Title
Advancing Jaguar Conservation in the Americas. A final report to Panthera Corporation, Inc. from the Wildlife Conservation Society
Author(s)
John Polisar
Published
2009
Abstract
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Jaguar Conservation Program (JCP) entered into 2008 with substantial momentum that began with the Department of State (DOS) Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and Dominican Republic grant in March 2007, and was accelerated by the Mesoamerican Regional Priority Setting Workshop held in Costa Rica in July 2007 (Paseo del Jaguar, heretofore referred to as “El Paseo”). The DOS grant presented concrete objectives and a rough chronology. At El Paseo, countries were asked to develop short-lists of priority actions that would advance jaguar research and conservation in their respective countries to be supported by Panthera. Some of these national short-lists had not been at all short, and negotiation with our partners was necessary in late 2007 and early 2008 to extract the most urgent priorities from the lengthy “shopping lists.” Honduras and Belize provided clear and concise objectives from the start. Nicaragua suffered a bureaucratic obstacle rendering them unable to traverse their southern border to the July 2007 priority setting meeting in San Jose. This set back was compensated for by the Nicaraguan National Paseo del Jaguar event in Managua in early 2008. As we entered 2008, there were several other guiding milestones: a WCS Science and Exploration Great Cats Program meeting convened in New York in December 2007 and allowed the JCP Mesoamerica staff to meet and evaluate progress made and the tasks ahead. Also, the JCP and WCS Latin America and Caribbean Program (LACP) conducted a WCS planning meeting for Mesoamerica in early January 2008 and established which sites were immediate priorities for the regional program and which were not. Our presentation in February to Claudia McMurray, Assistant Secretary of State, and other Department of State personnel further defined the advancements made and plans for the four CAFTA DR countries of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The path for the JCP in 2008 was largely set by: 1) the work plan of the DOS grant; 2) the Paseo del Jaguar regional priorities started in July 2007 which were distilled for action by March 2008; 3) new ideas and opportunities generated as JCP knowledge of the region evolved during program execution; and 4) WCS institutional experience in Mesoamerica and further south in the vast conservation landscapes of South America. As we enter 2009, most of the objectives listed in DOS and El Paseo either have been met or are in the queue. This summary will cover the advances made in Mesoamerica, highlighting our accomplishments and the challenges and next steps to consider. In this report, coverage of South America will be confined to the range-wide survey program and recent advances and priorities. The text will cover my activities as well as broader regional implementations in the region.
Keywords
jaguar; conservation; mesoamerica; Paseo del Jaguar
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