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Fauna Australis Champions the Huemul,
An Endangered Icon of Chile;
Creates New Masters Program
Wildlife Trust Alliance member Fauna Australis of Santiago, is working to save the endangered huemul - an icon of conservation for Chile - and has created a new masters program designed to produce the conservation leaders of the future. Read the latest news from Fauna Australis in this online interview with director Cristian Bonacic.
by Linda Shockley
What inspired you to establish Fauna Australis, the South American conservation organization?
Even before I left Oxford in the UK, I began to think about how I could combine my academic career with effective conservation work. During my doctoral studies at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit with Professor David Macdonald, I learned many things, but perhaps the most important lesson is that conservation is about people, and effective conservation combines scientific facts with active conservation work.
My initial aim was to create small activities beyond my teaching and specific research, by organizing conservation seminars and discussions. To make our group more attractive, I created the logo and name, assisted by my wife Jessica and other volunteers and colleagues in the faculty.
Our first activity was a conference about raptor conservation and medicine. I booked a small room for 10-15 people, thinking that no more than a small 'flock' of bird lovers would attend the conference. I sent an e-mail around and in few days, more than 100 students, scientists and bird lovers had registered. We had to book the main lecture theater for what turned out to be one of the most successful faculty outreach activities of the year.
I immediately understood that conservation and science were options - and a need - for younger generations in my country. Since then (2001), we have completed more than 15 seminars, conferences and outreach activities.
Every activity is organized with help from my students, who are learning how to create and organize, an essential skill for future conservation work.
What Fauna Australis projects are currently underway?
We are primarily working on the conservation of Andean deer species, conducting research about the effects of agriculture and forestry on their conservation. I also conduct basic research in stress response of South American camelids under management.
Previous work was conducted to understand the role of conservation within farmland, and humane control of rodents. The majority of my work is oriented to solve actual problems that wildlife species are facing rather than theoretical questions to explain ecological principles. However we use the scientific method, our aim is to solve conservation problems. This is why I called the masters program "Applied Science for Conservation."
One aspect of your work focuses on the endangered North Andean deer, the huemul. How do huemuls differ from North American deer?
The huemul species are from the genus hippocamelus , only present in this part of the world, and extremely unknown to science. Little work has been done on both species, and compared to North American deer, their conservation status is endangered, according to IUCN.
Other primary differences relate to how people perceive them. For example, North American deer are well known and abundant in some states, while the Andean deer species are virtually unknown to most people. In the areas where they conflict with agriculture and forestry, they have little protection or no protection at all.
An unknown species is what I called a "culturally extinct" species, a phenomenon that occurs even before biological extinction. A species that is unknown to people is driven to extinction because no one will care about it. That is why education and outreach are so vital to species conservation. We must find the right connections between people and wildlife to obtain support for conservation.
Many times, conservationists make the mistake to think that their own values are the common values of normal people. That is absolutely wrong. The conservationist must understand that most people are not worried about global extinctions.
The huemul is considered a flagship species for Chile. Please explain the concept of "flagship species."
Flagship means that the species represents something more than a singular species. For example, the demise of the huemul is a first among other species as a result of the deforestation of one of the last massive temperate rain forests that remains in the Southern hemisphere. Huemul population declines will be followed by Darwin frog declines and many other species of fungi, algae and birds that are less known or considered less important to society.
The huemul is on the Chilean national crest and is an icon for conservation in Chile. Imagine if the American eagle - a symbol of America - became extinct.
Why does this charismatic deer make an ideal species for communicating conservation concerns?
The huemul is an extremely beautiful and tame deer. You can approach them, nearly touching them in protected areas, and perhaps that is the reason of their current conservation status. A tame animal unable to adapt to human pressure, diseases from livestock, dogs and rifles, rapidly declined as soon as it was in close contact with humans. If we fail to protect the huemul, little hope remains for many other species that are less charismatic in Chile.
What conditions have led to the huemul's endangered status?
Livestock competition, hunting, and probably disease transmission from livestock. The huemul have declined rapidly in less than 80 years and they are now extinct from most of their original distribution range along central and South of Chile. What remains of the species in Patagonia is scattered and subjected to human pressure.
You emphasize that conservation of an endangered species like the huemul urgently requires a comprehensive approach. Please elaborate.
A comprehensive approach means that we need to rely on a set of tools, methods and people from different backgrounds and expertise. Traditionally, people think that conservation is about the biology of endangered species; my opinion is totally the opposite. Today, conservation must include biologists and lawyers, philosophers, sociologists, veterinarians, agronomists and local community members.
We must act at all levels: globally and locally. Often, a good lobbyist and good fundraiser can be as effective for policy change as biological studies. Studies alone will not solve the problems for many species.
Wildlife Trust staff and Alliance scientists favor cultural components in building conservation capacity with local communities to achieve the most effective - and lasting - results. Does your work with huemuls offer a cultural component?
Indeed, local farmers' attitudes to wildlife need to be somehow changed, and their knowledge about the species ecology is crucial to effective conservation.
Perhaps I am not the right person to make a statement but my perception is that we must be careful not to portray what we believe is traditional knowledge or ancient culture wisdom when we refer to local communities' relationships with wildlife.
Many local communities all over the world are already strongly influenced by globalization and free market economy. Perhaps in some areas we may still find "traditional" communities using wildlife in a sustainable way, but I doubt that we can refer to it as the most common situation. Local communities must be involved in conservation, but current population growth and economic needs require that we develop creative conservation solutions as we care for human well being in local areas.
Why should we expect that poor local communities will share our willingness to conserve if they do not thrive as we do in the cities? The equation between development and conservation is not an easy one, and requires a multidisciplinary approach. It is my hope that conservationists can learn from local communities, just as we hope that they'll learn from us.
What is your hope for the future of Fauna Australis?
Fauna Australis is already a well-established concept in Chile and we are training people, from different backgrounds, at the onset of their careers, as we understand that a multidisciplinary approach is critical for effective conservation.
My hope is that Fauna Australis becomes a completely independent foundation, strongly linked to the university from where we receive students, transforming them into conservation professionals through active work on real conservation problems.
I hope that Fauna Australis becomes a multidisciplinary and multinational conservation group oriented to the "non-tropical" wildlife of the Southern cone of South America, allowing Argentine, Bolivians, Peruvians and Chileans working together for sustainable long-term conservation of the Southern Andes, Altiplano and Patagonia.
Wildlife Trust has been tremendously helpful to us for the last four years, and Mary Pearl's and Alonso Aguirre's commitment to global conservation is perhaps the strongest example and proof that my career path has been the right one.
Visit www.fauna-australis.puc.cl for additional details about the program, including an application. Dr.Cristián Bonacic |