Conservation News 561
followed by the main seminar (Success Story of Wildlife Conservation Efforts in Indonesia). Alue Dohong also moderated the global livestream session on Collaboration to Create a National Species Assessment in Indonesia, which was a panel discussion between Mirza Dikari Kusrini, Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Indonesia Species Specialist Group, and Satyawan Pudyatmoko, Director General of Conservation of Natural Resources and Ecosystems, Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The main outcome of this session was the government’s full support to establish a national committee for the Indonesia National Red List. Other talks included gap analysis of the National Red
List assessment, the role of the private sector in wildlife conservation in Indonesia, charismatic species conserva- tion, bird conservation, freshwater and marine species con- servation, plant and fungal conservation, and stories from conservation practitioners. Twelve members of the IUCN SSC Indonesia Species Specialist Group participated as speakers, sharing inspiring stories and efforts to conserve biodiversity. The event left us feeling optimistic that the various stakeholders and organizations in Indonesia will collaborate further to drive the success of efforts to prevent species extinction.
CELIA NOVA FELICITY (
celianovafelicity@gmail.com),
MIRZA DIKARI KUSRINI and SUNARTO SUNARTO IUCN Species Survival Commission Indonesia Species Specialist Group
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence CC BY NC ND 4.0.
Wildlife under siege in the Mexican Maya Forest
The Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the MexicanMaya Forest is a well-conserved tropical forest that contains large popula- tions of the threatened Baird’stapir Tapirus bairdii andwhite- lipped peccary Tayassu pecari. The area is a semi-dry forest in which animals depend on ephemeral ponds to survive the dry season, but the availability ofwater in these ponds is declining as a result of climate change. We have documented that, to survive, groups of white-lipped peccary and some individual tapirs travel up to 15 km per day to reach ponds during the dry season (Reyna-Hurtado et al., 2019, THERYA, 10, 353–358). In 2023, government projects such as a passenger train (the Maya Train) and a hotel were initiated within the Reserve. The single road through the Reserve is now being used by trucks carrying construction materials for these projects, causing disruption to forest alongside the road from dust, noise and increased traffic density. In addition, the 2024 dry season has been intense, and persisted at the time of writing in June 2024.Wehaveobservedthatonly 25%ofthe pondswe are awareofhave water this year.
An Endangered Baird’s tapir Tapirus bairdii in an emphemeral pond beside the road in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. Photo: Gustavo Costa.
These conditions are a challenge for the survival of threa-
tened, shy and sensitive species that depend on obtaining water daily. Despite the disruption from construction traffic, we have documented tapirs visiting a pond only 15 m from the road, and a large group of white-lipped peccaries roaming close to a pond that has water despite visits of people and some trucks to the pond. The first 5 months of 2024 taught us some important lessons in the Mexican Maya Forest: unregulated projects without proper planning, in combination with intense dry seasons, are a threat to the survival of threatened species of large mammals and could alter the behaviour and natural movement patterns of these species.
Access for wildlife to water in the Mexican Maya Forest
needs to be secured. Any future projects must consider full protection of the ephemeral and fragile ponds, and traffic along the single road should be reduced and regulated. The hotel and the Maya Train need to be managed responsibly. The Calakmul Biosphere Reserve contains the Calakmul Maya archaeological site, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Without proper management, its invaluable cultural and natural treasures, such as tapirs and white-lipped peccaries moving through ancient Mayan temples looking for water and food on the forest floor, will be lost.
RAFAEL REYNA-HURTADO (
rafaelcalakmul@gmail.com) El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Campeche, Mexico
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
Oryx, 2024, 58(5), 555–564 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324001017
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