Eléphants et rhinocéros d'Afrique : l'heure de la décision

SRI provides an agroecological and climate-smart solution by using less seed, water and fertilizer on soil that is rich in organic matter. SRI is grounded in four fundamental principles, which include promoting a rapid and healthy establishment of young plants, reducing competition among rice plants, creating fertile soils abundant in organic matter, and carefully managing water to avoid flooding and water stress, ensuring the optimal development of plants. To implement SRI, the Green Innovation Centers have developed, jointly with their partners, a cascade training strategy to disseminate the approach on a large scale. The experts train lead farmers, who supervise one or several groups of 20 to 30 producers each. Training involves practical comparison tests to demonstrate SRI in parallel to the conventional system. SRI involves six practices, ranging from land preparation and transplanting of seedlings to using organic fertilizer, weeding and harrowing, as well as irrigation management.

This report presents findings from an assessment of the biodiversity conservation potential of four project sites: Lobaye, Mambéré-Kadéï, Ombella-Mpoko, and Sangha-Mbaéré located in the Bangui region of the Central African Republic (CAR). This assessment was done using the Species Threat Abatement and Recovery (STAR) metric, which employs  high-resolution imagery and an approach to modelling species’ Area of Habitat (AOH) that was revised after June 2020 among other enhancements. This work was undertaken to better inform threat abatement and restoration planning and implementation at the partner project sites, and as part of a wider effort to pilot and strengthen the use of STAR as a  tool for restoration and conservation practitioners, communities, investors, and policymakers.

In the 20 years since the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group’s first status report (2005), much has changed for sharks, rays and chimaeras. This report updates our understanding, and the scope of information reflects the scale of these two decades of change. The breadth of research topics has expanded, mirroring the inclusion of a greater diversity of species, and attention is being trained on the emerging threats and the accelerating global changes to aquatic ecosystems. The 2005 report heralded a sea change for sharks, rays and chimaeras, whose historical obscurity in policy, conservation and fisheries management was a serious concern. In this report, the increased focus that was called for is now apparent in the scale of work happening across the planet.

Collectively, Cercocebus and Mandrillus include nine species and two subspecies of African monkeys: seven species of Cercocebus and two of Mandrillus, including two drill subspecies. Together, they represent some of the least studied and hence least known of the Afro-Eurasian Primates. This Plan includes taxon-specific conservation actions, devised under six overarching themes: increase engagement and local livelihood support, reduce knowledge gaps, promote habitat restoration, raise the profile of Cercocebus and Mandrillus taxa, enhance protection, and respond to public health needs for the neighboring human populations. The Plan aimes to raise the profile of the Cercocebus and Mandrillus species, encourage collaboration amongst conservation practitioners, local communities, government agencies, and other invested parties, and ultimately prevent the extinction of some of the most amazing primate species on the planet.