Feeding project findings into CBD policy and regulatory practices: a comparison of policy change in Peru, Malaysia and

(sort of) Gabon

Mike Bruford, Cardiff University

Projects discussed here

• N251 - Conservation and Genetic Resources Management of Vicuna and Guanaco in Peru

• 08/044: Conservation of the western lowland gorilla in Gabon

• 09/016: Conservation of the orang-utan in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah, Malaysia

…different issues highlighted

•Article 7. Identification and Monitoring (SURVEYS)

•Article 8. In-situ Conservation (MANAGEMENT PLANS)

•Article 9. Ex-situ Conservation (CAPTIVE PROPAGATION AND EDUCATION)

•Article 10. Sustainable Use of Components of Biological Diversity (POPULATION BIOLOGY)

•Article 12. Research and Training (COURSES / POSTGRADUATE)

•Article 15. Access to Genetic Resources (IDENTIFICATION / UTILISATION)

•Article 16. Access to and Transfer of technology (TRAINING / ESTABLISHMENT)

•Article 18. Technical and Scientific Cooperation (LONG-TERM COLLABORATION <SCHOLARSHIP>)

•Article 19. Handling of Biotechnology and Distribution of its Benefits (GENETIC RESOURCES)

Elements most relevant to our projects

The anatomy of a project: Peru, politics and perspiration!

Timeline• 1960’s, only 5 to 10,000 vicuna survived in Peru, < 1% of the 2 million estimated prior to the

Spanish conquest• 1967 Peru declares vicuna an endangered species and establishes Pampa Galeras reserve• 1972 German aid to Pampa Galeras, crucial in setting up and managing the reserve, based on

strict protectionism, starts• 1975 CITES comes into force: vicuna placed in Appendix 1• 1981 German aid to Pampa Galeras ends as terrorism increases• 1987 vicuna pops in Junin, Ayacucho, Puno and Arequipa classified CITES Appendix 2, -

63,223 vicuna censused in Peru• 1989 Sendero luminosa attack Galeras twice in one week and all personnel withdrawn ending

protection for the vicuna. • 1991 legal custody of vicuna passes to campesino communities, marking the shift from

protectionism to utilization via live shearing. • 1993 Abimel Guzman, the leader of Sendero Luminoso captured.• 1994 government presence in area of vicuna protection slowly reestablished in the countryside

and at Pampa Galeras.• 1995 Peru’s entire vicuna population placed on Appendix 2 CITES.• 1995 Peruvian Law changes : vicuna are the property of the campesinos on whose land they

live – leading to fences etc.• 1996 programme to build fences began with 9 million dollar rotating fund, aims to build 500

corrals. Programme continues until 2000.• 2005 CONACS reported 27,000 vicuna in captivity.

Timeline (ctd)• 1997 - 2000 Darwin vicuna project, 3 years after CONACS staff

return to Pampa Galeras. • Galeras devastated – no infrastructure..• Project carried out in collaboration with IVITA, Faculty of Vet Med,

San Marcos University. • Re-initiation of foreign aid for scientific research related to camelids

after a 10 year hiatus caused by the Sendero Luminoso terrorism in Peru.

• In San Marcos the Darwin project represents the return of foreign researchers and funds for work in the area of camelids.

• The approach of the Darwin project was something entirely new in Peruvian camelid management. Few appreciated that scientific data was necessary for developing conservation and management plans.

• Two (competing) GOs responsible for vicuna • Therefore it was very hard to make the authorities listen to the

results and implications of our study given the euphoria of having had the entire population reclassified in Appendix 2.

Then…

JUNIN NOROESTE

JUNIN SUR

PUNO

ANDES CENTRALES

Management units of wild

vicuna in Peru (based on 10

microsatellites)

Yantac red Tambo Paccha red

Pampa Galeras 2 red

Picotani red

Core scientific result of the project

Timeline (ctd)• 1999 US Fish and Wildlife Service publishes proposed rule to reclassify

certain vicuna populations from Threatened to Endangered, with a Special Rule, comments open, becomes law 1 July 2002.

• Rules against captive breeding and says Peru should adjust its vicuna programme to provide protection for the 4 populations identified by our research. This is considered an obligation that must be complied with and shown to be done during the review process conducted every 2 years. See: www.fws.gov/policy/library/02fr37695.pdf

• 2003, at the meeting of the Andean Vicuna Convention held in Arica, Chile, a resolution was adopted requiring the member countries to use DNA in the development of management plans for the vicuna and the adjust their protection systems to the results of such research, specifically mentioning our work, the result of the Darwin project, and that of J.C. Marin.

• Now being implemented and extended (+ for the guanaco)• Almost all major articles of the Convention come into play here!

Economic development and wildlife conservation in Malaysia – myth and reality in the rainforest??

Genes record orangutans' decline By Rebecca Morelle BBC News science reporter

23rd January 2006

The dramatic collapse of orangutan populations has been linked to human activity, new genetic evidence shows. Researchers report that a population crash occurred during the past 200 years, coinciding with deforestation in the same area. The study focuses on orangutans found in the forests of Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in Malaysia. Writing in the journal Plos Biology, researchers suggest that the outlook is "bleak" unless urgent action is taken. Genetic profile The team looked at 200 orangutans living along the Kinabatangan river. These animals are confined to fragmented patches of forest. By collecting the orangutans' hair and faeces, the researchers were able to extract DNA to create genetic profiles, which could then be used to study genetic diversity…...

If we don't put these changes in place... then the outlook is really very bleak indeed Michael Bruford, Cardiff University

Deforestation has had a huge impact on orangutan numbers

Median time since the beginning of the population crash dates to 210 years ago

Significant support for c.1900

Major deforestation is known to have started around 1860…

• August 2003: PHVA, Kota Kinabalu

• End of 09/016

• 56% of 13,000 extant orang-utans are in forestry management units

• Management options??

• (current decline = extinction in wild by 2050)

Large amounts of local media coverage: focuses on tourism, logging and oil palm…

Collaboration with Sabah Wildlife Department and DANIDA

Minister of the Environment backs low impact logging and tourism plan…

Building capacity in tropical molecular ecology

CIRMF: only molecular research institute in central Africa

Un nouveau cours ouvert à tous à l’USTM sur:LA DIVERSITÉ BIOLOGIQUE

ET SA CONSERVATION

Un projet en collaboration entre le Centre International de Recherches Médicales à Franceville, L’Université de

Cardiff, et l’USTM, Franceville.

Eight week undergraduate course in biodiversity (2nd year students) – first ever course in conservation biology in Gabon

Les contenus du cours

Biodiversité: Ecologie and evolution:gènes, espèces et écosystèmes gènes et populationsbiogeography spéciation

croissance et dynamiques despopulationsExtinction:

du passée et du présentvulnérabilité à l’extinctionimpacts humainsproblèmes des petites populations

Les applications au gestion:L’analyse de la viabilitéPlanification d’une réserveStratégies in situ vs. ex situ

Field courses, assessment, – for many, the first time they have been in the forest… Identification of promising students, further training (summer internships)

In 2002 at Johannesburg, President Bongo announces the creation of 13 new national parks (11% of land mass)

Students identified from this course who received further training and are now working for the new National Parks Council, WCS, CIRMF, among others…

Without the project there would be even fewer locally trained scientists to implement the new National Park protection plan

Conservation becomes a major employer…

MALAYSIA

Benoît GoossensMohd. Fairus JaliSheena JamesMarc AncrenazIsabelle Lackmann AncrenazLounès ChikhiKOCP – esp Jamil Sinyor and Zul AbdullahMaryati MohammedSabah Wildlife Department (Laurentius Ambu/Patrick Andau)Joanna SetchellSoren Jensen (DANIDA)

GABON

Nicky Anthony

Mireille Bawe-Johnson

Kate Abernethy

Stephen Clifford

Kathryn Jeffery

Caroline Tutin

Lee White

Jean Wickings

Georges Azzibrouck

Patrick Mickala

Cristiane Atteke

PERU

Miranda Kadwell Helen Stanley

Matilde FernándezRaúl RosadioJane WheelerRicardo BaldiLounès Chikhi

Ciara DoddJorge RodgriguezKatherine Yaya

CONACSBritish Embassy

COLLABORATORS