IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group

Page created by Glen Howell
 
CONTINUE READING
IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group
IUCN SSC
Amphibian
Specialist Group

                                 2018 Report

Ariadne Angulo              Phil Bishop

Co-Chairs                                       Mission statement                                 Red List: (1) completion of the Global Amphibian
Ariadne Angulo (1)                              The Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG) provides     Assessment update (GAA2); (2) ASG RLA
Phil Bishop (2)                                 the scientific foundation to inform effective     provides technical feedback and expertise to
                                                amphibian conservation action around the          the Red List Committee and Red List Technical
Red List Authority Coordinator                  world. More specifically, the ASG stimulates,     Working Group, as necessary.

Jennifer Luedtke (1)                            develops and conducts scientific research to      Research activities: (1) ASG supports the update
                                                inform the conservation of amphibians and their   of Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) sites; (2)
Location/Affiliation                            habitats around the world, supports the assess-   ASG actively contributes to the production of
(1)                                             ment of the conservation status of amphibian      scientific publications related to amphibian
    3701 Lake Shore Blvd W, P.O. Box 48586,
                                                biodiversity and informs the general public of    research and conservation.
Toronto, ON, M8W 1P5, Canada
(2) University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand   amphibian conservation-related issues and         Plan
                                                priorities. This is attained by supporting and    Planning: (1) ASG Secretariat, Regional Chairs
Number of members                               mobilising a global network of members to         and members contribute towards single- or
                                                develop capacity, improve coordination and        multi-species conservation action plans at the
337
                                                integration so as to achieve shared, strategic    international or national levels; (2) update of the
                                                amphibian conservation goals.                     Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP); (3)
Social networks
                                                                                                  completion of Amphibian Reintroduction Guide-
Facebook:
                                                Projected impact for the 2017-2020                lines; (4) a framework for single- and multi-spe-
@IUCNAmphibians
                                                quadrennium                                       cies amphibian action planning is created
Twitter:
                                                Resources permitting, by 2020 we envision         through collaboration with the Conservation
@ASG_IUCN
                                                conclusion of the update of global amphibian      Planning Specialist Group’s efforts to develop
Website:
                                                assessments on The IUCN Red List, conclusion      multi-species planning guidance; (5) the ASG
https://www.iucn-amphibians.org/
                                                of the 2017-2020 ASG Strategic Plan, update of    has a Strategic Plan for the remainder of the
                                                the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan for the    2017-2020 quadrennium.
                                                next four years and an increased uptake of this   Policy: (1) ASG provides scientific advice and
                                                tool by the amphibian conservation commu-         information for the identification and conserva-
                                                nity. At the ASG membership level, we envision    tion of species of concern in national and inter-
                                                a more proactive and engaged specialist group,    national contexts.
                                                with greater participation, more cross-pollina-   Act
                                                tion within and between regions and thematic
                                                                                                  Proposal development and funding: increasing
                                                groups and collaborations with other specialist
                                                                                                  uptake of ACAP among donors.
                                                groups with cross-cutting issues.
                                                                                                  Technical advice: ASG provides technical advice
                                                                                                  to organisations and institutions globally.
                                                Targets for the 2017-2020 quadrennium
                                                                                                  Network
                                                Assess
                                                                                                  Agreements: ASG has donors that provide
                                                Policy: the ASG Red List Authority (RLA)          financial and institutional support to ASG RLA
                                                provides advice and expertise for national Red    staff time.
                                                List processes.
                                                Proposal development and funding: ASG has
                                                a fully-funded Global Amphibian Assessment
                                                (GAA2) update project.
IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group
Suweon Treefrog (Dryophytes suweonensis), Endangered
                                                                                                                                          Photo: Amaël Borzée

Capacity building: (1) development of the Grant     Amphibian Survival Alliance (ASA) since 2013) to     Green List; the ASG RLA contributed test cases
Writing Mentorship Program; (2) ASG RLA will        continue providing information about our work        for the Red List Technical Working Group Extinc-
provide Red List training through its Red List      and amphibian conservation globally; (4) the         tion Guidelines testing with Resit Akçakaya.
workshops and other venues when the oppor-          IUCN Red List is used to inform the project and      (KSR #11)
tunity arises; training day(s) may be open to the   funding priorities of NGOs and funding mech-         Proposal development and funding
public or an audience wider than amphibian          anisms with the aim of ensuring that effective       i. Total budget to achieve the Global Amphibian
experts.                                            amphibian conservation is taking place glob-         Assessment update (GAA2) has been raised.
Membership: (1) ASG membership and regional         ally; (5) ASG develops a communications plan         (KSR #30)
and thematic leadership are renewed, new            that will lay out the intended use of each of its
                                                                                                         Red List
members are brought on board and regional           communications tools (email, FrogLog, website,
                                                                                                         i. Fifty percent of all amphibian species
representation is improved; (2) ASG proactively     social media [Facebook, Twitter]); (6) together
                                                    with ASA, ASG continues to produce FrogLog.          described through December 2018 have an
recruits new members, focusing on regions with
                                                                                                         assessment dated between 2009-2018. (KSR #1)
little or no representation at the start of the     Research activities: create and establish a
quadrennium.                                        Repository for Amphibian Conservation litera-        Research activities
                                                    ture (RAC).                                          i. ASG RLA supports the Amphibian Survival
Proposal development and funding: ASG has
donors that provide financial and institutional     Scientific meetings: (1) ASG actively participates   Alliance (ASA) in the identification of AZE sites.
support to ASG staff time.                          in scientific meetings; (2) ASG actively contrib-    (KSR #22, 31)
                                                    utes to the organisation of scientific meetings;     ii. In 2018, scientific articles related to
Synergy: ASG is a key ally of Amphibian Ark and
the Amphibian Survival Alliance with the shared     (3) ASG will participate in, and in some cases       amphibian research and conservation were
vision of “Amphibians thriving in nature”.          organise symposia to communicate the work            published (one by Ariadne Angulo and two by
                                                    of IUCN, SSC, ASG, and the Red List.                 Jennifer Luedtke). (KSR #32, 43)
Communicate
                                                                                                         Plan
Communication: (1) ASG reports its activities
                                                    Activities and results 2018                          Planning
to SSC DATA; (2) ASG will participate in, and in
some cases organise, public presentations to        Assess                                               i. An ASG Programme Officer and a Co-Chair
communicate the work of IUCN, SSC, ASG, and         Green List                                           facilitated a Rhinoderma conservation plan-
the Red List; (3) ASG will develop and launch its   i. In 2018, the Amphibian Red List Authority
                                                                                                         ning workshop in 2017. The ASG Regional Chair
own website (we have shared our site with the       (ASG RLA) participated in interviews and feed-       for Colombia produced a national action plan
                                                    back sessions towards the development of the
IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group
Megophrys nasuta, Least Concern
                                Photo: Debbie Bishop

in 2018 with government endorsement for the            Network                                             iii. Amphibian RLA Coordinator, Jennifer
amphibians of Colombia. (KSR #15, 17)                  Capacity building                                   Luedtke, continues to promote the use of the
ii. The potential partnership with California          i. The Grant Writing Mentorship Program was
                                                                                                           IUCN Red List in the development of monitoring
Conservation Society (Oakland Zoo) to hold an          advertised to ASG membership and reviewers          and evaluation organisational indicators, and
ACAP workshop unfortunately did not materi-            solicited; reviewers identified and enrolled in     funding priorities of Global Wildlife Conserva-
alise. We are now planning on updating ACAP            the programme; guideline development initi-         tion. (KSR #8)
remotely. (KSR #15, 17)                                ated. (KSR #30)                                     iv. Development of Communications Plan in
iii. Completion of the Amphibian Reintroduc-           ii. The ASG RLA provided basic Red List training
                                                                                                           2019 included in the Strategic Plan. (KSR #28)
tion Guidelines is being led by the Conserva-          at three workshops in 2018 (Penang and              v. Production of one FrogLog issue. (KSR #28)
tion Translocation Specialist Group (CTSG) with        Sarawk, Malaysia, and Colombia). (KSR #5)           vi. Strategic Plan updated and disseminated in
support from the ASG. A first draft was shared         Membership                                          2018; it is used to inform new members in 2019-
with ASG Secretariat members and returned                                                                  2020 in addition to existing members. (KSR #28)
                                                       i. Membership reinstated; leaders are in place
with feedback. A revised draft is currently avail-                                                         Research activities
                                                       to advance various conservation priorities.
able for public consultation. (KSR #18)
                                                       ii. We have an increased number of ASG              i. The context around the originally envisioned
iv. ASG Programme Officer, Sally Wren, has
                                                       members with an understanding of needs and          Repository for Amphibian Conservation litera-
collaborated with the Conservation Planning
                                                       how they can contribute to amphibian conser-        ture (RAC) has changed, and with it, the ability
Specialist Group and Amphibian Ark towards
                                                       vation in the framework of ASG.                     to achieve the original target. However, with
the development of a framework for single- and
                                                       Proposal development and funding                    a small amount of funds, it has been possible
multi-species amphibian action planning.
                                                                                                           to hire someone to compile an updated and
(KSR #15, 17, 18, 20)                                  i. ASG Co-Chair support secured for 2017-2018;
                                                                                                           hyperlinked list of the most recent amphibian
Policy                                                 discussions with a potential partner took place
                                                                                                           conservation literature, providing the informa-
                                                       in 2018 for a planning programme officer, but
i. ASG input was collated into CITES provisions                                                            tion needed to populate a future database,
                                                       unfortunately support did not materialise as
relating to the trade in specimens of animals                                                              should a new opportunity arise in the future.
                                                       expected. (KSR #30)
and plants not of wild source. (KSR #26)                                                                   The lists are uploaded to the ASG, ASA and
                                                       Synergy                                             AmphibiaWeb websites and are available to
Act
                                                       i. ASG remained actively engaged with its allies,   members and the wider public. The ability
Proposal development and funding
                                                       participating in monthly calls between the three    to maintain this list will depend on finding
i. Two funding entities are formally adopting
                                                       organisations. (KSR #29)                            resources to continue beyond the end of the
ACAP to inform their granting priorities.
                                                       Communicate                                         year.
(KSR #19, 30)
                                                       Communication                                       Scientific meetings
Technical advice
                                                       i. ASG reported its activities to SSC DATA.         i. In 2018, the ASG Co-Chairs and RLA attended
i. ASG provided feedback and contacts to
                                                       ii. ASG Secretariat discussed URL and other         seven scientific meetings: Phil (5 – Australia,
the Amphibian Survival Alliance regarding the
                                                       related matters through internal Skype conver-      New Zealand, Argentina, USA, Brunei), Ariadne
update of Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and
                                                       sations, conversations with the Amphibian           (1 – Brazil), Jennifer (0), Kelsey (0), Louise (1 –
Lina Valencia at Global Wildlife Conservation
                                                       Survival Alliance leadership, and through           UK). (KSR #28)
toward the creation of an Atelopus Survival Alli-
                                                       external consultation with a branding expert.       ii. 2018-2020: Phil Bishop is leading the coordi-
ance. (KSR #29)
                                                       ASG Secretariat appointed a Webmaster, Amaël        nation of the 2020 World Herpetology Congress;
                                                       Borzée, in 2018 to develop a new site with          there are also plans for a joint amphibian event
                                                       support from the Amphibian Survival Alliance        at the next World Conservation Congress.
                                                       Communication Director and ASG member,              (KSR #28)
                                                       Candace Hansen. (KSR #28)
IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group
Hyperolius ocellatus, Least Concern
Photo: Jos Kielgast

                                                             Acknowledgements

                                                             We thank Synchronicity Earth and Global Wild-
                                                             life Conservation who act as our fiscal spon-
                                                             sors; we thank Synchronicity Earth, Global Wild-
                                                             life Conservation, Amphibian Survival Alliance,
                                                             Kering, and Detroit Zoological Society for their
                                                             generous financial support towards the posi-
                                                             tions of our Co-Chair, Ariadne Angulo, and the
                                                             Amphibian RLA team, Jennifer Luedtke, Kelsey
                                                             Neam, and Louise Hobin. Furthermore, we are
                                                             deeply grateful for the friendship and collab-
                                                             oration of the Amphibian Survival Alliance,
                                                             Amphibian Ark, and all the ASG members who
                                                             lend their time, expertise, and goodwill to the
                                                             cause of amphibian conservation.

                                                             Summary of activities 2018

                                                             Species Conservation Cycle ratio: 5/5
                                                                     Assess     5 |||||
                                                                        Plan    5 |||||
                                                                         Act    2 ||
                                                                   Network      6 ||||||
                                                             Communicate        9 |||||||||
                                                             Main KSRs addressed: 1, 5, 8, 11, 15, 17, 18,
                                                             19, 20, 22, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 43
                                                                                              KSR: Key Species Result

Black-spotted Rock Frog (Staurois guttatus), Least Concern
Photo: Debbie Bishop
IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group
You can also read