Conservation news
Conserving Firmiana major, a tree species endemic conservation of the species. We continue our investigation to China of F. major and have successfully cultured the seed embryos in Kunming Botanical Garden. Firmiana major is a deciduous tree endemic to the hot arid valley of the Jinsha River in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, JING YANG,GAO CHEN and WEIBANG SUN Kunming Institute China, where the climate supports few trees species and en- of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan Key vironmental degradation is severe. Of the seven Firmiana Laboratory for Integrative Conservation of Plant Species species in China five are endemic, and F. major was recog- with Extremely Small Populations, Kunming, China. nized as a class II protected species in the first edition of the E-mail [email protected] National Key Protected Wild Plants List of China (). The China Plant Red Data Book () reported that as a re- sult of habitat destruction caused by development, wild in- Urgent action required to conserve the Critically dividuals of F. major were difficult to find, although c. Endangered Asiatic cheetah Acinonyx jubatus individuals were conserved at Kunming Botanical Garden, venaticus Kunming Black Dragon Pond Park, and two temples around Kunming in Yunnan province. In the IUCN Red List The Critically Endangered Asiatic cheetah Acinonyx jubatus categorized F. major as Extinct in the Wild. The species venaticus is now restricted to Iran, where fewer than re- was omitted in the second, current edition of the National main (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Key Protected Wild Plants List of China (). the United States of America, , , –). This could In , however, individuals were found in the be the next felid to go extinct (Cat News, , , ). Since National Nature Reserve of Cycas panzhihuaensis in efforts to conserve the Asiatic cheetah have been spear- Sichuan Province. Zhixiang Yu managed to grow F. major headed by the Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project, seedlings, and expanded the natural population by reintro- managed by Iran’s Department of the Environment in con- duction. In China launched an emergency rescue plan junction with the United Nations Development Programme for Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations, in- (UNDP) and other organizations. The future of this project is cluding Firmiana kwangsiensis and Firmiana danxiaensis, now, however, in doubt. and Yunnan and Sichuan provinces introduced provincial The UNDP recently indicated it was withdrawing from the lists of Species with Extremely Small Populations, but Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project, leaving it with F. major was not included on these lists. the Department of the Environment (Nature, , , ). In July , funded by the National Key Programme The new head of the Department, however, announced in Survey and Germplasm Conservation of Plant Species his first press conference that the Asiatic cheetah is doomed with Extremely Small Populations in South-west China to extinction because of its declining population, and that (grant number FY), we found two fruiting popu- cheetah conservation is no longer a priority for the lations of F. major in Yunnan province, growing on the cliffs Department. This does not bode well for this subspecies, of the Jinsha River valley. We found c. , individuals in and it is extraordinary that the agency entrusted with its pro- Lijiang City and , individuals in Yuanmou County. The tection appears to have accepted the likelihood of its demise cliffs have protected these populations from logging, farm- so readily. ing, and grazing but there is still human disturbance, includ- A new issue that could contribute to further decline of ing the construction of a rural road through the Lijiang the Asiatic cheetah is trafficking. On December ,in population and frequent use of the seeds from the a joint operation between the Iranian Police and the Yuanmou population, for edible oil. Department of the Environment, an -month old female The rediscovery of these populations is significant be- Asiatic cheetah cub was discovered in a house in Tehran cause this species has potential for use in restoration pro- (https://www.mehrnews.com/news//; in Farsi). To jects of arid river valleys. Shortly after the rediscovery the prevent future trafficking of the Asiatic cheetah we suggest story was picked up by Chinese media outlets (including the Department takes the following steps to improve the se- China Central Television), leading to the resurveying of curity of the protected areas inhabited by cheetahs: () in- the population by the Forestry Department of Yunnan crease the number of wildlife rangers (http://www.icana.ir/ Province and local forestry bureaus, who discussed protec- Fa/News//; in Farsi); () establish ranger stations in tion plans. We recommend that this species should now be each of the districts inhabited by the Asiatic cheetah; () en- included in the national and provincial level lists of Plant sure that rangers have the equipment, fuel and training they Species with Extremely Small Populations, to help promote need to work effectively (http://www.donya-e-eqtesad.com/
Oryx, 2018, 52(2), 211–213 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318000108 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.42, on 02 Oct 2021 at 12:00:40, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060531700165X