RAINFOREST REVIEW - 25 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL CONSERVATION
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
RAINFOREST REVIEW 25 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL CONSERVATION SUMMER 2019
NEWS
Conservation
NEWS projects
Contents In times such as these we must remain positive
Colombia 04 It has been an extremely challenging year
for our natural world, at a time when we have
been consumed by conflict and political and
Ecuador 07 social instability – more so than any time since
Colombia
the Second World War. It is extraordinary
Creating the Andes-Amazon-
Atlantic corridor Peru 12 that just two men now represent the greatest
danger to the environment, the dreadful
combination of the US President Trump
Peru Costa Rica 16 and Brazil’s President Bolsonaro and their
Fragmented tropical dry contempt for the environment.
forests in northwest Peru
Rainforest Concern
Fortunately there has never been more awareness of the fragile state
through the years 18 of our planet, climate change and the accelerating loss of biodiversity.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned
Costa Rica
Turtle conservation on Romania 20 that new levels of action are urgently required to limit temperature
the Caribbean coast increases to 1.5˚C above pre-industrial levels. However, in our
concern for climate change we should not neglect the main
India 24 contributors to it: the relentless loss of natural habitats particularly
forests, the contamination of our rivers and oceans and of course
Chile 26 the sheer number of people on the planet.
Most recently the UN has published its Global Assessment Report,
Supporters the most comprehensive study of life on Earth ever undertaken. It
and volunteers 29 states that now over one million species are at risk of extinction and
destruction of the planet’s remaining areas of wilderness must be
prevented. It suggests that we can still avert disaster but this will
News 32 require drastic changes in our consumption and lifestyle.
Ecuador
Threatened cloud forest
of the Chocó-Andes
Peru
Schools 34 Much of the concern is being voiced by schoolchildren out of
their frustration that not nearly enough has been done by the older
Threatened high-altitude
polylepis forests
generation to avert a global catastrophe. It would be hard to escape
Rainforest Concern knowing about the Youth Strike for Climate movement, which was
Registered Charity No. 1028947 inspired by a Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg. In March 2019 an
Trustees estimated 1.4 million schoolchildren took to the streets to make their
Alberto Pulido Cruz voices heard. The Extinction Rebellion protests have drawn attention
Catriona Syed to global ecological collapse and loss of animal species by demanding
Martin Gardner MBE
Max Werner
action from our governments. Let us hope children can help to
Oliver Whaley achieve what people in power and responsibility have failed to do.
Advisory Board
Chile Rainforest Concern was founded in November 1993 so I am pleased to
Dr John Hemming CMG
Fragmented Professor Antonio Lara tell you we are celebrating 25 years of our conservation work this year.
coastal forests Andrew Mitchell This edition of Rainforest Review looks back on some of the projects
Chile Professor Sir Ghillean Prance FRS VMH and partnerships over that time. Our efforts for conserving natural
Protecting the Araucaria Christopher Neave
habitats and their wildlife are increasing and we are proud to have
forests of southern Chile
Bath office made such a positive impact over these years and we will continue
Peter Bennett – Executive Director to need your support as we navigate these challenging times.
Holly Eustance / Catherine Fox – Administration
Sarah Fraser – Forest Credits & Projects Coordinator
Fiona Pérez – Consultant Thanks to you our supporters we have helped to protect over two
Carolina Brown – Chile Country Coordinator million hectares and countless species of animals and plants.
Rainforest Concern
66 Great Pulteney Street
Bath BA2 4DL England
Tel: +44 (0) 1225 481151
Email: info@rainforestconcern.org Peter Bennett, Director, Rainforest Concern
Website: www.rainforestconcern.org
Forest Credits: www.forestcredits.org.uk
Romania Romania India Front cover photo of a spectacled bear in Ecuador
Ancient meadows and Protection for vulnerable Conserving threatened plant by Pete Oxford. Back cover photo of a sunset over
woodlands of Transylvania Carpathian forests species in the Western Ghats cloud forest in Ecuador by Murray Cooper.
Rainforest Review 3
Colombia
Let us start by looking at the Amazon
basin. Forty eight percent of the
Milestones for rainforest is protected by national
parks or indigenous territories that
have been officially recognised by
the protection
each one of the corresponding
countries (see map 1).
of the Amazon
If we look at the pressures on natural
resources and traditional cultures,
the picture is less optimistic.
In this short article there is not
space to reiterate the importance
of the Amazon forest as a vital
by Martín von Hildebrand, organ of the planetary system, the
President, Gaia Amazonas contribution it makes to the water cycle,
to the carbon sink, to biodiversity, to
the cooling of the earth, and so on1.
Wade Davis
Map 1: Amazon Basin: protected areas shown in green and indigenous areas shown in orange
Nor can we describe in depth officially recognised indigenous This sounds like a daunting task,
the importance of the traditional territories and protected areas. It is but already a lot has been achieved.
indigenous worldview which defines the largest continuous forest in the Each of the eight countries have
nature as a community of subjects world, and because of its location independently recognised protected
and not as an accumulation of objects. along the climatic equator, it makes areas and indigenous territories,
Nor that humans are part of nature; the largest contribution to the Amazon as well as ratifying international
inter-dependent and connected water cycle2. What we are proposing is agreements regarding climate
with nature by the permanent flow of to develop a strategy to maintain the change, biodiversity, and indigenous
energy that sustains all life through connectivity between the ecosystems peoples’ rights. They have also
time. Nor shall we analyse the from the Andes cordillera, across the defined strategies for maintaining
importance of ecosystem connectivity, north of the Amazon forest, all the way the connectivity and protection of the
which is essential to maintain the to the Atlantic Ocean. This would cover rainforest and set-up cross boundary
biodiversity that is at the basis of roughly 2.5 million km², four times platforms with their neighbouring
the whole living system. the size of France (see map 2). countries to coordinate different
social, economic and environmental
What we would like to highlight is This initiative depends on cooperation issues. Research centers, NGOs and
that, considering all these aspects, we and coordination between the national the private sector all have important
believe that a major step should, and and subnational governments of the initiatives and programmes in this
can, be taken to preserve and maintain eight countries with territory in this area as well.
the ecological connectivity of the area. It also needs the cooperation of
forest in 30% of the Amazon biome. scientists and research centers, local For the past three years, national and
communities (with the participation subnational governments, NGOs and
If you look at the region north of the of indigenous communities being indigenous organisations have been
Amazon river, you will see how most especially important), social movements, discussing this initiative, and have
A rainbow over the Amazon of the forest is already protected by NGOs and the private sector. taken some important steps regarding
4 Rainforest Review Rainforest Review 5
Colombia Ecuador
Juan Gabriel Soler
ecosystem connectivity and the with the purpose of protecting the not only endemic to Ecuador it is facing
protection of the rainforest. rainforests and supporting cultural extinction. It has only been recorded
• NGOs in the region have established
a network to coordinate initiatives
diversity in Indonesia, Congo and
the Amazon Basin.
What a lizard in three of Ecuador’s 22 provinces,
and it has been seen very few times.
The IUCN Red list has no record of it
can teach us!
that contribute to ecosystem This Andes-Amazon-Atlantic for the Imbabura Province, where I live.
connectivity in each of these Ecological and Cultural Corridor
countries. initiative has been largely promoted Reptile diversity
from Colombia by the Gaia Amazon You can expect rich diversity of
• The coordinators of the Indigenous Foundation and very importantly species in a mega-diverse country
Organisations of the Amazon by the ex-president and 2018 like Ecuador, and such is the case
Basin, as well as national and local Peace Nobel prize winner, by Carlos Zorrilla, Executive Director, DECOIN for reptiles. The small Andean nation
indigenous organisations, have Juan Manuel Santos. Peru within the area of this mosaic- occupies only 0.055% of the world’s
taken on this initiative as one corridor, as well as alternative land area, yet has more than 5% of
of their major objectives. Much has also been achieved by economic initiatives. the world’s total number of species
the local communities that will of reptile. As in other mega diverse
Carlos Zorrilla
At a subnational level, governors facilitate the implementation of this What are the next steps? countries, many species face
have created an initiative entitled strategy. For example, the in-depth In a political context, the region is extinction. In Ecuador’s case, a
‘Governors Forest and Climate Task coordination between the government going through a difficult moment depressing 273 of the country’s 473
Force’, seeking the protection of the and indigenous communities along for this initiative. Recently elected species are in danger of becoming
forests in the eight countries. the lower Apaporis River in Colombia, governments in the Amazon and extinct, thanks to human activity, or
where the Yaigojé National Park has beyond do not see the importance lack of thereof. Of the 473 reptiles,
• The national governments of the developed a special management of biological nor culture diversity for 131 are endemics, meaning they
eight countries have been defining plan with the indigenous communities the present and future of the planet. live nowhere else.
the Strategic Plan for the Amazon so that they can run the park based They are more interested in
Treaty (AECA) for the next 10 years, on their traditional knowledge (See exploiting the Amazon forest in What a lizard can reveal
highlighting the importance of Rainforest Review article, 2017). This a conventional economic way. The fact that it’s taken me four
ecosystem connectivity. initiative is introducing a new paradigm decades to see the Keeled Whorltail
where the environmental authority On the other hand, there are many Iguana, in spite of my curiosity in all
• Various religious movements officially establishes the protection advances in social movements, things natural, tells me a lot about the
around the world, sponsored by the of the biodiversity based on traditional alternative technologies as well as habitat where I live; and what is being
UN, have come together to create indigenous knowledge. Similar productive projects and ecological lost. Beyond the obvious- that it may
the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative initiatives also exist in Brazil and connectivity and not least the take decades for a cloud forest to reveal
recognition of the rights of nature, as Keeled Whorltail Iguana its true biological diversity, the finding
in the case of the Colombian Amazon, should add urgency to the calls being
which by articulating and scaling up In the past I’ve reported on the wild pollute waterways). Upon closer made all over the world to stop the
can have a high positive social and diversity of moths, orchids and ferns inspection, I realised it was a beautiful biodiversity crisis ravaging our planet.
environmental impact in the region. inhabiting the cloud forest where I lizard, one I’d not seen before. Ever
live. The bird and mammal diversity, curious, I ran back to my house and The call is even more urgent here,
During the last decade Rainforest while not as rich as that of Ecuador’s grabbed my camera. Fortunately, the given the promotion of large-scale
Concern has supported several Gaia lowland tropical forests, is still lizard was still there waiting for me to mining at all costs. Those “costs”
Amazonas initiatives, above all, the impressive. Around my home and take its photograph, which I did; are unimaginable in biologically and
Yaigojé Indigenous Initiative and the the adjacent forest, I and others several of them. culturally diverse places such as Intag,
Andes-Amazon-Atlantic Ecological have identified 222 species of birds. and will have negative consequences
and Cultural Corridor. This support And although mammals have not Minutes later, I downloaded the for generations to come. You could
has been key in helping to achieve been extensively studied, there images hoping to identify the reptile. excuse a country lacking water
important milestones for the are dozens of species, including I turned to the Tropical Herping site, resources and diversity of cultures
protection of a large expanse the threatened Andean bear, as which has fine photographs of many and species for favoring mining. In
of the Amazon. well as mountain lions, ocelots, of the lizards from this part of Ecuador. Ecuador’s case, it is unconscionable.
coatimundis, and armadillos. Soon, I had a likely candidate for what
I initially dubbed the Compost-Toilet The Keeled Whorltail Iguana is just
If you would like information about this, you can
1 A fortuitous trip to the Lizard, but I wanted to make sure. one species threatened by extinction;
see this short video made with the support of composting latrine So, I wrote to the site administrator. Ecuador has over one thousand in the
Rainforest Concern: https://www.youtube.com/ And so, one morning as I was He confirmed my suspicion that the same fraught boat. It’s just a lizard you
watch?v=RGZtYhJJN0M&t=33s headed to attend to some very lizard was the Keeled Whortail Iguana might say. Yet, its importance should
For deeper understanding about this, you can
2
personal business, I noticed a sudden (Stenocercus varius); a species listed not be lost simply because we are bias
also see the following document: Nobre A.D
movement on the bamboo wall of as endangered. It is also known as towards more cute and cuddly species.
(2014). El Futuro Climático de la Amazonía:
Informe de evaluación científica. En: Pan: my composting latrine (if you are Mist Whorl Tail Iguana. A name which, One lizard can reveal to us what is so
Map 2: Proposed area for the connectivity strategy, in the region north of the Amazon river Amazonía, Escenarios y desafíos de la crisis wondering: I think it wiser to enrich the I must admit, is much nicer than the tragically wrong with our way of looking
(shown with purple border) climática. ARA: Articulación Regional Amazónica. earth with human waste rather than one I baptized it with! This iguana is at the world, and our place in it.
6 Rainforest Review Rainforest Review 7
Ecuador
In spite of what may be called the Neblina Bosque Protector, together we
Decoin archives
hurricane headwinds against our have been able to effectively protect
19 years of
small organisation, we’ve helped over 13,000 hectares.
conserve approximately 13,000
hectares of cloud forest in northwest However, conservation without good
successful
Ecuador that are home to hundreds environmental education is incomplete,
of endangered species. You read that which is why we reach out to hundreds
correctly, it’s not a typo. Hundreds of school-age children and adults with
of near-threatened, threatened, the message that the real value of Intag
partnership
endangered and critically endangered lies not hundreds of meters below the
plants and animals, all of which are ground, but above it.
on the IUCN’s Red List. This includes
with DECOIN
a frog that was considered extinct by In my introduction I say that I have
the IUCN, and rediscovered in 2016 been “looking over my shoulder”.
in one of the community forests we The reason for this lies below these
purchased thanks to a project funded stunningly beautiful and biodiverse
by Rainforest Concern. The scientists mountain forests, in the copper
who found the frog were staying in a deposits that several governments
by Carlos Zorrilla, community ecological lodge that
Rainforest Concern also helped fund.
and four transnational mining
companies have been trying to develop Community watershed reserves
Executive Director, DECOIN since 1995. Because conservation
Most of the hectares of primary directly conflicts with mining, over and The award was granted for work owned Codelco hold tens of thousands
and secondary forests that are being over again DECOIN has found itself in providing ‘essential support to of hectares in mining concessions
conserved by communities and local the cross-hairs of the multinationals communities resisting mining interest, across most of Intag’s forests, including
governments in Intag are the buffer and governments; with death threats conserving over 12,000 hectares of all of the community reserves. It’s like
Time flies when you are busy conserving forests and area for the Cotacachi-Cayapas being the most benign of our concerns. Andean biodiversity and advancing a David vs Goliath-on-steroids fight.
endangered wildlife, while simultaneously looking Ecological Reserve. This protected alternative income livelihood options. But if we stand together, these areas
wilderness reserve is in the top 1% I am pleased to say that the work we do and the magnificent wildlife within
over your shoulder to keep out of reach of the powerful of the most biologically important has been internationally recognised, last The fight to protect these forests stand a chance.
interests you rile up. In a nutshell, this how it has been areas of our planet. But the forty-one year I travelled to New York to receive and wildlife is far from over. Mining
the last nearly 24 years of DECOIN’s work, the grass- community watershed and forest the UN Development Programme’s interests, such as the giant Anglo- Here’s looking to the next 25 years
reserves are not only protecting Equator Prize on behalf of DECOIN. Australian BHP Billiton and Chilean- of working with Rainforest Concern!
roots organisation that I have led since its founding in forests and endangered wildlife, but
1995. An important part of our achievement is in no small also thousands of inhabitants’ drinking
Pete Oxford
part due to our 19 year collaboration with Rainforest water. This is the key that makes it such
a successful conservation initiative.
Concern. That collaboration includes buying forests, The protected reserves that DECOIN
funding scientific investigation and creating has bought, we do not own; we have
sustainable economic alternatives. bought them for the communities
as we believe wholeheartedly that
communities need to be intimately
Decoin archives
involved in conservation to guarantee
the area will be protected in the long
run, especially in countries where
I feel the rule of law is only an ideal;
such as Ecuador.
The community reserve project which
Rainforest Concern helped fund nearly
19 years ago, made it possible for us to
purchase the first 900 hectares of
forests and abandoned pastures. Those
pastures have since been reforested
with 75,000 trees. More important for
communities than wildlife and trees, is
water. The reserves are protecting the
water sources for 30 communities. In all,
thanks to Rainforest Concern and other
organisations, we’ve bought another
10,000 hectares. In all, including the
Decoin hosts a hydro workshop for the local community Carlos Zorilla at work in the Intag cloud forests in 2005
8 Rainforest Review Rainforest Review 9
Ecuador
In spite of this achievement, we are
currently in the process of conducting
Reflecting on Neblina the work needed to apply for even
more stringent protection. This is a
large task and includes in-depth cross
Reserve’s first 17 years
species biodiversity surveys, and the
creation of a revised management plan.
Copper mining concessions first
began to be a threat to the cloud
forests in this area around 20 years
by Sonja Dillmann, ago. One such threat was in Junin.
With help from Rainforest Concern,
Project Manager, Neblina Reserve and working with DECOIN, the
community was able to purchase
an extensive area of forest that
became a strategic component
conservation making decisions since against the mining threat that they
Ariel Mesa
For the last twenty years, protecting them indirectly results in faced. This community reserve
Rainforest Concern has the protection of many other species started to generate alternative
been working in the Intag within the same ecosystem. income possibilities for the families
(e.g. ecotourism) and strengthened
region of north-west Biologist Tashkin Meza and his the community’s commitment to Map of the Reserve in bright green and other protected areas in mid green
Ecuador to help conserve team are leading the research. defend both these important
the unique and threatened Coincidentally, Tashkin’s family was forests and their livelihoods.
originally from the Intag area, and However, the threats to the forests are and local government authorities
cloud forests. Tashkin has fond memories spending We continue to work with DECOIN ever present and escalating. There are to monitor and protect the many
time here during his childhood. He to help them purchase strategic now renewed threats from more mining threatened and endemic species
In addition to working with partners was especially pleased to hear that watershed and forest reserves for concessions in the area aquired by living there, and collaborating on
like DECOIN to protect watersheds Rainforest Concern had bought land local communities, as well as support Codelco and BHP Billiton. We continue conservation initiatives with DECOIN to
and put in place alternative income that once belonged to his family, so them in their environmental education to pursue our policy of strengthening try to protect the fragile cloud forests.
strategies, in 2002, we first began it is now protected as part of the programme and alternative income and extending the Neblina Reserve to
to establish the Neblina Reserve, Neblina Reserve. generation initiatives. protect the vulnerable cloud forests, We have achieved so much for
with the intention to act as part of working with biologists like Tashkin Neblina Reserve’s first 20 years.
a protected forest corridor linking With this collaboration with Tashkin,
the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological we have further refined our monitoring
Rainforest Concern
Reserve and private forest reserves of the reserve. The position of the
through to Mindo. The reserve started camera traps is planned according
with just 100 hectares, but is now to altitude, plant distribution, food The position of the
one of the biggest private reserves availability and possible breeding camera traps is planned
in the area, totaling 2272 hectares places for important species like the
and still growing. It provides valuable Andean bear or puma. Already we have
according to altitude,
ecosystem services, and is a home had sighting of a number of Andean plant distribution, food
to many threatened animal and bears as well as many other mammals
plant species. and birds. Research like this is vital,
availability and possible
as the data we gather allows us to breeding places for
We continue to protect, manage and make more informed management
monitor the Neblina Reserve. A team and conservation decisions, and to
important species like
of local forest guards regularly patrol prioritise how to expand the reserve. the spectacled bear
the forest, keeping an eye out for signs
of illegal encroachment as well as
Rare face to face encounter with spectacled bear
2018 also saw Rainforest Concern's
and puma
reporting back on direct sightings lawyer, Mauricio Bustamante receive
of species or indirect observations vertebrate species in the area, and Neblina Reserve’s second Declaration
like scats or footprints. focuses on the Andean (or spectacled) of Protected Forest Status (Bosque
bear population in the Neblina Protector) from Ecuador’s Minister
This past year we started a new Reserve using camera traps to monitor of the Environment. This brings the
monitoring project funded by the movements and numbers of individual total area of Neblina legally recognised
PTES. The project aims to gain greater bears. We chose the Andean bear as as protected forest to nearly 4,200 With thanks to Rainforest Foods and John Brown
understanding and control of the it is regarded as an umbrella species. acres (1,700 hectares). Over 100 Media for their long standing support of the
factors affecting the decline of These are species selected for people attended the event. Oliver Whaley, David Harvey, Peter Joost and Sonja Dillmann at Neblina Reserve Neblina Reserve
10 Rainforest Review Rainforest Review 11
Peru
Oliver Whaley
sift of katabatic wind, setting a back with deglaciations. In fact, DNA superb for industrial agriculture.
flush of bluest Jaquemontia aquiver. analysis suggests that many rainforest Expansion to supply insatiable global
The breeze is infused with the trees have their ancestors in dry forest. markets for nutrition, even from
frankincense-like fragrance of palo blueberries, is fast. Although a lifeline
santo amongst nocturnal scents of But what is dry forest, really? I hear for millions, predictably only around
sune and Haageocereus. You feel… often. My simple answer is: rainforest, 10% of dry forest remains, and as
strangely at home, embraced in a but without the rainy bit (at least not so globalised shift-stuff economics
timeless space, vast and billowing often). And for me personally, it is far destabilises everything, the young
in peaceful exclusion, a world not more than an ecosystem, it is more campesino is on the move; with or
as much as waiting for rain, or akin to a nurse, a place that healed me. without walls to cross, families are
indeed for anything, but basking Not long after wandering into its warm upping sticks in search of work,
in moments amongst blood-warm embrace, looking to shake off a bunch sometimes to local industrial farms
rocks in the pure light of life... of humid-loving, flesh-munching and often far migration.
rainforest microbes, I was in love.
You are standing amongst tropical Those that remain are still bonded to
dry forest in northern Peru – an Unsurprisingly, dry forests of northern the forest, largely through age and
ecosystem unlike any other, although Peru have been subjected to the experience, and these people need
ignored, exploited and already fragile, familiar, now globalised, ‘space-for- our help, helping them to help us,
it is now highly threatened. reckless-monkey-to-live-and grow- as they are critically important to dry
stuff’ scenario of clearance for the forest survival. Often overlooked, rural
As the humid arms of rainforest sublime human capacity for agriculture communities are still connected to the
stretch through the Andean cordillera (and population expansion) leaving landscape – they know where it can
and the sky-rivers fade through the them as the most threatened forests provide and when to be left. Their dry
huancabamba depression, seasonal left on earth. But before you despair: forest exists because of them, not
dry forests revel in fungus-free aridity! as long as we conserve it now, dry despite them. Now that climate and
Dry forests, are nothing new or forest has ‘episodic’ magic up its atmospheric change are, at last now
spontaneous on an evolutionary scale, sleeve, and we find from fragments incontrovertibly, requiring forest to
in fact quite the opposite, they are with good seed, a rich forest can be adapt or die, the message is stark:
ancient and highly evolved. Research nurtured back and restored from relicts if we can’t nurture the forest back to
Looking over the Andean dry forest of Peru
is revealing Neotropical dry forests as and colonised by its native species. support livelihoods again, its children
stable ecosystems of deep time far will never return. The forest left unused
The vertebrae are towering basalt predating much rainforest. Andean But have no doubt there is an ongoing is unprotected, it is lost to fires, illegal
cliffs with cactus-lined peaks rainforest has pulsed through wet and ‘problemita’ – of the Peruvian massive deforestation and land-grabs – natural
Conserving above sheer walls that echo the
cry of a savanna hawk. Huge rosy
bromeliads jostle for ledge space
dry epochs driven by successive ice
ages draining moisture, only to flood it
understatement variety, as the dry
forest biome, unlike rainforest, is also
regeneration processes are long
gone with soil seed banks lost.
the dry forest
with yellow Puya and purple
SBC/Rainforest Concern
SBC/Rainforest Concern
SBC/Rainforest Concern
flowering Tillandsias. You turn to
gaze slowly over a mist of pale brown
in Lambayeque,
and ochres of hualtaco, pasallo and
cerecillo – a dry season canopy with
garlands of pale pink Bougainvillea
framing the Neoraimondia cacti, as
Peru: A story of ants sip nectar beads from their
flower buds waiting to open for bats.
Stirring in the dusk, the bat colony lick
love and intrigue
each other’s eyes amongst the lichen-
clad rocks under your feet. A white-
tailed jay shrieks a shrill repeat as a
guan takes fright at a pampas cat
melting stripes through wild papaya
and twisted lianas. The cat hesitates
by Oliver Whaley, Rainforest Concern to sniff a cave entrance formed
over a million years ago during an
earthquake. Now entwined by ancient
fig roots, it is home to a family of dry
forest spectacled bears; bedding
Imagine yourself for a moment, on a high rocky spur of the down on dry ferns with bellies full
Camera trap images from the dry forest
Andes a dragon tail slumbering on a forested plain stretching of sapote. A light breath kisses your reserve From top; pampas cat, spectacled
into a blue haze under a Pacific sunset… neck and you turn to feel the warmest bear, white-tailed deer
12 Rainforest Review Rainforest Review 13
Peru
Oliver Whaley
& forests who, with a uniquely completed with drone specialists from share the dry forest with pampas
environmental vision for sustainable Kew Gardens. Alongside our partner cats, eagles, bears cubs and the
farming in the region, have helped us NGO, ANIA Children’s land, we occasional goat-borrowing puma.
establish a second restoration centre supported and trained Túcume We have found a future in dry forest
where we have already propagated museum to produce dry forest trees by showing how it can be done when
and developed seed storage for the and useful plants with local schools, we all work together. Rainforest
majority of the lowland dry forest and here the culture of Moche is being Concern and our partners stand
species. This is the first forest resuscitated to the 21st century as we with the Peñeros for their children
restoration centre in northern Peru produce the first dry forest ethnobotany children’s; we hope the partnership will
and we are building world-class local book for the area to support our continue until old sapote and algarrobo
capacity with exchange training from restoration work and publications. trees thrive again around old blueberry
Chilean Banco Base de Semillas (INIA) farms that preserve and protect their
and Airpots® propagation systems Despite nefarious efforts to steal their watershed dry forest communities –
for larger tree restoration. The Royal land, the valiant Peñeros have resisted addressing the bare facts and water!
Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (under the and held out to economic pressure.
new MOU with Rainforest Concern) They are willing to take a conservation We are extremely grateful to the Planet
provided horticultural training and dry and restoration journey, not only to Foundation, who, over the last two
forest, and quantitative monitoring was protect and reforest their land, but to years have made this project possible.
The mysterious
ECOAN
The project involved many members of the local communities
polylepis forests of Peru
So, let me take you for a last stroll – this foot, instead of a day walking. Our incredibly encouraging and full of
time alongside a dry forest community. drivers’ eyes are resolute, deep set amazement. By working with the
by Constantino Aucca Chutas, President of ECOAN
Most outsiders agree, that Peñeros are beyond the piercing sun but glinting Peruvian government bodies, we
the real men (and women); generous under fertilizer-brand caps. The overo have reached agreement with the
and strong in every sense, scornful of branches tear at throttle breaking community to conserve about 4,500
urban corruption, honourable and hands and Yanquis sandaled toes – hectares of lower slope Andean dry In the high ranges of the Andes you Along with fellow graduates of the
looking up in admiration and maternal Blanco and his Peñero men don’t even forest as a permanent reserve (you can find remnants of ancient polylepis National University of Cusco, I decided
familiarity at every tree. Their realities wince. Why would they? This is a day were standing there earlier), and to forests, often located at the foot of to create the Andean Ecosystems
are forged from the forest and four am out, after the previous back-breaking protect, restore and monitor the wildlife the snowy peaks, between 3,800 to Association (ECOAN) to protect
starts, where most people’s hardship is fencing with 1100 dead Prosopis posts, and jaguays so vital to its survival. 5,300 metres above sea level. Andean ecosystems, and specifically
their good day, in a land where cattle cladding six ping-tight strands of to conserve the Polylepis forests
stealing and terrifying land-grabs are barbed wire for seven km to stop hired Amazement came to all of us, as The polylepis forests once and restore and increase habitats for
part of life and death still, in Peru today. louts stealing land stealing cattle too. working with partner scientists from dominated the high Andes, but since wildlife. Since then, in alliance with the
The Peñeros though, are sanguine; Spectacled Bear Conservation – Peru pre-Inca times human actions have American Bird Conservancy (ABC)
So giddy up! Here we are with Don even about loosing 10 goats to a puma, (SBC) in the proposed reserve, we resulted in the destruction of 90% and other organisations, we have
Blanco, Meque, Gualberto and recounting it all with flashing humour recorded a parade of threatened of the forests. The remaining worked to protect these ecosystems
Panchos’ crew. We are off to survey and not an iota of hatred. These are species using the dry forest springs, fragments of these Andean forests with the help of the local community.
a jaguay (an ancient Moche word for Moche warriors, and the forest is their including a pair solitary eagles, provide vital ecosystem services: Planting polylepis at high altitude
spring) buried in dry forest, where, friend. They fear only that their kids pampas cat, puma, northern tamandua by reducing and preventing soil In 2003, we met Martin Stanley and
they say, spectacled bears (Tremarctos leave forever; ‘he went to the city with the arboreal anteater, white-tailed deer, erosion, they help to retain nutrients through him, Rainforest Concern.
ornatus) come to sleep making nests in a smile and came back only once with king vulture as well as opossum and and sediments; they are a source For almost a decade, Rainforest In July 2018, the Andean initiative of
the oasis fig trees. Everybody is ready, a huge shiny belt’, I was told. And the Sechuran fox and most wonderfully, of water in the dry season,as water Concern have helped us to maintain Polylepis Forests, involving Colombia,
with hard jobs done before the sunrise. women are tougher still, as they gather exactly as told, several spectacled retained within the mosses is constant reforestation activity in the Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile
We purr out of the forest village, riding 100’s of thousands of dry forest seeds bear visiting from a unique dry forest gradually discharged; they regenerate Patacancha basin in the province and Peru was created to unite those
pillion on the famous Wanxins, the and think nothing of four am starts and group around the Laquipampa reserve. agricultural land through organic of Ollantaytambo, Cusco. working towards habitat restoration
morning air uplifting as we glide past walking 10 km home in the dark. decomposition; and create and protection of threatened species
empty beehives and svelte forest The La Peña reserve (CC. San a microclimate providing a habitat After the worrying news of the impact across the Andes mountain range. The
loving zebu. You seem to float with the Blanco and the Peñeros love dry Francisco) area will create a for many species. In the Peruvian of climate change at the 2014 COP20 international initiative aims to minimise
chilalo’s elevating call over the golden forest as it once provided a bonanza magnificent corridor for wildlife, polylepis forests, bird species include in Peru, ECOAN was inspired to create the impact of climate change and offer
morning pampa, swerving to avoid of rich sweet algarroba pods. Today bridging two large watersheds and the Endangered ash-breasted tit-tyrant the ‘Queña Raymis’, a festival in which sources of alternative income to local
rocks and a hip wiggle overtaking of that has died away, but still the providing access to resources like and the Endangered white-browed local communities and volunteers communities. It also aims to acquire
hard baked cow pat, only to dive forest, with sapote, overo and faique, the sapote fruit that the dry forest tit-spinetail. Plants include forest plant thousands of Polylepis trees in indices for biodiversity, physical and
gear-crunching, into a narrow goat sustains livestock entirely from trees. bear needs to survive. For dry forest species such as the pungent smelling just one day. In the past few years, this social mapping, water and carbon.
track to breath yellow dust and two This year, with the Rainforest Concern restoration in and around the reserve, chachacomo and the unca, listed as activity has become a huge party in This will provide the necessary tools
stroke fumes over warm rock. We are team in Peru, progress on conservation we found the perfect community- Vulnerable by the IUCN, its presence which everyone can see the benefits to monitor the much-needed
covering 20 km quickly to the mountain and restoration of dry forest has been corporate partner in Ingleby Farms indicates an area of mature vegetation. of a healthy environment for our planet. sustainability of these projects.
14 Rainforest Review Rainforest Review 15
Costa Rica
Carlos Fernandez
Rainforest Concern
In 2015 Peter and I visited Urpiano
beach and talked about the urgent
A step forward need to protect the leatherback turtles
that spawn there. We also had the
opportunity to speak with the Spanish
for Urpiano turtle
biologist Bárbara Barrera.
That year, Bárbara and her partner
conservation
Johnny were contracted to monitor
turtle activity at Urpiano beach in order
to have more and accurate information
about the importance of the beach
and the number of nests.
During the 2015 nesting season,
by Carlos Fernandez, Manager, we found that there was a higher
Urpiano beach project density of leatherback nests than
at the Pacuare Nature Reserve, but
of the Urpiano nests, over 98% were
poached. By comparison, the nearby
Pacuare Nature Reserve had 0%
It was 1992 when I first met Peter Bennett in the Osa poaching. The findings of this initial
Releasing hatchlings at Urpiano beach
survey showed the great importance
Peninsula, on the south Pacific coast of Costa Rica. of Urpiano beach for nesting
At that time I had recently started to work for the turtles, and the critical state of Each year a hatchery is built at the increasing this figure to 20% by 2018,
Endangered Wildlife Trust, a British charity protecting Hala Bennett about to release a nursery hatchling this population due to the high little Urpiano station, and the project but commitment and perseverance
percentage of poaching. trains and employs local people and paid off and team succeeded in
sea turtles in Costa Rica and Panama. Shortly after this volunteers to work as part of the team. beating this target by 2017, when they
meeting, Peter established Rainforest Concern, a charity Since then Rainforest Concern and Every night during the season, they succeeded in saving 22.8% of nests. By
that, in time became an extremely important supporter In 2015, Peter and I embarked on a new The Black Rhino Foundation have patrol the beach, trying to collect the the end of the 2018 season, the figure
chapter in the protection of sea turtles. given their support to a local group nests before poachers do, and then was even better: the team saved 166
of EWT’s sea turtle protection projects over many years. led by Bárbara Barrera and Johnny relocating them to the safety of a nests, or almost 28% of all the nests.
Urpiano beach is located on the Hurtado. Bárbara, Johnny and their guarded hatchery. This hatchery This is a real success considering that
northern Caribbean coast of Costa team have worked hard trying to save is manned 24 hours a day to stop for many years prior to the project,
EWT
Rica, three kilometres south of the as many nests as possible, and steadily, poachers from stealing the nests. nearly every nest on the beach was
Pacuare Nature Reserve. It is a strip, we are seeing the project grow. Each poached. As a result of the hard work
four and a half kilometers long, located year we are succeeding in increasing In 2015, 1.83% of nests were saved. carried out by Barbara and her team,
between the Caribbean Sea at the the numbers of turtle nests saved. We set ourselves a realistic target of thousands of baby turtles are now
east and the Tortuguero Canal at hatching and going to the sea from
the west. From March to June Urpiano beach.
Carlos Fernandez
every year leatherback sea turtles
(dermochely coriácea) come to Looking to the future, it is vitally
nest to this area. Additionally green important to continue working with
turtles come to nest in less numbers Rainforest Concern to protect the
as well as the hawksbill turtles. turtles of Urpiano beach. The IUCN
states that the Caribbean leatherback
Unlike other nearby beaches, Urpiano population is dependent on the
beach had never been protected, and success of current conservation to
historically has been known as a place protect the turtles, their offspring
where poachers and hunters come to and their habitats. We cannot afford
poach leatherback turtle eggs and to be complacent.
kill green and hawksbill turtles. The
International Union for the Conservation As Rainforest Concern reaches it’s 25th
of Nature (IUCN) lists the turtles as anniversary, the story of its long history
Vulnerable with numbers declining. of protecting turtles, including the
Threats to it include; the utilisation of newest endeavours at Urpiano beach,
turtle eggs for human use, the is just one example of the constancy,
development of coastal environments, dedication and support it gives to
pollution and pathogens, climate community groups and to protecting
Leatherback turtle returning to the ocean having laid her precious eggs change, and fishing by-catch. The newly completed turtle hatchery the environment.
16 Rainforest Review Rainforest Review 17
Rainforest Concern through the years
1993 2002 2005 2011 On-going projects
Completed projects
Rainforest Community Support for Amazon Partnership
Concern founded watershed Conservation Team’s with Corporacion
reserves project mapping of the Wayana Bosques de
in partnership territory, Surinam Zapallar to
with DECOIN, create El Boldo
1999 Ecuador 2003 2006 Reserve, Chile 2016
Nasampullli Araucaria Partnership Support for Amazon Watch
Protection of
Reserve established starts with in successful opposition of
Rio Napo forest
with FORECOS Gurukula the Tapajós mega dam, Brazil
with Yachana
Foundation, Chile Botanical
Foundation,
Sanctuary,
Ecuador
India
1995 2001 2004 2008 2015 2018
Extension of Turtle conservation Partnership with ECOAN Partnership Support for Formal
Choco-Andean with EWT, Soropta, in the conservation of with Carpathia AAA Corridor partnership
Corridor Project Panama polylepis forests, Peru Foundation to initiative for with the Royal
with Maquipucuna conserve over Gaia Amazonas, Botanic Garden
Foundation, 20,000 hectares Colombia Edinburgh,
Ecuador of forest, Romania Scotland
1993
2019
1997 2002 2006 2013 2017
Awarded National Neblina Cloud Protection of Support for Protection
Lottery grant for Forest Reserve ancestral forest Fundación of dry forest in
alternative income established, land for the Batwa Entropika, partnership with
generation,
NW Ecuador
Ecuador
2004 people, Uganda Colombia ANIA, Peru
Support for Yawanawa
2000 to double their territory
to 200,000 hectares
2009
Creation of
Awacachi
in Acre, Brazil Protection of 1.2
million hectare
2016
Corridor with Yaigoje Apaporis Turtle
FFI, Ecuador National Park with conservation,
Gaia Amazonas,
1994 2003 2005 2007 2018
Urpiano beach,
Colombia Costa Rica
Partnership started Namoncahue Pangan Corridor Launch of Forest Partnership
with EWT coastal forest Corridor with created with Credits, providing with ADEPT
conservation, Costa Rica Parques Para ProAves as part the opportunity for the protection
Chile, Chile of Choco-Andean to offset carbon of ancient
Corridor, emissions, UK Transylvanian
Colombia meadows,
Romania
18 Rainforest Review Rainforest Review 19Romania
clean air, water, a stable soil and a Here FCC has been focussing on and genetic analysis in order to estimate
stable climate. Therefore, to help the establishing adequate livestock wolf, bear and lynx populations. A new
Creating Europe’s most local people through the cold season,
we provided naturally fallen beech
wood to the disadvantaged in the
protection and instigating aversive
conditioning measures. Our next
steps will be to equip and train our
mobile phone app allows inputting of
sample data, which means instant data
collection and data transparency.
important wilderness reserve
local community and also subsidised wardens, alongside the gendarmerie,
firewood for members of the Rucǎr on controlling conflicts before or We also hope to generate wider
Landowners Association with immediately as they occur. To involve interest in the area and help the
incomes below subsistence level. the larger community in our work, local economy through eco-tourism.
FCC hosted workshops for 800 Romania has the biggest population of
Trophy hunting is a major source school children, trained junior large carnivores in Europe but does not
by Christoph Promberger, Founder, Fundatia Conservation Carpathia of income for hunting associations rangers, and organised wildlife trails. exploit this asset. FCC therefore started
in Romania. In Africa trophy hunting an eco-tourism programme. We have
has had a positive effect on wildlife Since 2011 we have had the lease built wildlife hides and established
conservation as a way of bringing in of a 13,500 ha hunting concession. partnerships with local guesthouses.
much needed income. However, When we first acquired the concession
Another year has passed and once again Foundation Our most significant achievements in the mountains of Romania, rural wildlife density within the area was The past year has also seen progress
Conservation Carpathia has made great progress this year: the purchase of over 3,337 communities still make a living from very low, so we instigated a no-hunting towards shared strategies for forest
hectares, of which 1,000 were almost livestock, not trophy hunting. We and anti-poaching policy to increase management for the future. Direct
towards creating a new, world-class wilderness virgin forests in the south-central therefore believe that sustainable numbers of red deer, wild boar, discussions with timber industry and
reserve in the Fǎgǎras Mountains of Romania; a Fǎgǎras Mountains as well as 900 wildlife management must focus chamois and bears. We after trying to conservation NGOs had completely
reserve that we hope will, in time, become one hectares in Leaota; the leasing of a on decreasing and controlling acquire a second hunting concession ceased, but FCC re-initiated meetings
second hunting concession in the lower conflicts between wildlife and local of 10,700 ha in 2013, we finally between the two groups, and now all
of the most important national parks in Europe. Dâmbovita Valley; and the building of communities, rather than making successfully acquired the concession parties have agreed to keep talking.
´ in our project area,
wildlife hides money through trophy hunting. in 2017. This is extremely significant,
represent everything FCC stands for: as the two areas form a seasonal Next year we will continue to build
Barbara and Christoph Promberger
FCC has been developing a corridor with wildlife from the first area on our past achievements. We will start
• Protecting the forests programme to showcase how we migrating to the valleys of the second to prepare for the reintroduction of
•M anaging wildlife, with the think wildlife management can work. area. This means that FCC can control beaver and bison; organising permits,
conservation of wildlife and the and protect both the summer and deciding release sites, building release
resolution of human-wildlife To mitigate human/wildlife conflict, in winter habitats. With the neighbouring enclosures and sourcing release
conflicts as a top priority the summer we set up electric fences Piatra Craiului National Park, 36,000 animals. We hope to purchase
•D eveloping a new, non-extractive to provide night-time protection of ha are protected from trophy hunting. another 2,000 ha of forest and alpine
economy for local communities sheep from large carnivores. In another We intend to acquire more hunting grasslands, restore 10 ha of alder
area farmers have had problems with concessions if the opportunity arises. gallery, convert 50 ha of spruce
Yet, this year we achieved so much one particular brown bear getting into We now monitor over 100,600 ha monoculture into mixed forest, and
more than this. We also: planted stables and attacking livestock. using camera traps, sign surveys, replant 120 ha of clear-cut forest.
400,000 saplings; began large-scale
monitoring of wolves, bears, and lynx; There is still much to do before we can
Codrut Voinescu
took the decision to start to reintroduce create a world class National Park at
bison; started to develop a common Fǎgǎras: we know that it will take time.
strategy for protected areas with other The amazing success of our colleagues
conservation NGOs in Romania; and from Tompkins Conservation in
established a discussion platform establishing a series of new National
between the Romanian timber industry Parks in Chile shows that such
and conservation NGOs. And we now ambitions need both perseverance
protect over 21,000 hectares. and funds. Doug Tompkins purchased
the land at Pumalin 25 years before
The harsh winters of 2017 saw the price the Chilean government accepted
of firewood rise. We therefore it as a National Park.
intensified forest watch activities to
monitor and prevent the illegal removal However, FCC is equal to this
of trees and wood. In total, 142m3 of challenge. Our promise for the future
wood was taken, of which we found is to persevere; to continue to work
and confiscated 78m3. hard to create Europe’s most
important National Park in the Fǎgǎras
However, FCC are all too aware of Mountains, to restore and protect the
the need to balance the needs of the entire ecosystem and to help local
community with the planet’s need for people have a better life.
The numbers of Lynx have increased since the creation of the reserve A ranger on patrol
20 Rainforest Review Rainforest Review 21Romania
Bob Gibbons
Adept
Location of the
Târnava Mare area in
central Transylvania ADEPT works to improve the
understanding and protection of these
landscapes. This includes scientific
assessments and inventories, advisory
services and training for farmers and
farmer associations to improve
grassland management and thereby
benefit both production and habitat
conservation. The project also requires
innovative management in processing
and marketing products and services
so the communities are properly
rewarded and have an incentive to
continue. We also plan to develop a
nature school and visitor centre, in the
Angofa valley, to bring thousands of
local schoolchildren into contact with
nature, and to explain the complex
landscape to visitors.
About 40% of the landscape of the Târnava Mare area is woodland ADEPT is delighted to start working in
partnership with Rainforest Concern.
The traditional farmed landscapes of This complex landscape, still in full These habitats offer connectivity for We will no longer be working on
the Târnava Mare area of Transylvania ecological ‘working order’, can only be mammals, and nesting and hunting grasslands alone; Rainforest Concern
Transylvania’s
are a mosaic of wildflower-rich protected by working with the local perches for birds of prey. will bring welcome new knowledge of
pastures and meadows, old-growth farming communities; not by trying to forest conservation to the landscape-
forests, gallery woodland, wood keep them in medieval management So, although Transylvania’s lowland scale conservation approach, and we
farmed landscapes
pasture and small arable parcels. and living conditions, but by using farmed landscapes are influenced by will be developing a project to maintain
Variety, connectivity and a host of low-impact technology and modern humans, they contain biodiversity of landscape structure. Forests and
dynamic habitat boundaries are marketing so that nature and its local European and global importance. natural and semi-natural grasslands are
favourable for supporting a wide guardians, the farmers, both prosper. These landscapes and communities the two habitat groups with the highest
and why they are
range of wild species, many of them are under immediate threat from land percentage of anthropogenic loss
rare and threatened in Europe. Low intensity agriculture has allowed grabbing by outside investors who will worldwide. Over 90% of lowland hay
the survival of old growth forest, abandon nature-friendly management, meadows have been lost in western
so important for
These landscapes are important woodland still coppiced for firewood, and disenfranchise the local Europe, but forests and grasslands
because of their biodiversity and rich and many galleries of trees along communities who created these need to be conserved together
ecosystem services (such as clean streams and isolated trees in pasture. precious landscapes. because in this part of the world many
air, water retention, flood prevention, species depend on the interaction
biodiversity pollination, soil quality and carbon between the two habitats.
Jan Hanspach
sequestration). They are also a model
of how humans and nature can Rainforest Concern’s involvement
exist in harmony. and expertise will allow us to use a
more holistic approach that recognises
It is surprising to many people that how forest, isolated trees, small mown
by Nathaniel Page, Director, such landscape-scale high biodiversity, and arable patches, and broad grazed
Fundatia ADEPT Transilvania linked to poor and vulnerable small- pastures and scrub, all work together
to provide a range of habitats that
scale farming communities, is present
in Europe today. Most families in offer sanctuary for many species lost
Transylvania live on semi-subsistence elsewhere in Europe. We hope that
farming, and nine out of ten farms are the area can also be a source from
In 2018 Rainforest Concern started working with smaller than five hectares. Traditional which western Europe could be
methods of grazing and haymaking repopulated with species as their
Fundatia ADEPT Transilvania, a Romanian charity which, have led to the development of habitats become better protected.
for 15 years, has been protecting the high biodiversity important, species-rich grasslands.
farmed landscapes of Transylvania in partnership with Studies have shown that habitat and Watch this space for further reports
species diversity often increases as a from a lesser known natural treasure in
the small farming communities that created them over result of gentle human interference Europe, which depends on continued
Lizards,snakes and insects benefit from a micro-mosaic of land management
hundreds of years, and still maintain them today. – but decreases with intensification. which allows them to move short distances to find refuge from grazing gentle management for its survival.
22 Rainforest Review Rainforest Review 23You can also read
