Conservation news

New northern group discovered in ’s This year the team aims to expand its field research into Caparaó National Park other areas of the Park, and is planning to develop education and awareness activities that help engage local communities, In the course of survey work to assess the population viabil- tourists and policy makers in muriqui conservation. By har- ’ ity of the northern muriqui in one of this s last re- nessing the potential of this charismatic monkey as a flag- maining strongholds, a team supported by the Conservation ship the team hopes to encourage the local Leadership Programme (CLP) has discovered a new group community to take pride in the Park’s unique biodiversity of this species. The muriqui, or and play an active role in its protection. woolly , is the largest New World primate. — It was recognized as two distinct species the northern mu- MARIANE DA CRUZ KAIZER University of Salford, UK riqui Brachyteles hypoxanthus and its southern counterpart E-mail [email protected] B. arachnoides—in the late s. Endemic to eastern Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, the northern ALBA Z. COLI Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil muriqui is one of the world’s most threatened . It was once widely distributed throughout this region but ARYANNE CLYVIA Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas hunting and habitat destruction have taken a heavy toll. Gerais, Brazil The species is now confined to a handful of isolated frag- ments of forest, each harbouring small subpopulations DANIEL S. FERRAZ State University, Belo with limited and declining genetic diversity (see also Oryx, Horizonte, Brazil , , –). The entire wild population is believed to number ,, individuals. Caparaó National Park is an important location for con- Life after COP21: what does the Paris Agreement servation of the northern muriqui but until recently there mean for forests and biodiversity conservation? was a lack of detailed information about the population and the threats to its survival. The CLP-funded team has already In Paris,  finished with the achievement of an historic started to gather essential data on the distribution, density agreement between  countries to tackle the threat—and and status of this Critically Endangered species. The team’s reality—of climate change. The main objective of the so- research is also contributing to the implementation of the tar- called Paris Agreement is to keep global temperature rises gets proposed in the National Muriqui Action Plan. below °C while at the same time making significant efforts The presence of an entirely new group on the west side of to limit the rise to no more than .°. The Agreement will the Park is an unexpected bonus. The group was found in formally enter into force after  countries, accounting for December  in an area of the Park where northern mur- at least % of global emissions, submit their greenhouse iquis had never been recorded before. This previously un- gas emissions reduction plans to the United Nations known subpopulation is even more significant because of Framework Convention on Climate Change. its size. The team counted at least  individuals, including The Paris Agreement has a special significance for global seven juveniles and five infants. The discovery of such a forests and efforts to conserve biodiversity. By providing a large and healthy additional group is a boost for conserva- framework to reward countries both for reductions in defor- tion of the northern muriqui and provides a strong founda- estation and expansion of sustainable forest management tion for the implementation of a long-term research practices, the Paris Agreement finally recognizes the critical programme at Caparaó National Park. role that forests and biodiversity play in global efforts to re- The project has also paved the way for additional primate duce emissions—detail that was deliberately omitted from research in the Park. In addition to helping the team with the Kyoto Protocol. This recognition will enable forests to fieldwork related to the northern muriqui project itself, stu- play a central role in national strategies to tackle climate dents from the Carangola campus of Minas Gerais State change. This momentum around the importance of forests University are also embarking on studies of their own that and tackling drivers of deforestation has already led to an will help to focus more attention on the Park’s wider pri- unprecedented level of international support to curb defor- mate community. Other threatened primates were also re- estation globally. For example, at the Paris conference corded during the survey in the Park, including the Norway, Germany and the UK announced a combined Endangered buffy-headed marmoset Callithrix flaviceps, commitment of USD  billion for efforts to Reduce the Near Threatened black-fronted titi Callicebus nigrifrons Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and black-horned capuchin Sapajus nigritus. (REDD+).

Oryx, 2016, 50(2), 201–206 © 2016 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605316000132 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.126, on 29 Sep 2021 at 01:22:33, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605316000144