Conservation news
UK’s first Hope Spot declared economic enhancement associated with these under-recog- nized assets. ’ The UK s first Hope Spot was declared around the Argyll The Argyll Coast and Islands Hope Spot provides an op- ’ Coast and Islands on World Ocean sDay, June portunity to bring together local sea users to discuss issues (Mission Blue, , mission-blue.org/ / /first-ever- affecting the marine wildlife and habitats of this area, and hope-spot-in-mainland-united-kingdom-declared-along- to engage the Scottish government on local priorities with scotlands-argyll-coast-and-islands). This announcement, by regard to relevant policy and management decisions. Mission Blue, the international non-profit established by Plans are underway to extend community-led surveys to Sylvia Earle, celebrates the beauty, history and vibrant bio- better understand the biodiversity of these seas and provide ’ diversityofthispartofScotlands west coast, and recognizes a baseline for long-term monitoring. the actions of local communities to protect it. Local community groups hope that the Hope Spot desig- The Hope Spot covers c. km comprising an intricate nation will provide opportunities to realize wider economic coastline of sea lochs, peninsulas, deep water sounds (with benefits whilst ensuring better management of these waters, depths up to m), narrows and islands, encompassing or and they will work across sectors to promote low impact, contiguous to existing Marine Protected Areas and Special sustainable fisheries, and to promote high value income Areas for Conservation. The variation in geomorphology opportunities associated with ecotourism. They are already along this coast supports a wide range of species, from coastal promoting widespread awareness of, and engagement with, specialists such as northern feather stars Leptometra celtica to the Hope Spot. Ultimately, their aim is for the Argyll deep water species such as the Critically Endangered flapper Coast and Islands Hope Spot to restore the full value of skate Dipturus batis (Neat et al., , Aquatic Conservation, these seas for both biodiversity and local people. , –). The area is renowned for supporting six species of ’ cetaceans, including Risso s dolphins and humpback whales. KERRI WHITESIDE ( orcid.org/0000-0001-7752-1339) and This is one of the few remaining strongholds for the flapper ABIGAIL ENTWISTLE Fauna & Flora International, Edinburgh, skate in the UK. Management within the Loch Sunart to UK. E-mail [email protected] Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area protects the skate from boats using fishing methods that contact the seabed JOHN AITCHISON Friends of the Sound of Jura, Knapdale, UK while trawling for prawns or dredging for scallops. Where these methods are allowed within some parts of the marine ANNABEL LAWRENCE Community Association of Lochs and protected area they may cause harm to skate and other vul- Sounds, Lochaline, UK nerable marine species on the seabed, such as the northern sea fan Swiftia pallida. Four community groups (the Community Association of Endangered crowned solitary eagle in the Lochs and Sounds, Craignish Restoration of Marine and threatened Amazonian savannah Coastal Habitats, Friends of the Sound of Jura and Save Seil Sound) have come together under the umbrella of The crowned solitary eagle Buteogallus coronatus is one of the the Coastal Communities Network (Coastal Communities largest and most severely threatened eagles of the Neotropics, Network, Scotland, , communitiesforseas.scot) to high- categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List because of light the need to protect the valuable and threatened waters its small and fragmented population (total number of re- of the Argyll Coast and Islands Hope Spot. These commu- productive individuals , ), significant range contraction nity groups aim to use this Hope Spot designation to dem- and continuing decline (Canal et al., , Conservation onstrate the vital connection between coastal communities Genetics, , –). The main threats to the species include and their local waters. Along with significant biodiversity, habitat loss, human persecution and electrocution by power these waters also contain a number of sites of cultural im- lines. Like other large eagles, the species has a naturally low portance, including shipwrecks spanning years from population density, late sexual maturity and low productivity, the Spanish Armada to World War II. characteristics that when combined with human-induced The communities are calling for more effective manage- threats can drive species to extinction. The crowned solitary ment for marine protected areaswithintheHopeSpot,anden- eagle inhabits open dry forest and savannahs across central forcement of the law to prevent illegal dredging of closed areas. Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentinian They also aim to ensure the surrounding communities can Patagonia (Bird Life International, , datazone.birdlife.org). fully appreciate the significant natural and cultural heritage Savannah enclaves on the periphery of the Amazon forest values of these waters, and can realize opportunities for comprise heterogeneous mosaics of open areas and forests
Oryx, 2019, 53(4), 607–610 © 2019 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605319000516 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.226, on 30 Sep 2021 at 14:49:17, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605319000516 608 Conservation news
with a diverse community of both savannah and forest The ecosystems of large unregulated rivers of adapted species. These enclaves are coveted by large-scale Central Europe are under pressure agriculture, particularly in the southern Brazilian Amazon, A social campaign has been organized in Poland against which has the highest deforestation rates in the country. the international inland waterway E- (Ogólnopolskie During February —February we conducted Towarzystwo Ochrony Ptaków, , otop.org.pl/naszepro- extensive surveys in this region, including in Campos jekty/pilnujemy/stop-dla-drogi-wodnej-e), which will be Amazônicos National Park, which was created in to pro- constructed through Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, stim- tect the largest Amazonian savannah enclave (, ha) in ulated by a December report (Grygoruk et al., , the southern Brazilian Amazon. Within this enclave, during ratujmyrzeki.pl/dokumenty/E_raport_.pdf). The con- the dry season, we recorded a single adult crowned solitary struction of the waterway would connect the ports of Gdansk eagle at . °W . °S, at least km outside the species’ on the Baltic Sea in Poland and Kherson on the Black Sea in known range. The record reported here is the most northerly Ukraine, and would include parts of the Vistula, Bug, Pina, known record of the species. Although unexpected because of Prypec and Dnieper rivers. The plan for the E- waterway is the distance from documented populations, the area has large a threat to the ecosystems of some of the largest and unregulated tracts of natural open habitats similar to those used by the rivers of Poland and wider Europe. A development strategy for crowned solitary eagle elsewhere. inland waterways was introduced in to adapt Poland’s Even though eagles have high dispersal capabilities, the rivers to the criteria of international standards for inland great distance from other known populations suggests that waterways (Świerczewska-Pietras, , Prace Komisji this record is not a dispersing individual. However, further Geografii Przemysłu Polskiego Towarzystwa Geograficznego, studies are needed to confirm whether there is a resident , –.). In addition, the act relating to Poland’s rati- population within this savannah enclave. As documented fication of the European Agreement on Main Inland for species elsewhere (Hody & Kays, , ZooKeys, , Waterways of International Importance came into force in –), it is possible that the crowned solitary eagle is ex- February (Lawicki et al., , Oryx, , –). panding its distribution northward, following substantial The construction of this Baltic–Black Sea waterway landscape transformation in this region from Amazonian would affect many European rivers, especially in Poland, forest to open areas for extensive cattle ranching. A number with the strongest impact on the Bug and Vistula. The of recent records from extensive cattle-ranching areas (Bird- plans include the construction of an artificial channel to Life International, ) suggests that the species is capable connect the Bug and Vistula Rivers, which would be the of tolerating disturbances associated with this anthropo- main source of water for this channel. The construction of genic habitat, although the species is persecuted by ranchers the channel would have an impact on important river val- (Barbar et al., , Journal of Raptor Research, , –). leys, including Tysmienica and Wilga, and the main impact The existence of a resident population or pioneer colo- would be the water required for operating the channel. This nists of the crowned solitary eagle would be good news would particularly affect the Bug, which is unregulated both for the species and for Campos Amazônicos along its entire length. The duration of river floods would National Park, which faces severe challenges to the main- be reduced by c. % and the frequency of severe droughts tenance of its integrity, with various infrastructure projects in the nearby area would increase (Grygoruk et al., , op. planned or ongoing nearby, including roads, hydroelectric cit.). The exploitation of the channel, and particularly the dams and mining. The presence of the crowned solitary operation of its floodgates, would significantly reduce the le- eagle emphasizes the biodiversity value of this poorly stud- vels of groundwater in most adjacent areas (Grygoruk et al., ied region. , op. cit.). The fall in the water level of the Bug would
DANIEL G. ROCHA ( orcid.org/0000-0002-0100-3102) diminish its ability to self-purify industrial and municipal Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, sewage that comes from Ukraine (Starodubet et al., , University of California, Davis, California, USA, and Grupo Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology de Pesquisa em Ecologia e Conservação de Felinos na XX, P, published online October ). Amazônia, Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Almost all of the planned length of the E- in Poland Mamirauá, Tefé, Brazil passes through protected areas and it is estimated that the E-mail [email protected] inland waterway would have an impact on , km of these areas, including Natura areas, one national LAURIE HEDGES Oxford, UK park, four landscape parks and nature reserves. Important animal species are also threatened: Eurasian oystercatcher BRUNO C. CAMBRAIA Parque Nacional dos Campos Haematopus ostralegus (IUCN, NT), black-tailed godwit Amazônicos, Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação Limosa limosa (IUCN, NT), Eurasian otter Lutra lutra da Biodiversidade, Porto Velho, Brazil (IUCN, NT), common ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula
Oryx, 2019, 53(4), 607–610 © 2019 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605319000644 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.226, on 30 Sep 2021 at 14:49:17, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605319000516