Posts Tagged ‘Species.’

89 Conservation Groups, 97 Scientists Oppose Proposed Obama Policy Reducing Protection for Endangered Species

Posted by admin on March 12th, 2012

WASHINGTON— In separate letters, 89 conservation groups and 97 scientists have expressed opposition to a proposed Obama administration policy that would sharply limit protection for the nation’s imperiled wildlife by reinterpreting a key phrase in the Endangered Species Act that determines when plants and animals qualify for protection. Conservation groups opposing the policy include the Center for Biological Diversity, Endangered Species Coalition, Earthjustice and the Humane Society of the United States.


“This policy is like ignoring an injured patient in the emergency room and jumping into action only when he’s at death’s door,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “If this policy had been in place when the Endangered Species Act was passed, the bald eagle would never have been protected in any of the lower 48 states, because there were still a lot of eagles up in Alaska.”


Under the Act, an endangered species is defined as any “in danger of extinction in all or a significant of portion of its range.” The phrase “significant portion of range” is important, because it means that a species need not be at risk of extinction everywhere it lives to receive protection. The proposed Obama policy reinterprets this phrase by defining “significant” to mean that loss of the species from that portion of range would threaten the survival of the species, creating a much higher threshold for imperiled wildlife to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. It also limits consideration of whether species are endangered in portions of their range to only where they currently exist and not their historic range — effectively pretending species have not already experienced massive losses from which they need to recover.


“This wrong-headed proposal strikes at the very heart of the Endangered Species Act, which was enacted to conserve the ecosystems on which imperiled species depend,” said Patrick Paranteau, a law professor at the Vermont Law School. “Instead of conserving ecosystems for their biological and economic values, this policy would promote fragmentation and degradation, driving more and more species to the brink of extinction. This is bad science, bad law and bad policy.”


In addition to the two letters sent Thursday, March 8, the proposed policy has come under extensive criticism. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the ranking member on the House Natural Resources Committee, criticized the policy in a Jan. 26 letter to the director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, saying the policy sets the bar for listing declining species “at much too high a threshold” and that it is inconsistent with Congress’ original intent for the Endangered Species Act. Separately the Society for Conservation Biology, the primary scientific body concerned with loss of species, submitted extensive comments criticizing the policy. 


The reasoning of the proposed policy has already been used to deny protection to the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, even though the rare bird is at risk of being lost in the entirety of the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Mexico. In draft findings developed prior to the development of the policy, the agency recommended the pygmy owl receive protection, but following development of the proposed policy it reversed course and denied the animal protection.  


“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has long been criticized for only protecting species on the very brink of extinction, which makes recovery a difficult uphill slog,” said Greenwald. “This policy would actually codify that approach, essentially saying: ‘Let’s delay protection for these creatures until they’re in absolutely dire straits.’ ”

Contact Info: Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity, (503) 484-7495

Patrick Parenteau, Vermont Law School, (802) 831-1305

Website : Center for Biological Diversity

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France joins ‘Save Our Species’

Posted by admin on March 6th, 2012

The quest to protect globally threatened species has taken a large leap forward today with the announcement of the French Global Environment Facility’s (FFEM) commitment to support SOS (Save Our Species) with a € 1 million grant.

IUCN – News

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Feds Plan to Strip Endangered Species Act Protection From Gray Wolves Across United States

Posted by admin on March 2nd, 2012

Portland, Ore.— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday recommended removing federal protections from gray wolves that remain on the endangered species list after wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains and upper Midwest had their protections stripped last year. The move could be devastating to wolf recovery. Fish and Wildlife conceded it will still consider protection for subspecies or breeding populations (including Mexican gray wolves, a recognized subspecies) and for populations in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast; its recommendation came in a five-year review of the Endangered Species Act listing for gray wolves in the lower 48.


“The agency’s saying protection for wolves should be taken away from them anywhere they don’t live right now, even if they lived there for thousands of years before we exterminated them and even if those places are still good habitat for them,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which has worked for decades to restore wolves. “If this approach had been taken with, say, bald eagles, we’d never have recovered eagles across much of the Midwest, Southeast or Northeast, where they didn’t exist when they were protected. This is a frightening example of the Fish and Wildlife Service abandoning the recovery mandate of the Endangered Species Act.”


According to the agency, ongoing status reviews of Mexican wolves, northwestern wolves and eastern wolves in New England will conclude by Sept. 30, 2012, when the agency signaled national-level protection for wolves would cease, likely including protections for wolves anywhere they are not currently found, such as the Northeast, Great Plains and central Rocky Mountains.  


“Scientists have identified extensive wolf habitat in the Northeast, Southwest, Rocky Mountains and West Coast,” said Greenwald. “Protections should stay in place in all these wild areas, and recovery plans should be written allowing wolves to return safely.” 


Wolves may retain protections in portions of California and western Washington and Oregon. Two packs now reside in Washington, and wolves have been moving west from newly established packs in eastern Oregon — including OR-7, or Journey, who traveled 1,000 miles to become the first wolf in California in almost 90 years. The situation is less clear in the Northeast, where there are no breeding packs, although there are wolves a mere 100 miles north of the Canadian border.  


“We hope wolves in the Southwest and Northwest will retain protection and gain the benefits of scientific recovery plans,” said Greenwald. “But stripping protections for wolves in the central Rocky Mountains of Utah and Colorado, and in verdant New England where overlarge deer populations are devouring tree seedlings and stopping forests from regrowing, hurts these ecosystems and is tragic for pioneering wolves.”


In the vacuum of federal leadership for wolf recovery, and in light of OR-7’s ongoing two-month-long journey into Northern California, a hopeful precursor of other wolves’ arrivals, the Center petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission on Monday to list wolves as endangered under the state’s Endangered Species Act and develop a state recovery plan.


Scientists have found that wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995 forced elk to move more, allowing for recovery of streamside vegetation and helping beavers, fish and songbirds. Wolves also benefit scavenging animals such as weasels, eagles, wolverines and bears; and they increased numbers of foxes and pronghorns in Yellowstone and nearby Grand Teton National Park by controlling coyotes.


“If we want to keep any part of America wild, we need to keep our wolves,” said Greenwald.


Read the federal recommendation at:http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc3978. lupus 5-YR review PDF.pdf


Read more about the Center’s work to save wolves at:

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/gray_wolves/index.html

Contact Info: Noah Greenwald, (503) 484-7495

Website : Center for Biological Diversity

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Petition Filed to Protect Gray Wolves Under California Endangered Species Act

Posted by admin on February 28th, 2012

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity and three other conservation groups petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission Monday to protect gray wolves as an endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act. Wolves, which are not currently protected under the state law, were absent from the state from 1924 until late in 2011, when a wolf from Oregon made a thousand-mile journey to Northern California. It has lived there since.


“The return of the gray wolf to California is exciting — it’s a cause for celebration,” said Noah Greenwald, the Center’s endangered species director. “The West Coast is crucial to wolf recovery in the United States, and California has hundreds of square miles of excellent wolf habitat. But if that one wolf is to become many, wolves need help so they don’t get killed. They need the protection of the state’s Endangered Species Act, and they need a science-based recovery plan.”


Gray wolves are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act in portions of their range, including California; but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, charged with implementing the Act, has never developed a recovery plan for wolves in California. Such a plan would specify management actions needed to protect and recover the species and establish population targets. Both Oregon and Washington initiated state wolf-management plans prior to wolves establishing in those states.


“California needs a road map for recovering wolves,” said Greenwald. “Wolf populations in neighboring states will continue to expand, and more wolves will almost certainly show up in California, which has plenty of habitat and available prey.”


Monday’s petition documents that wolves once roamed most of California. Even though California is now the most populated state in the West, scientists estimate there is still extensive habitat for wolves in both Northern California and the Sierra Nevada.


Between crossing the border from Canada and efforts to reintroduce them into Yellowstone National Park, wolf populations have continued to grow in the northern Rocky Mountains and Oregon and Washington. The wolf known as Journey, or OR-7, who arrived in California in December came from a pack that was formed in 2008 when wolves moved from Idaho to the Wallowa Mountains in northeast Oregon. As wolf populations continue to grow, it is likely that more wolves will travel to California. 


“Wolves have been an integral part of North American landscapes, including California, for millions of years and are cherished, iconic animals that deserve a certain future,” said Greenwald. “The return of wolves to California will help restore the natural balance and reverse the historic wrong done by people who shot, poisoned and persecuted wolves into oblivion.”


Wolves are a keystone species that benefit their prey populations by culling sick animals and preventing overpopulation of species such as deer. Studies of reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park show that they benefit numerous other species as well, including pronghorn and foxes, by controlling coyote populations; they help songbirds and beavers by dispersing browsing elk and allowing recovery of the streamside vegetation that songbirds and beavers need.


The Center was joined in the petition by Big Wildlife, the Environmental Protection Information Center and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center. 

Contact Info: Noah Greenwald, (503) 484-7495

Website : Center for Biological Diversity

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12% of Marine Species in Tropical Eastern Pacific Threatened

Posted by admin on February 24th, 2012

Gland, Switzerland/Arlington, Va — Twelve percent of marine species surveyed in the Gulf of California, the coasts of Panama and Costa Rica and the five offshore oceanic islands and archipelagos in the tropical eastern Pacific are threatened with extinction, according to a study by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and its partners. Main threats to the region’s marine flora and fauna include over-fishing, habitat loss and increasing impacts from the El Nino Southern Oscillation.

Released this week, the study is the first IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ assessment available for all known species of marine shore-fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, sea birds, corals, mangroves and seagrasses in a major marine biogeographic region. The analysis identifies specific geographic zones where conservation efforts are needed most, including around the mouth of the Gulf of California and the coastlines of Panama and Costa Rica, while also identifying the nature and location of the greatest dangers to marine life.

“Understanding species vulnerability to major threats is paramount for determining how species and marine environments are likely to respond to one or more simultaneous threats,” says Beth Polidoro, Research Associate, IUCN Marine Biodiversity Unit, and lead author of the study. “Identification of threatened species and patterns of threat in the tropical eastern Pacific region can help guide local and regional marine conservation priorities for biodiversity conservation, as well as serve to inform policy.”

In recent years, at least 20 marine species have gone extinct around the world, and more than 133 local populations of marine species have suffered a similar fate. These include the disappearance of the endemic Galapagos Damselfish (Azurina eupalama) during the events of El Niño from 1982-1983. Drastic declines have also been documented across several marine groups, including many populations of commercial fish, coral reef fish, reef-building corals, mangroves, and seagrasses. Two commercial marine fish, the Totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) and the Giant Sea Bass (Stereolepis gigas) are listed as Critically Endangered, and were once common in the waters of southern California and the Gulf of California, Mexico. Both species are extremely desirable for human consumption but have limited ability to cope with severe over-fishing because they have long life spans and the large groups they form when spawning are often targeted by fishers — reducing the chances of rebuilding sustainable populations.

“Saving threatened species is the single most important thing we can do to safeguard ocean health, which benefits millions of people that depend on thriving and productive oceans,” says Scott Henderson, Regional Director of Marine Conservation at Conservation International and co-author of the study. “This new study is a monumental scientific effort which gives governments and support organizations the information needed to focus conservation dollars on the species, places and problems that need help the most.”

The findings reinforce that conservation action is needed for both marine species and the geographic areas where they are most threatened. For example, the creation of a marine protected area around Clipperton Island in the eastern Pacific Ocean should be a high priority, as it has one of the highest proportions of threatened species in the tropical eastern Pacific, and is the only one of the five oceanic islands and archipelagos in the region that lacks complete governmental protection. Legislation to limit mangrove removal from important fishery nursing grounds along the coasts of Costa Rica and Panama is also vital, according to the study. Additionally, better data collection, reporting and monitoring for both targeted and by-catch fisheries species should be an urgent priority for the improvement of marine conservation efforts throughout the region.

“There are tangible steps that we can take to curtail the risk of extinction of species in the tropical eastern Pacific,” says Tom Brooks, NatureServe’s Chief Scientist. “For example, for the few fishery species that are threatened, we must work towards better management on both local and regional scales. We can make a difference, but first we must collect and use the valuable data available.”

# # #

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Notes to editors:

This study was conducted by IUCN Species Programme Marine Biodiversity Unit and partners, including the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), Conservation International (CI), Old Dominion University, NatureServe, the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies –(University of Tasmania), the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

The paper, “Patterns of extinction risk and threat for marine vertebrates and habitat-forming species in the Tropical Eastern Pacific” has been accepted for publication in Marine Ecology Progress Series, http://www.int-res.com/journals/meps/meps-home/. Advance copies of the paper can be obtained from Beth Polidoro at [email protected] or [email protected]

About Conservation International
Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the long term well-being of people. Founded in 1987 and marking its 25th anniversary in 2012, CI has headquarters in the Washington DC area, and 900 employees working in nearly 30 countries on four continents, plus 1,000+ partners around the world. For more information, please visit at www.conservation.org, or on Facebook or Twitter.

About the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape (ETPS)
The Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape (ETPS) supports marine conservation and sustainable use of resources in the national waters, coasts and islands of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama. At two million square kilometers (more than 770,000 square miles), the ETPS is a region of abundant and spectacular marine life with complex biogeography – including isolated islands, the convergence of numerous currents and highly productive upwelling. CI works in this region with support from the Walton Family Foundation to conserve and sustainably manage the region’s high diversity, endemism and concentrations of species that support both fisheries and tourism.

Tropical Eastern Pacific Red List Assessments
The Tropical Eastern Pacific Red List Assessments are a part of the Global Marine Species Assessment’s mission to complete more than 20,000 marine species assessments for inclusion on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. The Global Marine Species Assessment Unit (GMSA), or Marine Biodiversity Unit, is a joint initiative of IUCN Species Programme and Conservation International. The GMSA is headquartered in the Department of Biology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and is largely enabled by the generous support of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Tom Haas.

To complete the Tropical Eastern Pacific IUCN Red List assessments, the GMSA collaborated with a wide diversity of international scientists who represent Fisheries Management Organizations, international conservation organizations, government agencies, universities, and independent fisheries research institutions. The Tropical Eastern Pacific assessments were generously supported by Tom Haas and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Conservation International’s Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascapes Program, in addition to the Charles Darwin Foundation, SeagrassNet, BirdLife International, the University of Costa Rica, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the IUCN Species Specialist Groups (IUCN 2011). Scientific contributors to all of the seabird, marine mammal, sea turtle, marine fishes, coral, mangrove, and seagrass species assessments are acknowledged under each species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ (www.iucnredlist.org).

Complete results of the Tropical Eastern Pacific assessments were published on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ in November 2010.

The IUCN Red List threat categories
The IUCN Red List threat categories are as follows, in descending order of threat:

Extinct or Extinct in the Wild
Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable: species threatened with global extinction;
Near Threatened: species close to the threatened thresholds or that would be threatened without ongoing specific conservation measures;
Least Concern: species evaluated with a lower risk of extinction;
Data Deficient: no assessment because of insufficient data.
Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct): this is not a new Red List category, but is a flag developed to identify those Critically Endangered species that are in all probability already Extinct but for which confirmation is required, for example, through more extensive surveys being carried out and failing to find any individuals.

About IUCN
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges.

IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting scientific research, managing field projects all over the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with more than 1,200 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 45 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world.
www.iucn.org

About the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ (or the IUCN Red List) is the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of plant, fungi and animal species. It is based on an objective system for assessing the risk of extinction of a species should no conservation action be taken.

Species are assigned to one of eight categories of threat based on whether they meet criteria linked to population trend, population size and structure and geographic range. Species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable are collectively described as ‘Threatened’.

The IUCN Red List is not just a register of names and associated threat categories. It is a rich compendium of information on the threats to the species, their ecological requirements, where they live, and information on conservation actions that can be used to reduce or prevent extinctions.

The IUCN Red List is a joint effort between IUCN and its Species Survival Commission, working with the Red List partners BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation International; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas A&M University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London.
http://www.iucnredlist.org/

About the Species Survival Commission (SSC)
The SSC is the largest of IUCN’s six volunteer commissions with a global membership of around 7,500 experts. The SSC advises IUCN and its members on the wide range of technical and scientific aspects of species conservation, and is dedicated to securing a future for biodiversity. The SSC consists of more than 110 Specialist Groups (SG).
http://iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species

About Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University is Virginia’s forward-focused, public doctoral research university for high-performing students from around the world. The university has 26 research centers and a total enrollment of 24,000 students.
http://www.odu.edu

About NatureServe
NatureServe is a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to providing the scientific basis for effective conservation action. Through its network of 82 natural heritage programs and conservation data centers in the United States, Canada, and Latin America, NatureServe provides a unique body of detailed scientific information and conservation biodiversity expertise about the plants, animals, and ecosystems of the Americas. www.natureserve.org

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a unit of the Smithsonian Institution. The Institute furthers the understanding of tropical nature and its importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems. Website: www.stri.si.edu

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One in 10 species in eastern Pacific at risk

Posted by admin on February 24th, 2012
  • , science correspondent
    • IUCN report on marine species in tropical eastern Pacific : Giant sea bass in California
    The giant sea bass (Stereolepis gigas) – listed by conservationists as ‘critically endangered’ – was once common in the waters around southern California and the Gulf of California. Photograph: Mark Conlin / Alamy/Alamy

    More than one in 10 (12%) of the marine species in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean are threatened with extinction, according to a new survey. Many of the region’s marine mammals, sea turtles, birds, corals and mangroves were found to be under pressure from overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction and impacts from El Niño.

    Scientists led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) surveyed more than 1,600 species in areas including the Gulf of California, the coasts of Panama and Costa Rica and several offshore oceanic islands and archipelagos in the tropical eastern Pacific. They found 197 species in the threatened categories, that is, “critically endangered”, “endangered” or “vulnerable”.

    All five species of marine turtles are in one of these threatened categories. Many habitat-producing species are also in threatened categories: 40% of mangroves, 25% of seagrasses, and 18% of reef-building corals. Around 15% of cartilaginous fishes and 9% of the bony fishes in the region are threatened, as are around 15% of marine mammals and 21% of seabirds.

    “Understanding species vulnerability to major threats is paramount for determining how species and marine environments are likely to respond to one or more simultaneous threats,” said Beth Polidoro, a research associate at the IUCN marine biodiversity unit. “Identification of threatened species and patterns of threat in the tropical eastern Pacific region can help guide local and regional marine conservation priorities for biodiversity conservation, as well as serve to inform policy.”

    The results of Polidoro’s study, which will inform the IUCN’s “red list” of threatened species, are due to be published in an upcoming edition of the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

    In the paper, Polidoro and her team wrote that more than 20 marine species have become extinct around the world in recent decades and around 133 local populations have suffered the same fate. These declines include the disappearance of the endemic Galapagos damselfish (Azurina eupalama) during the El Niño of 1982-83. “Drastic recent declines have also been documented across several marine groups, including many populations of commercial marine fishes, coral reef fishes, reef-building oysters, corals, and seagrasses,” the researchers wrote.

    The commercial marine fishes, the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) and the giant sea bass (Stereolepis gigas) are listed by conservationists as “critically endangered” – both were once common in the waters around southern California and the Gulf of California. They are sought for human consumption but do not cope well with overfishing due to their long life spans. Because they spawn in large groups that are targeted by fishing fleets, it is more difficult to maintain sustainable populations.

    “Saving threatened species is the single most important thing we can do to safeguard ocean health, which benefits millions of people that depend on thriving and productive oceans,” said Scott Henderson, regional director of marine conservation at Conservation International and a co-author of the study. “This new study is a monumental scientific effort which gives governments and support organisations the information needed to focus conservation dollars on the species, places and problems that need help the most.”

    IUCN red list assessments can be used to inform the design of reserves to prevent development and exploitation. One of the highest proportions of threatened species in the tropical eastern Pacific, for example, is around tiny Clipperton Island. “The creation of a Clipperton marine protected area should be a high regional priority,” wrote the researchers. “Further, legislation to limit mangrove removal from important fishery nursing grounds along the coasts of Costa Rica and Panama is needed. For the few fishery species that are threatened based on the availability of adequate data, better management is needed on both local and regional scales. More importantly, however, increased reporting and better monitoring of by-catch are needed for the majority of species considered to be threatened by overexploitation in the [tropical eastern Pacific].”

    Henderson said that broken fisheries can be fixed by implementing better fishing practices, changing access rights and setting in practice quotas and zoning that both protect the environment and increase fisheries production. “Some of the formerly most polluted waterways in the world, including the Great Lakes and indeed the Hudson River – are once again healthy, productive fishing areas,” he said. “Marine protected areas maximise resilience to the impacts of severe weather and climate change.”

    Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

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    New Species: Iridescent short-legged lizard discovered in Northeast Cambodia

    Posted by admin on February 23rd, 2012

    Phnom Penh, Cambodia — Scientists announced today the discovery of a never-before-seen skink in Cambodia which is characterized by its very short legs, long tail and striking iridescent skin. The skink was found during a Rapid Assesment Program expedition in northeast Cambodia led by Fauna & Flora International (FFI), in partnership with Conservation International (CI) between February and March of 2010.

    The skink, described in a paper published this month by Zootaxa, was named Lygosoma veunsaiensis to honor the Veun Sai-Siem Pang Conservation Area in Ratanakiri where it was found. It is the latest in a string of new species discovered in this area, including Walston’s tube-nosed bat (Murina walstoni) and the northern yellow-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus annamensis).

    The skink is unusual in having extremely short limbs and a very long tail, considerably longer than its body. In sunlight a refracting quality to the scales creates a rainbow-like effect along its body.

    “This is the third new species in the last two years to be discovered in Veun Sai,” said Ben Rawson the Conservation International site manager. “Last year a new type of bat was found here, and in 2010 a new gibbon species was described. Naming this new skink Lygosoma veunsaiensis is a nice tribute to the area’s biological value.”

    “These creatures are difficult to find because they spend so much of their life underground,” said Neang Thy, a Cambodian national working for FFI and the first herpetologist to see the new skink. “Some similar species are known from only a few individuals. We were very lucky to find this one.”

    “Three decades of conflict effectively prevented herpetological investigations until the late 1990s, but Cambodia is proving a biodiversity hot spot for new discoveries, especially new reptiles,” said Peter Geissler from Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig in Germany, and one of the authors who described the skink. “Now we have a chance to uncover many of the things that have previously been missed”.

    ###

    Available content for media (***Please Provide Image Credits***)

    Download photos of the new iridescent skink
    http://ci.smugmug.com/Media/2012/Veun-Sai-Lygosoma/21456662_N23M68

    Photo credit: © Gabor Csorba

    Preview the scientific article from Zootaxa (including abstract and citation)
    http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2012/f/z03190p068f.pdf


    For more information, contact:

    Neang Thy
    Fauna & Flora International,
    Mobile: +855 (0) 16671771 (Cambodia)
    [email protected]
     
    Ben Rawson Ph.D.
    Veun Sai-Siem Pang Conservation Area Manager, CI-Cambodia
    Mobile Ph: Ph: +855 (0) 12657252 (Cambodia, 13-17 Feb)
    +84 (0) 915095342 (Vietnam- 17 Feb onward)
    [email protected]

    Emmeline Johansen
    Regional Communications Manager – Asia Pacific, Conservation International
    Mobile (+64) (0) 277793401 (New Zealand)
    [email protected]


    Note to editors:

    Conservation International (CI) — Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the long term well-being of people. Founded in 1987 and marking its 25th anniversary in 2012, CI has headquarters in the Washington DC area, and 900 employees working in nearly 30 countries on four continents, plus 1,000+ partners around the world. For more information, please visit at www.conservation.org, or on Facebook or Twitter.

    About Fauna & Flora International (FFI) — FFI protects threatened species and ecosystems worldwide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science and take account of human needs. Operating in more than 40 countries worldwide – mainly in the developing world – FFI saves species from extinction and habitats from destruction, while improving the livelihoods of local people. Founded in 1903, FFI is the world’s longest established international conservation body and a registered charity.
    www.fauna-flora.org

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    Love you for life: Monogamous species celebrate Valentine’s Day

    Posted by admin on February 11th, 2012

    What do gibbons, swans, wolves, French Angelfish, and albatrosses have in common? This Valentine’s Day they will all be celebrating with their life-long partners—these species are some of the few creatures that mate for life.

    IUCN – News

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    California Protects Vanishing High Sierra and Southern California Frogs Under State Endangered Species Act

    Posted by admin on February 4th, 2012

    SaCRAMENTO, Calif.— The California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously today to designate two species of native frogs inhabiting high-elevation lakes in the Sierra Nevada and Southern California mountain ranges as threatened and endangered species under the state’s Endangered Species Act. More than 75 percent of the state’s high-elevation frog populations have disappeared because of introductions of nonnative trout, disease and pesticides. Sierra mountain yellow-legged frogs are now protected as threatened species and Southern mountain yellow-legged frogs are designated as endangered.


    “With formal state protection, California can start recovering an important part of mountain ecosystems to bring back formerly abundant amphibians,” said Jeff Miller at the Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned for state protection in 2010. “Taking out exotic trout and getting rid of pollutants to restore mountain yellow-legged frogs will have ripple effects beyond these species — it’ll help to heal some of the damaged high-elevation habitats of the Sierras and Southern California mountains.”


    Following the Center’s petition, in 2011 the state’s Department of Fish and Game completed an evaluation of the status of both species and recommended threatened and endangered listings, respectively, for Sierra and southern frogs.


    The Center originally petitioned to protect the Sierra frog population under the federal Endangered Species Act in 2000. Mountain yellow-legged frogs in Southern California were protected as a federal endangered species in 2002, but although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined Sierra frogs also deserved endangered status, it instead placed them on an indefinite waiting list. A recent settlement agreement with the Center, which will also speed protection decisions for 756 other species, requires the Service in 2013 to make a decision about whether to add the Sierra frog to the federal endangered list.


    A few decades ago, mountain yellow-legged frogs were abundant around many of the Sierra’s alpine lakes. Tadpoles must survive up to four freezing winters at the bottom of deep lakes before metamorphosing. These hardy frogs are vulnerable to predation by introduced trout and diseases possibly exacerbated by pesticides; other threats are habitat changes caused by water developments, climate change and livestock grazing. More than half of frog populations found in 1995 have gone extinct.


    The new state listing makes it unlawful to “take” (kill, harm or capture) frogs without authorization. The Center has twice sued the California Department of Fish and Game to force evaluation of the environmental impacts of the state’s fish-stocking program, which introduces exotic trout into the high-elevation habitats where species such as the mountain-yellow-legged frog evolved without aquatic predators. The Department is recommending no trout stocking in the state without a fish management plan, and no further stocking in areas that would conflict with protecting yellow-legged frogs.


    Background

    The mountain yellow-legged frog was recently redescribed by scientists as two distinct species: the southern mountain-yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa), in the southern Sierra and Southern California mountain ranges; and the Sierra Nevada mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana sierrae), inhabiting the central and northern Sierra.


    Widespread stocking of nonnative trout in high-elevation Sierra lakes has been a primary cause of the species’ decline: Introduced trout eat tadpoles and juvenile frogs.

    Recent research has also linked pesticides that drift from agricultural areas in the Central Valley to declines of Sierra Nevada amphibians; pesticides and other pollutants can kill frogs or make them more susceptible to disease. Mismanagement of national forest lands has degraded habitat, while climate change has brought warmer temperatures, decreases in runoff and other changes rendering frog populations vulnerable to drought-related extinction events.

    Read more about the Center’s 757 species settlement here:

    http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/species_agreement/index.html

    and our campaign to save mountain yellow-legged frogs here: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/amphibians/Sierra_Nevada_mountain_yellow-legged_frog/index.html

    Contact Info: Jeff Miller, (415) 669-7357

    Website : Center for Biological Diversity

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    ENN Network News – ENN

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    New species discovered in Suriname

    Posted by admin on January 25th, 2012


    A scientific expedition into one of the world’s last pristine tropical forests has revealed incredibly diverse species and extraordinary cultural heritage, say Conservation International. Their survey in south-west Suriname has documented nearly 1,300 species, including 46 that may be new to science

    Photograph: Trond Larsen/Conservation International

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    Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

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