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Tools for assessing and prioritizing species for intensive management

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The Amphibian Ark

AArk’s mission:• Ensuring the global survival of amphibians,

focusing on those that cannot currently be safeguarded in nature

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The Amphibian Ark

• AArk utilizes short-term ex situ management to ensure long-term survival in nature of amphibians for which protection in the wild is not currently possible

• Our first emphasis is on programs within the range countries of the species, and coupling the ex situ work with efforts to secure species in situ

• AArk Taxon Officers assist amphibian experts on a national basis to assess local amphibian species for their specific conservation needs

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Species Assessment

Developing ex situ conservation programs• Which species are our priorities• Range state approval to work with species• Ex situ management expertise and resources• Collaborating with our partners• Other conservation

actions

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Species Assessment

Species selection and prioritization• CBSG/WAZA held an Amphibian Ex Situ

Conservation Planning workshop, Panama, 2006

• A taxon selection and prioritization working group developed a decision tree to select and prioritize which taxa are most in need of ex situ assistance

• The decision tree was expanded and developed into a standardized electronic data entry tool for prioritizing amphibians for ex situ programs

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Species Assessment

Species conservation needs• The prioritization process was then further

refined and developed into a conservation needs assessment process

• Additional buy-in from field biologists

• Coupling ex situ rescues with in situ and other actions

• Guide for development or revision of national conservation action plans

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Species Assessment

Overlap with IUCN Red List Assessments?• Created to fill a void in the Red List

Assessment process• Lack of consistency and objectivity in

Conservation Needs section of Red List assessment accounts

• Current process assesses threat status, but does not provide guidance

• Identifies broad categories of conservation action

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Species Assessment

Overlap with IUCN Red List Assessments?• Conservation needs assessment

complements Red List process• Hope to eventually incorporate process and

results with the Red List process• Same field expertise required

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Species Assessment

The conservation needs assessment tool contains three main sections

1. Taxon assessment

2. Ex situ program authorization / Availability of animals

3. Ex situ program implementation

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Species Assessment

1. Taxon assessment– Assesses and prioritizes the conservation

needs of all species– Is a series of 15 questions and other existing

data, with weighted scores– The total score indicates how important the

species is in relation to others

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Species Assessment

1. Taxon assessment– Includes information about extinction risk,

phylogenetic significance, threat mitigation, habitat protection, cultural and socio-economic significance

– Usually answered in a workshop attended by a group of field biologists with expertise in the species being considered

Species Assessment

Species Assessment

Species Assessment

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Species Assessment

2. Ex situ program authorization / Availability of animals– Is there an existing conservation mandate that

recommends an ex situ program?– Is the proposed ex situ program supported by

the range State?– Are sufficient founder animals available to

initiate an ex situ program?

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Species Assessment

The responses in Section 1 and 2 generate reports containing prioritized lists of species that are in need of various conservation actions:

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Species Assessment

Ark• A species that is extinct in the wild (locally or

globally) and which would become completely extinct without ex situ management

Rescue• A species that is in imminent danger of

extinction (locally or globally) and requires ex situ management, as part of an integrated program, to ensure its survival

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Species Assessment

Supplementation• A species for which ex situ management will

benefit the wild population through breeding for release as part of the recommended conservation action

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Species Assessment

In situ conservation• A species for which mitigation of threats in the

wild may still bring about its’ successful conservation

In situ research• A species that requires further in situ research

to be carried out as part of the conservation action for the species. One or more critical pieces of information is not known at this time

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Species Assessment

Ex situ research• A species undergoing

specific applied research that directly contributes to the conservation of that species, or a related species, in the wild

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Species Assessment

Mass production in captivity• A species threatened through wild collection

(e.g. as a food resource), which could be, or is currently being bred in captivity to replace a demand for wild harvested specimens.

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Species Assessment

Conservation education• A species that is specifically selected for

management – primarily in zoos and aquariums - to inspire and increase knowledge in visitors, in order to promote positive behavioural change.

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Species Assessment

Cryopreservation• A species for which the

long-term storage of sperm or cells to perpetuate their genetic variation is urgently recommended, due the serious threat of extinction of the species

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Species Assessment

• Reports are generated by the data compiled during the workshop, and provide prioritized lists for further conservation action

• They are produced during the workshop and are provided to all workshop participants and published online

• Used as a guide to develop or revise national action plans

Species Assessment

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Species Assessment

3. Ex situ program implementation– Considers the practical feasibility of initiating

and maintaining an ex situ program– Includes a series of questions with yes/no

answers about husbandry, number of founder animals, facilities, expertise, food supply etc.

– Identifies species for which ex situ programs are likely to be successful

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Species Assessment

3. Ex situ program implementation– Usually answered by institutions prior to

establishing ex situ conservation programs– Available as an online tool

Species Assessment

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2012 wall calendar

Raising awareness

€ 11 during CBSG meeting !!

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Species Assessment

The conservation needs assessment tool• Provides prioritized lists of species for various

conservation actions, with an indication of the appropriateness, and practicality of establishing ex situ programs

• Should be used as a guide to further develop local conservation activities

• Quantifies the appropriateness for a given species to be included in an ex situ conservation program

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Species Assessment

The conservation needs assessment tool• Has already been used in 22 workshops in

Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia, North, Central and South America and South-East Asia

• Has been used to assess 2,407(38%) of the world’s amphibian species

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Species Assessment

Future use of the process and tool• Process is completely generic and can be

used with any group of taxa• The process has been modified slightly for

use with assessing trees in Costa Rica• Planning to use the tool with corals, bats,

freshwater fish and felids

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Species Assessment

Problems with the conservation needs assessment tool

• Not all questions can be answered quantitatively

• Not all questions can be answered objectively

• Inconsistent interpretation

• Language misunderstandings

• Insufficient expertise/knowledge

• Disagreement between participants

• Information rapidly becomes out of date

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Species Assessment

Some answers• Incomplete knowledge of species, a problem

in itself, necessitates subjective and qualitative answers

• Priority lists are NOT intended to be globally comparable.

• Workshops are generally run by an experienced facilitator who is familiar with the process and competent in the language of the workshop

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Species Assessment

Some answers• Workshops should aim to assemble a broad

range of relevant expertise, of varied affiliation, and have access to the internet - but accept data deficiencies

• Agree to disagree. Qualitative and subjective perspectives guarantee disagreement - a good facilitator will resolve disputes

• Spreadsheets can be updated quickly and easily and reports republished

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Species Assessment

What the process does• Provide a logical, repeatable, and most

importantly, transparent process for guiding conservation activities within a country or region

• Help to develop new and strengthen existing partnerships between conservation organizations

• Demonstrate a measured and responsible approach to the amphibian extinction crisis by the ex situ community

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Species Assessment

What the process doesn’t do• Generate global priority lists

Each set of regional/ national lists are generated independently and are therefore incomparable with others

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Species Assessment

What the process doesn’t do• Pretend to be perfect

If answers are subjective or qualitative in nature they may also be inaccurate or change.

Priority lists should therefore be viewed in the broad sense of identifying clear trends and obvious urgent cases

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Species Assessment

Integration with Red List assessments• Aim to have the process incorporated into the

Red List Assessment process• The same expertise is required for both

assessments• Information could be consolidated within one

central conservation database

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Species Assessment

Amphibian assessment results:

www.amphibianark.org/AssessmentResults.htm

Species Assessment

amphibian ark

www.amphibianark.org

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