Colombia illustrates the links between conservation and livelihoods of poor communities

Setting an example to the world, 20 Magdalena alligators or Needle alligators (ocodrylus acutus) were returned to the Bay of Cispatá in Córdoba, Colombia by international experts from over 20 countries and a group of former crocodile hunters, with the support of the OAS-SEDI and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The formerly criminal hunters are now dedicated to preserving the needle alligator as part of a pioneering conservation program, which in collaboration with the local community works for the sustainable use and management of the species, with a projection to directly and sustainably commercializing its parts (eggs, skins and meat, etc.).

This experience was the focus of the international workshop "Assessing and addressing impacts of CITES decisions on livelihoods", organized by the OAS-SEDI, through its Department of Sustainable Development (DSD), the CITES Secretariat, and the Research Institute for Biological Resources Alexander von Humboldt of Colombia. The meeting, held on February 11 to 12, 2015 in Cispatá, also received financial support from the Government of Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The cocodrylus acutusfue was hunted and exploited for the use of its skin between 1930 and 1970, when it was protected as an endangered species and listed in Appendix I of CITES, banning international trade in specimens of wild. Despite this protection, the species is still threatened in many parts of the hemisphere by the loss of its habitat. Hence the importance of the integrated conservation program carried out by former hunters in Cispatá Bay, which has enabled recovering populations and assessing the feasibility of a change of international protection that allows the community to sustainably commercialize skins and other derivatives of the alligator to reduce poverty in the area. 

Colombia is already the largest exporter of alligator skin in the world, thanks to a growing zoobreeding industry monitored by the Ministry of the Environment. Nevertheless, the export from Cispatá is unique as it would be the first initiative in the country emerging from a community development project of a wild natural resource.

As part of the broader partnership between the OAS and CITES, a "Guide on CITES and livelihoods of poor communities" was developed to allow the national and local authorities as well as the communities to identify and address CITES’ impact in the communities that depend on the trade of wildlife for subsistence. Thanks to the guidance and the work done in the workshop, for the first time the 180 signatory countries to the convention will not only consider environmental impact in their decisions, but also social aspects and the community’s involvement.
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                                                                                                                   Source: Noticias Caracol