Magazine of the species survival Commission specialist Group - IUCN

specialist group exchange
Bernard Devaux with a Radiated Tortoise
(Astrochelys radiata). © Turtle Survival Alliance
announce that the 5th Annual Behler
Turtle Conservation Award was
presented to Bernard Devaux from
SOPTOM, Gonfaron, France, at the 8th
Annual Symposium on Conservation
and Biology of Tortoises and
Freshwater Turtles in Orlando, Florida,
on 19 August.
Bernard Devaux is a leading turtle
conservationist whose work in France
and around the world has been
inspirational. He has created a series of
educational ‘turtle villages’ and has
worked tirelessly for the conservation of
wild populations of turtles and tortoises.
In 1986, Bernard created the
SOPTOM association (Station for the
Observation and Protection of Turtles
and their Habitats) in order to study and
protect the Hermann’s Tortoise (Testudo
hermanni). He then created the Village
des Tortues (Turtle Village) in Gonfaron,
southern France (1988) with the
objective of financing turtle conservation
by opening a visitor centre. Spurred on
by the success of the concept, he
opened the first Turtle Clinic in Europe
(1989) followed by other Turtle Villages
in Corsica (1992), Senegal (1995), and
Madagascar (2003).
He has written over 10 books on
tortoises, as well as an Encyclopedia of
Turtles of the World (1996), in
conjunction with two other naturalist
photographers, Alain Dupré and Franck
Bonin. He is a specialist on the African
Tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata) and the
Aldabra Tortoise (Dipsochelys
dussumieri or Aldabrachelys gigantea)
and wrote two monographs on these
species in 2000 and 2007. He has also
recently published a monograph on the
Madagascan Tortoise (Astrochelys
radiata), that he studies and protects on
the south of the island.
The IUCN SSC Tortoise and
Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group and
Turtle Survival Alliance established the
Annual Behler Turtle Conservation
Award in 2006, to honour leadership
and excellence in the field of tortoise
and freshwater turtle conservation. A
history of the Award and details on its
honourees are available at http://www.
iucn-tftsg.org/behler/. In addition to
honouring the life-time achievements of
senior turtle and tortoise
conservationists, the Award also
honours conservation efforts by younger
individuals and hopes to provide some
inspiration and reward for those who
have demonstrated excellence and
leadership on the front lines of global
turtle conservation efforts.
Anders G.J. Rhodin
Chair, Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle
Specialist Group
Rick Hudson
Member, Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle
Specialist Group
Tuna and Billfish SG
Atlantic workshop completed
The IUCN Tuna and Billfish Specialist
Group conducted a Red List workshop
for Atlantic tunas and billfishes in
Brasilia from 13–17 September 2010.
We succeeded in our goal of assessing
the five western Atlantic, two eastern
Atlantic, eight Atlantic endemics, and
the Atlantic populations of 15
widespread species, for which we
already have regional assessments
from previous workshops for the
Eastern Tropical Pacific and the Indo-
West Pacific.
Many of the 30 species that we
assessed are the basis of important
commercial and recreational fisheries.
As part of the recently expanded
cooperation between IUCN and
Instituto Chico Mendes de
Conservacao da Biodiversidade
(ICMBio), our assessments will help
build the Brazilian Red List of
Threatened Species.
In order to identify the global IUCN
Red List status of each of these
species, the results from this study will
be combined with the findings from our
earlier regional workshops in Lima and
Taiwan.
Our workshop was part of the
Global Marine Species Assessment and
was hosted by ICMBio. We received
support from IUCN, Conservation
International, the New Hampshire
Charitable Foundation and Tom Haas.
Eighteen experts participated in our
workshop, nine from Brazil and nine
from the US, Spain, Japan, and
Barbados.
Bruce B. Collette
Chair, Tuna and Billfish Specialist Group
28 • species 52