Transcript Conservation needs assessment process, Johnson

The Amphibian Ark’s
Species Prioritization
Process
The Amphibian Ark
The Global Amphibian Crisis
The Global Conservation Response
• In September of 2005, Conservation International
and the IUCN convened an Amphibian
Conservation Summit in Washington, DC
– A declaration was produced calling for:
– an Amphibian Conservation Action Plan
(ACAP) to address the extinction crisis
– an Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG) to
carry out that plan
The Global Amphibian Crisis
The Ex Situ Conservation Response
• The ex situ community (zoos, aquariums, etc.)
are uniquely suited to help, with:
– >1,200 zoos and aquariums are
members of WAZA or of regional
associations affiliated with WAZA
– >100,000 employees
– >600 million visitors per year,
1 in every 10 people in the world!
The Global Amphibian Crisis
The Ex Situ Conservation Response
• Zoos and aquariums can help with:
– rapid response rescues
– captive insurance colonies
– providing animals for release and research
– developing recovery plans
– conservation education
– capacity building
– fundraising
The Amphibian Ark
The Ex Situ Conservation Response
• The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums
(WAZA) has come together with the IUCN
Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG)
and the Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG) to
form the Amphibian Ark (AArk)
The Amphibian Ark
Organizational structure:
The Amphibian Ark
AArk’s Mission:
• Working in partnerships to ensure the global
survival of amphibians, focusing on those that can
not be safeguarded in nature
© 2003 Alexander Haas
The Amphibian Ark
AArk Steering Committee:
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Regional zoo associations (13 representatives)
Botanic Gardens Conservation International
Private sector (3 regional representatives)
International Council of Museums
ISIS
© 2003 Jeet Sukumaran
The Amphibian Ark
AArk Staff:
• Amphibian Program Officer
– Kevin Zippel, New York
• Taxon Officers
– Kevin Johnson, Australia
– Richard Gibson, Chester
• Research Officer
– Robert Browne, Antwerp
• YOTF Global Campaign
Manager
– Lesley Dickie, London
The Amphibian Ark
• AArk will provide global coordination for
cooperative ex situ programs, including leading
training courses, taxon management, and public
relations
• AArk is leading zoos and aquariums in a globally
coordinated public awareness campaign “2008: The Year of the Frog”
• The awareness campaign enables zoos, aquariums
and zoo associations to lead capital campaigns to
pay for their own amphibian programs
The Amphibian Ark
• AArk will utilize short-term ex situ management to
ensure long-term survival in nature of amphibians
for which protection in the wild is not currently
possible
• The first emphasis is on programs within the range
countries of the species, and coupling the ex situ
work with efforts to secure species in situ
• AArk Taxon Officers will assist amphibian experts
on a regional basis to prioritize local regional
amphibian species for ex situ conservation work
The Global Amphibian Crisis
The 2006 Global Amphibian Assessment of
5,918 known species revealed that:
• 165 are presumed extinct (since 1980)
• 43% are in decline (2,469 species)
• 32% are threatened (1,896 species)
• 23% are data deficient (1,383 species)
The Global Amphibian Crisis
Country
Cambodia
Total
number of
species
Number
threatened
Percentage
threatened or
Extinct
Country
Endemics
44
3
6.8
3
326
88
27
171
25
4
16
3
347
33
9.5
161
Japan
56
20
35.7
45
Myanmar
79
0
0
16
North Korea
14
1
7.1
0
South Korea
16
1
6.3
3
202
46
22.8
56
Philippines
98
48
49
77
Singapore
27
0
0
1
Taiwan
32
8
25
15
Thailand
129
3
2.3
10
Vietnam
145
15
10.3
39
China
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Malaysia
The Global Amphibian Crisis
Country
Cambodia
Total
number of
species
Number
threatened
Percentage
threatened or
Extinct
Country
Endemics
44
3
6.8
3
326
88
27
171
25
4
16
3
347
33
9.5
161
Japan
56
20
35.7
45
Myanmar
79
0
0
16
North Korea
14
1
7.1
0
South Korea
16
1
6.3
3
202
46
22.8
56
Philippines
98
48
49
77
Singapore
27
0
0
1
Taiwan
32
8
25
15
Thailand
129
3
2.3
10
Vietnam
145
15
10.3
39
China
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Malaysia
The Global Amphibian Crisis
Country
Cambodia
Total
number of
species
Number
threatened
Percentage
threatened or
Extinct
Country
Endemics
44
3
6.8
3
326
88
27
171
25
4
16
3
347
33
9.5
161
Japan
56
20
35.7
45
Myanmar
79
0
0
16
North Korea
14
1
7.1
0
South Korea
16
1
6.3
3
202
46
22.8
56
Philippines
98
48
49
77
Singapore
27
0
0
1
Taiwan
32
8
25
15
Thailand
129
3
2.3
10
Vietnam
145
15
10.3
39
China
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Malaysia
The Global Amphibian Crisis
Country
Cambodia
Total
number of
species
Number
threatened
Percentage
threatened or
Extinct
Country
Endemics
44
3
6.8
3
326
88
27
171
25
4
16
3
347
33
9.5
161
Japan
56
20
35.7
45
Myanmar
79
0
0
16
North Korea
14
1
7.1
0
South Korea
16
1
6.3
3
202
46
22.8
56
Philippines
98
48
49
77
Singapore
27
0
0
1
Taiwan
32
8
25
15
Thailand
129
3
2.3
10
Vietnam
145
15
10.3
39
China
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Malaysia
The Amphibian Ark’s
Species Prioritization
Process
Amphibian Species Selection
Developing ex situ conservation programs
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Which species are our priorities?
Range state approval to work with species
Ex situ management expertise and resources
Collaborating with our partners
© 2003 Jeet Sukumaran
Amphibian Species Selection
Species selection and prioritization
• CBSG/WAZA held an Amphibian Ex Situ
Conservation Planning workshop, Panama, 2006
• Taxon selection and prioritization working group
developed a decision tree to select and prioritize
which taxa are most in need of ex situ assistance
• The decision tree has been further refined and
developed into a standardized electronic data entry
tool
Amphibian Species Selection
The species selection and prioritization tool
contains three main sections
1. Taxon Prioritization
– Attempts to prioritize, i.e. which species should have ex
situ programs ahead of others, when resources are
limited
– Is a series of questions, with weighted scores
– The total score indicates how important the species is in
relation to others
– Includes information about extinction risk, phylogenetic
significance, threats, conservation role, cultural and
socio-economic significance
Amphibian Species Selection
Amphibian Species Selection
Amphibian Species Selection
The species selection and prioritization tool
contains three main sections
1. Taxon Prioritization
– Ex situ conservation is not limited to captive breeding
– Research and education/awareness programs can make
invaluable contributions to amphibian conservation
– Usually answered in a workshop attended by a group of
amphibian biologists with expertise in the species being
considered
Amphibian Species Selection
The species selection and prioritization tool
contains three main sections
2. Program Authorization
– Ensures there is justification for an ex situ program
– Is there an existing conservation mandate that
recommends an ex situ program?
– Is the proposed ex situ program supported by the range
State?
Amphibian Species Selection
Amphibian Species Selection
The species selection and prioritization tool
contains three main sections
3. Program Implementation
– Considers the practical feasibility of initiating and
maintaining an ex situ program
– Includes a series of questions with yes/no answers about
husbandry, number of founder animals, facilities, food
supply etc.
– Identifies species for which ex situ programs are likely
to be successful
Amphibian Species Selection
Amphibian Species Selection
Amphibian Species Selection
The species selection and prioritization tool
• Quantifies the appropriateness for a given species
to be included in an ex situ conservation program
• Provides a prioritized list of species, with an
indication of the appropriateness, and practicality
of establishing ex situ programs
• Should be used as a guide to further develop
regional ex situ programs for amphibians
Amphibian Species Selection
The species selection and prioritization tool
• Has already been used to prioritize taxa in Europe,
Madagascar, Australasia, the US and Canada,
Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela
• Will be used with local species in Malaysia, Hong
Kong and Africa
• Is available for amphibian
prioritization workshops
in all regions, either with
or with assistance from
AArk Taxon Officers
Amphibian Species Selection
Problems with the prioritization tool
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Not all questions can be answered quantitatively
Not all questions can be answered objectively
Inconsistent interpretation
Language misunderstandings
Insufficient expertise/knowledge
Disagreement between participants
Information rapidly becomes out of date
Amphibian Species Selection
Some answers
• Incomplete knowledge of species, a problem in
itself, necessitates subjective and qualitative
answers
• Priority lists are NOT intended to be globally
comparable. Consistent interpretation is therefore
important within a workshop, but not so much
between workshops
• Workshops should be run by an experienced
facilitator who is familiar with the process and
competent in the language of the workshop
Amphibian Species Selection
Some answers
• Workshops should aim to assemble a broad range
of relevant expertise, of varied affiliation, and have
access to the internet - but accept data deficiencies
• Agree to disagree. Qualitative and subjective
perspectives guarantee disagreement - a good
facilitator will resolve disputes
• Spreadsheets can be updated quickly and easily if
the information is fed to the AARK - e.g. new
species Calotriton arnoldi recently added to the
European priority list
Amphibian Species Selection
Imminent improvements
• Aim to have the process incorporated into the
GAA update, using the same expertise and
consolidating all information within one central
amphibian conservation database
Amphibian Species Selection
What the process doesn’t do
• Generate a global priority list.
Each regional/ national list is generated
independently and is therefore incomparable with
others. In other words, a score of 55 on one list
doesn’t make a species higher priority than one
scoring 50 on another list
Amphibian Species Selection
What the process doesn’t do
• Pretend to be perfect.
If answers are subjective or qualitative in nature
they may also be inaccurate or change. Priority
lists should therefore be viewed in the broad sense
of identifying clear trends and obvious urgent
cases.
Amphibian Species Selection
What the process does do
• Provide a logical, repeatable, and most
importantly, transparent process for guiding
amphibian ex situ conservation activities within a
country or region
• Demonstrate a measured and responsible approach
to the amphibian extinction crisis by the ex situ
community
Amphibian Species Selection
Access to prioritization data
www.amphibianark.org/portal.htm
Amphibian Species Selection
Amphibian Species Selection
Summary
• Amphibians are an important component of the
global ecosystem, as indicators of environmental
health and contributors to human health
• The global conservation community has
formulated a response in the ACAP
• An integral part of that response is the Amphibian
Ark, whose resources are being used to prioritize
and maintain species in captivity until they can be
secured in the wild
Amphibian Species Selection
Summary
• AArk is excited to be working in partnership with
you to help plan for amphibian ex situ conservation
programs in Hong Kong and Guangdong provinces
• We are looking forward to scheduling and
facilitating amphibian
prioritization workshops
in Thailand next week,
and then in Indonesia
© 2003 Alexander Haas
Amphibian Ark Website
www.amphibianark.org
The Global Amphibian Crisis
We cannot allow hundreds of taxa to go the way
of these dramatic and unique species