 |
| The author with skins of Tupinambis rufescens |
Abstract
The commercial
use sustainability of the American ostrich (Rhea americana),peccary (Pecari
tajacu) and the tegu lizard (Tupinambis rufescens), was assessed in the
Semiarid Chaco of the Province of Salta, NW Argentina, specifically in
Rivadavia Department (25750 Km2) located
on the borders of Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.
The humane use
of forest and range, was studied between 1862, when Rivadavia was founded, and
1998 to assess the availability of habitat for the target species. Their
population trends were examined by interviewing trappers (n=115), asking them
if the populations were increasing, decreasing or without changes through time,
as well as asking about the causes explaining that trend, such as changes in
the habitat or excessive trapping. Their
answers were studied using the Chi Square test.
The
conservation status of each species was obtained using the SUMIN Index because
it allows integration of a number of
variables, giving them a numeric value and thus making possible to have a
quantitative conservation index useful to see if the use is ecologically
sustainable or not.
Considering the
economic dimension, the trade of feathers and skins of the species of interest
was studied, considering the income distribution along the trade chain, the
main indicator of economic sustainability.
In the social
dimension of sustainability, the emigration of the humane population of
Rivadavia Department was analyzed between 1914 and 1998, the effect of development
projects directed to aborigines between 1969 and 1992 as well as the use and
distribution of public lands.
In the
institutional dimension, the policy, legislation and institutional evolution
related to the use of forests, range and wildlife between 1853 and 2000 was
analyzed.
In conclusion,
the use of the tegu lizard is sustainable in the ecologic dimension and neuter
(sustainable actions are balanced with others not sustainable) in the economic
and social dimensions, but it is unsustainable
in the
institutional dimension. The trade of peccary and greater rhea is unsustainable
in all the dimensions studied.
The
relationships between the indicators of different dimensions of sustainability were
established in a ¨Command Board of Sustainability¨, useful to monitor the use
of the natural resources and the trend to sustainability or not of the use
system of the target species as well as the ecosystem Semiarid Chaco, linking
research findings with the process of decision-making.
A book about this evaluation is available in Amazon.com
 | |
| Trapper with skins of Caiman sp. and Pecari tajacu |
