Briefly 757 AMERICAS


America’s oldest conservation group denounces racism of its founder The oldest conservation group in the USA, The Sierra Club, will take down monu- ments to its founder because of his racist history. John Muir, who founded the group in 1892 and whose activism helped preserve the Yosemite Valley and Sequoia National Park, also had ties to white supre- macists and made derogatory comments about Indigenous people and people of colour that drew on deeply harmful racist stereotypes. As the USA begins to confront its past with the removal of many statues related to the Confederacy, the group has decided to re-examine its own history and its substantial role in perpetuating white su- premacy. The early membership of the club included vocal advocates for white suprem- acy and eugenics, was defined by whiteness and privilege and allowed for wilful igno- rance about the spaces the group enjoyed once being the homes of native peoples, forced off their lands by white settlers. Ex- clusionary membership practices continued until at least the 1960s. Source: The Independent (2020) independ- ent.co.uk/news/world/americas/sierra-club- john-muir-racism-white-supremacy- monuments-conservation-a9633036.html


Victory for Yellowstone’s grizzly bears as court rules they cannot be hunted In a victory for wildlife conservationists and Indigenous tribes—and for bears—aUS court ruled that grizzly bears living in the vast Yellowstone ecosystem will remain fed- erally protected and must not be subjected to sport hunting. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had sought to strip Yellowstone- area grizzlies of safeguards conferred by the Endangered Species Act. This would have al- lowed the states ofWyoming, Montana and Idahotopermitalimited number ofpeo- ple to obtain hunting licenses. The Greater Yellowstone population of bears is globally renowned and the focus of a robust nature tourism industry. It is also synonymous with the wild character of Yellowstone, the world’s first national park. The number of bears in the region has rebounded from c. 140 in the 1970sto. 700 today, and griz- zlies have expanded their range to places where they have not been in 100 years. Their comeback is considered one of the greatest successes in conservation history. Source: The Guardian (2020) theguardian. com/environment/2020/jul/09/yellowstone- grizzly-bears-federal-protections-court


Millions of animals trafficked within and out of Brazil annually Every year in Brazil, millions of native animals are trafficked domestically, as well as exported internationally, according to a new report that calls for a national strategy to combat this problem. Published bywild- life trade monitoring network Traffic, the report was prepared by Freeland Brasil, an NGO aiming to conserve biodiversity by combating illegal wildlife trade. Species trafficked in Brazil include river turtles, jaguars, rare species of birds and fish, and venomous snakes. One issue pointed out in the report is the incongruity of data on illegal trafficking in the country, which varies across sources such as environ- mental agencies and the police force. This inconsistency suggests that the country’sil- legal wildlife trade is not taken seriously enough. A representative of IBAMA, a federal environment agency, stated that the prevailing sense of impunity among wildlife traffickers stems from the fact that existing legislation does not consider wildlife traffick- ing a serious crime, with mild penalties that do not act as a disincentive. Source: The Swaddle (2020) theswaddle. com/millions-of-animals-trafficked-with- in-and-out-of-brazil-annually-report


Brazil records dramatic increase in Amazon fires The number of fires in the Amazon region showed a dramatic increase in July 2020 compared to July 2019.Brazil’sNational Space Agency reported that there were 6,803 fires, a 28% increase on July 2019, when there had been 5,318 fires. Since the reports of increased fires, concerns are mounting that this year’s fires would exceed the blazes from last year. Many fires are deliberately started by illegal loggers and farmers wanting to clear the ground quickly. Agricultural andmining activities are encour- aged by Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro,who wants to increase development and economic opportunities in the Amazon region. The in- creasing number of fires corresponded with a sharp drop in penalties for environmental violations, while the environmental agency remains understaffed and underfunded. NGO Greenpeace has said that to protect the Amazon and its peoples, the Brazilian government needs to increase environmental agencies’ funding, strictly implement envir- onmental laws and protect Indigenous peo- ple’srights. Source: Nature World News (2020) natureworldnews.com/articles/44183/ 20200803/brazil-records-big-increase- amazon-forest-fires.htm


Oryx, 2020, 54(6), 753–758 © Fauna & Flora International 2020 doi:10.1017/S0030605320000897


Scientists join forces to save Lake Titicaca giant frog Five scientific institutions are joining forces in a cross-border effort to preserve the Endangered Lake Titicaca giant frog Tel- matobius culeus. It is one of the world’s largest exclusively aquatic frogs, with a body length of up to 14.5 cm. The frog lives in Lake Titicaca, which straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia, and in nearby la- goons, at depths of up to 100 m. It has loose, baggy skin that ripples around its body in folds. Scientists think the skin flaps help the frogs absorb more oxygen in the lake’s water, which is at an altitude of 3,800 m. The species is threatened by pollution from mining and also by its use as food and in traditional medicine. The frogs are also caught as they are mistakenly thought to be an aphrodisiac. In 2016, thousands of the frogs were found dead on the shores of a tributary to Lake Titicaca. Pollution from agriculture and plastics were thought to have caused the mass dying. To help con- serve the species, the scientists will study the frogs’ habitat and carry out genetic analyses. The project is backed by the Peruvian and Bolivian governments and by the United Nations Development Programme. Source: BBC (2020) bbc.co.uk/news/ world-latin-america-53553636


First comprehensive list of Panama’s trees with geographic ranges Central America is one of the most diverse floristic regions in the world, but a lack of comprehensive plant records and knowl- edge of its threatened, endemic tree species impedes conservation work. A new study provides the first comprehensive checklist with geographic ranges of the tree species included. The researchers used an innova- tive, repeatable method for assessing extinc- tion risk of trees in poorly studied areas. It involves synthesizing field data with avail- able online records to create a verified list of the trees of Panama and their estimated geographic ranges. These range sizes pro- vide a quantitative basis for assessing ex- tinction risk of poorly studied tropical tree species, and offer a starting point for plan- ning conservation efforts. The researchers estimate that 16.2% of Panama’s 3,043 tree species had ranges ,20,000 km2, which often signals a status of Endangered. This percentage of narrow endemics is propor- tionate to that of North America. The new study provides a strategy for which trees to study next and where, and how to be more effective in conserving rare trees. Sources: Forest Ecosystems (2020) doi.org/ 10.1186/s40663-020-00246-z & EurekAlert! (2020) eurekalert.org/pub_ releases/2020-08/tma-raf081320.php


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