• Are Medicinal Plants Really Threatened? • Can We Save Our Sea
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•• AArree mmeeddiicciinnaall ppllaannttss rreeaalllyy tthhrreeaatteenneedd?? •• CCaann wwee ssaavvee oouurr sseeaa ttuurrttlleess?? •• TThhee ssiittuuaattiioonn ooff mmaahhooggaannyy iinn MMeexxiiccoo aanndd CCeennttrraall AAmmeerriiccaa ISSN 1 - 409 - •• SSppeecciiaall JJaagguuaarr ppoosstteerr Contents Welcome.......................................................3 Current events. ...........................................4 • Use of plant and animal species by man for subsistence and production....................................... 4 Thi s magazi ne was pr oduced by the • Timber trees in Costa Rica and Communications Department of WWF Central the road to their extinction .............8 America and published in 2000. The partial • Are medicinal plants or total re production of the ar ticles and really threatened? ........................11 illustrations contained here in is permitted, • Can we save our sea turtles? ........16 provided that the source is always mentioned • Situation of mahogany in Mexico and a copy of the publication is sent to: and Central America ......................19 WWF Central America Training .....................................................22 P.O. Box 70 - 7170 CATIE • What, where and when...................22 Turrialba, Costa Rica Phone: (506) 556 1383 / 556 1737 News...........................................................23 Fax: (506) 556 1421 • Tri-national Alliance of Honduras, Email: [email protected] Guatemala and Belize wins World Conservation Prize ............23 Editorial Board: Miguel Cifuentes • Governments committed Matt Perl to the conservation of coral reefs.24 Sandra Andraka • Publications .................................25 Oscar Brenes • Letters from our readers..............26 Editor: Laura Vilnitzky S. Grains of Sand............................................27 • Useful Tips ....................................27 Graphic Design Jaguar poster ..............................Center page and Production: Laura C. Cerdas P. Laura Vilnitzky S. Contributors: Elvia Ledezma The authors are responsible for their own articles. The opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the The geographical designations and material contained in views of WWF. this magazine do not imply any judgment, on the part of The photographs published in this edition are the property WWF, regarding the legal status of countries, territories or regions, or the demarcation of their boundaries or limits. 2 Dear Readers: Centra l Amer ica’s biodiv ersity is extr emely valu able. The re gion’s ter res trial and marine habitats have provi ded the ideal conditions for t he development of a r ich biodiver sity, which we hope to continue pre ser ving for the benefit of future generat ions. This small portion of land is of unique importance to the world because it is a bridge that joins the two la rge continental masses of Amer ica, a nd for this r eason dozens of species flo w in an d out of Centra l Amer ica each year in sear ch of r efuge and r est. Numer ous bir d and mar ine species have their bre eding, feeding and res t area s in this small strip of land and its sur rounding seas, tur ning it into a great natural biological corrid or between the Neo-Ar ctic and the Neo-Tro pics. This continuous movement assures the health and the preservation of biodivers ity in the continent. Despite its importance, our r ich biodiver sity is now thre atened due to incre ased demand for natura l res ource s and the poor management of these natura l assets in some part s of the region. Defore station, the unplanned and chaotic growth of our cities, the loss of habitats for var ious species , and the uncontrolled explos ion of touris m and pollution ar e all factors that contribu te to the degradation of our natur al res ources. Nevertheless , by analyzing the causes of these problems, shar ing the lessons learn ed fr om projects being implemented in the re gion to address them, and involv ing civi l society in these is sues we may help to stop this deterior ation. In this edition, dedicated to wildlife, we focus on some of the cur re nt issu es and studies of re levanc e to Centra l Amer ica. While we have included artic les on mahogany, turtles , medicinal plants and for est species, there are many more subjects for discussio n which are beyond the scope of these few pages. We hope that r eading this will stre ngthen your commitment to work together so that those who are not yet born will still have the opportunity to decide their future and enjoy the trea sures of Centr al America ’s r ich biodiver sity. Oscar Br enes Prog ram Office r WWF Central Amer ica 3 C U R R E N T E V E N T S Man’s use of plant and animal species for subsistence and production By Eduardo The use of plant and animal species has traditionally be en an essential pa rt of lif e in most ru ral areas of Latin America . In r ecent years, however, efforts to ensure the conservation and management of many of these species have been threatened by two main factors: the loss of pri stine habitats and the inadequate regulation of the use of natur al resources. The regi on’s human inh abitants main ly use plant and anim al species for subsis tence activit ies, local trade and larg e-s cale commerce. Subsis tence use has been restrict ed to situations where people use the species for their own consumption, something that generally has l ittle i mpact on the populations of the differ ent species of interest. Use of species for local market s is defined as the exploitati on of wildl ife for sale on a small scale, which im pli es a min imu m of in vestment in that activity. This type of activit y is wi despread in the rur al ar eas of many Latin Americ an co untries , where many people make a l ivin g by huntin g wi ld animals or harves ting certain plants, such as orchids, for local sale. Obviously , this type of activity has a far greater im pact when the resources ar e harve sted for commer cial ends. Photo: Beni Lang C U R R E N T E V E N T S Commer cial use i s char acterize d by the lar ge- scale use of species and requir es capi tal inv estment. This type of activity has led to a situation where numerous species of tropical fauna and flor a are now inc luded in the offici al lists of threatened or endangered species. In many r ural areas of Latin Amer ica, meat from wi ld animals – game meat – is often cheaper than meat fr om domesti c anim als. Certain species such as the whi te- l i pped peccar y ( Tayassu pecar i ) , deer ( Odocoi l eus vi r gi ni anus) and paca ( Agouti paca) , have tr adi ti onal l y been hunted and are still an im portant Photo: Fernando source of anim al pr otein for the l ocal inhabitants of some areas. Many threatened species are sold as pets. Others are used in the meat tr ade and in vari ous industr ies that uti lize leather, skin and feather s or make other secondary products such as guano (used as ferti lizer s). Some plant species and trees are harv ested for their oil, s ap or latex or are re moved to be sold as ornamental plants. All these activitie s br ing dire ct or indirec t benefits to the people who inha bit the ar eas where the species of in terest are found or used. But perhap s the greatest threat facing us in r elation to the use of species is our own ignorance and lack of basic knowledge about their ecology and their r ole in the dynamics of tropical ecosystems. In many cases, lack of i nfor mati on abo ut i mpor tant aspects such as the populati on dynamics of a par ticular spec ies that we are i nter ested i n manag i ng, i ts r epr od ucti on per i od s, patter ns of acti vi ty and movements, habi tat requirem ents, de pre dation, r elations among species, etc. means that the effects pr oduced by har vesting animals and plants ar e poorly understood and are therefore unpr edictable. Inappropriat e management of plant and anima l species Photo: Fernando Bermúdez may not only have severe adverse effects on the species themselves but also on the ecosystem from whic h they are harv ested. The non- sustainable harv esting of these species not only affects their futur e availa bili ty, but may also affect the availa bilit y of other pr oducts or resourc es of the forest and the functions of ecosystems as an integrated whole. 5 C U R R E N T E V E N T S Another im portant factor to bear in mind is that many of the management techniq ues appli ed to species of flor a and fauna in our r egion have been de veloped in other parts of the world wher e the ecosystems ar e general ly l ess complex and therefore the management techniques are also si mpl er. In many cases, the application of such knowledge to the tropi cal ar eas is not always effective. This poses a challen ge that requir es us to develop management techniques that are better suit ed to the complex ity of our own ecosystems and that lessen the i mpact pr oduced by harv esting one or several species of fl ora and fauna. Photo: Fernando I n consi der i ng the questi on of wi l dl i fe This i mpact may occur either di re ctl y management, it is also essential to address a through the r emoval of plant and anim al number of factors and constrain ts such as the speci es or i ndi r ectl y, thr ough the continuous growth of the human population, harv esting of r esources upon which ot her the lack of professionals i n the fi eld of plants or anim als de pend for their survi val wildl ife management and conserv ation and the (for example: r emoving plants that are an l ack of funds to car r y out r esear ch, i mpor tant food sour ce for ani mal s or conserva tion, management and monitor ing of har vesti ng ani mal s that act as seed the species of i nterest.