Magazine of the species survival Commission specialist Group - IUCN

specialist group exchange
South American
Camelid SG
Current challenges for addressing
poverty alleviation via Vicuña
management in Andean countries
Vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) are South
American camelids, the commercial use
of which has untapped poverty
alleviation potential. Vicuña fibre is
produced by extremely low income
communities that inhabit the harsh
environment of the high Andes in
Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia. At
the other end of the world, affluent
consumers are willing to pay high prices
for apparel made of Vicuña fibre. Vicuña
management projects follow the logic of
community-based wildlife management.
The rationale for vicuña conservation
through sustainable use is that
commercial utilization of fibre obtained
from live-shorn individuals will generate
sufficient economic benefits to
outweigh the costs of conservation,
and contribute to community
development and poverty alleviation.
However, while conservation efforts
have been extremely successful, with
vicuñas recovering from the brink of
extinction, increasing from a
population of only 10,000 in 1965 to
about 421,500 individuals in 2010, the
socioeconomic achievements have
thus far proved modest. Most of the
benefits are being captured by traders
and international textile companies,
rather than by local communities. In
addition, the high market value of
vicuña fibre has attracted a number of
groups interested in its production.
This threatens the conservation of this
wild species, and the exclusive rights
of Andean communities, and could
undermine the spirit of the Vicuña
Convention.
The full article can be read in the
special issue on Biodiversity and
Poverty Alleviation of the publication
Biodiversity.
For downloading further material
on guanaco and vicuña conservation
and sustainable use please visit the
South American Camelid Specialist
Group (GECS) website.
Gabriela Lichtenstein
Chair, South American Camelid
Specialist Group
Gasterosteiforme and
Syngnathiforme RLA
Oil spill increases threats to
syngnathids
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from
the Deepwater Horizon well is likely to
add significantly to the many pressures
on the three species of seahorse and at
least 18 species of pipefishes in the
region. The Dwarf Seahorse
(Hippocampus zosterae), is expected to
be particularly susceptible to physical
and chemical threats from oil and
clean-up efforts, but the Longsnout
Seahorse (H. reidi) and the Northern
Seahorse (H. erectus) will also be
affected. H. zosterae is restricted to
shallow water inshore seagrass beds in
the Gulf of Mexico while the other two
species are also found in other habitats
and have wider geographic ranges.
Project Seahorse, as the Red List
Authority on these taxa, has been
collaborating with Dr Heather
Masonjones (Tampa University, Florida),
the leading researcher on H. zosterae,
to highlight the risks to these
seahorses.
Male Vicuña group (Vicugna vicugna). © Antonio Orosco
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