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Sviatoslav Zabelin, SEU coordinator

Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for august 28, 2022. №52

Matsalu National Park in Estonia was established on July 10, 1957 to protect numerous breeding and migratory birds on the basis of an ornithological reserve and a hunting training and experimental farm (originally as a reserve) to protect natural complexes and a diverse fauna of birds (about 280 species, including over 160 breeding). Ornithological research on the modern territory of the park has been conducted since 1870. One of the most important migratory routes of migratory birds runs along the West Estonian coast.

An Indigenous community in Ecuador has finally obtained national protections for part of its territory after decades of fighting off deforestation and pollution in its mega-diverse rainforests. Ecuador’s National System of Protected Areas now includes the 549,785-hectare (1.36-million-acre) ancestral Tiwi Nunka Forest, which the Shuar Indigenous community of El Kiim lives in and relies on for sustenance and many cultural practices.

Members of the El Kiim community. (Photo courtesy of Nature and Culture International)

The decision means that the land should be safe from future exploitation, including mining, cattle ranching and agricultural encroachment — activities that have worried the community’s 35 Shuar families for decades. It also means that the community is free to sustainably manage the local natural resources as it sees fit. The area is not only home to many of the community’s ancestral traditions, such as collecting and making medicines and performing ritualistic waterfall baths, but also important biodiversity like the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus).

A coati in the Tiwi Nunka Forest in Ecuador. (Photo courtesy of Nature and Culture International)

The forest is also a source of clean water for the community. “We’re protecting the forest because these are the last trees we have for wood and medicine,” said Washington Tiwi, a resident of El Kiim and former head of the community. “Some species, such as bears, howler monkeys and tapirs, are protected from disappearing. Our children and future generations can see them and know that these species exist and are protected.” A long history of territorial disputes The story of the Tiwi Nunka Forest is one of near-constant struggle and loss. Read more

There are 40% more tigers in the wild than previously thought, with as many as 5,578 around, though they remain an endangered species, according to a leading conservationist group. The jump in numbers was due to improved monitoring, with the population thought to be stable or increasing, said the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Habitat protection projects showed that “recovery is possible”.

A Royal Bengal tiger in Kaziranga national park in Assam, India. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

There are thought to be between 3,726 and 5,578 wild tigers – 40% more than at the last assessment in 2015. “Expanding and connecting protected areas, ensuring they are effectively managed, and working with local communities living in and around tiger habitats, are critical to protect the species,” the IUCN said. The World Wildlife Fund also says that wild tiger numbers have started to recover after a century of decline in the main habitats of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia and China. Read more

New research indicates that, while the few vaquita that remain have been skirting extinction for years, those few that survive are reproducing and may have found ways to avoid the gillnets that threaten their species, the University of St Andrews said in a press release. The findings of the research, “More vaquita porpoises survive than expected,” were published in the journal Endangered Species Research. “Finding any vaquita in the area is a surprise, given the rapid declines detected in previous surveys. These survivors are the future of an endemic species of Mexico and must be protected,” said lead author of the research Dr. Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho of the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change in Mexico, according to the press release. Seven to 15 vaquitas were spotted in 2019, the researchers estimated, and from five to 13 individuals last year. Calves were seen both years.

Earlier research had estimated that less than 20 vaquita survived in 2018, with the population decreasing by about half each year. Read more

Reintroducing the Galapagos Land Iguanas to the Santiago Island. In late July, a team of park rangers and scientists discovered new lizards in various life stages while walking on the island. This suggests that the species has been reintroduced to the islands successfully. Jorge Carrio, the director of conservation at the Galapagos Conservancy, the island's ecosystem is thriving as a result. Carrion explains that seeing lizards from different ages across unmarked specimens can only mean that the iguanas are breeding in their new environment. According to carrion, the collaborative project has released more than 3,000 land iguanas since January 2019, reports NPR.

Land Iguana (Conolophus subcristatus) is seen in Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean, 1000 km off the coast of Ecuador, on February 27, 2019 (Photo: RODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP via Getty Images)

Conservationists decided to reintroduce the iguana species after considering how its return would affect the island's ecosystem. The lizards are known as engineering species, like the giant tortoises of the Galapagos, in that they play a vital role in maintaining the ecosystem's overall balance. As the primary herbivores on the islands, the land iguanas and tortoises spread seeds across the Galapagos landscape and help model the plant communities. Their movement patterns create open spaces used by other species. Carrio explains that this kind of species is critical for ecosystems. Read more

Nearly 120 rare hen harrier chicks have fledged in England this year, the highest number for more than a century, England’s conservation agency has said. Natural England and its partners recorded 119 hen harrier chicks successfully fledging from nests across uplands in County Durham, Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Yorkshire.

One-month-old hen harrier chicks in northern England. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

A fledgling is a young bird that has grown enough to acquire its initial flight feathers and is preparing to leave the nest and care for itself. It is the first time in more than a century that the number added to the population has exceeded 100 young birds, the agency said. Read more

The howl of the wolf is a common sound again in the Alps. That’s according to the Swiss-based wolf-protection association Gruppe Wolf Schweiz (GWS). It says there are now 300 packs in the region, and that numbers are increasing by up to 30 per cent annually.

Eradicating rats, goats and other invasive animals from islands is one of the most effective tools for protecting wildlife, resulting in dramatic transformations to degraded archipelagos and atolls, according to a new study. Now a new study has given hope that biodiversity loss on islands can be halted and, in some cases, reversed by removing invasive species such as rabbits, cats, goats, mice and rats from these ecosystems to allow native fauna to recover. A review of 1,550 eradications on nearly 1,000 islands since 1872 found an 88% success rate using methods such as hunting, trapping and targeted poisoning to help restore the islands’ biodiversity, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. Once an invasive species has been removed from an island, the recovery of nature can be dramatic. In 2011, rats were eradicated from Palmyra Atoll in the mid-Pacific; the germination of native plant seedlings increased by more than 5,000%, two previously undocumented crab species became abundant, and coral began to recover.

The transformation of Redonda in the Caribbean between 2016 and 2020, before and after black rats and feral goats were eradicated. Photograph: Jenny Daltry and Sophia Steele/FFI

On Redonda, a mile-long rock that is part of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, native vegetation, birds and reptiles burst back into life once invasive black rats and feral goats were removed in 2017, transforming the barren grey rock into a green island once again. Read more

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