to combat major thre ats to 

p l a n t s , e s p e c i a l ly the growing global pro b- 

lem of inva s ive alien species. 

Output 1.3: The S S C Plants Program assists 

the functioning, i m p l e m e n t at i o n , and grow t h 

of programs and info rm ation netwo rk s , wh i ch 

fa c i l i t ates effe c t ive and ri go rous listing of cons 

e rvation status of plants. 

• A c t ivity 9: P ro m o t e, in collab o ration with 

other interest gro u p s , the concept of indicat 

o rs , wh i ch provide periodic and reg u l a r 

“global state of biodive rs i t y ” a s s e s s m e n t s 

by tra cking ex t i n c t i o n , ch a n ges in ove ra l l 

t h re ats and nu m b e rs of taxa under thre at , 

action effe c t ive n e s s , and data on cri t i c a l ly 

t h re atened sites. 

• A c t ivity 10: Vi go ro u s ly seek, in cooperation 

with the S S C Red List Program and 

other like-minded orga n i z at i o n s , to establish 

funding to ensure ongoing security fo r 

plant listing progra m s , i n cluding the listing 

p rocess itself. 

• A c t ivity 11: C o n s e rvation status info rm a- 

tion provided (especially) by the wo rk of 

the S S C Specialist Groups is integrated into 

and provides guidance for the S S C R e d 

Listing Progra m , and is used to help determine 

conservation pri o ri t i e s . 

Species 33

O b j e c t ive 2. Collab o ration and strat egi c 

a l l i a n c e s , i n cluding local and nat i o n a l 

o rga n i z ations outside the S S C, a re incre a s- 

i n g ly used within the plant conservat i o n 

c o m munity to ach i eve plant conservat i o n 

s u c c e s s . 

Output 2.1: The S S C Plants Program fo rm s 

and nu rt u res strat egic alliances with ap p ro p riate 

intern at i o n a l , n at i o n a l , and local orga n i z a- 

tions outside the S S C as part of an ex p a n d i n g 

global netwo rk . 

• A c t ivity 12: Identify existing part n e rs h i p s 

and gap s , and active ly seeks and establ i s h e s 

i n t e rn at i o n a l , n at i o n a l , and local part n e r- 

ships to develop and implement its Plants 

p rogra m . 

• A c t ivity 13: D evelop and nu rt u re part n e r- 

ships that lead to funding for plant conservation 

activ i t i e s . 

• A c t ivity 14: E n c o u rage the rep re s e n t at i o n 

of Program members at re l evant confe r- 

ences and meetings, the development of a 

calendar of such meetings, and the identific 

ation of part i c i p ation opport u n i t i e s . 

Output 2.2: The S S C Plants Program fo rm s 

p a rt n e rships and wo rking collab o rat i o n s 

among the S S C Plants Program and other sect 

o rs of the S S C and the I U C N, while it maintains 

and strengthens its own netwo rk . 

• A c t ivity 15: S S C m e m b e rs and other part s 

of I U C N d evelop integrated and effe c t ive 

ways to ensure that the needs of plants are 

f u l ly re c og n i zed within all ap p ro p ri at e 

S S C / I U C N p rograms (including such init 

i at ives as the Plant-Link concept with 

animal-based S S C Specialist Groups and 

p a rt i c i p ation in S I Sand B C I S) , and that they 

a re built upon a common vision of biod 

ive rsity conservation and sustainabl e 

re s o u rce use. 

• A c t ivity 16: The S S C c o n t i nues to cre at e 

and implement its Plants Program as a core 

a c t ivity and to plan plant conservat i o n 

actions pri m a ri ly through Plant Specialist 

G ro u p s ,wh i ch are encouraged to seek their 

own strat egic alliances with ap p ro p ri at e 

local groups (both within and outside 

I U C N) . 

O b j e c t ive 3. Modes of production and consumption 

that result in the conservation of 

n at ive plant dive rsity are adopted by users 

of plant re s o u rc e s . 

Output 31: The S S C Plants Program identifi e s 

and supports activities promoting the sustainable 

use of plant re s o u rc e s ,p a rt i c u l a rly wo rking 

through sustainable use of plant re s o u rc e s , 

p a rt i c u l a rly wo rking through Specialist Gro u p 

p rogra m s , s t rat egic links to other S S C a n d 

I U C N a c t iv i t i e s , and ap p ro p ri ate non-I U C N 

p a rt n e rs h i p s . 

• A c t ivity 17: Maintain and develop collabo 

ration with ap p ro p ri ate orga n i z ations and 

p rograms (such as the S S C S u s t a i n able Use 

I n i t i at ive) to ach i eve standards for assessing 

and managing the impact of use on wild 

plant re s o u rc e s . 

• A c t ivity 18: P romote the dissemination of 

the sustainable use concept for plants and 

e n s u re inclusion in nat i o n a l , regional and 

local planning documents, and ensure that 

Action Plans and activities involving plants 

t a ke into account the sustainable use of 

plants. 

• A c t ivity 19: Pa rt i c i p at e, t h rough the Medicinal 

Plants Specialist Gro u p , in inter- age n cy 

c o l l ab o ration on the conservation and use of 

medicinal plants with particular re fe rence to 

s u s t a i n able pro d u c t i o n ,b e n e fit shari n g, a n d 

c o m munity part i c i p at i o n . 

O b j e c t ive 4. S S C’s plants policy re c o m m e n- 

d at i o n s , g u i d e l i n e s , and advice are va l u e d, 

a d o p t e d, and implemented by re l evant audie 

n c e s . 

Output 41: The S S C Plants Program targe t s 

c o n s e rvation pro fessionals and institutions as 

p a rt of its outre a ch activ i t y. 

• A c t ivity 20: M a ke outputs widely ava i l abl e 

t h rough an established and compre h e n s ive 

n e t wo rk of pro fe s s i o n a l s ,p ra c t i t i o n e rs ,a n d 

i n s t i t u t i o n s , with the Program becoming a 

cl e a ring house for info rm ation on plant cons 

e rvat i o n , e s p e c i a l ly through its web site. 


Output 42: The S S C Plants Program bu i l d s 

re s o u rces and helps others to build re s o u rces to 

s u p p o rt awa reness campaigns on pri o rity plant 

c o n s e rvation sites, t h re atened species, a n d 

re l ated issues. 

• A c t ivity 21: Use and strengthen ex i s t i n g 

links with widespread and effe c t ive dissemi 

n ating media; vigo ro u s ly develop new 

media re l at i o n s h i p s , i n cluding the cre at i o n 

of regular and effe c t ive press releases and 

a rt i cles on plant conservation needs, ch a l- 

l e n ge s ,and ach i eve m e n t s . 

• A c t ivity 22: Build capacity to cre at e, 

rev i ew, and promote documented “ Top 50” 

plant lists with a view to promoting conservation 

action from global to local leve l s , 

linking this with the I U C N Commission on 

E d u c at i o n . 

Output 43: The S S C Plants Program pro m o t e s 

an integrated plant conservation philosophy 

t h at includes the concepts of sustainable use 

and pro t e c t i o n , and this integration is incre a s- 

i n g ly strengthened by ap p ro p ri ate collab o ration 

with both in situ and ex situ o rga n i z at i o n s . 

• A c t ivity 23: I n c o rp o rate integrated conservation 

message s , s t ressing the combined 

values of in situ and ex situ c o n s e rvat i o n , 

re s e a rch , e d u c at i o n , and re c ove ry, into all 

S S C Plants Program documents and consult 

at i o n s . 

• A c t ivity 24: P ro m o t e, as a ge n e ral pri n c i- 

p l e, rapid response to ch a n ges in conservation 

pri o rities and adopt ap p ro p ri ate new 

c o n c epts developed by plant re s e a rch ,m a n- 

age m e n t , and conservation commu n i t i e s . 

O b j e c t ive 5. Capacity to provide long-lasti 

n g, p ractical solutions to plant conservat i o n 

p ro blems is marke d ly incre a s e d. 

• A c t ivity 25: Identify and cooperate with 

existing intern at i o n a l , n at i o n a l , and local 

plant conservation training progra m s , 

emphasizing within-country capacity bu i l d- 

ing and the identifi c ation of training gap s . 

• A c t ivity 26: P romote the concept of “ b e s t 

p ra c t i c e,” the identifi c ation of best pra c t i c e 

c a s e - s t u d i e s , and the dissemination of this 

i n fo rm ation to conservation pra c t i t i o n e rs 

t h rough publ i c ations and Web sites (S S C’s 

and those of its Specialist Gro u p s ) . 

Output 5.2: The S S C Plants Program vigo r- 

o u s ly promotes and fa c i l i t ates re s e a rch in cons 

e rvation biology, s u s t a i n able plant use, o ff - s i t e 

t e ch n i q u e s ,and the management of plants and 

their hab i t ats (especially when linked to wider 

land and re s o u rce manage m e n t ) . 

• A c t ivity 27:C o l l ab o rate with other plant 

c o n s e rvation interest groups to fo rmu l at e 

and promote an agenda of global re s e a rch 

p ri o rities with practical ap p l i c ation at the 

local leve l . 

Output 5.3: The S S C Plants Program vigo r- 

o u s ly pursues programs for conservation of 

plants at ap p ro p ri ate and linked scales fro m 

global to local, and raises ove rall capacity 

and levels of both discre t i o n a ry and targe t e d 

f u n d i n g. 

• A c t ivity 28: D evelop a project for linking 

funding sources and new initiat ives to fa c i l- 

i t ate both the operation of the S S C P l a n t 

P rogram and effe c t ive linkages to re l at e d 

p rograms and initiat ives. 

D avid R. Given and We n dy Stra h m 

Output 5.1: The S S C Plants Program encourages 

well-funded tra i n i n g, t e ch n o l ogy tra n s- 

fe r, p e rsonnel ex ch a n ge s , and info rm at i o n 

ava i l ability as principal plant conservat i o n 

c ap a c i t y - building measures for lesser- re s o u rced 

nat i o n s . 


Ap p ro a ches to the Conservation of Species 

Used in Traditional Medicines 

For millennia people have relied on medicinal 

p roducts from wild sources. Traditional health 

c a re systems are known to us all, f rom the socalled 

“ fo l k l o re ” remedies in the west wh e re, 

for ex a m p l e, t raditional know l e d ge that willow 

is effe c t ive in tre ating certain ailments led to 

the production of aspiri n , to the highly sophist 

i c ated and long-standing systems of eastern 

m e d i c i n e. Howeve r, demands on wild sourc e s 

of traditional medicinal products are incre a s i n g 

as the human population rises inex o rably; as 

p o o rer countries are fo rced to decrease spending 

per capita on we s t e rn health systems; and 

as the pre fe rence for nat u ral remedies incre a s e s 

amongst we s t e rn populations and people re t u rn 

to more traditional and homeopathic pro d u c t s . 

Although pharmaceutical companies ap p e a r 

to be investing less in bioprospecting due to the 

u n c e rtainty over intellectual pro p e rty ri g h t s 

and ow n e rs h i p , the chemical ex t raction of 

medicinal products from wildlife sources cont 

i nues. Such often-unreg u l ated ex t raction has 

led to concerns about the surv ival of many of 

the affected species. 

H ow Can the Ove ruse of 

Wild Species be A dd re s s e d ? 

D u ring the late 1970s and early 1980s, c o n- 

s e rvationists ge n e ra l ly felt that trade re s t ri c- 

tions and morat o ria we re the best possibl e 

solutions to ove rex p l o i t ation of endange re d 

species for medicinal pro d u c t s , and little 

rega rd was given to beliefs in traditional medicines. 

In some cases this may have been succ 

e s s f u l ,but in others it was a fa i l u re, and illega l 

ex p l o i t ation continued re l e n t l e s s ly. The lack of 

s u c c e s s , and continued demand for wildlife 

p roducts in the medicinal market can be part ly 

explained by re fe rence to anthro p o l ogical lite 

rat u re, wh i ch suggests that people will not 

e a s i ly give up traditional beliefs. Consequent 

ly, to succeed in species conservat i o n ,p o l i c i e s 

must be developed in part n e rship with users 

of wildlife, and mu ch more awa reness of traditional 

beliefs is re q u i re d. 

In recent ye a rs T R A F F I Chas adopted a coll 

ab o rat ive ap p ro a ch ,wo rking dire c t ly with the 

people whose livelihoods and health depend on 

medicinal wildlife re s o u rces. This has set the 

s t age for part n e rships and collab o rat ive effo rt s 

b e t ween the conservation and traditional medicine 

commu n i t i e s , aiming to secure sustainable 

supplies of valued medicinal wildlife fo r 

f u t u re ge n e rations. At the suggestion of both 

Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM) 

p ra c t i t i o n e rs and conservat i o n i s t s , T R A F F I C 

o rga n i zed in 1997 “ The Fi rst Intern at i o n a l 

Symposium on Endange red Species used in 

Traditional East Asian Medicine.” Besides providing 

a fo rum for pro d u c t ive dialog u e, t h i s 

meeting fo s t e red a gre ater understanding of the 

needs and motivations of groups that had prev i- 

o u s ly been somewh at antago n i s t i c, but now 

p l e d ged to wo rk toge t h e r. The subject of discussion 

at the symposium was the search fo r 

substitutes for tiger bone and musk in tra d i- 

tional East Asian medicine. It soon became 

clear that while the use of substitutes may be 

p o s s i ble for some tre at m e n t s , in certain life - 

t h re atening situat i o n s , p rep a rations from some 

e n d a n ge red species cannot be substituted. 

C o n s e q u e n t ly, it is in the interests of both cons 

e rvation and traditional medicine commu n i t i e s 

to ensure the long-term conservation of these 

species. This was most cl e a rly illustrated wh e n , 

in November 1999 at an intern ational confe r- 

ence on Traditional Chinese Medicine (T C M) 

and endange red wildlife conservat i o n , C h i n a 

S t ate officials pledged to wo rk with intern a- 

tional conservationist to ensure a sustainabl e 

t rade in wildlife products used in T C M. 

S u rveys carried out in 17 A f rican countri e s 

by T R A F F I C in 1998 identified 102 medicinal 

plant species and 29 medicinal animal species 

as pri o rities for conservation and manage m e n t 

action. The survey found that not only are there 


m a ny wildlife products used in tra d i t i o n a l 

m e d i c i n e, but that in at least seven of the count 

ries surveye d, t raditional medicine has been 

i n t egrated into national health care sch e m e s . 

Th e re fo re, it was concluded that effo rts to stab 

i l i ze the status of these species are not only 

in the interest of the conservationists but also in 

the interest of millions of people in this regi o n 

whose health depend upon the local healthcare 

s y s t e m s . 

T R A F F I Chas also conducted surveys of the 

attitudes to wildlife conservation and use of 

t raditional medicines of Chinese commu n i t i e s 

in Hong Kong and A m e rica. From these it has 

e m e rged that many users of traditional East 

Asian medicines do not make the connection 

b e t ween the use of such medicines and their 

c o n t ri bution to the demise of endange re d 

species. Indeed, most respondents support e d 

the need for the identifi c ation of effe c t ive altern 

at ives to ingredients that are derived fro m 

e n d a n ge red species. The results of the T R A F- 

F I C studies suggest that medicinal wildlife util 

i z ation is not re s t ricted to only a few playe rs . 

Instead it is critical to bring all the stake h o l d- 

e rs — i n cluding the health, p rivat e, and nat u ra l 

re s o u rces sectors — t ogether to raise awa re n e s s 

of va rying pers p e c t ives and to find ways to coll 

ab o rate and cooperate in conservation effo rt s 

c o n c e rning medicinal wildlife. 

Wh at Can the SSC Netwo rk Do? 

Th e re has been mu ch concern about the perc 

e ived impacts that traditional medicinal usage 

has had on ch a ri s m atic mega fauna such as rhin 

o s , t i ge rs , and bears by compounding the 

e ffects of hab i t at loss. Howeve r, in these cases 

action has been re a c t ive and has come at a 

s t age wh e re conservation successes are difficult 

to ach i eve. In order to add ress the thre at s 

posed by the medicinal demand for species, 

c o n s e rvationists must become more pro a c t ive. 

Action is needed befo re the wo rl d ’s medicinal 

plants face the same thre at of extinction and 

b e fo re nu m b e rs of other animal species used 

for va rious medical purposes also decre a s e — 

for example corals used for rep a i ring bone 

f ra c t u re s ,s e a h o rses in T E A M, and snake s ,s p i- 

d e rs , and scorpions for anti-venom pro d u c t i o n . 

To be pro a c t ive, p o l i cy development will 

re q u i re more complete and re l i able info rm a- 

tion on levels of use and especially their impact 

on wild populat i o n s . 

The S S C n e t wo rk is re n owned for the prov i- 

sion of info rm ation on the conservation stat u s 

of species, t h rough production of Action Plans 

and incre a s i n g ly regular and quantitat ive 

assessments in the I U C N Red List . While the 

S S C p roduces a wealth of such info rm at i o n ,i t 

is clear that for a number of species impacted 

by tra d e, t h e re is insufficient info rm ation at the 

local level to info rm conservation decisions. 

I n fo rm ation on levels of demand can be collected 

re l at ive ly easily by undertaking marke t 

s u rveys. In contra s t ,fo rmal wildlife populat i o n 

assessments are ge n e ra l ly mu ch more ex p e n- 

s ive and time consuming to carry out compreh 

e n s ive ly over large are a s , and consequently 

h ave been conducted for only a ve ry few 

species. For effe c t ive conservation we need to 

k n ow wh at impact both medicinal and other 

t rade is having on wildlife populations. Th e 

ch a l l e n ge is to develop altern at ive cost-effe c- 

t ive means of monitoring trends in populat i o n 

indices and to find indicat o rs of the impact of 

h a rvest on populat i o n s , wh i ch can be used 

e ffe c t ive ly in the absence of compre h e n s ive 

p o p u l ation surveys and monitori n g. Under the 

C o nvention on Biological Dive rs i t y, mu ch 

e ffo rt is being put into measuring the dive rs i t y 

of ecosystems as a vital, fi rst conservation step . 

H oweve r, re lying on species inve n t o ries as 

m e a s u res of dive rsity may not indicate that a 

species is in decline until it is virt u a l ly too lat e, 

so indicat o rs of population nu m b e rs or health 

must also be linked to the inve n t o ry collections. 

With the need for altern at ive methodologi e s 

in mind, the Chicago Board of Trade Endange 

red Species Fund of the Chicago Zoologi c a l 

Society re c e n t ly supported a project to assess 

the effe c t iveness of the use of altern at ive indic 

at o rs of population status and trends in A s i a n 

bear species. Recent concerns about the impact 

on wild populations of the trade in bear part s 

for traditional medicinal uses have suffe re d 

f rom a lack of know l e d ge about the status of 

t a rget populations in many ra n ge states. If this 

is the case for bears , wh at about the nu m e ro u s 

species of plants and reptiles used for medicinal 

purposes? All of these issues are hampere d 

by a need for more basic data to info rm management 

decisions. 


Asian bears exhibit many of the obstacl e s 

facing fo rmal population status assessments— 

t h ey are solitary, fo rest dwelling animals, 

i n h abiting often remote and inaccessible lands 

c apes at low densities, and are in many cases 

n o c t u rnal. From May to September 1999, 

i n fo rm ation was gat h e red from ra n ge states of 

the Asian ursine species (Asiatic bl a ck ,b row n , 

s u n , and sloth bears) to attempt to infer tre n d s 

in population status. Info rm ation gat h e re d 

i n cluded rates of bear sightings by local people 

and Protected A rea staff, rates of human/bear 

c o n fl i c t s , h ab i t at ava i l ab i l i t y, and bear pre s- 

e n c e / absence in fo rest areas. Info rm ation on 

h ab i t at ava i l ability and bear pre s e n c e / ab s e n c e 

could usually be gat h e red to indicate trends in 

p o p u l ation distri bution and status. Not only 

we re bear ex p e rts in ra n ge states of gre at help 

in this survey, but mu ch info rm ation was also 

obtained from individuals with wider ex p e rtise 

in other taxa. Such cross-taxon comparisons 

of suitable indicat o rs would enable many 

taxonomic groups to gain from the deve l o p- 

ment of altern at ive monitoring methods. 

Specialist Groups are uniquely placed to use 

their netwo rks to collect info rm ation and to 

d evelop and promote the use of new methodo 

l ogies to stimu l ate further info rm ation 

ge n e ration and collection. The conservat i o n 

c o m munity must become more cre at ive. Th e 

p ri o rity on the medicinal issue will be to deve l- 

op indicat o rs that can be used with species fo r 

wh i ch there is an increasing demand on the 

p o p u l ations to supply the growing medicinal 

m a rke t s , and wh e re conservation manage m e n t 

decisions are curre n t ly based on little or no status 

info rm ation. If we make more use of indirect 

indicat o rs of population stat u s , and look 

wider for info rm ation that may help make an 

assessment of population tre n d s ,then undoubte 

d ly gaps could be filled in the ava i l able info r- 

m ation on species’s t atus and population tre n d s . 

The conservation community is like ly to 

b e n e fit enorm o u s ly from becoming more globa 

l ly incl u s ive through personal contacts to poli 

cy make rs , to academics, and to conservat i o n 

p ra c t i t i o n e rs on the gro u n d. Specialist Gro u p s 

a re well placed to fa c i l i t ate the gre ater exch 

a n ge of info rm ation and dissemination of 

k n ow l e d ge between all those invo l ved in the 

c o n s u m p t ive use of wildlife in traditional medicines 

by increasing netwo rks in ra n ge stat e s 

and consumer countri e s . 

Alison Rosser, N eville A s h , and Maija Siro l a 

Alison Rosser: I U C N / S S CWi l d l i fe Tra d e 

P rogram Offi c e r, 219c Huntingdon Road, 

C a m b ri d ge, CB3 0DL, U K. Tel 44 1223 

277966; Fax 44 1223 277845; 

e - m a i l :a l i s o n . ro s s e r @s s c- u k . o rg 

R e fe re n c e s 

A s h , N. 1999. C o n s e rvation Status of A s i a n 

Bear (Ursinae) Species. MSc Th e s i s , 

D u rrell Institute of Conservation and 

E c o l ogy, U n ive rsity of Ke n t , U K. 

L e e, S. 1998. Attitudes of Hong Kong Chinese 

Towa rds Wi l d l i fe Conservation and the Use 

of Wi l d l i fe as Medicine and Fo o d. T R A F F I C 

East A s i a . 

L e e, S, C. Hoove r,A. Gaski, and J. Mills. 1998. 

A Wo rld Ap a rt , Attitudes Towa rd Tra d- 

itional Chinese Medicine and Endange re d 

Species in Hong Kong and The United 

S t at e s . T R A F F I C East A s i a , T R A F F I C 

N o rth A m e rica and W W F-U S. 

M a rs h a l l , N. 1998. S e a rching for a Cure : 

C o n s e rvation of Medicinal Wi l d l i fe Res 

o u rces in East and Southern A f rica. T R A F- 

F I C I n t e rn at i o n a l ,C a m b ri d ge, U K. 

M i l l s , J. 1998. Need for Further Research in 

Ti ger bone and Musk substitutes agre e d. 

T R A F F I C D i s p at ches Ap ril 1998. 

M i l l s , J. 1999. The Symbiotic Mat ch of 

Traditional Medicine and Wi l d l i fe Conservat 

i o n . P resented at the “ H e a l t hy Pe o p l e, 

H e a l t hy Planet” I n t e rn ational Confe re n c e 

on Traditional Chinese Medicine and 

E n d a n ge red Wi l d l i fe Conservat i o n , 30 

O c t o b e r-1 November 1999 in Beijing. 

T R A F F I CEast A s i a . 

Wo rld Health Orga n i s ation. Po l i cy and A c t- 

ivities on Traditional Medicine. h t t p : / / 

w w w. wh o . i n t / i n f - f s / e n / fa c t 1 3 4 . h t m l 

Wo rld Resources Institute. A Short List of 

Plant-Based Medicinal Drugs. h t t p : / / w w w. 

i g c. o rg / w ri / b i o d iv / p h a rm a cy. h t m l 


Ve rt eb rate Species Richness and Endemism in Russia 

C o n s e rvation of biological dive rsity is the most 

i m p o rtant pro blem of our time and must be a 

fundamental component of any national deve l- 

opment strat egy. Two ve ry important at t ri bu t e s 

of biodive rsity are species ri chness (the nu m- 

ber of species in an area) and endemism (the 

number of species in that area wh i ch occur 

n owh e re else). So, i nve n t o rying of species 

ri chness and endemism are the fi rst steps in 

p rep a ration of biodive rsity conservation strategy 

of each country. In this paper we are pre s- 

ent recent data on Russian biodive rsity based 

on the most recent taxonomic studies of ve rt e- 

b rates (Table 1). A l s o , we define “hot spots” 

( a reas wh i ch have a gre at number of endemics) 

of species-level ve rt eb rate endemism in Russia 

( Table 2). 

Endemics of Russia and 

Their Distri bu t i o n 

M a m m a l s 

I n s e c t ivo ra 

C ro c i d u ra sibiri c a 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :South of We s t e rn Siberi a 

S o rex camtsch at i c a 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :K a m ch atka Pe n i n s u l a 

S. leucogaster 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Pa ra mushir Island 

C h i ro p t e ra 

M yotis abei 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Sakhalin Island 

R o d e n t i a 

S p e rmophilus musicus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :N o rt h e rn slopes of Caucasus 

M a rmota camtsch at i c a 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :E a s t e rn Siberi a , 

K a m ch atka Pe n i n s u l a 

Sicista kluch o rica 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :N o rt h e rn slopes of Caucasus 

Spalax gi ga n t e u s 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :P recaucasus regi o n 

M e s o c ricetus ra ddei 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :P recaucasus regi o n 

L e m mus amu rensis 



L. sibiricus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :From White Sea to 

Ko lyma Rive r 

D i c ro s t o nyx torq u atus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :From White Sea to 

C h u kotsk Pe n i n s u l a 

D. vinogra d ovi 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :W ra n gel Island 

Alticola olchonensis 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :O l chon Island (Baikal Lake ) 

A. lemminus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :N o rt h e a s t e rn Siberi a 

M i c rotus mujanensis 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Transbaikal regi o n 

M. evo ronensis 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :L ower A mur River regi o n 

M. sachalinensis 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Sakhalin Island 

M. midd e n d o r fi 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :N o rt h e rn Siberi a 

P i n n i p e d i a 

Phoca sibirica 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Baikal Lake 

A rt i o d a c t y l a 

Ovis nivicola 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Taimir Pe n i n s u l a ,n o rth 

of Far East, K a m ch atka Pe n i n s u l a 

B i rd s 

A n s e ri fo rm e s 

R u fi b renta ru ficollis 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :We s t e rn Siberi a 

C y g nus bew i ckii 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :From Kola Peninsula 

to Chukotsk Pe n i n s u l a 

Anas fo rmosa 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :E a s t e rn Siberi a 


Table 1. Dive rsity and Endemism of Ve rt eb rates in Russia 

G ro u p N u m b e r Number Pe rc e n t R e fe re n c e s 

of Species of Endemics 

Mammals 305 21 6 . 9 Pav l i n ov and Rossolimo. 1998. 

B i rds 648 25 3 . 9 S t ep a nyan. 1990. 

R eptiles 80 0 0 A n a n j eva et al. 1998 . 

A m p h i b i a n s 28 0 0 A n a n j eva et al. 1998 . 

Fre s h water fishes 342 44 12 . 8 R e s h e t n i kov. 1998. 

C y clostomaes 9 0 0 R e s h e t n i kov. 1998. 

Table 2. “Hot spots” of Ve rt eb rate Endemism in Russia 

R egi o n Number of Number Number of Total Number 

Mammal of Bird Fre s h wat e r of Ve rt eb rat e 

E n d e m i c s E n d e m i c s Fish Endemics E n d e m i c s 

Baikal Lake 2 0 2 7 2 9 

N o rt h e a s t e rn Siberia 

(i n cluding Chukotsk 

Pe n i n s u l a) 4 9 6 19 

E a s t e rn Siberi a 3 8 1 1 2 

K a m ch atka Pe n i n s u l a 4 3 3 1 0 

Sakhalin Island 2 5 0 7 


Fa l c o n i fo rm e s 

Haliaeetus pelagicus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Coast of Bering Sea and Sea 

of Okhotsk, K a m ch atka Pe n i n s u l a , 

Sakhalin Island, Ku ril and Shantar Islands 

G a l l i fo rm e s 

Falcipennis falcipennis 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Far East (south), 

Sakhalin Island 

G ru i fo rm e s 

G rus leucoge ra nus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :N o rt h e rn Siberi a 

G rus monacha 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Far East (south) 

C h a ra d ri i fo rm e s 

Tri n ga guttifer 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Sakhalin Island, 


H e t e roscelis brevipes 


E u ry n o r hy n chus pygmeus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :C h u kotsk Pe n i n s u l a 

C a l i d ris subminuta 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :S i b e ri a ,Sakhalin Island, 

Komandor and Ku ril Islands 

A. acuminata 


B. tenu i ro s t ris 


Numenius minutus 


Numenius tenu i ro s t ris 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :South of We s t e rn Siberi a 

L a rus heuglini 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :From Kola Peninsula to 


Pa s s e ri fo rm e s 

Anthus gustavi 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :From Pe ch o ra River to 


Motacilla taivana 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :N o rt h e a s t e rn Siberi a , 

Sakhalin Island 

P runella montanella 


Tu rdus naumanni 


T. eunomus 



B o m bycilla japonica 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Far East (south) 

P y rrhula cineracea 


E m b e riza ch ry s o p h rys 


C. tri s t rami 


Fre s h water Fi s h e s 

S a l m o n i fo rm e s 

S a l ve l i nus boganidae 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Taimir Pe n i n s u l a , 


S. cze rskii 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :C h u ko chya Rive r, I n d i gi rka 

R ive r, Lena Rive r, Ko lyma River 

S. drjagini 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Taimir Pe n i n s u l a 

S. jacuticus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Lena Rive r 

S. neiva 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Okhota Rive r 

S. taimy ricus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Taimir Pe n i n s u l a 

S. tolmach o ffi 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :K h at a n ga Rive r 

S. elgyticus 


S. albus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :K ro n o t s koe Lake, 

K a m ch atka River 

S. kronocius 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :K ro n o t s koe Lake 

S. leva n i d ovi 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :R ive rs in north part of 

Sea of Okhotsk 

S. schmidti 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :K ro n o t s koe Lake 

S a l v we t hy mus sve t ov i d ovi 


Dallia admirabilis 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Amguema Rive r 

D. delicatissima 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :C h u kotsk peninsula 


C y p ri n i fo rm e s 

R o m a n ogobio pentat ri chus 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Kuban Rive r, L aba Rive r 

S ab a n e j ewia caucasica 

D i s t ri bu t i o n :Kuma Rive r, Te rek Rive r, 

Sulak Rive r 

S c o rp a e n i fo rm e s 

B at ra chocottus baicalensis 


B. mu l t i ra d i atus 


B. nikolskii 


C o t t o c o m ep h o rus grewinskii 


C. inermis 


Pa racottus knerii 


C o m ep h o rus baicalensis 


C. dy b owskii 


A byssocottus elochini 


A. gi bbosus 


A. ko ro t n e fi 


A s p rocottus abyssalis 


A. herzensteini 


A. intermedius 


A. palmife rus 


A. plat y c ephalus 


A. pulcher 


Cottinella boulenge ri 


Limnocottus eury s t o mus 


L. go d l ewskii 


L. griseus 


L. megalops 


L. pallidus 


Neocottus we re s t s ch agini 


P rocottus jeittelsii 


P. gurwici 


P. major 


A ck n ow l eg m e n t s 

We are ve ry indebted to L.S. Step a nyan and 

M.I. Shat u n ov s ky for rev i ewing of list of 

endemics of Russia. 

V. V. Bobrov and V.M. Nero n ov 

Institute of Ecology and Evo l u t i o n ,R u s s i a n 

A c a d e my of Sciences, M o s c ow 

R e fe re n c e s 

A n a n j eva N. B. ,L . J. Bork i n ,I . S. Darev s ky, a n d 

N.L. Orl ov. Amphibians and Rep t i l e s . 

E n cy clopedia of Nat u re of Russia. M o s c ow : 

A B F. 1998. 576 p (in Russian). 

R e s h e t n i kov Yu . S. (Ed.) A n n o t ated Check - l i s t 

of Cycl o s t o m ata and Fishes of the Continental 

Wat e rs of Russia. M o s c ow : N a u k a , 

1998. 220 p (in Russian). 

Pav l i n ov I.Ya. and O.L. Rossolimo. S y s t e- 

m atics of Mammals of the USSR. A dd i t i o n s . 

M . : M o s c ow State Unive rsity Press. 1998. 

190 p (in Russian). 

S t ep a nyan L.S. Conspectus of the Orn i t h o- 

l ogical Fauna of the USSR. M o s c ow : 

N a u k a , 1990. 728 p (in Russian). 


Specialist Group Rep o rt s 

Antelope Specialist Gro u p 

The Antelope Specialist Group has compiled 

detailed info rm ation on each of the antelope 

species in sub-Saharan A f ri c a . Th re ats to the 

s u rv ival of antelopes in the region arise fundam 

e n t a l ly from the rapid growth of human and 

l ive s t o ck populat i o n s , and consequent degrad 

ation and destruction of nat u ral hab i t ats and 

f rom the ex c e s s ive off - t a ke by meat hunters . 

In add i t i o n , some parts of A f rica are now 

almost completely devoid of large wild animals 

because of uncontrolled slaughter duri n g 

recent civil wa rs. The wildlife of substantial 

a reas of the sahelo-Saharan zone has been 

s e n s e l e s s ly annihilated by motori zed hunting 

p a rt i e s . 

Key areas have been identified for the cons 

e rvation of rep re s e n t at ive antelope commu n i- 

ties. These show a high degree of ove rl ap with 

the conservation re q u i rements of other gro u p s 

of larger mammals. Most of these areas have 

been included by A f rican gove rnments in their 

ga zetted pro t e c t e d - a rea systems, and opport u- 

nities for the establishment of major new protected 

areas are ve ry limited or non-existent in 

m a ny countries. Hence A f ri c a ’s key wildlife 

a reas are ge n e ra l ly well defined and there is little 

point in further deb ating the adequacy of the 

existing pro t e c t e d - a rea netwo rk for large r 

mammals. The key ch a l l e n ge facing antelope 

c o n s e rvation in A f rica is improvement of the 

c o n s e rvation status of identified key areas and 

p o p u l ations. At pre s e n t , l evels of pro t e c t i o n 

and management of many of these areas are 

l ow or non-existent and their wildlife populations 

are dep l e t e d, in some cases seve re ly. Th i s 

re flects fa c t o rs such as lack of political commitment 

to conservation and declining bu d g- 

ets of gove rnment wildlife age n c i e s . 

By far the gre atest intern ational contri bution 

to the conservation of antelopes and other 

A f rican wildlife is through ex t e rnal donor sup- 

p o rt to major wildlife are a s ,i n cluding deve l o p- 

ment of the capacity of the wildlife age n c i e s 

re s p o n s i ble for these areas and deve l o p m e n t 

of community-based conservation pro j e c t s . 

This support is at an histori c a l ly high leve l , bu t 

the long-term success of wildlife conservat i o n 

will also depend on gre ater political commitment 

to conservation at the national and local 

l evel in many A f rican countries. Gre ater re c ognition 

of wildlife conservation in national and 

regional development plans is often a cri t i c a l ly 

i m p o rtant re q u i re m e n t . 

Most antelope species still exist in large 

nu m b e rs in sub-Saharan A f rica. Half of the 

species considered by the Specialist Group are 

e s t i m ated to number at least in the hundre d s 

of thousands and 85% in the tens of thousands 

or more. Despite this superfi c i a l ly favo rabl e 

s i t u at i o n ,up to thre e - q u a rt e rs of the species are 

in decl i n e. Most antelopes are subjected to 

i n c reasing rates of frag m e n t ation of their dist 

ri butions and to reduction or ex t e rm i n ation of 

local populations. If current trends continu e, 

A f rica will lose a substantial pro p o rtion of its 

remaining antelope populations during the 21st 

c e n t u ry. The pro p o rtion of antelope species in 

s u b - S a h a ran A f rica wh i ch is thre atened (or 

extinct) is projected to double from its pre s e n t 

l evel of about one-quarter to about one-half in 

the next 25 ye a rs. Reve rsal of this trend will 

d epend on gre ater re a l i z ation of the economic 

potential of wildlife, e. g. , t h rough ga m e - v i ewing 

tourism and intern ational tro p hy hunting. 

The private sector may play an incre a s i n g ly 

i m p o rtant role in the successful conservation of 

m a ny antelope species. 

Rod East, C o - ch a i r 

Antelope Specialist Gro u p 


A f rican Elephant Specialist Gro u p 

Since late 1998, the compilation of the updat e 

of the A f rican Elephant Dat abase has been a 

major undertaking of the Data Rev i ew Ta s k 

Fo rce and the Program Officer of the A f ri c a n 

E l ephant Specialist Group. At long last, t h e 

document was published in December 1999. 

U p d ates Since the 1995 Publ i c at i o n 

of the A f rican Elephant Dat ab a s e 

For seve ral countri e s , c o m p re h e n s ive updat e s 

on nu m b e rs have not been possible because of 

political stri fe or total lack of re s o u rces. Fo r 

some countri e s , o n ly corrections to ex i s t i n g 

e s t i m ates we re re c e ive d. In other countri e s , 

u p d ates have only been re c e ived for a small 

p o rt i o n , or sub-populat i o n s , of prev i o u s ly 

re c o rded populations. Post-1995 updates or 

c o rrections to existing data for elephant popul 

ations and/or ra n ge, we re obtained for the fo l- 

l owing 30 out of the 37 ra n ge stat e s : C e n t ra l 

A f ri c a : C a m e ro o n , C e n t ral A f rican Rep u bl i c, 

C h a d, D e m o c ratic Rep u blic of Congo , E q u ato 

rial Guinea, G abon; Eastern A f ri c a : E ri t re a , 

E t h i o p i a , Ke nya , R wa n d a , Ta n z a n i a , U ga n d a ; 

S o u t h e rn A f ri c a : B o t swa n a , M a l aw i , M o z a m- 

b i q u e, N a m i b i a , South A f ri c a , S wa z i l a n d, 

Z a m b i a ,Z i m b ab we; West A f ri c a :B e n i n ,B u rkina 

Fa s o , G h a n a , G u i n e a , I vo ry Coast, M a l i , 

N i ge r, N i ge ri a ,S e n ega l , Togo . 

The remaining seve n , C o n go , S o m a l i a , 

S u d a n , A n go l a , Guinea Bissau, L i b e ri a , a n d 

S i e rra Leone, p roduced no updates. Changes in 

n ational estimates since the 1995 update do not 

n e c e s s a ri ly re flect true population ch a n ge ; 

m o re often, i m p rovement in survey tech n i q u e s 

has lead to better estimates or to new estimat e s 

being produced in areas prev i o u s ly surveye d 

and unsurveye d. New estimates for some uns 

u rveyed areas are based on info rmed guesswo 

rk. For more than one-third of the ra n ge 

s t at e s , the estimates are derived mainly fro m 

g u e s swo rk . 

Continental Ove rv i ew 

Among the most critical pro blems facing elephant 

conservation in Sub-Saharan A f ri c a n 

c o u n t ries are the lack of financial re s o u rc e s 

and growing human populations. Expanding 

agri c u l t u ral activities incre a s i n g ly cause degrad 

ation and destruction of elephant hab i t at. Th i s 

is most evident in West A f ri c a , wh i ch is equal 

in size to the other regi o n s , but has the most 

f ragmented elephant ra n ge : o n ly 4% of the 

s u b - region are considered to be elephant ra n ge. 

F u rther ex a m i n ation of ra n ge shows that wh i l e 

48% of elephant ra n ge for A f rica (2,772,397 

k m 2 ) can be found in Central A f ri c a , t h i s 

region has the lowest perc e n t age (10%) of protected 

ra n ge. Conve rs e ly, West A f rica has the 

smallest area of elephant ra n ge (212,463 km 2 ) , 

but almost 40% (82,992 km 2 ) is pro t e c t e d. 

S o u t h e rn 

A f ri c a : 3 0 % 

E a s t e rn 

A f ri c a : 1 8 % 

Pe rc e n t age of Range 

West 

A f ri c a : 4 % 

C e n t ral 

A f ri c a : 4 8 % 


200,000 

180,000 

160,000 

140,000 

120,000 

Central Africa Eastern Africa Southern Africa West Africa 

100,000 

80,000 

60,000 

40,000 

20,000 

0 

Definite Probable Possible Speculative 

Data category 

Most populations in the Definite cat ego ry 

a re found in southern and eastern A f rica. Th e re 

is a ve ry large diffe rence between savanna and 

fo rest hab i t ats in the pro p o rtion of Definites. 

The low number of Definite estimates fo r 

C e n t ral A f rica stems from the fact that the subregion 

is large ly fo rest hab i t at. The high prop 

o rtion of Po s s i ble and Speculat ive estimat e s 

for Central A f rica highlights the need to 

i m p rove estimates for this region because they 

m ay account for a large perc e n t age of the 

remaining elephants on the continent. 

While it is not recommended to make dire c t 

c o m p a risons between the ove rall continental 

e s t i m ates provided in Said et al. (1995) and the 

c u rrent dat ab a s e, it is notewo rt hy that the total 

number of elephants in the Definite cat ego ry 

has incre a s e d, even though the Pro b able and 

Po s s i ble estimates have decre a s e d. This is 

m o s t ly a re flection of more accurate aerial survey 

estimates in some countri e s , e s p e c i a l ly in 

s o u t h e rn A f rica. On the other hand, the total 

re m oval of estimates from the Democrat i c 

R ep u blic of Congo , and the dow n grading of 

other estimates (e. g. , in Gab o n ) , h ave re d u c e d 

the total estimates in the Pro b able and Po s s i bl e 

c at ego ries while those in the Speculat ive cat e- 

go ry have incre a s e d. The box below shows the 

continental estimat e s . 

Number of Elephants 

on the Continent 

D e fi n i t e : 301 , 773 

P ro b abl e : 56 , 196 

Po s s i bl e : 60 , 780 

S p e c u l at ive : 68 , 596 

Total area (km 2 ): 22 , 617 , 267 

R a n ge area (km 2 ): 5 , 772 , 466 

S o u rc e :B a rnes et al. 1999 

M a rtina Höft, P rogram Offi c e r 

A f rican Elephant Specialist Gro u p 

E - m a i l :a fe s g @ w w f n e t . o rg 


Canid Specialist Gro u p 

Specialists Meet in Ethiopia to 

C h a rt the Future for the Imperi l l e d 

Ethiopian Wolf 

M o re than 60 people from seven countri e s 

i n t e rested in protecting the Ethiopian wolf met 

in Dinsho, Ethiopia to develop a conservat i o n 

s t rat egy to help save the species from ex t i n c- 

tion. With fewer than 500 adults surv iv i n g, t h e 

c ri t i c a l ly endange red Ethiopian wolf is the 

ra rest wild canid species in A f rica. These elega 

n t , l o n g - l egged red wo l ves surv ive only in a 

handful of mountain pockets; the largest popu 

l ation (200-250 animals) is found in the Bale 

Mountains National Pa rk ,with smaller populations 

in A rsi (Galama-Chilalo), N o rth Shoa 

( M e n z ) , N o rth and South Wo l l o , and Gondar 

(Simen Mountains and Mount Guna). Th e 

Ethiopian wo l f, also known as the Simien fox , 

the Simien jack a l , and the ky keb e ro ,is one of 

m a ny wildlife species found only in the Ethiopian 

highlands. It is thre atened by hab i t at fragm 

e n t ation caused by agri c u l t u ral ex p a n s i o n , 

d i s e a s e, and hy b ri d i z ation with domestic dogs. 

O rga n i zed by the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation 

Progra m , the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation 

Strat egy Wo rk s h o p ’s pri m a ry goal wa s 

to raise national awa reness of the plight of the 

Ethiopian wo l ves and the need to conserve 

t h e m ,and to seek ways through re s e a rch ,m a n- 

age m e n t , e d u c at i o n , and local invo l vement to 

p rotect effe c t ive ly these endange red animals 

and their A f roalpine hab i t at. The main output 

of the wo rkshop is to fo rm the fo u n d ation of a 

n ational conservation strat egy for this species, 

wh i ch will link re l evant institutions and funding 

agencies at local, regi o n a l , n at i o n a l , a n d 

i n t e rn ational levels. While the main focus of 

the wo rkshop was on the Ethiopian wo l f, p a r- 

ticipants agreed that there is a need for a cent 

ra l i zed policy for wildlife management and 

c o n s e rvation in Ethiopia. Two wo rkshops we re 

recommended for national and regional cons 

e rvation planning and building technical cap a- 

city for conservation of all Ethiopian wildlife. 

The participants to the wo rkshop we re 

d rawn from the Fe d e ral Gove rn m e n t ,A m h a ra 

and Orominia Regional Stat e s , n ational and 

i n t e rn ational scientists, N G O s , and rep re s e n- 

t at ives of the local communities from all are a s 

wh e re wolf population occur: Wo l l o , G o n d a r, 

S h o a ,A rs i , and Bale. The wo rkshop was spons 

o red in both A m h a ric and English, and wa s 

conducted jointly with Wi l dC RU ( O x fo rd 

U n ive rs i t y ) ,the I U C N Canid Specialist Gro u p , 

and the I U C N C o n s e rvation Breeding Specialist 

Gro u p , with ge n e rous support from the 

B o rn Free Fo u n d ation (U K) , and the Zoological 

Society of San Diego and Cincinnati Zoo 

t h rough the Canid Taxon A dv i s o ry Group of 

the A m e rican Zoo and A q u a rium A s s o c i at i o n 

(U S A) . 

Claudio Sillero , C o o rd i n at o r 

Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Progra m 

E - m a i l :cl a u d i o . s i l l e ro @ zo o . ox . a c. u k 


C ap rinae Specialist Gro u p 

Wo rkshop on the Ta x o n o my of 

Mountain Ungulat e s 

The Cap rinae Specialist Group is organizing a 

wo rkshop on the conservation implication of 

t a x o n o my for the wo rl d ’s endange red cap rinae 

taxa. This wo rkshop will be held in 

A n k a ra ,Tu rkey, in May 2000. A better understanding 

of taxonomy was re c og n i zed as a 

p ri o rity in the 1997 Cap rinae Action Plan and 

this wo rkshop is a step in the implementat i o n 

of the plan’s re c o m m e n d ations. Poor know l- 

e d ge of taxonomy hinders the conservation of 

mountain ungulates because it is impossible to 

p rotect taxa that cannot be pro p e rly identifi e d. 

R e i n t roduction programs may use the “ w ro n g ” 

a n i m a l s , and some taxa may go extinct befo re 

t h ey are re c og n i zed as being diffe rent. Tro p hy 

hunting of mountain ungulates can in some 

cases be an important source of reve nue to fo s- 

ter conservat i o n , but in the absence of a go o d 

taxonomic cl a s s i fi c ation one risks allow i n g 

hunting of endange red taxa or preventing hunting 

of taxa that could sustain some harve s t . 

C o n s e rvation laws are difficult or impossible to 

e n fo rce when thre atened taxa cannot be ident 

i fi e d. For ex a m p l e, t h e re are some C I T E S- 

listed sheep subspecies that are ve ry difficult to 

i d e n t i f y. This causes pro blems for customs 

o ffi c e rs. A cl a ri fi c ation of the taxonomy of 

A s i atic sheep and go ats is a part i c u l a rly urge n t 

o b j e c t ive of the Cap rinae Specialist Gro u p , 

wh i ch wishes to promote contacts and collab o- 

rations among taxonomists, field wo rke rs , a n d 

local conservation orga n i z ations with access to 

wild populat i o n s . 

The goals of this wo rkshop are : 

1 . U p d ate the current status of taxonomy of 

mountain ungulat e s . 

2 . Identify know l e d ge gap s , p a rt i c u l a rly those 

most re l evant to conservat i o n . 

3. Provide a fo rum for an ex ch a n ge of ideas 

about cap rin taxonomy and conservat i o n . 

4 . Foster the establishment of collab o rat i o n s 

among re s e a rch e rs to promote future res 

e a rch and conservation effo rt s . 

For those taxa for wh i ch a consensus ex i s t s , 

fo l l owing this wo rkshop the Cap rinae Specialist 

Group will produce a guide to the identific 

ation of the wo rl d ’s mountain ungulates that 

will be useful for customs offi c e rs ,field biologists 

and national and intern ational conservation 

orga n i z at i o n s . 

The wo rkshop will include four invited pres 

e n t ations to summari ze va rious aspects of 

C ap rin taxonomy and contri buted oral and 

poster pre s e n t ations on recent re s e a rch re s u l t s . 

Titles of these pre s e n t at i o n s , topics to be disc 

u s s e d, and like ly participants are posted on the 

wo rk s h o p ’s web page http://callisto.si.usherb. 

c a : 8 0 8 0 / c ap ri n a e / i u c n wo rk . h t m 

Because we are mostly interested in cons 

t ru c t ive contri butions to discussions, we may 

limit the number of oral pre s e n t ations so that 

t h ey could all be accommodated in the fi rst day 

of the meeting. Rather than just a scientifi c 

rev i ew of the current “ s t ate of know l e d ge ” o f 

C ap rin taxonomy, we hope this meeting will 

p rovide a frank ex ch a n ge of ideas and guidance 

for future directions in re s e a rch and cons 

e rvation of wild sheep , go ats and their 

re l at ives. Our goal is to build for the future 

rather than re flect on the past. Th e re fo re, if yo u 

a re interested in cap rin taxonomy and conservation 

we stro n g ly encourage your part i c i p a- 

t i o n , rega rdless of whether or not you will 

p resent a talk. We have re c e ived financial supp 

o rt from the I U C N Peter Scott fund, t h e 

I n t e rn ational Fo u n d ation for the Pre s e rvat i o n 

of Wi l d l i fe, and from other sources. We are 

c u rre n t ly looking for more sponsors to fa c i l i- 

t ate the part i c i p ation of gra d u ate students and 

of re s e a rch e rs from countries with endange re d 

taxa of Cap ri n a e. 

M a rco Fe s t a - B i a n ch e t ,S e c re t a ry 

C ap rinae Specialist Gro u p 

E - m a i l :m b i a n ch e @ c o u ri e r. u s h e r b. c a 


S S C / W PA / B i rd L i fe Cracid Special Gro u p 

The Cracid Specialist Group (C S G) has held a 

number of diffe rent symposia over the last two 

decades. The pri m a ry purpose of these important 

meetings was to examine detailed rep o rt s 

and updates on Cracid stat u s , d i s t ri bu t i o n ,a n d 

c o n s e rvation. Just as import a n t , wo rk s h o p s 

p rovide a fo rum to commu n i c ate openly and 

e ffe c t ive ly about seve ral topics re l ating to 

C racid re s e a rch and conservat i o n . 

In October 1999, C S G held a regional wo rkshop 

focusing on South A m e ri c a ’s southern 

cone (southern Bolivia and Bra z i l , Pa rag u ay, 

and A rgentina) co-coord i n ated by Dan Bro o k s 

and Rob Clay, and held in A s u n c i o n ,Pa rag u ay 

in conjunction with the IV Intern ational Congress 

on Wi l d l i fe Management and Conservation 

in the A m a zo n . 

I m m e d i at e ly fo l l owing this meeting, a joint 

C S G– Pa rt ri d ge / Q u a i l / Francolin Group (P Q F G) 

Symposium on Conservation and Manage m e n t 

of Neotropical Gallifo rmes took place in 

October 1999, with the Cracid section co-coord 

i n ated by Brooks and Fe rnando Gonzalez- 

G a rcia. This meeting was co-hosted with 

P Q F G’s John Carroll and held in Monterrey, 

M exico in conjunction with the 6th Neotro p- 

ical Orn i t h o l ogy Congre s s . 

The fi rst half of the Pa rag u ay symposium 

contained seve ral talks on Cracids. Th e s e 

i n cl u d e d : 

• Winter diet of the dusky - l egged guan (Pe n- 

elope obscura) in the lower Rio Pa ra n a 

delta of A rgentina (J.A. Merl e r, M.A. Diuk- 

W. , R . D. Quintana, and M.P. Bert o l i n i ) . 

• E va l u ation of population density of “ C h a r- 

at a s ” (O rtalis canicollis) in Izo zog, P rovincia 

Cord i l l e ra , D ept. Santa Cru z , B o l iv i a 

(A.M. Mamani). 

• A revision of the status and ecology of the 

bl a ck - f ronted piping guan (Pipile jacut 

i n ga) in Pa rag u ay (R.P. Clay, A. Madro n o 

and J. Lowe n ) . 

• S t atus of ga l l i fo rmes in eastern Pa rag u ay 

( R . P. Clay ) . 

Most of the Mexico Symposium contained 

s eve ral talks on neotropical ga l l i fo rmes. Th e s e 

i n cl u d e d : 

• O ve rv i ew of Q P F G’s invo l vement with 

n e o t ropical quails re s e a rch and conservation 

(J. P. Carro l l ) . 

• C u rrent stat u s ,d i e t a ry pre fe re n c e s ,and pers 

p e c t ives for the sustainable management of 

c rested bobwhite (C o l i nus cri s t at u s) in 

Venezuela (E.M. Pe re z ) . 

• S t at u s , n at u ral history, and conservation of 

the bearded wo o d - p a rt ri d ge (D e n d ro rt y x 

b a r b a rt u s Gould 1846) in Ve ra c ruz and 

O a x a c a , M exico (S. A g u i l a r-R. and H 

C o r zo - A . ) . 

• S t atus of bearded wo o d - p a rt ri d ge (D e n d- 

ro rtyx barbart u s) (J. Clinton-E, J. P. Carro l l , 

S. A g u i l a r- R . , V. Gonzalez, A. A rago n , R . 

Pe d raza and J. T. Baccus). 

• A bundance of the long-tailed tre e - q u a i l 

(D e n d ro rtyx macro u ra) in managed and unm 

a n aged pine-oak fo rests (G. Chave z - L . ) . 

• R e c ove ry of the masked bobwhite in 

S o n o ra and A ri zona (W. P. Ku v l e s ky Jr, F. S. 

G u t h e ry, S.A. Gall, G. Camou-L., R. Enge l - 

Wi l s o n , J. Fi m b re s - P, F. Ibarra - F, S. A . 

D e S t e fa n o , T. Solis-H, W. W. Shaw and 

R.A. Steidl). 

• S t atus and conservation of cracids in 

M exico and Central A m e rica (F. Gonzalez- 

G. , D.M. Brooks and S. D. Stra h l ) . 

• S t atus of the horned guan (O reophasis derb 

i a nu s) in the field and cap t ivity (F. 

G o n z a l e z - G. ) . 


• Po p u l ations status and conservation of the 

Cozumel Island Cura s s ow (C rax ru b ra 

gri s c o m i i) (M.A. Mart i n e z - M . ) . 

• I n d iv i d u a l , s e a s o n a l , and daily va ri ation in 

the diet of a familial group of bl a ck cura s- 

s ows (C rax alector) (Jimenez, M. Escano, 

X. Bern a l , J. Fo reno and C.A. Mejia). 

• C o n s e rvation genetics of C rax bl u m e n- 

b a ch i i( S.L. Pe re i ra and A. Wa j n t a l ) . 

• S u rveys and conservation of cracidae and 

o d o n t o p h o ridae along two altitudinal tra n- 

sects of the Colombian Andes (P. G. W. 

S a l a m a n ,A.M. Cuervo and T.M. Donega n ) . 

Two posters we re also pre s e n t e d : 

• H ab i t at of O d o n t o p h o rus colombianu s i n 

Venezuela (E.B. Bonaccors o ) . 

• D i s t ri butional pat t e rns of the fa m i ly Odonto 

p h o ridae in Mexico (Gord i l l o - M . ) . 

Both symposia concluded with ro u n d - t abl e 

d i s c u s s i o n s , c o nvening as wo rking gro u p s 

e n gaged in open, dynamic discussion. We 

b egan by introducing ours e l ves and our intere s t 

in neotropical ga l l i fo rm e s . 

The majority of the wo rkshop part i c i p a n t s 

in Pa rag u ay we re from central South A m e ri c a 

and the southern cone. Many of the topics discussed 

revo l ved around a cap t ive bre e d i n g 

theme (e. g. , ra n ching to re i n t ro d u c t i o n ) , 

because most of the participants had cap t ive - 

b reeding back grounds. Howeve r, f u t u re pro j- 

ects we re identified as we l l . 

At the neotropical ga l l i fo rme wo rkshop in 

M o n t e rrey, 26 people we re present total, h a i l- 

ing fro m : M exico (11), Colombia (7), Ve n e- 

zuela (3), B razil (2), U S A (2) and Pe ru (1). 

Topics discussed included commu n i c at i o n , 

f u n d i n g, c o o rd i n at i o n , and re i n t ro d u c t i o n , 

among other agenda items. 

A book comprising these two symposia is in 

the wo rk s ,co-edited with Q P F G, and there fo re 

c ove ring all neotropical ga l l i fo rm e s , rat h e r 

than only cracids. The title will be B i o l ogy and 

C o n s e rvation of Neotropical Gallifo rmes in the 

N ew Millenium, and it will comprise manus 

c ripts from the symposium in Mex i c o , s o m e 

m a nu s c ripts from wo rkshops in Boliv i a , 

Pa rag u ay, and some invited manu s c ri p t s . 

Daniel M. Bro o k s 

S S C /W PA / B i rd L i fe Cracid Specialist Gro u p 

E - m a i l :d b ro o k s @ h m n s . o rg or 

e c o t ro p i x @ a o l . c o m 


C rocodile Specialist Gro u p 

P ro blems of Success: 

C o n s e rvation Consequences of 

C rocodile-Human Confl i c t 

In many countri e s , c rocodile populations have 

b e n e fited from seve ral decades of re d u c e d 

c o m m e rcial hunting as a result of national protection 

and the strict controls on intern at i o n a l 

t rade imposed by C I T E S. As a re s u l t , s o m e 

c rocodile populations have increased in nu m- 

b e rs , expanded their ra n ge back into historic 

a l ly occupied are a s , and the number of large r 

i n d ividuals has incre a s e d. At the same time, 

humans continu a l ly expand into cro c o d i l e 

h ab i t at. This has led to increasing confl i c t s 

b e t ween crocodiles and people and their lives 

t o ck. Living with large pre d at o rs is a pro bl e m 

t h at conservationists in the developed wo rl d 

ra re ly fa c e. In tropical wetland are a s , c ro c o- 

diles histori c a l ly re a ched high densities and 

we re major pre d at o rs. By re t u rning cro c o d i l e s 

to their fo rmer abu n d a n c e, we have re s u rre c t e d 

an old and dange rous pre d ator of people—an 

u n expected result of conservation success. 

Recent rep o rts from many countries indic 

ate that crocodile at t a cks on people are perc 

e ived to be increasing to unaccep t able leve l s . 

R ep o rts of crocodiles at t a cks have come in 

f rom Ta n z a n i a , wh e re seve ral at t a cks are rep 

o rted each year; from Zambia, Ke nya , I n d i a , 

Costa Rica, and Ja m a i c a , wh i ch re c o rded an 

i n c rease in the number of fatal at t a cks; and 

f rom a tourist re s o rt in Cancun, M exico. Sarawa 

k , M a l aysia consistently rep o rts at t a cks by 

l a rge saltwater crocodiles in the rive rs. Pa rts of 

the U S A and Au s t ra l i a , wh i ch have large popu 

l ations of humans and cro c o d i l e s , rep o rt 

growing concern and the need for active cont 

rol measures. In ge n e ra l , o n ly the larger and 

fi e rcer species are invo l ved in these at t a ck s . 

The Nile crocodile (C ro c o dylus niloticus) and 

the saltwater crocodile (C. poro s u s) are cons 

i d e red most dange ro u s , but recent at t a ck s 

resulting in human deaths are rep o rted fo r 

A m e rican crocodiles (C. acutus) , M o re l e t ' s 

c rocodile (C. morl e t i i) , M u gger (C. palustri s) , 

and A m e rican alligator (A l l i gator mississipiens 

i s). Human fatalities are usually the result of 

at t a ck by crocodilians 3 m or large r. Due to the 

s exual dimorphism of cro c o d i l i a n s ,we can tell 

the at t a cks are usually by large males. Nonfatal 

interactions can also be serious to local 

people as can pre d ation on live s t o ck. In Togo , 

ra re narrow snouted crocodiles (C. cat ap h ra c- 

t u s) are undermining water retention ponds 

with their bu rrows and thre atening deve l o p- 

ment of mu ch needed clean water supplies fo r 

humans. 

C rocodile at t a cks on humans are trage d i e s , 

p a rt i c u l a rly when the result is the death of a 

ch i l d, as is often the case. Th ey are also a serious 

conservation issues. The usual response of 

people to a crocodile at t a ck is to kill the most 

o bvious large crocodile present. Ecologi c a l 

studies by CSG members confi rm that a prop 

o rtion of large adults can be re m oved from a 

p o p u l ation without causing population decl i n e. 

The sustainable level of re m oval va ries with 

species and situat i o n , but falls between 5% and 

about 15% of adult crocodiles and so we can 

e n d o rse reg u l ated control measures. Of more 

c o n c e rn is the fear and hat red of crocodiles that 

can lead to calls for complete ex t i rp ation of 

local crocodile populations. Human intolerance 

for a large pre d ator that eats their ch i l d re n 

and va l u able live s t o ck will unders t a n d ably 

ove rride pro t e c t ive legi s l ation or conservat i o n 

c o n c e rn s . 

The Crocodile Specialist Group is taking a 

s e rious ap p ro a ch to this issue. Future cro c o- 

dilian conservation success may depend on 

ge n e rating solutions to human-crocodile conflicts. 

The ex p e rience of seve ral countries with 

long term programs to add ress the pro blem is 

i n s t ru c t ive. In Flori d a , nine fatalities are on 

re c o rd since the 1930s but non-fatal at t a cks by 

a l l i gat o rs are an annual occurre n c e. A stat e- 

wide program designates official “ nu i s a n c e 

a l l i gator trap p e rs ” for each county. These are 

often individuals fo rm e rly active in alligat o r 

h u n t i n g. Nuisance trap p e rs re m ove and kill 

about 5,000 alligat o rs a ye a r, wh i ch we re 


ep o rted to State authorities by the publ i c. 

Trap p e rs lega l ly sell the skins and meat to 

rep ay their costs and support the program. A n 

a c t ive public re l ations program continu a l ly 

a dvises the public of the need for caution in 

a l l i gator hab i t at , feeding alligat o rs is illega l , 

and high-risk locations are pro m i n e n t ly sign 

p o s t e d. The combination of these effo rts has 

c re ated an at m o s p h e re of tolerance for alligat 

o rs and a ge n e ral understanding that the re a l 

risk of alligator at t a ck is mu ch less than 

the danger posed by many other common 

a c t iv i t i e s , l i ke sport s , b o at i n g, d riv i n g, e t c. 

N eve rt h e l e s s , the occasional fatality still 

causes hy s t e rical re a c t i o n ,swift ve n geance on 

the alligat o r, and the need for careful and sens 

i t ive statements by conservation authori t i e s . 

In nort h e rn Au s t ra l i a , the city of Darwin 

s u rrounds an ex t e n s ive estuary, Darwin Harb 

o r, t h at used to support a substantial population 

of saltwater crocodiles. Recognizing the 

i n c o m p atibility of this part i c u l a rly fi e rce cro c- 

odile within a large urban are a , the authori t i e s 

h ave quietly decl a red Darwin Harbor a cro c o- 

dile free zone and an aggre s s ive trapping program 

attempts to re m ove all crocodiles. Th i s 

p rogram occurs in the context of a terri t o ry 

wide program that has promoted the re c ove ry 

of the crocodile population to pre - ex p l o i t at i o n 

l evels—an estimated more than 50,000 adults. 

It includes an effe c t ive egg collection and 

ra n ching program and annual population moni 

t o ri n g. In the Cairns region of nort h e a s t 

Queensland a three year trial crocodile re m ova l 

p rogram has been implemented. The area 

is re n owned for its swimming beaches and 

p ro blems arise as people expand activities in to 

c rocodile hab i t at , even though cro c o d i l e s 

remain at low density. 

U n fo rt u n at e ly these programs are the 

ex c ep t i o n , and in most locations cro c o d i l e 

at t a cks remain a growing pro blem that authorities 

are poorly equipped to deal with. Conflicts 

between outcries for the re m oval of 

c rocodiles and calls to protect these “ e n d a n- 

ge re d ” species complicate official action. Th e 

elements of successful mitigation of cro c o d i l e - 

people conflicts can be discerned among the 

c u rrent progra m s : Realistic ap p raisal of the 

e ffects of re m oval of pro blem animals based 

on population monitoring; sensible decisions 

about locations wh e re large crocodile populations 

are and are not ap p ro p ri ate for publ i c 

s a fety; effe c t ive control of nuisance cro c o d i l e s ; 

e ffe c t ive public info rm ation to explain both the 

real hazards and the control program; modific 

ation of people’s behavior to minimize ri s k 

( e. g. wa s h i n g, d ri n k i n g, and swimming at the 

water side); and a system to provide fi n a n c i a l 

s u p p o rt for control activities and a public re l a- 

tions campaign to re a s s u re the publ i c. 

The Crocodile Specialist Group will hold a 

special symposium on this topic at its 15th 

Wo rking Meeting in Va ra d e ro , C u b a , in Ja n- 

u a ry 2000 to assemble the ava i l able info rm a- 

tion on both the pro blem and the solutions and 

d evelop re c o m m e n d ations and guidelines fo r 

ge n e ral use. When crocodiles and people can 

l ive together with minimal confl i c t , c ro c o d i l e 

c o n s e rvation can succeed. 

Pe rran Ross, E xe c u t ive Officer 

C rocodile Specialist Gro u p 


Deer Specialist Gro u p 

The Deer Specialist Group (D S G) continu e d 

i m p l e m e n t ation of its action plan in South 

A m e rica. Progress rep o rts we re re c e ived fro m 

four of the five projects funded by small gra n t s 

in 1998. In October, Susana Gonzalez and 

M a u ricio Barbanti Duarte convened a we e k - 

long wo rkshop on the Conservation of Neot 

ropical Deer at the Fo u rth Intern at i o n a l 

C o n gress of Wi l d l i fe Management in the 

A m a zon and Latin A m e rica. The meeting, 

wh i ch took place in A s u n c i o n , Pa rag u ay, wa s 

an attempt to update the conservation status of 

deer in the region. To examine population status 

within and outside of protected are a s , t h e 

t h i rty participants we re divided into four regional 

wo rking groups. The results will be published 

in the proceedings of the meeting. Th e 

meeting also affo rded the D S G an opport u n i t y 

to plan a future training wo rkshop in Bolivia. 

A second wo rkshop on large mammal popu 

l ation census methods was conducted by Bill 

M c S h e a , Wa l f rido To m a s , and Guilherm e 

M o u rao in Brazil in Nove m b e r. The ve nue wa s 

the Nhumirim Ranch used last ye a r, and the 

Estancia Rio Negro located five hours away 

by ve h i cl e. Of the twe l ve part i c i p a n t s ,six we re 

B ra z i l i a n s , t h ree Boliv i a n s , t wo A rge n t i n i a n s , 

and one A m e rican who is studying in Bra z i l . 

The course presented info rm ation and fi e l d 

exe rcises on sampling methodology, s t at i s t i c a l 

c o n c epts and term i n o l ogy, s u rveys (tra n s e c t s , 

a u t o - b a s e d, and aeri a l ) , and abundance indices 

using camera traps and tra ck surveys. Th e 

c o u rse was also able to fund ten hours of fl i g h t 

t i m e, wh i ch allowed a survey of marsh deer on 

the ra n ch. To maximize hands-on ex p e ri e n c e, 

field wo rk was not re s t ricted to deer. Caiman 

and cattle we re used as models for cap t u re / 

re c ap t u re methods and strip transects. Small 

grants for field surveys we re awa rded to 

A n gela Maria Nunez Quiroz (Boliv i a ) , H u m- 

b e rto Gomez Cerve ro (Boliv i a ) , and Guilh 

e rme Henrique Braga de Miranda (Brazil). 

Bill McShea replaced Michael Green as 

D eputy Chair of D S G, while Green continu e s 

as Regional Coord i n ator for Mainland A s i a . 

McShea attended an intern ational wo rkshop on 

U n g u l ate Ecology and Management in A l b e rt a 

Canada in August. In addition to pre s e n t i n g 

wo rk on white-tailed deer and ecosystem intera 

c t i o n s ,he presented a poster on D S G a c t iv i t i e s 

and distri buted info rm ational bro ch u res and 

D S G Action Plans to meeting participants. 

U Myint Au n g, wa rden of Chatthin Wi l d l i fe 

S a n c t u a ry, M ya n m a r, spent four months at the 

C o n s e rvation & Research Center analy z i n g 

and interp reting data on Eld’s deer ecology, 

gat h e red by his staff during the past five ye a rs . 

The info rm ation will be used for his M. Sc. 

t h e s i s ,and will be submitted for publ i c ation. In 

Ap ri l , a Community Relations Course wa s 

conducted at Chatthin Wi l d l i fe Sanctuary. 

It was the ninth training event given at the 

s a n c t u a ry since the biodive rsity conservat i o n 

p rogram commenced there in 1994. Th e 

i n s t ruction team included anthro p o l ogist Chri s 

Duncan (Smithsonian), c o n s e rvation biologi s t 

Te ri Allendorf (Unive rsity of Minnesota), e d u- 

c ator David Jenkins (National Zoo, Wa s h i n g- 

ton D. C . ) , and Chris Wemmer (D S G C h a i r ) . 

The class comprised 21 protected area staff, 

i n cluding three ethnic Chins from Nat m at a u n g 

N ational Pa rk. Chat t h i n , with an Eld’s deer 

p o p u l ation of 2000, is the last stronghold of the 

species in Asia. It is also attended by many 

p a rk-people conflicts. Nineteen villages bord e r 

the park , and three are located within its 

b o u n d a ries. Info rm ation was gat h e red fro m 

v i l l age rs on attitudes towa rd the park , agri c u l- 

t u ral land use, and fo rest product ex t ra c t i o n , 

and improvements we re made to the educat i o n 

center in the village of Chatthin. The cours e 

ended with three survey teams and one education 

team in place, and four projects underway. 

A proposal to fund D S G a c t iv i t i e s , a n d 

Action Plan implementation in part i c u l a r, wa s 

completed in the fall and will be marketed to 

gain corp o rate support in 2000. A roster of 

granting groups will also be provided to all 

m e m b e rs to support their effo rts to implement 

the D S G Action Plan. 

C h ris We m m e r, C h a i r 

Deer Specialist Gro u p 


Equid Specialist Gro u p 

A symposium on the Biology and Conservation 

of Equids was held at the Euro - 

A m e rican Mammal Congress in Santiago de 

C o m p o s t e l a ,Spain in August 1998. Talks we re 

given on phy l oge ny and conservation ge n e t i c s 

of the ge nus Equus (Ann Oakenfull and Olive r 

Ryder); equid taxonomy (Colin Grove s ) ; 

rep roduction in equids (Cheryl Asa); the role of 

the hindgut as a water re s e rvoir (Amira m 

S h ko l n i k , Hadas Kasire r, Itzhak Chashniak); 

m o t h e r- young re l ationships in fe ral horses and 

their implications for the function of deve l o p- 

ment in mammals (Cassandra Nunez and Dan 

Rubenstein); the stat u s , d i s t ri bu t i o n , e c o l ogy, 

and social stru c t u re of Gobi khulan (E q u u s 

h e m i o nus luteus) in Mongolia (Claudia Fe h ) ; 

b e h avior of re i n t roduced takhi (Equus fe ru s 

p r zewa l s k i i) pre- and post-release into the 

Hustain Nuruu Steppe Reserve of Mongo l i a 

(Lee Boyd); the ecology and conservation of 

the A f rican wild ass (Equus afri c a nus somal 

i e n s i s) in the horn of A f rica (Pat ricia Moehlman); 

and feeding habits of the Iberian wo l f 

(Canis lupus) on free ra n ging horse herds in 

G a l i c i a , Spain (Pe d ro A l o n s o , F.de la To rre, P. 

S i e rra , M. A g u l l o , and M. Snachez). Duri n g 

the Congress we had a meeting of the Equid 

Specialist Group and each species coord i n at o r 

p resented a summary of current needed actions 

for equid conservation. The group as a wh o l e 

discussed these actions, i d e n t i fied actions that 

we re common to all species, and started to prio 

ri t i ze action needed for wild equids in ge n- 

e ral. During this meeting we also discussed 

equid genetics and re i n t roduction issues conc 

e rning the Przewalski horse in Mongolia. It 

was the fi rst time that many of the members 

had met and we we re able to discuss a ra n ge 

of issues concerning equid re s e a rch and cons 

e rvation. 

The new Equid Action Plan is in the fi n a l 

d raft stage and will be completed in early 

2000. The ch ap t e rs on species will provide new 

i n fo rm ation and ideas on how to pri o ri t i ze 

and activate conservation on thre atened and 

e n d a n ge red equids in their nat ive hab i t ats. Th e 

sections on population ge n e t i c s , disease ep i- 

d e m i o l ogy, and spat i a l - dynamic ecosystem 

modeling will provide conservation and 

re s e a rch pra c t i t i o n e rs with new paradigms. 

Funding has been obtained for re s e a rch and 

c o n s e rvation on the A f rican wild ass in Eri t re a 

(W P T I) and Somalia (St. Louis Zoo). Funding 

was obtained for re s e a rch on potential competition 

between Plains zeb ra and Grev y ’s zeb ra 

on the Laikipia Plat e a u ,Ke nya (St. Louis Zoo). 

Fa nuel Keb e d e, a biologist with the Ethiopian 

Wi l d l i fe Conservation Orga n i z at i o n , h a s 

completed his M.Sc. on A f rican wild ass ecology 

and conservation in the Danakil Desert. He 

was funded by the Equid Specialist Gro u p , 

W P T I, and the British Council. Hagos Yo h a n- 

n e s , Head of the Eri t rean Wi l d l i fe Sector, w i l l 

b egin wo rk on his M.Sc. in Fall 2000 with 

funding from the Equid Specialist Group and 

W P T I. 

A Grev y ’s zeb ra poster has been pro d u c e d 

and is being distri buted in Ke nya. Two thousand 

postcards of A f rican wild ass we re produced 

and are being distri buted throughout the 

species ra n ge. An A f rican wild ass poster has 

been produced for Eri t rea and is being distri b- 

uted to gove rnment offices and all secondary 

s chools. 

Pat ricia D. Moehlman, C h a i r 

Equid Specialist Gro u p 


G ro u p e rs and W rasses Specialist Gro u p 

A new Specialist Group has been established to 

wo rk on two families of reef fishes that are 

being heav i ly impacted by fishing and hab i t at 

d a m age—the S e rra n i d a e and L ab ri d a e. Seve 

ral species from these families have alre a dy 

been included on the 1996 I U C N Red List. 

Th ey rep resent about half of all commerc i a l ly 

i m p o rtant marine species listed. 

One of the fi rst tasks of this new Specialist 

G roup will be to rev i ew the status of other 

species in these two families and to launch a 

n ew s l e t t e r. A meeting of the Specialist Gro u p 

is being orga n i zed for 2000, at the A m e ri c a n 

Society of Ich t hyo l ogists and Herp e t o l ogi s t s 

a n nual meeting in Mexico. 

For info rm ation on this group please contact 

Y vonne Sadov y, A s s o c i ate Pro fe s s o r, 

D ep a rtment of Ecology and Biodive rs i t y, 

U n ive rsity of Hong Ko n g, Pok Fu Lam Road, 

t e l : 8 5 2 - 2 8 5 9 - 8 9 7 7 , fa x : 8 5 2 - 2 5 1 7 - 7 9 9 7 , e - 

m a i l : y j s a d ov y @ h k u s u a . h k u . h k . 

Y vonne Sadov y, C h a i r 

G ro u p e rs and W rasses Specialist Gro u p 


M a rine Tu rtle Specialist Gro u p 

The growing interest of gove rnments and 

re s o u rce manage rs to collab o rate regi o n a l ly 

on marine turtle conservation and manage m e n t 

has enormous potential to promote the re c ove 

ry of depleted or declining populat i o n s . 

R egional effo rts are underway in many are a s , 

and during the last year the Marine Tu rt l e 

Specialist Group (M T S G) and its members 

h ave part i c i p ated in regional wo rkshops. 

Jacques Fre t ey assisted the Convention on 

M i grat o ry Species (C M S) in organizing seve ra l 

regional wo rkshops in West A f ri c a ,an area with 

i m p o rtant but incompletely surveyed mari n e 

t u rtle populations. In May 1999 rep re s e n t at ive s 

f rom 17 countri e s , extending from Mauri t a n i a 

to Namibia, c o n cluded a “ M e m o randum of 

U n d e rstanding concerning Conservation Measu 

res for Marine Tu rtles of the Atlantic Coast of 

A f ri c a ” in Cote d’Ivo i re under the auspices of 

C M S. To dat e, 12 countries have signed this hist 

o ric agreement to reve rse the decline of mari n e 

t u rtles along the west coast of A f rica and promote 

their conservation. 

S i g n i ficant regional conservation effo rts are 

also underway in the Indian Ocean. Biologi s t s 

f rom around the region part i c i p ated in the 

Second A S E A N ( A s s o c i ation of Southeast 

Asian Nations) Sea Tu rtle Symposium in Ko t a 

K i n ab a l u , M a l aysia in Ju ly. In October the 

G ove rnment of Au s t ralia hosted a fo rmal meeting 

in Pe rt h , with gove rnment rep re s e n t at ive s 

f rom 23 nations. The M T S G p rovided tech n i c a l 

ex p e rtise for the meeting, with Colin Limpus 

s e rving as the Chair of the ex p e rt panel. 

Pa rticipants supported the development of a 

R egional A greement on the Conservation and 

M a n agement of Marine Tu rtles and Th e i r 

H ab i t ats in the Indian Ocean and Southeast 

Asian Region. Nego t i ations for this agre e m e n t 

a re scheduled to begin in June or Ju ly 2000. 

In November the M T S G, W W F, Wi d e r 

C a ri bbean Sea Tu rtle Conservation Netwo rk , 

and the U N E P C a ri bbean Env i ronment Program 

co-sponsored a meeting entitled, “ M a ri n e 

Tu rtle Conservation in the Wider Cari bb e a n : 

A Dialogue for Effe c t ive Regional Managem 

e n t .” Hosted by the Gove rnment of the 

Dominican Rep u bl i c, the meeting was at t e n d- 

ed by gove rnment delegates from 27 countri e s 

and terri t o ries in the Wider Cari bb e a n . 

Pa rticipants identified regional manage m e n t 

needs and developed a series of re c o m m e n d a- 

tions to foster collab o ration and cooperat i o n . 

The Inter A m e rican Convention for the 

P rotection and Conservation of Sea Tu rtles and 

the S PAW ( S p e c i a l ly Protected A reas and 

Wi l d l i fe) Protocol of the Cart agena Conve n- 

tion are expected to come into fo rce in 2000; 

regional conservation and management will be 

n e c e s s a ry to implement these agreements. 

M T S G Chair A l b e rto A b reu Grobois has 

appointed four Regional Vice Chairs — 

D i m i t ris Marga ritoulis for the Mediterra n e a n 

and NE Atlantic; Saif Al-Ghais for the A rab i a n 

Sea and We s t e rn Indian Ocean; Colin Limpus 

for Au s t ralasia; and George Balazs for the 

Pa c i fic Islands. Jeanne Mortimer and Deb o ra h 

C rouse have been appointed Chairs of the 

n ew ly constituted Hawksbill and Red List Ta s k 

Fo rc e s , re s p e c t ive ly. 

The MTSG ’s opus, R e s e a rch and Management 

Te chniques for the Conservation of Sea 

Tu rt l e s , has been publ i s h e d. More than 100 

i n d ividuals from around the wo rld contri bu t e d 

to its pro d u c t i o n ,wh i ch provides guidance fo r 

re s o u rce manage rs , b i o l ogi s t s , and others 

wo rking with marine turtles. Fo rt y - t wo ch apt 

e rs are orga n i zed under seven major sections: 

O ve rv i ew; Ta x o n o my and Species Identific 

ation; Po p u l ation and Hab i t at A s s e s s m e n t ; 

D ata Collection and Methods; Reducing 

Th re ats; Husbandry, Ve t e ri n a ry Care, a n d 

N e c ropsy; and Legi s l ation and Enfo rc e m e n t . 

Spanish and Fre n ch editions will be publ i s h e d 

in 2000. 

The M T S G thanks the Center for Mari n e 

C o n s e rvation for its logi s t i c a l , a d m i n i s t rat ive, 

and progra m m atic support. We are also grat e- 

ful to our ve ry special anonymous donor fo r 

her continuing financial and moral support. 

M a rydele Donnelly, P rogram Offi c e r 

M a rine Tu rtle Specialist Gro u p 

E - m a i l :m d o n n e l ly @ d c c m c. o r 


Otter Specialist Gro u p 

S eve ral regional meetings in 1999 we re used to 

a c c e l e rate the progress of the wo rk of the Otter 

Specialist Group (O S G). Many European O S G 

m e m b e rs part i c i p ated in otter wo rkshops held 

d u ring the Th i rd European Congress of Mamm 

a l ogy at Jyväsky l ä , Fi n l a n d. OSG members 

also part i c i p ated in the 18th Mustelid Colloquium 

held at Zeilern , Au s t ria. The Asian O S G 

S e c re t a ri at , t ogether with the Otter Research 

G roup (Jap a n ) ,the National Ta i wan Unive rs i t y, 

and the Tung-Hai Unive rsity orga n i zed a 

wo rkshop on Conservation and Public Awa reness 

of Otters at Ta i chung in December. Th e 

E u ropean section continued the establ i s h m e n t 

of a Reintroduction A dv i s o ry Committee fo r 

wh i ch Unive rsity of Bremen prep a red a lega l 

opinion for the preconditions for a release of 

o t t e rs in the light of E U and intern ational law. 

The European section also cooperates with 

Aktion Fi s ch o t t e rs ch u t z in prep a ration of a 

E u ropean Otter Hab i t at Netwo rk , wh i ch wa s 

i n a u g u rated at the end of 1998 and made go o d 

p rogress in 1999. Establishment of a studbook 

for the giant otter fo rges ahead and prep a ration 

of husbandry guidelines for the Eura s i a n 

otter and revision of the second edition of husb 

a n d ry guidelines for the North A m e rican rive r 

otter are nearing completion. 

The year 2000 will be a ve ry busy for O S G. 

It is planned to finish revision of the 1990 Otter 

Action Plan. A wo rkshop “ H ow to implement 

the Otter Action Plan?” is planned for Nove m- 

ber 2000 at the German Otter Center. This will 

help to ensure an optimal implementation of 

the new action plan. Prep a ration of the 8th 

I n t e rn ational Otter Colloquium, planned to be 

held in Ja nu a ry 2001 in Chile, will need gre at 

e ffo rts. Hopefully the proceedings of the 7th 

C o l l o q u i u m , held in 1997 in Treb o n , C ze ch 

R ep u bl i c, will be published by then. 

Claus Reuther, C h a i r 

Otter Specialist Gro u p 

E - m a i l :A k t i o n . Fi s ch o t t e rs ch u t z @ t - o n l i n e. d e 


Wolf Specialist Gro u p 

Wolf conservation in Europe re c e ived a big 

boost in December. A plan for the conservation 

of five large European carn ivo re s , i n cl u d- 

ing the wo l f, was ap p roved by the Standing 

Committee of the Bern Conve n t i o n , wh i ch is 

a d m i n i s t e red by the Council of Euro p e. Th e 

council is comprised of all European countri e s , 

i n cluding Russia and the European Union. Th e 

Committee also ap p roved establishment of an 

ad hoc group of ex p e rts on large carn ivo res to 

administer the plan and monitor populat i o n s 

at national leve l s , and to advise on tech n i c a l 

aspects of large carn ivo re conservation in 

E u ro p e. The fi rst meeting of the large carn ivo re 

group will be held in Norway in June 2000. 

Wolf Specialist Group members we re instrumental 

in developing the wolf plan. 

The Wolf Specialist Group will meet in 

Feb ru a ry 2000 at the Intern ational Wolf Symposium 

in Duluth, M i n n e s o t a , U S A. Th e 

S y m p o s i u m , expected to draw 700-800 at t e n- 

d e e s , is sponsored by the Intern ational Wo l f 

C e n t e r, and is a project of the Wolf Specialist 

G roup members . 

L. David Mech , C h a i r 

Wolf Specialist Gro u p 


Au s t ralasian Plant Specialist Group 

Au s t ralasian Plant Specialist Gro u p 

(A P S G)/ Au s t ralian Netwo rk fo r 

Plant Conservation (A N P C) 

“ P ro m o t i o n , P ractice and Pa rt n e rs h i p s ” wa s 

the theme of the Fo u rth Biennial Au s t ra l i a n 

N e t wo rk for Plant Conservation Confe re n c e, 

held in Au s t ralia in late Nove m b e r. The A N P C, 

an intern ational part n e rship of stake h o l d e rs in 

plant conservation from gove rn m e n t ,i n d u s t ry, 

re s e a rch , and commu n i t y, was re flected well in 

the confe rence program. 

The focus of the confe rence was on bri n g- 

ing the outcomes of re s e a rch to pra c t i t i o n e rs 

and showcasing practical projects in plant cons 

e rvation. Themes we re chosen to ch a l l e n ge 

d e l egates on pressing areas in conservat i o n , 

s u ch as conservation of non-vascular plants, 

the “ fo rgotten fl o ra ,” and conservation and 

re s t o ration of ecological communities and 

e c o s y s t e m s . 

K i n g s l ey Dixon, D i rector of Plant Science 

at Kings Pa rk and Botanic Gard e n , Pe rt h , a n d 

P resident of the A N P C, highlighted the need 

for scientists to be re l evant to the conservat i o n 

c o m munity in their re s e a rch and to bring outcomes 

to pra c t i t i o n e rs. He also re c o m m e n d e d 

t h at pra c t i t i o n e rs active ly fo rm part n e rs h i p s 

with scientists to promote the vital two way 

fl ow of info rm ation. The A P S G / A N P C’s crucial 

role in ach i eving this was emphasize d. 

D avid Give n , Chair of S S C’s Plant Conservation 

Subcommittee and A N P C Vi c e - P re s i d- 

e n t , b rought an intern ational pers p e c t ive with 

his keynote pap e r. He discussed global strat e- 

gies such as the S S C Plant Conservat i o n 

P rogram for 2000-2005 and the importance of 

c o n s e rvation netwo rk i n g. 

The intern ational links we re furt h e red by 

L u cy Sutherl a n d, rep resenting Botanic Gardens 

Conservation Intern at i o n a l , who bro u g h t 

d e l egates up to date on the new Intern at i o n a l 

A genda for Botanic Gardens in Conservat i o n , 

being fo rmu l ated through a wo rld-wide cons 

u l t at ive pro c e s s . 

Sessions and Recommendat i o n s 

Pap e rs we re presented from a ra n ge of orga n i- 

z ational back gro u n d s , i n cluding industry repre 

s e n t at ives like the National Herbalists 

A s s o c i ation of Au s t ra l i a , who ex p l o red the 

issues of the impact of the herbal medicine 

i n d u s t ry on the Au s t ralian fl o ra , and called fo r 

close ties between the industry and plant cons 

e rvation; and community groups like the 

Friends of Gra s s l a n d s , who spoke of their 

e ffo rts to conserve and raise the pro file of one 

of Au s t ra l i a ’s most thre atened ecosystems. 

Other pap e rs came from botanic ga rd e n s , fe d- 

e ral and state conservation age n c i e s , and individuals 

with a personal interest in plant 

c o n s e rvat i o n . 

The wo rkshop sessions offe red delegat e s 

the opportunity to shape A S P G / A N P C’s future 

focus. Delegates endorsed the important role of 

A N P C regional groups in dissemination and 

ap p l i c ation of science to on-ground pro j e c t s 

and suggested they increase their invo l ve m e n t 

in providing training and strong regional netwo 

rk i n g, t a rgeting regions wh i ch include biod 

ive rsity hotspots wh e re there is little plant 

c o n s e rvation action curre n t ly. 

A wo rkshop on Conservation and Restoration 

of Ecological Communities and Ecosystems 

recommended that A S P G / A N P C 

e s t ablish a wo rking group to rev i ew ex i s t i n g 

re s t o ration guidelines and accredit those wh i ch 

meet best practice in the area. A N P C would be 

grateful to hear of any existing guidelines.. 

It was also recommended that a module on 

re s t o ration be added to the A S P G / A N P C 

C o n s e rvation Te chniques Cours e. 

In discussing conservation actions for nonvascular 

plants, it was recommended that a 

wo rking list of Au s t ralian ra re or thre at e n e d 

n o n - vascular plants be pro d u c e d, similar to the 

existing list for vascular plants. This was ori g- 

i n a l ly proposed by Tom May of Royal Botanic 

G a rd e n s ,M e l b o u rn e, as a ROTA F list (Rare or 

Th re atened Au s t ralian Fungi) but was conside 

red to be such an important initiat ive that it 

soon expanded to cover all of the non-va s c u l a r 

p l a n t s . 


The Research Into Practice session fo c u s e d 

on the importance of tra n s l ating the outcomes 

of science into pra c t i c e. Continu ation of the 

p rogram of producing best practice guidelines, 

s u ch as for in situ c o n s e rvation and proven 

a n c e, was considered an effe c t ive means of 

a ch i eving these aims. 

Fi n a l ly, the importance of effe c t ive part n e r- 

ships was highlighted by a series of pap e rs on 

linking gove rn m e n t ,i n d u s t ry, and commu n i t y, 

and ove rcoming the increasing pro blems 

of frag m e n t ation. It was recommended that 

A S P G / A N P Cc o o rd i n ate the production of a set 

of guidelines on part n e rs h i p s , and some of 

Au s t ra l i a ’s leading lights in fo rming part n e r- 

ships have vo l u n t e e red to collab o rate on this. 

P ractical Te chniques Wo rk s h o p s 

A series of practical wo rkshops provided pra c- 

t i t i o n e rs with an unprecedented opportunity to 

t ap into the assembled wealth of ex p e rt i s e, a n d 

o ffe red an affo rd able and accessible option fo r 

local landholders and community conservat i o n 

groups. Topics cove red we re the value and 

c o n s e rvation of soil crust lich e n s , c o m mu n i t y 

m apping of fungi , plant pro p agat i o n , and ra re 

plant monitori n g. 

Field Tri p s 

Some delegates enjoyed a three day guided 

tour of Ko s c i u s z ko National Pa rk. Decades of 

re s t o ration wo rk there offer many va l u able 

lessons for those seeking to undert a ke this 

re s o u rce-consuming activ i t y. The value of linkages 

between soil scientists and plant conservationists 

was demonstrated by the field tri p ,a s 

the re s t o ration wo rk re q u i res know l e d ge of 

p rocesses such as my c o rrhizal associations in 

o rder for successful re - e s t ablishment of plant 

c o m munities to occur. 

A P S G / A N P C ’s Recent 

A ch i eve m e n t s 

Tra i n i n g 

The A P S G / A N P C Plant Conservation Te chniques 

Course was conducted in Tasmania in 

1998 and was attended by participants and pres 

e n t e rs from Au s t ra l i a , Hong Ko n g, and New 

Z e a l a n d. Eleven new ly appointed Bushcare 

O ffi c e rs attended as part of their induction 

t ra i n i n g, and as did school teach e r, fa rm e rs , 

and botanists. The course cove red a wide ra n ge 

of topics, f rom assessing thre ats and ra re plant 

s u rvey to using smoke to ge rm i n ate seed. 

It has been suggested that the course so 

cl o s e ly fits the S S C Plant Conservation Progra 

m ’s training objectives that it could be conducted 

ove rs e a s , p e r h aps as part of a large r 

p a ck age along with the Intern ational Diploma 

in Plant Conservation Te chniques conducted 

by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. If suffi c i e n t 

funds can be ra i s e d, it is also planned to sponsor 

attendance at Au s t ralian courses from surrounding 

countri e s , s u ch as Indonesia. Th e 

A N P C has been discussing this with counterp 

a rts from the Indonesian Netwo rk for Plant 

C o n s e rvation (INetPC). This could have the 

fl ow-on effect of INetPC adapting the cours e 

to local needs, and conducting similar cours e s 

in Indonesia. 

P romoting Best Pra c t i c e 

Best practice guidelines have been pro d u c e d 

by A P S G / A N P Cwo rking groups to guide pra c- 

t i t i o n e rs in ach i eving good conservation 

outcomes in ge rmplasm conservation and 

t h re atened plant tra n s l o c ations. These guidelines 

have been supported by the Au s t ralia and 

N ew Zealand Env i ronment and Conservat i o n 

M i n i s t e rial Council and adopted by a ra n ge of 

t a rget users ,i n cluding funding agencies assessing 

grant ap p l i c ations and gove rnment dep a rtments 

rev i ewing development ap p l i c at i o n s . 

Th ey are also being used as course texts by 

i n d u s t ry groups and intern ational agencies. 

For further info rm ation on the A S P G / 

A N P C, i n cluding publ i c ation ord e rs , c o n t a c t : 

Jeanette Mill, N ational Coord i n at o r,Au s t ra l i a n 

N e t wo rk for Plant Conservat i o n , G P O B ox 

1 7 7 7 ,C a n b e rra , AC T, 2 6 0 1 ,Au s t ra l i a ,t e l : 61 2 

62 509 509, fax 61 2 62 509 528, e - m a i l 

j e a n e t t e. m i l l @ e a . gov. a u , website http://www. 

a n b g. gov. a u / a n p c. 

Jeanette Mill, Chair 

Au s t ralasian Plant Specialist Gro u p 


C o n i fer Specialist Gro u p 

In Au g u s t ,t wo important events for the Conife r 

Specialist Group and its wo rk coincided. Th e 

p u bl i c ation of C o n i fe rs : S t atus Survey and 

C o n s e rvation Action Plan was offi c i a l ly 

l a u n ched at the Fo u rth Intern ational Conife r 

C o n fe re n c e, C o n i fe rs for the Future, held in 

August 1999 at Wye College, Ke n t , U K. Th i s 

c o n fe re n c e, attended by 160 delegates from 27 

c o u n t ri e s , was an excellent fo rum to pre s e n t 

c o n s e rvation issues. The last afternoon session 

was dedicated specifi c a l ly to these. The comp 

i l e rs of the C o n i fer Action Plan, Aljos Fa r j o n 

and Chris Page, gave a keynote add ress outlining 

the issues and presenting the fi n d i n g s 

contained within the Action Plan. I U C N a n d 

the printer had wo rked hard to make copies 

ava i l able for confe rence delegates. Th ey we re 

an assembly of specialists in taxonomy, h o rt i- 

c u l t u re and fo re s t ry of conife rs who we wo u l d 

not soon see gat h e red in one room again. We 

a re grateful to all invo l ved in helping us to 

m a ke this splendid occasion possibl e. 

The C o n i fer Action Plan is the fifth S S C 

Action Plan on fl o ra published to dat e. Four of 

these Action Plans cover taxonomic gro u p s : 

Pa l m s , O rch i d s , Cactus and Succulent Plants, 

and Conife rs; one is ge ograp h i c a l ly defi n e d : 

M e d i t e rranean Island Plants. Botanists still 

h ave a long way to go to mat ch the number of 

S S C’s animal Action Plans, some of wh i ch 

h ave alre a dy seen a second edition. Th i s , 

s u re ly, is a historical anomaly that needs correction 

by gre at ly accelerating the status survey 

and action planning for thre atened plants. 

Ecosystems depend upon plants and animals. 

In situ c o n s e rvation of plants, p a rt i c u l a rly 

t re e s , e ffe c t ive ly means protection of fo re s t s 

(ecosystems) with all the animals in it. 

The Conifer Action Plan is the fi rst plant 

Action Plan to have almost completely surveyed 

all taxa within its remit (630 species, 

800 taxa incl u s ive of subspecies and va ri e t i e s ) 

using the 1994 I U C N / S S C c at ego ries and crit 

e ria throughout. The number of species and 

their wo rld-wide distri bution made this a major 

and complicated task, p e r fo rmed in close coll 

ab o ration with W C M C ( Wo rld Conservat i o n 

M o n i t o ring Centre). No fewer than 25% of all 

taxa re c og n i zed—or 200—are thre atened with 

extinction (CR, E , VU). Many of these belong 

to monotypic ge n e ra concentrated in “ c o n i fe r 

hot spots,” regions defined in the Action Plan 

with high dive rs i t y, e n d e m i s m , and thre ats to 

species surv ival. We have fo rmu l ated scient 

i fic cri t e ria to short list species for urge n t 

i n t e rn ational conservation action; there are 43 

of these in 27 ge n e ra that we re short listed 

based on the cri t e ria. Members of the Conife r 

Specialist Group have compiled detailed rep 

o rts of ten of these, as well as regional rep o rt s 

on seve ral of the “hot spots,” p resenting va l u- 

able info rm ation as well as proposals for cons 

e rvation action. 

Th e re are admittedly deficiencies of the current 

Conifer Action Plan. With 38 members to 

t a ckle such a widespread and dive rse group of 

o rganisms with so many diffe rent pro bl e m s , 

we could not, despite seve ral ye a rs wo rk , ge t 

all the “hot spots” rep o rt e d. Geographical bias 

of member rep re s e n t ation is one pro bl e m ,l i m- 

ited commu n i c ation netwo rks (despite our 

ye a rly newsletter) is another. We need more 

m e m b e rs in the countries wh e re conifer dive r- 

sity occurs , and we must assist them to fi n d 

ways to active ly gather the info rm ation needed 

to initiate nat i o n a l , regi o n a l , and local conservation 

actions. Let us hope this call will be 

a n swe red so that we will be a stro n ger Specialist 

Group to continue our wo rk into the 21st 

c e n t u ry. 

Aljos Fa r j o n , C h a i r 

C o n i fer Specialist Gro u p 


Medicinal Plant Specialist Gro u p 

N ew Program Home at the 

Canadian Museum of Nat u re 

The Medicinal Plant Specialist Group (M P S G) 

has established a new program offi c e, h o s t e d 

by the Canadian Museum of Nat u re (C M N) . 

In September 1999, a Memorandum of A gre e- 

ment was signed between the C M N in Ottawa , 

C a n a d a ,and the Species Surv ival Commission 

of the I U C N- The Wo rld Conservation Union. 

This agreement cre ates an institutional base fo r 

the M P S G within the Museum’s Canadian 

C e n t re for Biodive rs i t y. 

The Canadian Museum of Nat u re is a 

C rown Corp o ration of the Gove rnment of Cana 

d a , and also hosts the Canadian Committee 

for the I U C N. The M P S G p rogram office is 

l o c ated in the Nat u ral Heri t age Building of the 

Canadian Museum of Nat u re in Ay l m e r, 

Q u eb e c. 

This agreement will fa c i l i t ate progra m 

d eve l o p m e n t , institutional collab o rat i o n , a n d 

f u n d raising for the M P S G’s global and regi o n- 

al activities re l ated to identifi c ation and cons 

e rvation of thre atened medicinal plants. Th e 

M P S G p rogram will be self-support i n g, bu t 

will link with the C M N’s Issues in Biodive rs i t y 

p roject. Establishment of an M P S G web s i t e 

and development of a program proposal that 

will focus on regional Centers of Medicinal 

Plant Dive rsity and globally thre atened species 

of medicinal plants are being coord i n ated fro m 

this office by the M P S G’s Exe c u t ive Secre t a ry, 

Danna Leaman. For further info rm at i o n ,p l e a s e 

c o n t a c t : 

• Danna J. Leaman, E xe c u t ive Secre t a ry, 

Medicinal Plant Specialist Gro u p ,C a n a d i a n 

Museum of Nat u re, P. O. Box 3443, S t at i o n 

D, O t t awa , O n t a rio K1P 6P4, Canada; tel: 

1/613/364-4140; fa x : 1/613/364-4022; e- 

m a i l : D L E A M A N@ mu s - n at u re. c a 

• Anne Bre a u , C h i e f, Canadian Centre fo r 

B i o d ive rs i t y, Canadian Museum of Nat u re, 

P. O. Box 3443, S t ation D, O t t awa , O n t a ri o 

K1P 6P4, Canada; tel: 1 / 6 1 3 / 5 6 6 - 4 7 9 5 ,fa x : 

1 / 6 1 3 / 3 6 4 - 4 0 2 2 , e - m a i l : A B R E AU@ mu s - 

n at u re. c a 

• U we Sch i p p m a n n , C h a i r, Medicinal Plant 

Specialist Gro u p , Bundesamt für Nat u rsch 

u t z , Ko n s t a n t i n s t rasse 110, D - 5 3 1 7 9 

B o n n , G e rm a ny; tel: 4 9 / 2 2 8 / 8 4 9 1 - 1 3 6 , 

fa x : 4 9 / 2 2 8 / 8 4 9 1 - 1 1 9 , e - m a i l : S ch i p p m U 

@ b f n . d e 

U we Sch i p p m a n ,C h a i r 

Medicinal Plant Specialist Gro u p 


Palm Specialist Gro u p 

U p d ate on the Status of P i n a n ga 

b i c o l a n a :a Cri t i c a l ly Endange re d 

Palm Species from the Philippines 

P i n a n ga bicolana is a solitary palm re a ch i n g 

3-4 m tall, with stem growing to 4 cm in diame 

t e r. It belongs to a distinct group within the 

ge nus P i n a n ga in bearing united sepals in pist 

i l l ate fl owe rs and broad pluri c o s t u l ate leafl e t s 

t h at are glaucous on the unders u r face and with 

d e ep ly incised tips. The display of mottling in 

its leaves makes it an at t ra c t ive palm for cultivation. 

This species is endemic to the Bicol 

N ational Pa rk on Luzon Island, P h i l i p p i n e s 

wh e re it was discove red slightly more than a 

decade ago . 

B e t ween 1983 and 1990, a significant portion 

of the fo rest cover in the Bicol Nat i o n a l 

Pa rk was lost to shifting agri c u l t u ral cultivat 

i o n , fi rewood gat h e ri n g, ch a rc o a l - m a k i n g, 

timber poach i n g, and human settlements inside 

the park. Ori gi n a l ly cove ring more than 52 

k m 2 of lowland eve rgreen rain fo re s t , the park 

n ow retains a mere 10% of the ori ginal old 

growth fo rest. Much of the park is now cove 

red with gra s s , small shru b s , and cultivat e d 

agri c u l t u ral cro p s , with small trees found in 

gullies and tri bu t a ries. The park continues to 

be thre atened by further conve rsion of fo re s t s 

into fa rming are a s , t ra n s p o rt at i o n , and telec 

o m mu n i c ation infra s t ru c t u re, and incre a s i n g 

i l l egal settlements inside the park boundari e s . 

D u ring a visit to the park in October 1997, 

the remaining population of P i n a n ga bicolana 

was estimated to be less than 100 mat u re individuals. 

Most of these are growing near the 

banks of the Bahi and Napolidan Rive rs . 

These few and scat t e red individuals make up 

wh at is pro b ably the last viable population of 

this species in the wild. The species thus fa c e s 

a high risk of ex t i n c t i o n , with the continu i n g 

d e cline of its hab i t at , and is cri t i c a l ly endange 

red under I U C N C at ego ries of Th re at. 

Little is known about the demograp hy and 

p o p u l ation dynamics of P i n a n ga bicolana. 

Studies should provide useful info rm ation in 

eva l u ating altern at ive in situ and ex situ m a n- 

agement and conservation strat egies for the 

species. 

The Philippines’ D ep a rtment of Env i ro n- 

ment and Nat u ral Resources and non-gove rnment 

orga n i z ations such as the Bicol Nat i o n a l 

Pa rk Fo u n d ation and Plan Intern at i o n a l - B i c o l 

a re implementing programs aimed at re s t o ri n g 

vege t ation and protecting wh at ever is left of 

the park ’s biodive rsity and ecosystem values. 

Outside of its nat u ral ra n ge, P i n a n ga bicol 

a n a is cultivated in the Makiling Botanic 

G a rdens at the Unive rsity of the Philippines— 

Los Baños. 

E dwino S. Fe rn a n d o ,M e m b e r 

Palm Specialist Gro u p 

R o b e rto P. Cere n o 

Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems 

C o l l ege of Fo re s t ry and Nat u ral Resourc e s 

E - m a i l :e s f @ l ag u n a . n e t 


In order to maintain an effe c t ive S S C c o m mu n i c a- 

tions netwo rk , we need your submissions and 

u p d ates for S p e c i e s . Submissions for S p e c i e s 3 4 

a re due May 31, 2000. Submissions should be 

a dd ressed to: 

M i chael Klemens, S p e c i e s E d i t o r 

Wi l d l i fe Conservation Society 

M e t ropolitan Conservation A l l i a n c e 

68 Purchase Stre e t , 3 rd fl o o r 

R ye, N ew Yo rk 10580 

Fa x : (914) 925-9164 

E - m a i l : s p e c i e s e d i t o r @ w c s . o rg 

For add ress ch a n ge s ,n o t i f y : 

G abi A l l e n 

Species Program Offi c e 

I U C N H e a d q u a rt e rs 

Ave de Mauve rn ey 28 

CH-1196 Gland, S w i t ze rl a n d 

P h o n e : 41 22 999 0151 

Fa x : 41 22 999 0015 

E - m a i l : g b a @ h q . i u c n . o rg 

S S C m e m b e rs are also stro n g ly encouraged to 

s u b s c ribe to the S S C l i s t s e rve r. To do so, send an 

e-mail to S S C- m e m - ow n e r @ i n d ab a . i u c n . o rg with 

the message “ s u b s c ribe S S C- m e m b e rs ”a n d 

your e-mail add re s s . 

S u b s c ri p t i o n s 

A n nual subscriptions (two issues) can be obtained 

by writing the Species Surv ival Commission, 

c/o Canadian Wi l d l i fe Serv i c e, 351 St. Jo s ep h 

B l v d. , H u l l , Q u ebec K1A 0H3 Canada; E-mail: 

s s c _ i u c n @ e c. g c. c a .

Species 33

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