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Island Ecosystems
From WikiVerde
Island Ecosystems and Eco Tourism
Island Ecosystems are some of the most delicate and fragile ecosystems. When any island becomes inhabited by humans, the process of cultivating from the island itself can lead to catastrophic failure of ecosystems in cases of overusage and lack of regulations.
One of these islands with a severe problem in the Caribbean Sea is the island of San Andres.
From: Bruce Potter at Island Resources
Marine Protected species
The area under the responsibility of CORALINA comprises over 10% of the Caribbean Sea, and the largest West Indian ethnic communities in the southwestern Caribbean, with the HIGHEST POPULATION DENSITY anywhere in the Caribbean. We think the area is an Endemic Bird Area and a center of high marine endemism. It has four major banks, comprising the largest reef systems in the Caribbean after the Belicean barrier reef. It is a major source of commercial fish and conch. It is also under-studied in a systematic way, and at risk of being over-fished by domestic and international industrial fishing fleets before the extent of the existing fisheries resources are even known. Given its unique position at the edge of the Caribbean currents, it is a potential source of genetic materials for the reef, bank, and wider ranging fisheries resources of virtually all of the Central American east coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and both coasts of Cuba. Given the impoverishment of the Eastern Caribbean fisheries resources in recent years, the relative contributions of genetic material from the Archipelago of San Andres, Old Providence and Santa Catalina is even more significant than in the past. It is also a source of potential infection and disease.
Dr Callum Roberts Environment Department University of York York, YO1 5DD UK Tel: +44 (0)1904 434066; Fax: +44 (0)1904 432998; email cr10@...
San Andres
San Andres island is located East of Nicaragua, with Jamaica it's nearest neighbor to the North. It is technically a Colombian providence, where Colombians from the mainland have come to live and work on the island since 1953, when Colombia's government declared San Andres a free port.
The main problem has become the epidemic of overpopulation on the island, with nearly 85,000 people located on an island not more than 26 square kilometers in length, 12km long and 3km wide.
With this problem comes the new problem of trash management. One of the most troubling issues on the island is where to put the trash that accumulates from the islands' population. Currently, there is a place called "The Magic Hole" where the trash is simply put in a giant hole located far north. There is no current solution to the trash crisis, though there may be an importing exporting of trash for material purposes, such as aluminum, metals, and others.
Because of these problems, and others that come from human contact, the island is deteriorating at an alarming pace. There is no more space for people to reside without problems arising. Coralina, the company and foundation responsible for maintaining the ecyosystem and sustainable living is working hard to solve these issues, such as recycling programs, population control management, and other key solutions are in the works.
The most important solution made by Coralina was put into effect some years ago, as San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina became the largest biosphere preserve (named the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve) in the Caribbean Sea, due in part to the islands many surrounding coral, high traffic areas for marine life, as well as birds who fly south for the winter. It is considered the most important biosphere reserve, only one step lower to the Galapagos islands where Darwin made his discoveries.
Providencia
The island of Providencia, an island located only 15 minutes North by plane or 6 hours by boat, is a tropical paradise, due mainly in part of the Colombian OCCRE, their version of a VISA, and their strict regulations on building and population control in Providencia and Santa Catalina, a smaller island accessible by a bridge in the main town where the port is located.
Because of this, the ecosystem thrives with the islanders giving back to the island itself by replanting anything they grow and not being able to build on the land legally. The island has only one main street that circles the island, and there are many areas that are sanctioned off limits to islanders by the Seaflower Biosphere Preserve. There are also strict regulations as to what can and cannot be imported.
The steps needed to preserve these islands is in effect, but more needs to be done in order to become less dependent on imported goods and foods, and have an ecosystem that is kept in the delicate balance that is needed to preserve the islands natural state, while giving the inahibtants freedom to live in peace and harmony.
CMC Becomes The Ocean Conservancy
Look What Happened While I was Sleeping in the corner . . . . Not only did the Center for Marine Conservation change their name, they identified San Andres as one of SIX priorities in the whole world from the press release below with my emphasis:
The Ocean Wilderness Challenge identified five U.S. sites and one Caribbean site that would form the ideal cornerstones of this strategy. These sites include areas to be selected within Glacier Bay and Prince William Sound in Alaska; the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands; the Channel Islands off the southern California coast; Florida's Dry Tortugas; and the SAN ANDRES ARCHIPELAGO off the coast of Nicaragua. THESE SIX SITES ARE UNIQUE AND CONTRIBUTE IMMENSELY TO THE PLANET'S OVERALL HEALTH.
Bruce Potter IRF
At 12:20 PM -0400 6/22/01, Spearhead Online Directories wrote: 2d. Center for Marine Conservation Becomes The Ocean Conservancy
Washington, D.C. -- Last Tuesday, the Center for Marine Conservation became The Ocean Conservancy during a press conference where the new name, a new look, a new magazine, and a new focus were introduced. "Our current name has served us well. But this is a new era -- the era of the oceans," said Roger Rufe, organization president. "Our new name more accurately reflects our new emphasis on conserving and protecting significant parts of our oceans. According to a spokeswoman, CMC had undertaken significant changes over the last year. These changes included a new president and a new senior leadership team to lead and direct the work of the organization. In addition, new staff positions were created and the regional presence was expanded, including a new office in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Changes also included finalizing a new strategic plan to strengthen and refine the focus of ocean conservation work.
Also at the press conference, The Ocean Conservancy launched a new challenge to the American people and to the administration -- a challenge to protect at least 5% of U.S. waters and key international sites as ocean wilderness. The Ocean Wilderness Challenge identified five U.S. sites and one Caribbean site that would form the ideal cornerstones of this strategy. These sites include areas to be selected within Glacier Bay and Prince William Sound in Alaska; the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands; the Channel Islands off the southern California coast; Florida's Dry Tortugas; and the San Andres Archipelago off the coast of Nicaragua. These six sites are unique and contribute immensely to the planet's overall health.
"We want people to look out on the ocean with a new appreciation for what lies under the surface of the water," said Rufe. "The ocean seems so vast and unchanging on the surface, but underneath hides an underwater world full of mountains taller than Mt. Everest, canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon, volcanoes, geysers, and wide-open plains." The health of the oceans is rapidly deteriorating. From water pollution to oil drilling, from commercial fishing to sea-borne shipping, from vessel groundings to invasive species, human activities have fundamentally altered the natural state of our oceans. "That seemingly unchanging surface also hides an ugly truth," added Rufe. "Our oceans are overfished, over polluted, and under protected. We must view the oceans in a new way - not as an infinite and inexhaustible resource but as a national treasure, and a treasure that is at risk."
The Ocean Conservancy has chosen a circular symbol brimming with the vitality and complexity of ocean life as its logo. It reflects the conviction that healthy fish and wildlife cannot be separated from healthy water and ecosystems. Whales, sharks, and coral cannot be saved from extinction unless there are abundant food sources and safe habitat available. The symbol represents life forms from the magnificent to the ordinary -- whales to whelks, sharks to seagrass. More information at http://www.oceanconservancy.org.
Octocoral and black coral distributions on the coral reefs
Providencia island. I want to invite you to visit or print a copy of our paper (together with Sven Zea and Juan M. Diaz from U.Nal-INVEMAR) published in the last number of the Caribbean Journal of Science (Patterns of octocoral and black coral distribution in the oceanic barrier reef-complex of Providencia island, Sowthwestern Caribbean. 1998. Carib. J. Sci. 34[3-4]: 250-264) which is completely available On-line:
http://mayaweb.upr.clu.edu/artssciences/cjs/contents.htm or: http://mayaweb.upr.clu.edu/artssciences/cjs/toc.pdf
If you have problems to download the PDF file you can ask me for a reprint and I will be glad to send it. I want also express my gratitude with all the people of San Andres and Providencia specially INPA, Secretaria de Pesca y Agricultura, Elizabeth Taylor and Marta Prada, for
their help and kindness during field expeditions some years ago. I actually am still interested to visit these wonderful reefs, there's nowhere like that abroad the Caribbean!!, to continue my research in octocorals as part of my Ph.D. Finally, there's another paper on the gorgonian communities of Albuquerque and Courtown cays (Bull. Mar. Sci.1997. 61(2): 61-72) which unfortunately is not printed On-line by reprinted copies are available if you request it to me. In the meantime I will submit a new paper on the gorgonians of Serrana and Roncador and somehow other on the systematic of the Eunicea genus (my master thesis actually) including two new species for science which are widespread distributen in the archipelago. I hope to visit soon that beatiful archipelago and nice people. With my very best regards and wishes, since
the cold of the north hemisphere I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Juan A. Sanchez (M.Sc., Ph.D. Student in Ecology) Graduate Research Assistant Department of Biological Sciences University at Buffalo (State University of New York) 109 Cooke Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260-1300 U.S.A. voice: +(716)-645-2881, 838-4790; fax: +(716)-645-2975 e-mail: js15@... Web page: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~js15/
Eco Tourism
Ecotourism benefits nature and reduces poverty
- 12 December 2007
- NewScientist.com news service
Advertisement
Ecotourism, sometimes criticised as the voyeuristic indulgence of rich first-worlders, really does benefit the environment and the people who live in protected areas. A review of four marine conservation initiatives shows that they have helped reduce poverty and created tourism-based jobs, says Craig Leisher of Nature Conservancy, an environmental group in Arlington, Virginia.
The report, Nature's Investment Bank, co-authored by Leisher and published on 29 November, is based on interviews with more than 1000 people in four recently protected marine zones in Fiji, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. In every case, the conservation schemes had boosted fish catches and helped create new jobs.
"In some sites, the scale of improvement was dramatic," says Leisher. "In Fiji, for example, local incomes doubled over five years following introduction of a protected fishery." In Indonesia's Bunaken National Marine Park, meanwhile, ecotourism schemes created many new jobs in restaurants and hotels and as diving guides.
The common factors in each case were the heavy involvement of the local community in the creation of the protection zone, the legal designation of "no catch" zones where fish could breed, and the policing of these zones by government agencies. In all four cases, action was taken after a collapse in fish populations through overfishing by outsiders.
"There was some anecdotal evidence before, but now we have convincing evidence and the reasons why it works," Leisher says. "Before the introduction of the marine protected areas, the locals had neither the capacity nor the authority to tell outsiders to go away." Once known breeding grounds were protected, fish populations grew rapidly and spilled over into zones fished by locals, enabling them to net bumper catches. Related Articles
- Innovate, or watch rare species disappear
- //environment.newscientist.com/article/mg19526214.300
- 13 September 2007
- "Marine Protected Areas" lack protection
- //environment.newscientist.com/article/mg19225780.140
- 18 November 2006
- Massive growth of ecotourism worries biologists
- //environment.newscientist.com/article/dn4733
- 4 March 2004
Weblinks
- The International Ecotourism Society
//www.ecotourism.org/webmodules/webarticlesnet/templates/eco_template.aspx?a=12&\ z=25
- Nature Conservancy's report on marine protected areas
- //www.nature.org/initiatives/protectedareas/howwework/art23185.html
From issue 2633 of New Scientist magazine, 12 December 2007, page 4
35 Years of Environmental Service to Small Tropical Islands
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Sources
Economics of Island Eco Tourism
This BBC article seems more grounded in the issues of ecotourism, as they affect small islands, especially, than the recent, disappointingly superficial article in Science News www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060930/bob9.asp
A missing element in Mr. Mair's ruminations is the environmental cost of air travel itself --- most analyses that I know put the cost (or environmental footprint) of ozone layer depletion from high altitude jet planes as much greater than local environmental costs.
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 07:43:48 -0500 From: FJMcDonald <fmcdonald@...> Subject: [Fwd: Is Eco-Tourism Sustainable?]
http://www.positivetourism.com/content/view/918/
- Is Eco-Tourism Sustainable? * PDF
http://www.positivetourism.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=918
Written by BBC News * Monday, 18 December 2006
- Can eco-tourism do more harm than good? In the Green Room this
week, James Mair argues that it can, and that development of tourism needs to be made sustainable.*
If there is "good money" to be made, then tourism with any eco-twist will attract big investment.
- What price western-style conservation ethics, when a country is
frced to use every available resource to improve wealth and health?*
Top of the wish list for eco-travellers, often, are small islands, fringed with picture-postcard beaches and definitively far from any madding crowds.
The regime change caused by the conveyor belt of tourism brings income and employment; the down-side is a drain on freshwater, loss of biodiversity and habitat, and contaminants washed up by seasonal waves or continuous tides of visitors.
My own experience with small islands stems mainly from visiting Latin America over the last decade or so for conservation research purposes.
Ecuador's Galapagos Islands are understandably naturally selected as being high on the tick-list of must-do destinations.
The diversity of conservation designations applied to both the terrestrial and marine areas of the Galapagos gives comfort to many -but what price western-style conservation ethics, when a country is forced to use every available resource to enable its human population to improve their economic wealth and health?
The rapid change in human population and tourist activities are evident to anyone who has visited the Galapagos regularly over the last decade.
- Alien invaders*
In the Caribbean, the main island of the San Andres Archipelago is one of the most densely-populated places in the region, by residents and by hordes of invasive aliens (tourists).
It is plagued by the endemic problems of freshwater shortages, overfishing to feed the local restaurants, and the inevitable sewage and general pollution.
Panama has various conservation areas at different stages of development.
Some, despite being in a mature state of protection, are still undergoing encroachment by insensitive holiday and predatory second-property acquisitions - for example in the Bocas del Toro region on the Caribbean coast.
Other islands and marine reserves are less threatened due to their autonomous governance,the Kuna Indian province encompassing the San Blas islands, or by their isolation, such as Coiba,which used to be a remote penal colony and is now a national park and World Heritage Site.
Islands of the Las Perlas Archipelago (LPA) are characteristic of where tourism and conservation are in an embryonic stage.
Within a two-week period in late November and early December of this year, the LPA Municipality published a decree, with government backing, for the establishment of a hydrological reserve in the largest of the islands to protect over 9,800 hectares of important watershed environments, home to 14 endemic bird species.
Meanwhile the central government promulgated another decree announcing major large-scale tourist development plans.
The left hand protects the ecology, the right hand builds on it.
It will be interesting to follow the evolution of this particular LPA test case in Panama to see if prudence and equitability prevail.
There still is time - but not much - to ensure that potential sustainable tourism can stand "shoulder to shoulder" with long-term conservation efforts. Or will the internal wishes of the local inhabitants be "trumped" by business-as-usual, external, profit-making predators?
People in some island states live in fragile eco/social conditions
Small islands are by definition coastal strips without much terrestrial interior.
Small scale, well-operated eco-tourism ventures have their place and many are widely agreed to be beneficial by most stakeholders; but what are the limits to growth of the wide spectrum of what is being now marketed as eco-tourism?
Many tourists who visit such places become fascinated by, and protective of, reef fish, corals, nesting turtles, migrating cetaceans, whale sharks and so on. They will often actively support conservation initiatives; but they may also be the unwitting necrotic travelling agents of change.
Environmentally aware travellers are evolving a guilty conscience about their air miles. George Monbiot in his recent book Heat talks about "love miles"; with increased globalisation, migration and cheap air fares, more people now travel between continents to visit far-flung families and friends.
Further flying is fostered by spawning "leisure miles" out of "business miles" - a "positive" feedback mechanism?
In my working visits to Latin America, I try to salve my conscience by convincing myself that these trips involve "benevolent miles" - a net environmental benefit from the work I do.
Nevertheless, sitting in airports, ruminating over a hamburger, waiting for a connection and watching my fellow travellers globally disseminate, causes me now to have an increasing guilt complex - my very own carbonised footprint.
- Cyclists and local person. Image: AFP/Getty
- Has anyone asked the indigenous peoples what they want for
themselves and their descendants?*
The economic perspective of the recent Stern review on climate change highlights the growing realisation that there is indeed a monetary value to natural systems. If only enough people can get into the symbiotic mind-set of taking the long term view instead of being part of the current prevailing short-term free-for-all "grab and grow" culture, then might we save our children and grandchildren the mounting parasitic blight of our economic and environmental debts to them.
The sight of small islands drowning under congregations of tourists "thonging" on beaches, and others who could be termed "pleasure-seekers" with opportunistic predatory instincts already springing silently on novel niche destinations, begs the question: when will the organic growth of island eco-tourism reach its carrying capacity?
- Tripping out*
Where will the ultimate tripping point be reached? Does every potential island need to be westernised as soon as possible? If so, what will we and our grandchildren be losing out on?
And, has anyone asked the indigenous island peoples, with their fragile eco/social systems, what they want for themselves and their own descendants?
A recent conference on sustainable tourism on islands and small states organised by the UN's World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) came up with The Malta Guidelines on Sustainable Tourism 2006.
Logged hillside. Image: James Mair Tourism development can mean land has to be cleared
Understanding the internationalised liberalisation of tourism, UNWTO Secretary-General Fransesco Frangialli stated: "We must capitalise on the opportunity to use tourism as a tool for poverty reduction but avoid the irreversible deterioration of sites and over-use of natural resources and the exploitation of workers".
Many economists think conservationists mean "no-development" when proposing "sustainable development".
Maybe it would be a start if both sides could try to agree at least on the definition of "unsustainable" developments. Can the "contracts" that the (possibly well-meaning but often environmentally inept) World Bank or Inter-American Development Bank come up with for what is termed development assistance "converge" with the principles of the UNWTO statement?
Will accounting for the true long-term value of natural systems now become common currency in the science/art/politics of economics?
I, for one, hope so.
/Dr James Mair is in the Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh /
/The Green Room is a series of opinion pieces on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website/
34 Years of Environmental Service to Small Tropical Islands
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Ilegal fisheries
Seafood Dealers Sentenced In International Smuggling Operation, US Attorney Reports
North America Source: US Department of Justice, US Attorney's Office
Posted on Friday, January 25, 2008
LAWFUEL - Legal Announcements - R. Alexander Acosta, United States attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Eddie McKissick, Resident Agent in Charge, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and H. Jeff Radonski, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office for Law Enforcement, announced that defendants Janitse Martinez, 34, and Ramon Placeres, 58, both of Miami, Florida, were sentenced in federal District Court in connection with a conspiracy to smuggle large quantities of queen conch taken from Caribbean waters to customers throughout Canada and the United States, in violation of the laws, treaties, and regulations of the United States, contrary to the Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372(a)(1) and 3373(d)(1)(A), all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.
United States District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan imposed a sentence of two months imprisonment on both Martinez and Placeres, followed by a one year term of supervised release. In addition, a criminal fine of $10,000 was imposed against Placeres.
According to the criminal Information, a sworn affidavit in support of a search warrant issued in this matter, and statements in Court, from about May 2004 through November 2006, Martinez and Placeres were, respectively, the owners of Caribbean Conch, Inc., and Placeres & Sons Seafood, Inc., companies located in Hialeah, Florida, and engaged in the business of selling seafood products. During the relevant period, the defendants caused the shipment of more than 111,000 pounds of queen conch from Haiti and Columbia to Canada and the United States without proper permits.
Queen conch (Strombus gigas) is a commercially valuable seafood product, that is a protected species under the Endangered Species Act ("ESA") and is a species listed for protection since 1992 in an international treaty known as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ( "CITES"). The importation of queen conch, alive or dead, and its parts and derivatives, is subject to the requirements of CITES and the ESA. To engage in trade in queen conch, all imports or exports must be accompanied by a CITES export certificate from the country of origin, or a re-export permit from a country of re-export.
The defendants' smuggling activities were detected in March 2006 when a shipment of 2,100 pounds of queen conch, falsely labeled as "Frozen Whelk meat, product of Canada" was intercepted by a Fish & Wildlife Service Inspector at the Peace River bridge in Buffalo, New York, consigned to Caribbean Conch, Inc., in Hialeah. The Fish & Wildlife Service's National Forensic Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon conducted DNA analysis of the seafood product and confirmed it was queen conch, and not whelk as indicated on the shipping documents.
Investigative efforts by Canadian and American enforcement authorities led to the simultaneous execution of search warrants in both countries and the seizure of more than 63,000 pounds of illegally traded queen conch. Additionally, Investigators with Environment Canada, Wildlife Enforcement Division were successful in bringing criminal charges against a Canadian corporation and the two Miami-based co-conspirators, who have also been convicted in Halifax, Nova Scotia in connection with offenses under Canadian law.
Mr. Acosta commended the coordinated investigative efforts of the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, NOAA Office For Law Enforcement, and the Wildlife Officers of Environment Canada's Wildlife Enforcement Branch, Wildlife Enforcement Division, in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver which brought the investigation to a successful conclusion. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald and Certified Legal Intern Leslie Armendariz.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov. Related information regarding the investigation and conviction by Environment Canada may be found on www.ec.gc.ca.
35 Years of Environmental Service to Small Tropical Islands
Island Resources Foundation Fone 202/265-9712 1718 "P" St NW, # T-4 fax 202/232-0748 Washington, DC 20036
Caribbean migratory fall out
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 19:46:26 -0500 From: Paul Salaman <psalaman@...> Subject: [BirdsCaribbean] San Andres migratory fallout
Just wrapping up a 2 week advanced banding course by Fundación ProAves with USFWS, The Wetlands Trust, CI, ABC, FPAA, Coralina, KBO, IBP, and others on San Andres Island (isolated 13x1 km island, 200 km NE of Nicaragua).
The course, made up of 10 professional instructors, plus 60 trainee banders, spanned the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Wilma (19th Oct) that started just east of San Andres and tracked NW and a week later by the full impact of Hurricane Beta.
The fallout of migrants was unprecedented, particularly in the aftermath of each hurricane. For example, on the 19th an estimated 5+ million migrants arrived. Primarily Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided, and Tennessee Warblers, Catbirds, Ovenbirds, Tanagers, Thrushes, etc. In subsequent days, waves of other species hit the island, particularly Indigo Bunting, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and other warblers such as Golden-winged.
Sadly, the muscle and fat conditions for a large proportion of hurricane fallout migrants was horrendous. We are concerned that the impact of both hurricanes (as well as the many previous hurricanes) could be significant on Neotropical migrant species populations. The true extent of these impacts may not be known until next breeding season…..
Regards, paul ______________________________ Dr. Paul Salaman International Programs Director American Bird Conservancy
4249 Loudoun Avenue, PO Box 249, The Plains, VA 20198, USA Tel: 540-253-5780 / Fax: 540-253-5782 Mobile: 540-878-9186 Email: psalaman@... www.abcbirds.org ______________________________
San Andres Vireo
http://www.standrewvireo.freeservers.com/
Evaluation and Conservation Strategies-St Andrew Vireo San Andrés Island, Maria Isabel Moreno Bióloga. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Christian Devenish BSc. (Hons.) Biology. University of Manchester, UK.
The San Andrés Vireo, or Chincherry as it is known locally, is a
small and inconspicuous bird. It is olive-green above and has whitish
to yellow underparts. It has a yellow stripe between the bill and the
eye and two white wing bars. It is endemic to the island and has been
classified as critically endangered.
The Vireo only lives on the island of San Andrés- in no other part of
the world. It is generally found in shrubs and low bushes.
Chincherry
Illustrations of San Andrés Vireo (Vireo caribaeus) by Kristin
Williams and Bart Rulon used by kind permission of Christopher Helm.
Taken from the "Birds of the West Indies" by Raffaele, Wiley,
Garrido, Keith and Raffaele.
The St Andrew Vireo, as it is also known, is an important part of the
unique natural heritage of San Andrés. Island species are
particularly vulnerable to threats against their conservation. This
project will suggest conservation measures that will not only help to
preserve an endangered bird but also to improve our environment.
How?
This project aims to understand its distribution and abundance on the
island as well as its ecological requirements. It is hoped that
through community work the conservation of the vireo will be helped.
Island Resources, the Virgin Islands and Washington
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Turtle study
8/25/05, Bill Mott wrote: STUDY SAYS NICARAGUA IS DESTROYING ENDANGERED GREEN TURTLES
Sea turtles that receive the highest protection in Costa Rica and other neighboring countries are dying by the thousands at the hands of unregulated commercial fishing in Nicaragua, according to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society. The study published in the journal Herpetologica found that turtles tagged in Nicaragua have only little more than a 50-percent chance of surviving until the next year. This includes adult turtles from Tortuguero, a world famous turtle-nesting beach in Costa Rica. For a slow-growing, slow-to-mature species, removing so many large juveniles and adults from the population spells potential disaster, according to WCS scientists. The largest remaining green turtle population in the Atlantic lives in this region, scientists believe. For the full news story , go to: http://www.wcs.org/353624/seaturtlenews
SOURCE: Wildlife Conservation Society website.
REFERENCE: Cathi L. Campbell and Cynthia J. Lagueux: Survival probability estimates for large juvenile and adult green turtles (Chelonia mydas) exposed to an artisanal marine turtle fishery in the western Caribbean. Herpetologica 61(2):91-103, 2005. http://www.bioone.org/bioone/?request=get-abstract&issn=0018-0831&volum e=061&issue=02&page=0091
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