Category Archives: Conservation

Quote of the Month

Conservation, Natural History, “Quote” of the Month
It is not the strongest of the species that survives but the most adaptable.
~ Charles Darwin

The rapid changes in the West Indies include development, deforestation, chemical uses, increase in population and traffic, pollution, exploitation, drought and climate change.  It is questionable if any West Indian Boa species has the capability to adapt to these, given the brevity of time in which these changes occur.

Recommended Reading

Conservation, Natural History, Recommended reading

We assume all of our readers have a genuine interest in not only West Indian Boas but herpetofauna, in general. This book, written by two well established academic researchers in the field is worth reading. It deals with the geographically small subsection of the West Indies (St. vincent and the Grenadines) but does so in such great detail, that it is almost impossible not to learn a wealth of new things about the herpetofauna from these islands.

It contains more than 400 color photos and distribution maps of the 32 species of reptiles and amphibians that occur on the more than 40 islands of the St. Vincent Bank and the Grenada Bank. It touches also topics of conservation and provides a compilation of our current knowledge of the frogs and reptiles of the two banks and raises concerns for their futures.

ORDER it directly from the publisher (here) or another privately owned small bookshop.

 

A short film on deforestation

Conservation, Natural History

The following short video shows real images, comparing the state of forests in 1984 to 2020. Many of our readers have been already born when the first images of this film were taken. So this all happened within our lifetime…

While many of the images are from South America, it is necessary to understand that deforestation is not a local problem of some less developed countries, but rather the result of a globalized world where it is cheaper to cut and burn trees for a meager harvest of soy, corn, sugar cane, palm oil, etc., which in turn is exported to feed cattle or sweeten our soft drinks, than to produce healthy food from the soils we live on.

Deforestation is real and the root cause is the human population.

It is important to notice that on the West Indies, changing natural habitat occurs at an unprecedented pace, for different reasons than in South America, but with the same result.

With deforestation measured in hectares per hour (ha/hr) instead of ha/month or year, this is the biggest threat to all biodiversity on this planet. PERIOD.

USFWS to downgrade status of C. granti from Endangered to Threatened

Chilabothrus, Conservation

UPDATE:  Comments have been closed; now we wait for a decision based on your   feedback.

Per the USFWS:  This proposal is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific data, which indicate that the species’ status has improved such that it is not currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.  We are also proposing a rule under the authority of section 4(d) of the Act that provides measures that are necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of the Virgin Islands boa.  Further, we are correcting the List to change the scientific name of the Virgin Islands boa in the List from Epicrates monensis granti to Chilabothrus granti to reflect the currently accepted taxonomy.
This was posted on 30 September and your opportunity to comment closes on 30 November, 2020.  See the Federal Register Posting here.

Picking Winners & Losers: Who Decides?

Boa, Chilabothrus, Conservation, Corallus, Natural History, Tropidophis

Mr. James Peters, after spending several months in the Virgin Islands region in 1917, returned with rather unfortunate news of the bank.  He reported the fauna was, sadly, “depleted and fast disappearing” .  Schwartz and Henderson in 1975 were of the hope that the future survival of the West Indian Herpetofauna was brighter than it indicated at the time .  Powell & Henderson highlighted the plight of the West Indian herpetofauna in 2008 .  Daudin & De Silva (2011) remarked, “The general situation is so desperate that even the most deliberate conservation efforts will probably amount to salvage operations” .

“If we continue down that path”, has become, “Because we continued down that path.”  A decade later it appears we are reaching the point of no return.   The billions of dollars flooding into the Caribbean for myriad purposes are paving it end-to-end.   Surely not, you say?  Well, let’s take a trip down memory  deforestation lane, shall we? Continue reading Picking Winners & Losers: Who Decides? →