Science, Policy, and Conservation Management for a Critically Endangered Primate in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Sérgio L. Mendes,Monica M. Valença-Montenegro,Fabiano R. Melo,Russell A. Mittermeier,Anthony B. Rylands,Karen B. Strier,Leandro Jerusalinsky

doi:10.3389/fcosc.2021.734183

Abstract

Long-standing concerns about the status of the world's endangered primates have stimulated significant international efforts, such as the primate action plans published by the Primate Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission. However, national-level action plans that bring together diverse scientific experts, non-governmental organizations, and governmental agencies to focus on improving the status of endangered species are generally rare. Here, we highlight one such plan published a decade ago, the Brazilian National Action Plan for the Conservation of Muriquis, which promoted the integration of scientific findings about the behavioral ecology, demography, and genetics of northern muriquis with conservation measures supported by the Brazilian government. This plan provided a holistic framework for the development of an effective national strategy that has contributed to significant advances in research and management applied to the conservation of this Critically Endangered species. We hope that this model for muriquis will stimulate conservationists around the world to pursue integrative national-level sponsorship of action plans on behalf of other endangered species.

Highlights

Rising extinction risks for the world’s wild primates have stimulated calls for greater activism and advocacy on behalf of endangered species (Mittermeier, 1977; Oates et al, 1982, 1987; Oates, 2013; Estrada et al, 2017; Garber, 2019, 2021)
National Action Plans serve a vital role in channeling global biodiversity priorities into actionable conservation commitments implemented directly by the countries where the species occur
National Action Plans can simultaneously provide a platform and a stimulus for the development of even more focused regional and state-level plans, as has occurred with the Plano Estadual de Ação para a Conservação dos Muriquis, which is being implemented in the state of Espírito Santo (Brazil, Espírito Santo, SEAMA/IEMA, 2014)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Rising extinction risks for the world’s wild primates have stimulated calls for greater activism and advocacy on behalf of endangered species (Mittermeier, 1977; Oates et al, 1982, 1987; Oates, 2013; Estrada et al, 2017; Garber, 2019, 2021). None of the 10 objectives had all planned actions accomplished, for most the quantitative goals were achieved or approximated, including those focusing on counting the remaining populations, creating new public or private protected areas, developing and integrating demographic monitoring and research, promoting habitat connectivity, institutional integration and commitment for the species conservation, and establishing an integrated management program (Table 1). The workshops that generated the PAN Muriquis were directly responsible for the development of criteria for prioritizing muriqui populations regarding their demographic, genetic, and geographic importance for the species’ conservation (Strier et al, 2017) They facilitated the data sharing that enabled comparative analyses of natural demographic fluctuations (Strier et al, 2019), the impact of management and natural dispersal processes on population size and composition (Tabacow et al, 2021), the genetics that demonstrate the 2 MY split, and insights into population histories that distinguish the northern and southern species (Chaves et al, 2019). The hope is that the corridor will permit these currently isolated muriqui populations to expand into suitable habitat where gene flow can occur through female dispersal

CONCLUSIONS

Findings

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT