10 Mar 2008 - Santiago
de Cali, Colombia: A milestone in the protection
of the world's engangered river dolphins
has been achieved with the successful
completion of an ambitious 13 river, five
nation census survey of South America's
river dolphins.
The census, which took
two years and recorded 3188 pink and gray
dolphins in 3.600 km of rivers in the Amazon
and Orinoco basins, was key to development
of a standard methodology for assessing
river dolphin populations and the threats
they face.
“This census gives us
a baseline population for these species
and gives us an insight into the state of
the ecosystems they inhabit,” said Fernando
Trujillo PhD, the project's scientific leader.
Trujillo, Scientific
Director of the Omacha Foundation and winner
of the Whitley Award last year for his work
with river dolphins, said “These results
also provide the foundation for designing
an evaluation and monitoring program for
South American river dolphins.”
During the seven expeditions
involved in the survey, training in the
new methods was given to 18 professionals.
The new methodology has also been certified
by whale experts from the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“Although the situation
for river dolphins in South America is not
the same as for dolphins in Cambodia, for
instance, both have areas where we need
to raise the alarm against threats like
pollution, indiscriminate hunting and the
development of infrastructure megaprojects,”
Trujillo said.
The survey was also
notable as a highly successful exercise
in co-operation. The census was financed
by WWF Switzerland and WWF LAC’s Freshwater
Program. Scientific leadership from the
Omacha Foundation included WWF (Colombia,
Bolivia, Peru and Brazil), WCS (The Wildlife
Conservation Society, Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil), WDCS
(Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society),
La Salle Foundation (Venezuela) and Faunagua
(Bolivia). The statistical reliability of
the research was certified by the University
of St. Andrews (Scotland) Distance Program,
through Fernanda Márquez (co-author
of the Distance Program and Director of
WCS Brazil).
The survey also involved
the co-operation of wildlife and other officials
from Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,
Brazil and Colombia.
“This first river dolphin
census has been an experience in networking,
which, besides giving scientific results,
has opened doors to consolidate WWF’s work
around the world for these charismatic species,”
said Saulo Usma, WWF Colombia’s Freshwater
Coordinator. “In April this year, we will
meet in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia,
with experts from various organizations
to consolidate a South American river dolphin
conservation strategy, which will be published
as a IUCN Occasional Paper, and adapted
to each country’s national action plan.”
Two initial projects
are likely to emerge from this meeting.
One is a campaign to reduce dolphin poisoning
in Caballo Cocha (Lake) in Peru, where fishermen
have been injecting agricultural chemicals
into fish in attempts to reduce dolphin
damage to catches and nets.
Some 25-30 dolphins
have been discovered dead by poisoning in
the lake in the last year. Fundacion Omacha
is working to monitor the situation. Possible
ways of reducing fisher-dolphin conflict
include increasing dolphin-related tourism
income and of assisting fishers to fillet,
pack and freeze fish, allowing them to receive
better returns than from whole, fresh and
sometimes dolphin-damaged fish.
Also contemplated is
a plan to reduce unsustainable fishing for
mota (catfish) using dolphin as bait on
the Colombia-Brazil-Peru triple border.
Mota fishing has increased markedly as fishers
explore the possibility of marketing it
as the more desirable but rare from overfishing
Bagre catfish.
Unfortunately for Amazon
River dolphins however, Mota are scavengers
and dolphins represent the largest available
easily caught bait fish. Fundacion Omacha
and WWF are working in Brazil and Colombia
not just on educating fishers but perhaps
more effectively seeking to inform consumers
and the retail chain on the switching of
fish and its consequences for dolphin populations.
