In shallow coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, a seagrass-scrounging cousin of the manatee is in trouble. Environmental strains like pollution and habitat loss pose a major threat to dugong (Dugong dugon) survival, so much so that in December, the International Union for Conservation of Nature upgraded the species’ extinction risk status to vulnerable. Some populations are now classified as endangered or critically endangered.
If that weren’t bad enough, the sea cows are at risk of losing the protection of a group who has long looked after them: the Torres Strait Islanders. These Indigenous people off the coast of Australia historically have been stewards of the dugong populations there, sustainably hunting the animals and monitoring their numbers. But the Torres Strait Islanders are also threatened, in part because sea levels are rising and encroaching on their communities, and warmer air and sea temperatures are making it difficult for people to live in the region.
This situation isn’t unique to dugongs. A global analysis of 385 culturally important plant and animal species found that 68 percent were both biologically vulnerable and at risk of losing their cultural protections, researchers report January 3 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The findings clearly illustrate that biology shouldn’t be the primary factor in shaping conservation policy, says cultural anthropologist Victoria Reyes-García. When a culture dwindles, the species that are important to that culture are also under threat. To be effective, more conservation efforts need to consider the vulnerability of both the species and the people that have historically cared for them, she says.
“A lot of the people in the conservation arena think we need to separate people from nature,” says Reyes-García, of the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. But that tactic overlooks the caring relationship many cultural groups – like the Torres Strait Islanders – have with nature, she says.
2023-01-30 08:00:00
Source from www.sciencenews.org
Recent research by the Nature Research Center revealed a new metric of extinction risk based on how a species is viewed and cared for by the culture in which it lives. By considering how humans perceive and interact with a species, the metric provides insight into whether the species is likely to go extinct in the near future.
The findings, which were published in Nature Sustainability, were based on two years of research and survey data collected in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, and South Africa. The research team sought to measure the “cultural extinction risk” of various species by gauging their perceived value within local cultures.
The team found that many species were deeply embedded within their ecosystems, with humans relying on them for diverse services such as food and medicine. They also discovered that negative attitudes such as fear and hatred often played a role in the survival or extinction of species.
For example, one species of bushbuck antelope was seen as a pest by local farmers and was often killed for food or traded as a commodity. This species is now extinct. Conversely, another species of antelope, which is depicted in worship rituals and is seen as a source of cultural pride, has experienced an increase in population.
The research team concluded that the cultural extinction risk metric can be used to identify species in peril and inform conservation efforts. They suggest that more focus needs to be placed on understanding a species’ cultural context, rather than simply its population trends.
Overall, the study highlights the importance of culture in determining species extinction risk and provides an effective new tool that can be used to guide conservation plans.