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AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION: MANAGEMENT OF PODOCNEMIS RIVER TURTLES IN NOEL KEMPFF MERCADO NATIONAL PARK, BOLIVIA by ALISON JEANNINE LIPMAN (Under the Direction of C. RONALD CARROLL) ABSTRACT The essential role that science plays in conservation is widely recognized in the literature and in conservation legislation. However, there is often a disconnect between science and conservation in practice, especially in locally-based projects, where the results of ecological research rarely translate to a local ethic. This is especially true in “community-based” conservation efforts, which attempt to include local people in conservation, so as to create projects that are more equitable, locally relevant, and conserve biodiversity outside of protected areas. I address the often cited failure of community-based projects to both conserve biodiversity and provide locally relevant planning. I present a turtle conservation project based in ecological research and directly managed by local people in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (PNNKM), in the Amazon Basin of Bolivia. It is collaboration between PNNKM administration and local indigenous communities that works to conserve Podocnemis unifilis (yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle) and P. expansa (giant South American river turtle), declining river turtles that are important biodiversity components and have regionally important cultural and economic values. I present ecological and social research, collected by local people, with my scientific collaboration, that will inform a community-based PNNKM management plan for the species. Ecological research investigates local population viability and threats (human and natural) to the species. Studies include: (1) a nesting study that compares turtle reproduction (number of nests laid, female turtle size, hatchling size, and nest survival) between sites at different levels of human use; (2) a social study that investigates local consumption of the species; and (3) interviews that query local knowledge of the species and opinions and ideas for the management plan. Results document strong negative effects in turtle populations that are close to human settlements, high levels of local consumption of the species, and high levels of nest mortality caused by animal predation and river inundation. Social studies document majority local support for the project and belief that a management plan will be necessary for local conservation of the species. Results will directly inform the PNNKM community-based management plan. Methods and results could be relevant to conservation schemes throughout the tropics. INDEX WORDS: Podocnemis expansa, Podocnemis unifilis, river turtle, turtle conservation, Bolivia, community-based conservation, tropical conservation AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION: MANAGEMENT OF PODOCNEMIS RIVER TURTLES IN NOEL KEMPFF MERCADO NATIONAL PARK, BOLIVIA by ALISON JEANNINE LIPMAN B.A., The University of California Los Angeles, 1996 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2008 © 2008 Alison Jeannine Lipman All Rights Reserved AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION: MANAGEMENT OF PODOCNEMIS RIVER TURTLES IN NOEL KEMPFF MERCADO NATIONAL PARK, BOLIVIA by ALISON JEANNINE LIPMAN Major Professor: C. Ronald Carroll Committee: Sara Schweitzer Peter Brosius Kurt Buhlmann Laurie Fowler Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2008 DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to Bill Young and Bruce Haines, two men who had a great impact on my life and passed unexpectedly last year. Both men dedicated their lives to helping young people improve themselves and gain a greater appreciation of the natural world. Bill Young, as my Girl Scout leader and extended family, was an influential force throughout my entire life. I loved him greatly and will never forget one of the lessons of his life- that showing young people love, and giving them new opportunities, is the most important way we can change this world. Bruce Haines, as my professor and member of my Ph.D. advisory committee, was an influential force throughout my time at UGA. I respected him greatly as a scholar, colleague, and friend. He taught me that the study of Ecology has everything to do with passion and collaboration. Above all, I dedicate this dissertation to my parents, David and Susan Lipman, and to my sister, Karin Lipman Nassar. Without the love, support, and understanding of these three people, throughout my entire life, I would not be the person I am today, nor would I have accomplished all I have. If I ever needed a role model, for how to live my life or how to go about my work, I had to look no further than my family. Each in their own way has had (and continues to have) a great impact in the world, by improving the lives of other people. They are selfless people who give of their time to others, when at times I feel that I could not. I learned my love of the natural world from my parents, and I share my love of the natural world with all three. I love my parents and sister truly. It is their belief and support in me and what I do that makes me strong always. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the two people who have had the most influence on my career, and who have largely inspired the direction of my academic interests: Ron Carroll, my advisor for the Ph.D., and Rudi Mattoni, my advisor at UCLA. These two men have inspired me, in different ways, to pursue a career in conservation ecology. I would most like to thank Ron Carroll, who was responsible for directing me in my graduate studies at UGA. He was the first person interested in advising my work in Bolivia, and he helped me see the path that would be my dissertation research and project. Ron has never ceased in his patience with me. I thank him for always being supportive of my ideas and work, and for his endless insights and counsel. Ron taught me by example that ecological science can be applied to create locally-relevant conservation programs that bring real results. His optimistic outlook gives me confidence in a field that can seem bleak. I thank Rudi Mattoni, my advisor and employer at UCLA and the DFSP, as the person who first inspired me in my academic career, and who gave me my first opportunity to work and do research in the field. It is almost entirely Rudi’s quick intelligence, passion for biodiversity, cynical yet realistic outlook, friendship, and complete faith in and support of me that put me on the academic path I chose. His charm and intelligent conversation opened my eyes to the realities, contradictions, and need for change that define this world. I thank my committee members, Sara Schweitzer, Kurt Buhlmann, Pete Brosius, Laurie Fowler, and acknowledge Bruce Haines, for their comments, advice, and encouragement throughout the process of obtaining the Ph.D. I thank Sara Schweitzer for her input related to v research methodology, for her constant support, for her amazing and thorough edits, and for being a role model for me. I thank Kurt Buhlmann for his advice and edits, as the turtle expert, related to project planning, methodology, and presentation, which made my research directly relevant to the species of focus. I thank him for his excitement in my project and turtle research, in general. I thank Pete Brosius, who, as the anthropologist, offered sound advice and much needed positive encouragement in my work with local communities, and helped direct my focus to making my work relevant at the local level. I thank Laurie Fowler, who this year joined my committee, with much enthusiasm. I thank her for her sound advice on social issues relevant to the Management Plan. I would like to acknowledge Bruce Haines, for the endless hours he spent with me every week, discussing all aspects of ecology and my research, and for his countless ideas that kept me rethinking and reformulating my work. I thank Mary Freeman for her support at my defense, and for her advice related to my research and management issues. I thank Kristen Conway-Gómez for her advice, collaboration, the hours spent discussing the logistics of my research. and for the use of her equipment in PNNKM. I thank Richard Vogt for his advice regarding research and conservation methods relevant to Podocnemis turtles. I thank Dr. Jaxk Reeves, and his students RuoBing Wang and LiXing Yang, for the countless hours they spent with me and my data, in statistical consulting. Because of their efforts in organization and analysis of my data, the results presented here are statistically valid. All GLM related charts and tables in Chapter 4 are products of their work. Above all I would like to thank my collaborators in Bolivia, without whose collaboration, dedication, friendship, and interest in conservation, the work I present here would never have been possible. I thank Gonzalo Peña, who, as previous director of Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (PNNKM), first approached me with the idea of collaboration in this project. vi Above all my collaborators in this dissertation, I acknowledge and thank Lisandro Saucedo Mendía, who as co-director of the project, worked equally in the planning and implementation of all research and conservation efforts presented here. I thank him not only for his dedication to our work, but for his hospitality at his home in Porvenir, and for his friendship and support of my work. I thank Lisandro´s family, especially his parents, Doña Blanca Mendía and Don Carmelo Saucedo, who opened their home to me time and again, for three years. I thank Debora Olivares Brito, who opened her home to me, providing me with a place to live in Porvenir.

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