Conservation news
Restricted access zone declared in Greece to protect monk seals (perhaps)
Despite showing signs of recovery, the Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus remains one of the most threat- ened marine mammals, with numbers surviving in the Mediterranean Sea estimated to be ,600 individuals. The uninhabited c. 500 m wide islet of Formicula in Greece contains key monk seal habitat, with .40 individuals identified along its shores. Formicula is included in a Special Area of Conservation established to protect marine habitats and species of European importance. Because of the presence of the seals it is also part of the IUCN’s Ionian Archipelago Important Marine Mammal Area. Despite the formal conservation designation, the monk
seals of Formicula are not adequately protected. The po- tential for close encounters with the seals has resulted in the waters around the islet becoming a popular tourist destination. Chartered and privately owned boats are free to go anywhere along the island’s coast, at any time and for any length of time. On a single day in August 2024, we counted . 50 boats simultaneously in the waters around the islet. We observed visitors search- ing for seals, chasing them in kayaks and paddle boards, swimming with them, and entering the caves where the seals breed. On two occasions we witnessed tourists enter- ing caves sheltering newborn seal pups. In both cases, the pups were not seen again. Concern that excessive tourist pressure could lead the
seals to abandon the area prompted us to recommend the inclusion of a special protection regime for Formicula in the Special Area of Conservation draft management plan, currently under consideration. Our proposed actions include the delimitation of a 200 m wide no-entry zone along the
islet’s coast, with the exception of a corridor to allow access to a single mooring, under condition of compliance with a code of conduct and a time limitation. As a result of pressure and lobbying by civil society,
including initiatives by iSea, Tethys and Blue Marine Foundation, a decision by the Minister of the environ- ment was adopted on 31 December 2024, establishing a strict protection regime around Formicula, including a no-entry zone (decision ΥΠΕΝ/ΔΔΦΠΒ/123711/3066). However, such protection does not exclude vaguely- defined fishing within the no-entry zone, a loophole that opens the door to indiscriminate access and under- mines the measure’s effectiveness.
GIUSEPPE NOTARBARTOLO DI SCIARA1,2,3 (disciara@
imma-network.org) and JOAN GONZALVO1,3 1IUCN Species Survival Commission, Gland, Switzerland. 2IUCN Species Survival Commission/World Commission on
Protected Areas Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force. 3Tethys Research Institute, Milan, Italy
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
Laukahi Network completes ex situ gap analysis of Hawaiian plants
The flora of the Hawaiian Islands has a high rate of endem- ism and yet a high number of recorded extinctions, with over half of all taxa at risk. Laukahi: The Hawai‘i Plant Conservation Network coordinates conservation efforts through the Hawaiʻi Strategy for Plant Conservation (
laukahi.org/hawaii-strategy-for-plant-conservation), which is adapted from the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. In April 2024, Laukahi completed an ex situ gap analysis
of 868 species of conservation importance by examining the inventories of seed banks, nurseries, a micropropagation laboratory and living collections from 50 government agen- cies, nonprofits, community groups and private individuals. Species present in at least one inventory were considered se- cured, and those not present in any inventory as unsecured. Each facility received a score for each species based on the rep- resentativeness of its extant wild plant collection, on a scale of 1–5 (Weisenberger & Keir, 2014, Pacific Science, 68, 525–536). Ex situ collections secure 85% of species of conserva-
Tourists on board a rental boat near Formicula, motoring at high speed close to two Mediterranean monk seals Monachus monachus. Photo: Joan Gonzalvo/Tethys.
tion importance, exceeding previous assessments and the global target of 75%, although only 68% of species are duplicated, slightly short of the global target of 75%. Of the 129 unsecured species, 46 are categorized as threat- ened on the IUCN Red List, and 33 species have #50 in- dividuals in the wild and are protected by Hawaiʻi’s Plant Extinction Prevention Program. Since 2020,only
Oryx, 2024, 58(6), 689–699 © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S003060532400111X
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