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New
data have renewed concerns about the potential impact of the proposed
Nicaraguan Interoceanic Canal on the future of the jaguar and other
species if proper mitigation actions are not taken.
Gathered by Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC) and Panthera,
in collaboration with Michigan State University (MSU), four years of
data have allowed researchers to identify two significant genetic
pathways for jaguars and other species that may be bisected by the
Canal. Without these pathways, three of Nicaragua's rarest large mammal
species, jaguars, white-lipped peccaries and Baird's tapirs, will
struggle to find other individuals in neighboring populations for
breeding, which is key to conserving the genetic diversity of these
species and therefore healthy populations.
"Bisecting
these pathways could endanger the survival of some of Nicaragua's most
emblematic species," said Dr. Wes Sechrest, Chief Scientist and CEO of
GWC. "We all have a role to play in ensuring the future of the wildlife
we share our planet with; working to ensure that development projects
have the smallest environmental impact possible must be a top priority
of governments and companies globally."
In
2013, the Hong Kong-based Nicaraguan Canal Development Company (HKND)
received a concession to build the approximately 170-mile long
interoceanic canal. HKND defined the route of the proposed canal in 2014
and is set to begin major construction at the end of 2015. The proposed
canal is designed to accommodate the world's largest shipping vessels,
including those unable to pass through the Panama Canal, and canal
officials predict that the megaproject will double Nicaragua's Gross
Domestic Product (GDP). Researchers at GWC and Panthera, the global wild
cat conservation organization, ran analyses to identify the key genetic
pathways for jaguars, Baird's tapirs, and white-lipped peccaries in the
proposed canal zone after obtaining a camera trap photo of a jaguar on
the proposed canal route in November of 2014. The camera trap photo was
taken in the indigenous Rama community, Bangkukuk, one of the epicenters
of proposed canal development on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua.
As
recently as 15 years ago, the indigenous territories of Caribbean
Nicaragua boasted some of the largest forests in the Central American
isthmus. Since then, illegal cattle ranching has devastated huge
expanses of these forests, leaving relatively little habitat for
wildlife and threatening the food security and cultural survival of the
indigenous and afro-descendant peoples who hold legal, communal tenure
to the land. Most remaining viable habitat, and the only remaining
reserves of significant size, are found in and around the indigenous and
afro-descendant communities. The two pathways that GWC and Panthera
have identified are both within indigenous lands and are the only active
portions of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor in this region of
Nicaragua.
Researchers
from GWC and Panthera submitted a technical report to the Nicaraguan
authorities with a list of suggestions and possible mitigation actions
that could prevent the loss of wildlife dispersal and genetic
connectivity in the context of canal construction. The report emphasizes
the acute threat posed by the still advancing cattle ranching frontier,
and the importance of prioritizing actions to address it.
"Even
in the absence of canal construction, without increased efforts to
address the expanding cattle ranching frontier, the country's remaining
Caribbean reserves will effectively disappear within the next 10-15
years," said Sandra Potosme, Panthera's Nicaragua Coordinator. "In our
opinion, if we are to maintain genetic connectivity for these three
threatened and ecologically important species, it is not only important
to include environmental mitigation actions specifically designed to
support their dispersal through the canal zone, but critical for all of
us involved in Nicaraguan conservation to work closely with local and
national authorities to help tackle the cattle ranching invasion and
fully invest in the conservation of the country's indigenous lands and
protected areas."
The
IUCN Red List classifies jaguars as Near Threatened globally, but they
are rare in Nicaragua with a population of fewer than 500. Baird's
tapirs are close to Critically Endangered in Central America and many
biologists believe that range-wide hunting has made the white-lipped
peccary the most threatened mammal in Central America. All three play
unique and important ecological roles.
"Nicaragua's
government is among eight countries throughout the Americas that have
signed formal agreements with Panthera to recognize the critical
importance of the international jaguar corridor and to help protect it,"
said Dr. Alan Rabinowitz,
Panthera's CEO. "We are optimistic that we can work together to make a
concerted, science-based effort to conserve genetic connectivity for wildlife in the context of the proposed canal."
Learn about Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative
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