TWO DECADES OF INNOVATION IN CONSERVATION

In 1987, a group of undergraduates in the School of Biology at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, decided to establish Provita. Since that time, this non-profit, non-governmental organization has been devoted to environmental conservation in its widest sense, with special emphasis on threatened species and ecosystems. Twenty years later, guided by their slogan "Innovation in Conservation," Provita has become a fundamental reference for biodiversity conservation in Venezuela and Latin America.

Provita’s scientific impact is its main calling card. Our projects have always been anchored in research that integrates social and natural sciences. Out of 34 articles published in Biodiversity and Conservation, Biological Conservation and Conservation Biology since 1987 where at least one author was based in Venezuela, half were by authors linked directly to Provita at the time of publication. With this impressive presence in the scientific literature, the influence of Provita on conservation sciences in Venezuela is clear.

It is precisely in the use of these scientific results to solve the conservation challenges presented by threatened species and ecosystems that Provita’s major achievements lie. The publication of the Red Book of Venezuelan Fauna in 1995 was followed by two governmental decrees in 1996, the first of which officially designated Venezuelan threatened species, and second of which banned their hunting. The official lists and those of the Red Book were nearly identical, demonstrating the direct application of contributions by academia and civil society to the definition of conservation priorities. The Red Book, in addition to having been named one of the 70 most influential books in the country in the last 70 years, has become a central reference for schools and universities, as well as the main source used by reporters who cover threatened species issues in the national media. The next step was the publication of the first Red Book of Venezuelan Flora in 2003, followed by the start of work on the first Red Book of Venezuelan Ecosystems. The fundamental challenge presented by the latter was creating a system to classify threatened ecosystems, equivalent to the one used for species. Research carried out by Provita led to an innovative proposal, the first of its kind in the world.

Provita has also participated in a regional effort to transform the information contained in Red Books into concrete research and conservation actions. The Threatened Species Initiative (IEA for its initials in Spanish) supports small projects focused on threatened species, with parallel programs in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. IEA allows students, researchers, governmental organizations and civil society to carry out research, environmental education campaigns and other activities which have direct impacts increasing knowledge about and reducing extinction risks to threatened biodiversity. Between 2004 and 2007, Provita’s work on the IEA produced 95 successful projects on behalf of Venezuelan threatened species.

Provita also has implemented projects directly, most notably on Margarita Island, located in northeastern Venezuela. The yellow-shouldered parrot (Amazona barbadensis), blue-headed conure (Aratinga acuticaudata neoxena) and the four species of marine turtles that nest on the island (Dermochelys coriacea, Chelonia mydas, Caretta caretta and Eretmochelys imbricata) have been the principal foci of research, management interventions, public awareness campaigns and environmental education programs. Among the most important achievements of this work are the increase of the parrot population from 700 birds in 1987 to more than 1600 at present, and the successful implementation of a new management technique for parrot and conure populations threatened by poaching, known as "partial captive breeding."

The main lesson learned during Provita’s first two decades is that there is a clear space for civil society in science and the conservation of Latin America’s biodiversity. These achievements, however, will not be permanent without an active and constant collaboration between government, academia, the private sector, civil society and, especially, local communities. Working with "everyone, all the time" is the key.

Jon Paul Rodríguez

Founding Member and President, Provita, Venezuela, Ecology Center, IVIC, Venezuela