146 Conservation news One of the benefits of this event was the collaboration
that has developed between Fauna & Flora and the National Administration of Romanian Waters, the main governmental water management body. The results of Fauna & Flora’s awareness-raising were also evident in the large number of Romanian Waters employees attending the conference. After the conference the chief engineer who led the Romanian Waters delegation pro- posed the development of a strategy and work plan to fa- cilitate the restoration of the longitudinal connectivity of the country’s rivers. This openness from state institutions, as well as the
positive feedback received from the attendees, encourages us to hope that the Dam Removal Movement in Romania will not limit itself to the organization of this event, but will result in the removal of as many obsolete barriers as possible and thus the restoration of longitudinal river connectivity.
PAUL HAC (
paul.hac@fauna-flora.org), MIHAELA FAUR-POENAR and MIRCEA MARGINEAN Fauna & Flora, Romania Programme, Deva, Romania
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
All sawfish now Critically Endangered but sustained conservation efforts can lead to recovery
In November 2021, the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group held a series of online workshops to reassess the Red List status of the five sawfish species (family Pristidae). This process concluded in December 2023 with the publication of the final assessment, for the narrow sawfish Anoxypristis cuspidata. Since the previous assessments, conducted in 2012, saw-
fish have continued to face severe, ongoing threats from fishing and habitat loss, and collectively their status has worsened. Previously, three species were categorized as Critically Endangered and two as Endangered. With the reassessment of the narrow sawfish and dwarf sawfish Pristis clavata, all five species are now categorized as Critically Endangered. Based on the available evidence, population size reduction $80% was inferred or suspected over the last three generations as a result of a decline in their extent of occurrence and habitat quality, and potential levels of exploitation, and the causes of this reduction have not ceased. The latest assessments are disheartening and a re- minder that continued actions to reduce mortality and protect critical habitats are urgently needed to prevent the extinction of sawfishes. Nevertheless, some hope can be drawn from new infor-
mation gathered during the reassessments. Several regions continue to support viable populations of some sawfish
species, including parts of northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Additionally, there is strong evidence that the smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata is beginning to recover in Florida waters after 2 decades of sustained con- servation efforts. The past decade has also seen a shift in sawfish conserva-
tion, a sign that the 2014 Shark Specialist Group’sGlobal Sawfish Conservation Strategy may be working (Yan et al., 2021, Science Advances, 7, 7). From relative obscurity, sawfish have moved into the conservation spotlight, with the emer- gence of several dedicated conservation initiatives, NGOs, directed funding and research programmes. This was reflected in the size and geographical diversity of the Red List reassessment team, which comprised 61 people from 25 nations. Work over the last decade has provided a clearer picture
of the global distribution of sawfishes, including in many poorly surveyed areas. This has led to the identification of sites where sawfishes continue to persist, amid intense pres- sure, such as in Bangladesh, Sudan and parts of Central America. Grassroots education and outreach programmes in these areas are leading to increased reports of sawfish being released alive. These initiatives are highlighting the potential to change attitudes toward these species and the urgent need for additional, similar approaches at the local level where sawfish are persisting.
ALASTAIR V. HARRY (
alastair.harry@gmail.com), JOHN K. CARLSON ,MARIO ESPINOZA ,MICHAEL I. GRANT , ALIFA B.HAQUE ,RIMAW. JABADO andCASSANDRA L.RIGBY IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
Important Marine Mammal Areas celebrated—yet some are now in danger
2023 marked the 10-year anniversary of the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force. In 2013, the Task Force began to develop a conservation tool—Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs)—that marine spatial planners, protected area practitioners, governments, indu- stry stakeholders and scientists could use to protect whales, dolphins and other marine mammals and their habitats. As of March 2024 the Task Force has worked with more than 300 scientists to examine 74.3% of the global ocean, identifying 280 IMMAs. Important MarineMammal Areas are defined as discrete
portions of habitat, important to marine mammals, that have the potential to be delineated and managed for conser- vation. They are not legal designations but independent, peer-reviewed assessments based on criteria supported by data. Important Marine Mammal Areas are now being
Oryx, 2024, 58(2), 145–154 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605323001886
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