IUCN SSC Palm Specialist Group

2016-2017 Report

William Baker Thomas Couvreur

Co-Chairs Mission statement successful and are likely to be sustained. Two William Baker (1) To conserve palms by assessing the threats that new sites were discovered, including one much Thomas Couvreur (2) they face and developing programs to protect further inland and with serious conservation palm for the future. threats to its survival. Community conservation Red List Authority Coordinator efforts of this site are now in place. A draft management plan has been produced and Lauren Gardiner (3) Main activities by Key Priority Area education materials are being provided to (2016 & 2017) support community engagement. Population Location/Affiliation Barometer of life genetics work on the species is underway. (1) Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK L Red List (KSR #20) (2) Institut de Recherche pour le Développe- i. We completed the assessment of all continen- L Research activities ment, UMR DIADE, Montpellier, France tal palms by September 2017. This concerned (3) Cambridge University Herbarium, The i. With so few individuals remaining in the wild 60 palm species. Assessments have been Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, and two genetically distinct subpopulations, uploaded to the Red List website. Ten percent Cambridge, UK it is recommended that both sites of of the 66 species were assessed as threatened, ambositrae are conserved and that seed are one species as CR. (KSR #1) collected from both for ex situ conservation and ii. We supported the review and completion of Number of members potential future reintroduction. It may be less the Fijian palm assessments, leading to their important to focus resources on conserving or 36 submission to the Red List Unit. The assess- collecting ex situ material from all sites where ments currently await publication. (KSR #1) Dypsis decipiens is found, as the genetic iii. We supported the review and completion diversity represented by each subpopulation is of the New Caledonian palm assessments, limited and increasing sampling may not protect leading to their submission to the Red List Unit. significantly higher levels of genetic diversity. The assessments currently await publication. This study provides data that inform and (KSR #1) support conservation decisions taken for both Communications species within this region, and in the manage- ment of the newly designated Itremo Massif L Communication Protected Area, which covers most of the sites i. Individuals of seven Chinese rattan species where these two species remain in the wild. are found in wild. (KSR #28) (KSR #12) ii. A 28-minute documentary on the uses and ii. A population genetic assessment of all four of palms was made in Cameroon. It species of the iconic and threatened SE Asian shows the process of researchers investigating palm genus Johannesteijsmannia was complet- this palm across the country. (KSR #43) ed. Bacon, C.D., S.L. Look, N. Gutiérrez–Pinto, A. Conservation action Antonelli, H.T.W. Tan, P.P. Kumar, L.G. Saw, J. L Conservation activities Dransfield, W.J. Baker. 2016. Species limits, i. Tahina spectabilis is a Critically Endangered geographical distribution and genetic diversity palm. In 2016, the population was re-surveyed in Johannesteijsmannia (). Botanical and found to be in good condition with natural Journal of the Linnean Society 182: 318–347. recruitment taking place. Community-based (KSR #23) conservation efforts at the site have been Euterpe precatoria, Ecuador, July 2016 Photo: Thomas Couvreur

Bactris elegans, Brazil, May 2010 Rattan Palm (Oncocalamus macrospathus), Photo: Thomas Couvreur Least Concern, Cameroon, February 2012 Photo: Thomas Couvreur

Acknowledgements a Colciencias Joven Investigador scholarship Summary of activities (2016-2017) to N.G.–P. and the Swedish Research Council This work was supported by Environment Key Priority Area ratio: 3/7 (B0569601), the European Research Council Agency of Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) via Key Priority Areas addressed: the Chair of IUCN Species Survival Commission under the European Union’s Seventh Framework • Barometer of life (3 activities) (SSC); the French Foundation for Research on Programme (FP/2007–2013, ERC Grant Agree- • Communications (2 activities) Biodiversity (FRB) and the Provence-Alpes-Côte ment n. 331024) and a Wallenberg Academy d’Azur region (PACA) region via the Centre for Fellowship to A.A. We thank Elkin Tenorio for • Conservation action (3 activities) Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiversity data help with environmental niche models and Main KSRs addressed: 1, 12, 23, 20, 28, 32, 43 anonymous reviewers for comments that greatly (CESAB) RAINBIO research project; Agence KSR: Key Species Result Nationale de la Recherche, France (grant number improved the manuscript. The documentary was ANR-15-CE02-0002-01). We thank Hilary Welch, done with the financial support of the Agropolis Geoff Welch, Haitham Ibrahim and Mijoro Fondation (Montpellier, France), The Institut de Rakotoarinivo, who have provided useful data Recherche pour le Développement (IRD, and contributed to the red listing process. The Montpellier France) and the Université de Mohamed bin Zayed Species Fund, the Conser- Yaoundé I (Yaoundé, Cameroon). vation Leadership Programme, the Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre and the Royal Targets for the quadrennium 2017-2020 Botanic Gardens, Kew supported our work on Barometer of life Madagascar palms. We acknowledge the Red List: Least Concern palms expedited University of the Sunshine Coast and Kew (Kew work). Madagascar Conservation Centre. This research Increasing diversity of SSC was funded by grants from the Bentham–Moxon Synergy: refreshing Palm Specialist Group Trust at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the in this quadrennium. American Society for Taxonomy to C.D.B., a National University of Singapore Research Policy Scholarship, the ASEAN Regional Centre for Research activities: ethnoecology of Raphia Biodiversity Conservation (RE–SGP–001) and mambillensis in North Western Cameroon. the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to S.L.L.,