By Dora Godinho | SOS Partnerships Development Officer
Thanks to the support and generosity of our donors committed to protecting threatened wildlife, SOS has made possible a two-year international Pangolin Conservation Initiative taking place in Cameroon, Thailand and China which we are proud to announce!
Did you know that one million pangolins have been traded illegally in the last 10 years? And did you know there are eight species of pangolins and all are threatened with extinction?
The IUCN's Pangolin Specialist Group (PSG) estimates that the pangolin population has declined by up to 80% in Asian pangolin species and a subsequent increase in inter-continental trade in pangolin parts from African countries to Asian markets. All species of pangolin have been included in Appendix II of CITES since 1975 which means international trade is restricted. Despite this populations are increasingly under pressure from illegal hunting and poaching for illicit international trade. Demand for their meat, which is considered a delicacy in East Asia, and their scales which are used in traditional Asian medicines is beyond unsustainable.
To date there have been very few targeted conservation initiatives in place for pangolins according to Dan Challender, Co-Chair of the IUCN's Pangolin Specialist Group (PSG) and technical advisor to the SOS project. “Reducing demand for pangolins in East Asian markets is imperative to securing their future,” he adds.
This initiative aims to protect four species of Pangolin. This includes the Giant Pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), the White-bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), the Black-bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla) - all of which are categorised as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. The fourth is the Critically Endangered Sunda Pangolin (Manis javanica).
SOS project activities will focus on tackling direct threats to pangolins at priority sites in Africa and Asia, and initiating research into reducing demand for pangolin products in China, the primary market for the species and their derivatives.
This project, implemented by IUCN Member Zoological Society of London (ZSL) will effect key conservation recommendations articulated in the recently published action plan ‘Scaling up pangolin conservation’. This document – the first of its kind ever - sets out the priorities for the next 10 years of pangolin conservation. It is a key tool to help generate effective recommendations for coordinated pangolin conservation efforts. Because it is directly aligned to this ten year plan, the SOS Pangolin Conservation Initiative in collaboration with other partners represents an exciting development joining up the dots across international borders to help build a coordinated frontline effort against pangolin extinction.
As such, we look forward to publishing more information detailing the project’s activities in Cameroon, Thailand and China soon via a dedicated Project Profile page on the SOS website.
Watch the Pangolin video here to learn a little more about them and thanks again for your priceless support!
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
