scholarly journals Paper plans and possibility: A critical analysis of landscape conservation policy in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor

2020 ◽  
pp. 100600
Author(s):  
Ruchi Patel
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Jennifer Rebecca Schauer

Abstract Shrinking habitat, depleted prey sources, and hunting increase conflict between humans and jaguars in Latin America. Participant observation was used for 131 open-ended interviews in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor of Costa Rica to describe and provide recommendations for Panthera’s rancher outreach program. Changing husbandry practices is different than wanting to relocate jaguars or pumas, which suggests willingness to coexist is based on geo-physical proximities. Further, perceived attacks on livestock may be unreliable creating a perception of more predation, villainizing large felines, and challenging coexistence. This study urges wildlife managers to evaluate the effectiveness of relocation; suggests systematic recordkeeping of jaguar and puma attacks; encourages researchers to measure willingness to co-exist with large carnivores based on geo-physical distance; suggests strategies of coexistence may have both cultural and regional differences; and recommends a communication strategy through a citizen science approach, in order to educate ranchers and create social investment among communities.


2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 269-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. M. BRIDGEWATER ◽  
D. J. HARRIS ◽  
C. WHITEFOORD ◽  
A. K. MONRO ◽  
M. G. PENN ◽  
...  

Covering an area of 177,000 hectares, the region known within Belize as the Chiquibul Forest comprises the country's largest forest reserve and includes the Chiquibul Forest Reserve, the Chiquibul National Park and the Caracol Archaeological Reserve. Based on 7047 herbarium and live collections, a checklist of 1355 species of vascular plant is presented for this area, of which 87 species are believed to be new records for the country. Of the 41 species of plant known to be endemic to Belize, four have been recorded within the Chiquibul, and 12 species are listed in The World Conservation Union (IUCN) 2006 Red List of Threatened Species. Although the Chiquibul Forest has been relatively well collected, there are geographical biases in botanical sampling which have focused historically primarily on the limestone forests of the Chiquibul Forest Reserve. A brief review of the collecting history of the Chiquibul is provided, and recommendations are given on where future collecting efforts may best be focused. The Chiquibul Forest is shown to be a significant regional centre of plant diversity and an important component of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-563
Author(s):  
Jonathan Pérez-Flores ◽  
Sofía Mardero ◽  
Antonio López-Cen ◽  
Fernando M. Contreras-Moreno

Wildlife conservation efforts in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor have focused on reducing negative interactions between humans and charismatic species. In recent years, droughts have increased in frequency and intensity in southeastern Mexico exacerbating conflicts with wildlife as they compete with humans for limited water. In the Yucatan Peninsula, Greater Calakmul Region of southeastern Mexico, Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) are increasingly encroaching into local villages (ejidos) in search of water. This behavior could increase tapir mortality from hunting by Calakmul ejidos residents. We evaluated the trends between annual precipitation and tapir sightings near or within Calakmul ejidos from 2008 to 2019 to determine if the frequency of reported conflicts increased relative to decreased precipitation. In addition, with community participation, from 2016 to 2018 we monitored one of the ejidos where human-tapir conflicts were reported to be increasing to better describe the nature of conflicts. We did not find any relationship between the number of tapir sightings reported and annual precipitation. However, more tapirs were documented near ejidos in 2019, which is one of the years with the lowest rainfall (626.6 mm) in the last decade. Tapirs were reported as the most common wildlife species observed at waterholes (35.4%) and apiaries (32.1%). Our findings suggested that water scarcity has increased tapirs’ incursions into human-populated areas and subsequently the potential for human-tapir conflicts. We recommend that managers consider developing alternative water sources that could mitigate human-tapir conflicts and contribute to the long-term viability of other wildlife species that inhabit the Greater Calakmul Region of southeastern Mexico.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document