NEW YORK - July 7, 2006 - An international collaborative group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and conservation scientists have released an action plan to save amphibian species from extinction. The plan calls for the creation of the Amphibian Survival Alliance (ASA), a global organization to facilitate conservation programs. Amphibian populations have been declining for the past three decades, some to the point of extinction. A range of causes has increased the decline of amphibian species including climate change, and a virulent epidemic disease, chytridiomycosis, caused by an emerging fungal pathogen.

The ASA will empower experts in range-countries where amphibians are at highest risk of extinction to reverse amphibian declines due to this emerging infectious disease. This alliance would operate under the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN (World Conservation Union), an international conservation organization. ASA would implement protocols for addressing the crisis set forth in the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan that was formed at an international summit held in Washington, D.C., in September 2005. The ASA will prioritize building capacity in affected countries, so that conservation programs may remain based in native countries.

To justify the need for such immediate, drastic action, the group reviewed recent publications and cites disturbing statistics about the current state of amphibians globally - 32.5 percent of all described species are threatened by the chytrid fungus. In some instances, entire groups of species are being threatened with extinction. In the case of chytridiomycosis, scientists can now predict that within 4-6 months of the arrival of the disease into a new area, up to 80% of individual amphibians may die, and up to 50% percent of amphibian species in the area may be permanently eliminated.

Dr. Peter Daszak, Executive Director of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine at Wildlife Trust, was a key member of the team that first discovered chytridiomycosis in the mid-1990s. Daszak commented, "This pathogen is the amphibian equivalent of H5N1 avian flu and Ebola combined: It spreads rapidly and can wipe out whole populations at a time. It's a testament to the scientists involved in this work that we have a global strategy to combat this emerging disease less than 10 years after we discovered it."

Dr. Joseph Mendelson, Curator of Herpetology at Zoo Atlanta highlighted the need for rapid response. "We now have an unprecedented consensus among global experts that amphibian declines are real, underestimated, and largely unstoppable via conventional conservation programs. Amphibian extinctions have been documented in fully protected natural areas, and this tells us that we need a paradigm shift in conservation action to manage the threats of disease and climate change to amphibians across the globe," stated Mendelson. Ron Gagliardo, Atlanta Botanical Garden, noted, "Our practical 'Noah's Ark' rescue of more than two dozen species of threatened amphibians, and their subsequent installation in captive assurance colonies, is a stop-gap measure to save breeding colonies of these animals. Several species, such as the Gasthrotheca, have bred in the Garden's Frog Lab in captivity for the first time ever."

Drs. Mendelson, Daszak, Mr. Gagliardo call for a massive fundraising effort to provide $400 million in funding over five years for ASA, to coordinate and facilitate the broad range of conservation activities outlined in the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan. Along with the creation of the ASA, the group calls for general global support, the uniting of conservation organizations to address the issue under this plan, and fundraising support from a variety of private, government and non-profit sources.

About the Consortium for Conservation Medicine

The Consortium for Conservation Medicine (CCM), based at Wildlife Trust's New York headquarters, is a unique collaborative institution linking Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Tufts University School of Vet. Med. Center for Conservation Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Wildlife Trust and USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC). The CCM is a think-tank for the origin, prediction, and prevention of emerging diseases. The CCM enables scientists from a multitude of disciplines to collaborate on key issues of human, animal, and environmental health and conservation. www.conservationmedicine.org

About Wildlife Trust

Wildlife Trust empowers local conservation scientists worldwide to protect nature and safeguard ecosystem and human health. Wildlife Trust is a conservation science innovator and leverages research expertise through strategic global alliances. Wildlife Trust pioneered the field of Conservation Medicine, a new discipline that addresses the link between ecological disruption of habitats and the effects on wildlife, livestock and human health.

Founded in 1971 by British naturalist and author Gerald Durrell, Wildlife Trust has built its reputation on 35 years of global research, education, training and experience. Research and conservation work in the United States include programs in the metropolitan New York area, Florida and along the coast of the Southeastern U.S.

Internationally, Wildlife Trust trains and supports a network of scientists around the world to save endangered species and their habitats and to protect the health of vital ecosystems. Wildlife Trust created the first egalitarian international network of science-based conservation organizations called the Wildlife Trust Alliance and is a founding partner organization of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine, a unique think-tank of prestigious academic institutions.

Visit www.wildlifetrust.org to read more.

Media Contact:
Anthony Ramos, Wildlife Trust
Director for Marketing & Communications
ramos@wildlifetrust.org
212/380-4469

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