22 March 1998
TAPIR TALK Digest 22 March 1998 - Vol. 2, No. 17
The Tapir Preservation Fund
The Tapir Gallery: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/
Tapir Talk Archives and Info: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/tt.htm
E-mail: tapir@tapirback.com
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Contents of this issue
1. Conservation work of Craig Downer and Ruben Nunez
2. WCS onine congress - Conservation Education
Report of March 3, 1998
by Craig C. Downer
Andean Tapir Fund
Banos, Tungurahua, Ecuador
To: Sheryl Todd, Tapir Preservation Fund
Subject: Report on the work of Ruben Nunez and Craig Downer to study and
preserve the mountain tapir
The indigenous people and campesinos that live in the paramos located at the
limits of Sangay National Park have an assortment of economic problems. The
lack of irrigation water limits their crops to the rainy season. Strong
freezes and fungal infections (Phytoptora infestans) plague their crops. Add
to this their employment of monocultivation, generally of wheat, oats,
barley, potatoes, as often dictated by the market and bankers, and the
result is that they obtain after 7-8 months of work a value of $7.50 US per
quintal, or 100 pounds. This they obtain from their minifundios, or very
small parcels. For example, a family generally has 4,000 square meters,
obtaining 6 quintales of barley after 7 months, this being worth $45 after 7
months work, or $6.40 per month!
This intolerable economic situation causes the fathers of these families to
migrate to the cities in search of work, which generally is as construction
workers and porters. In their homes, this situation provokes emotional problems.
Due to these problems, the Indian enters the forests to slash and burn and
then perhaps after several years of cultivation, or perhaps directly, to
place cattle on these cleared lands. Often the campesino considers the lands
too steep for cultivation. Thus, the campesino obtains from these lands
milk, meat, and greater income to sustain his often large family, typically
around 8 children, but up to 14 or so.
By his traditional life style, especially since the Conquista, the campesino
has become a destroyer of the flora and fauna. He is a hunter of large
species that may serve for food or hide such as white tailed and brocket
deer, tapirs, cuies, rabbits, as well as small animals such as song birds.
These are easily gathered when he burns the landscape, since then they are
forced from their habitats and burrows.
The burning causes a quick release of nutrients into the soil as ash, which
in turn causes tender buds to grown from the grass. These constitute a more
nutritional source of food for livestock. Without trees to sustain the steep
and erodible slopes, wind and water erosion accelerate, causing the loss of
nutrients, a disintegration of the texture and structure of the soil, etc.,
leaving topsoils washed away and remaining soils - if any - infertile and
little productive. Eventually this results in the campesino going ever
higher and/or to other virgin forests in order to repeat the same
process. The writing is clearly on the wall that this must end somewhere,
sometime!
After having analyzed the state of the natural resources in regions
bordering Sangay National Park and including areas in both Tungurahua and
Chimborazo states, we have observed that the soils, in spite of all this
abuse, still have a large quantity of clay. This clay could permit the ready
recuperation of these lands, since clays contain cations that bind important
nutrients. Also the area has deep nutrient rich ashy soils from its long
history of volcanic activity. But this ecologically restorative process will
only take place provided sound land use practises are implemented. These
include the construction of terraces, the incorporation of organic material,
the utilization of native species that yield useful and salable products,
and a system of drainage and irrigation appropriate to each situation. In
many cases, corrective alternatives such as these are all that stand between
total ecological disaster and continued survival for nearly all species, man
included.
By bringing to light sound alternative lifestyles such as the above, we are
trying both to save the mountain tapir and to restore ecologically
sustainable practices among the people of the region. To this end, we have
realized, together with Catholic nuns, in the highland community of Columbe
what is its first comunal greenhouse built in the paramo. This will produce
tree tomato through organic gardening methods. Soon in order to recover
soils, we will build terraces which incorporate lupin (a nitrogen fixer
which enriches soils, stabilizes slopes and
provides a nutritious bean) and milin, manzanilla and sabila (for the
production of curative teas and soaps, shampoos, soups).
Also earlier this year, together with officials of INEFAN, we went to a
meeting of various communities including Guaralaj Grande, Guaralaj Chico,
Alao, Etien, and others. The park superintendent, Vicente Alvarez, was also
in attendance. We reached an agreement substantiating the national law that
defends Sangay National Park against hunting. The local communities also
agreed to extract cattle from certain sectors of Sangay National Park over
several years. This would include the heavily livestock-invaded Plazapamba
and LlanaLLacu sectors of the park (and further invasion was noticed along
the tourist trails that lead from these toward the base camp of La Playa in
early to mid February, 1998).
This agreement was recorded and constitutes the best achievement to date in
this region, since this initiative was taken by the community and not merely
imposed from outside, as by the federal government, which has been
ineffective for years in defending this area of the park. Of course, the
final result remains to be seen, and we will be reporting on this.
Conferences have been delivered on the mountain tapir and its ecological
importance and conservation plight at the Francisco Ferrer High School and
at the Catholic University of Puyo, among others in Ba¤os and Ambato. In
1998, it is planned to extend these conservation conferences to the states
of Ca¤ar and Morona Santiago at
the southern end of Sangay National Park where important mountain tapir
populations survive.
At the base of Sangay Volcano, we have also made a number of excellent
sightings of mountain tapirs, including a mother and her yearling calf. We
were able observe them for some time, and to get rare film documentation of
some of the tapirs.
As mentioned earlier, there was evidence of increased intensification and
extension of cattle into Sangay National Park. This is being reported to the
World Heritage Office, UNESCO, Paris, which will send officials to visit and
assess Sangay National Park in April. Craig has been invited by Vicente
Alvarez to participate in this expedition. Craig and Ruben also made a
report to INEFAN regarding the effect of cattle invasion in Sangay National
Park upon the mountain tapirs. It is shown that a substantial negative
impact occurs upon the tapirs, causing them to
occupy less area as individuals, to abandon their home ranges, or be killed
by vaqueros. This should help to effect stricter implementation of park
rules against livestock, as well as hunting, which go hand in hand. I am
sending this report to the World Heritage Office UNESCO, as well as to you.
Ruben is currently coordinating with the Mountain Tapir Preservation Club of
Ambato to achieve the restoration of Zapoteca aculiata, an endangered plant
species which is found on the slopes of Tungurahua Volcano (part of Sangay
N.P. and which should be currently occupied mountain tapir habitat if the
tapirs have not been entirely hunted out here).
Craig will submit a resume for a conference on mountain ecology to take
place in Quito. He has already been invited to give presentations at three
major universities and some high schools, including the American high school
in Quito.
Coastal rains continue to exacerbate the ecological and economic situation,
but provide an example that should be understood now of how important the
"living sponge" is in the Andean regions. A recent slide in Esmeraldas in NW
Ecuador opened a pipeline, and a fire resulted which was quite devastating.
Some people here have seen your WWW site. What is needed now is some major
support to get an office, a computer hooked to the Internet, a
telephone/fax, a 4WD vehicle, a slide projector, a TV and VCR, etc., to
really start operating effectively. Costs have escalated here in Ecuador and
the hire of a vehicle and gas, etc., would also greatly expedite the project.
Craig C. Downer
c.o. Casa Nahuazo
Via al Salado
Casilla 18-02-1922
Banos, Tungurahua
ECUADOR
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[This notice has been edited for format only; the Spanish version did not
come through e-mail intact. Please contact the conference planners for
information in Sapnish. http://www.wcs.org - S.T.]
Return-Path:
From: "Roberto Aguilar"
To: [list snipped]
Subject: Fw: wildlife conservation
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 08:26:09 -0600
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
Roberto F. Aguilar
Senior Veterinarian
Audubon Park Zoo
6500 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70118 USA
Hospital - Tel. (504) 861-5109
Personal Ext. (504) 861-2537 ext. 246
FAX (504) 861-6164
email RAguilar@auduboninstitute.org
[intermediate sender message snipped]
Announcing the Second Pan-American Congress on the Conservation of
Wildlife Through Education
What is the Second Pan-American Congress on the Conservation of Wildlife
Through Education?
There is growing awareness that environmental education is an essential
ingredient in long-term conservation of wildlife and natural habitats. The
Second Pan-American Congress on the Conservation of Wildlife Through
Education will put you in touch with the latest thinking on environmental
education in the Western Hemisphere and help to provide a blueprint for
conservation education in the 21st Century.
The congress will bring together environmental educators and scientists from
throughout the Americas. It will be held from June 15-30, 1998, on the
Wildlife Conservation Society web site: http://www.wcs.org. The congress
will be entirely web-based, with opportunities for "live chat" discussions
between authors and readers. The official language of the congress will be
English. A special area of the site will be reserved for papers that will
be posted in "sessions" dedicated to such topics as:
Education in Zoological Parks
Conservation Education in and around Wildlife Reserves
Conservation Education in the Schools
Role of Mass Media and Technology in Conservation Education
Partnerships in Conservation Education
Conservation Education for Diverse Audiences
Evaluation of Conservation Education Programs
Preparing for the Future
Why is the congress being held on the WCS web site?
In 1990, WCS convened the first Pan-American Congress on the Conservation of
Wildlife Through Education in Caracas, Venezuela. More than 200
participants attended the first congress. It established working
relationships, that still exist, between environmental educators throughout
the Americas, and many have expressed interest in a second congress.
Because of the growing international use of the worldwide web and the high
cost of travel and accommodations, WCS will hold the second congress on its
web site. From their own offices, participants will be able to read papers
on-line and communicate with colleagues from Canada to Chile.
Who will participate?
Participants will consist of educators from zoos, aquariums, and wildlife
reserves; conservation scientists; university professors; and students.
Papers will be contributed by authors in the U.S., Mexico, El Salvador,
Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Belize and other nations. Congress
organizers expect hundreds of participants and more than forty contributed
papers.
How can you participate?
Anyone who is interested can "attend" the congress by accessing the Wildlife
Conservation Society's web site (http://www.wcs.org) between June 15 and
June 30, 1998. We encourage you to read the posted papers, comment on the
bulletin boards, and participate in the interactive chat rooms. If you would
like to author a paper, immediately contact the Wildlife Conservation
Society by e-mail (aberkovits@wcs.org) or fax (718-733-4460).
All papers must be received by April 8, 1998.
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Sheryl Todd ~ The Tapir Gallery ~ Tapir Preservation Fund
http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/ tapir@tapirback.com
Tapir Talk info & archives: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/tt.htm
Deputy Chair, IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group
Co-Editor, IUCN/SSC TSG Newsletter
TSG Newsletter: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/iucn-ssc/tsg/
P.O. Box 1432, Palisade, CO 81526 USA Fax (970) 464-0377
"Promoting the Welfare of Tapirs Everywhere"
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