A National Action Plan for the jaguar in Brazil
Species-focused conservation action plans supply a blueprint for saving a species or group of species. Through a species focus, a greater level of conservation investment to whole ecosystems is stimulated. The IUCN Species Survival Commission is currently working with its networks to improve species conservation planning techniques. The SSC Species Conservation Planning Sub-Committee has been formed to learn from past experiences and to further develop and test processes that lead to effective, realistic, measurable and implementable conservation plans. The IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group and the IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group have been very active participants in these initiatives. Both groups have many years of experience working together with diverse stakeholders throughout the world to develop conservation planning approaches. In this Special Issue of Cat news we present the process, tools and some results from the Jaguar National Action Planning Workshop held in Atibaia, State of São Paulo, Brazil, in November 2009. It was organised and funded by CENAP - Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Mamíferos Carnívoros (a governmental agency responsible for all aspects of carnivore research, conservation, and policy-making in Brazil), Pró-Carnívoros (a national non-governmental organization dedicated to carnivore conservation) and Panthera (an international NGO). The Brazilian Network of the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group together with the Cat Specialist Group designed and facilitated the workshop. An action plan is prepared through inclusive, participatory processes. A diversity of stakeholders worked tirelessly together in both small working groups and plenary sessions through a series of carefully planned steps to prepare the national action plan. This process and some results are presented in the first article of this issue. Globally, jaguars are listed as “Near Threatened” (IUCN 2011). In Brazil, the species can be found in five different biomes including the Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, Cerrado, and Pantanal. However, jaguar populations in each of these biomes are under different types and levels of threat. During the Jaguar National Action Planning Workshop, a red listing exercise was performed with workshop participants and discussed in plenary sessions. Results from this work are presented in a series of articles in this issue. All the rules and definitions in the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria Version 3.1 (IUCN 2001) were applied to jaguar populations in each Brazilian biome where they occur. Given that individuals can move between biomes, methods for adjusting the results were applied using the IUCN Red List Regional Guidelines (IUCN 2003). There are important reasons to assess the risk of species extinction at the biome level. Using ecological borders rather than geo-political is often more efficient in terms of conducting explicit practical conservation assessments. In the case of jaguars, the biome-based assessment clearly illustrated how populations in different biomes where under different threats and at varying levels of extinction risk. Results from this exercise were important in assessing populations within each biome and to pinpoint areas where information lacked. The Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio), an agency of the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA), is currently assessing species throughout Brazil and is now using the jaguar workshop and process as a model to adopt a biome approach for the red list assessment of other wide-ranging species. An action plan must also be based on sound conservation science and during the Jaguar National Action Planning Workshop three different modelling tools were used which are further detailed in this issue. A Population Viability Analysis (PVA) exercise took place to explore jaguar population dynamics and better gauge potential management scenarios and conservation strategies. In addition, the species distribution was modelled through the use of GIS and an environmental suitability map for jaguar distribution was created. Finally, priority areas for jaguar conservation and parameters important for building a corridor model to identify connections between source populations also took place in working groups during the workshop. The purpose of this publication is to inspire other groups preparing their action plans on methods, tools and techniques that can be successfully applied. We hope you enjoy this issue and look forward to sharing results from the implementation of this action plan in the coming years. An action plan is only successful if it is widely implemented for the conservation of species and their habitats. Arnaud Desbiez and Christine Breitenmoser-Würsten
Summary 1. Introduction by A. Desbiez and Ch. Breitenmoser-Würsten.........................................................................................................................3 2. Species conservation planning: the jaguar National Action Plan for Brazil by A. Desbiez and R. C. de Paula..........................................4 3. Red List Assessment of the jaguar in Amazonia by T. G. de Oliveira, E. E. Ramalho and R. C. de Paula..........................................................................................................8 Atlantic Forest by B. M. Beisiegel, D. A. Sana and E. A. Moraes Jr....................................................................................................14 Caatinga by R. C. de Paula, C. B. de Campos and T. G. de Oliveira......................................................................................................19 Cerrado by E. A. Moraes Jr....................................................................................................................................................................25 Pantanal by S. M. C. Cavalcanti, F. C. C. de Azevedo, W. M. Tomás, R. L. P. Boulhosa, P. G. Crawshaw Jr.......................................29 4. Population Viability Analysis of jaguar populations in Brazil by A. L. J. Desbiez, K. Taylor-Holzer, B. Lacy, B. M. Beisiegel, Ch. Breitenmoser-Würsten. D. A. Sana,.E. A. Moraes Jr, E. A. R. Carvalho Jr, F. Lima, R. L. P. Boulhosa, R. C. de Paula, R. G. Morato, S. M. C. Cavalcanti and T. G. de Oliveira.........................35 5. How species distribution modeling can improve cat conservation - jaguars in Brazil by K. M. P. M. B. Ferraz, B. M. Beisiegel, R. C. de Paula, D. A. Sana, C. B. de Campos, T. G. de Oliveira and A. L. J. Desbiez..............38 6. Conservation units, priority areas and dispersal corridors for jaguars in Brazil by S. Nijhawan..............................................................43
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