Actions for the recovery of the Atlantic Monk Seal (Monachus monachus) population LIFE96 NAT/E/003144 Project description Environmental issues Beneficiaries Administrative data Read more Contact details: Project Manager: Tomas AZCARATE Y BANG Tel: 34 22 256440 Fax: 34 22 259403 Project description: Background The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is a priority species from Annex II of the Habitats Directive and is one of the most threatened mammals in the world. Its population in the Atlantic used to be distributed along the coast of North Africa, the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores. Nowadays, it is restricted to a small colony in Madeira and another in Cabo Blanco (Western Sahara), too far away from each other to permit an exchange of individuals. With the aim of connecting these two populations, a Life project was accepted in 1994 to improve the knowledge of the species and to evaluate the viability of the Cabo Blanco colony and its capacity to act as a donor population in a potential reintroduction in the Canary Islands. Likewise, a study of habitat and food availability on the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura (Canaries) was carried out to determine if there are places that would be suitable as reintroduction sites. Objectives The aim of this second project was to re-establish the original distribution area in the Atlantic and the genetic flow between subpopulations, through conserving the potential available habitat and setting up new seal populations by means of reintroduction experiments. This objective involved the conservation and recovery of the existing colonies so that they could withstand without any
negative effects their function as a source of individuals for the recolonization efforts. On the one hand, monitoring and experimentation were planned, involving control and monitoring of the donor colony, experimental translocation to the Eastern Canary Islands and the study of the viability and preparation of habitat in the Selvagem Islands (Madeira). On the other hand, there were plans for conservation actions, awareness-raising and training through the planning and development of protected areas in the donor colony, the training of technicians and technical and scientific advisory work as well as environmental education in all parts of the project. Results In spring 1997, a massive mortality swept out two-thirds of the Cabo Blanco population, so that from 350 seals in 1996, hardly a hundred had survived by autumn 1997. This event completely changed the situation and thus the project itself, 5 months after the beginning of the project. The experimental monk seal translocation from the colony of Cabo Blanco to the eastern Canary Islands (Lanzarote and Fuerteventura) was not possible anymore. At the end of 1997 the possibility of following a new strategy was considered, involving the capture of orphan pups and of those washed away from the colony, for their rehabilitation and reintroduction in the Canary Islands. This solution would have saved a lot of pups, which are lost every year during the wintertime as a consequence of high tides, without affecting the Cabo Blanco colony and it would have thus created an emergency stock to restore the population. Yet the risks of rejecting such a measure from conservationist groups, some Canarian stakeholders and other public opinion sectors was too high. Consequently, the project's Scientific Committee concluded that it was too soon to take seals out from Mauritania to the canaries, so they advised to maintain the rescued specimens there. As a consequence of all these events, the actions planned related to seals translocation and the accompanying awareness raising campaign at the Canaries were cancelled after the mortality crisis. In this scenario, the actions carried out during the two-year extent of the project, were maily keeping the monitoring of the colony and research works about its biology and population dynamics. Additionally, orphan pups were rescued and their reintroduction to the wild was implemented and followed-up. Furthermore, a series of emergency actions related to the massive mortality were carried out. The works developed in the Cabo Blanco colony had an excellent scientific and technical quality. The studies emphasized the critical situation of the species, after only 100 seals remained in this place against the 350 animals making up the population at the beginning of the project. Additionally, other factors contributing to this critical situation were found to be : The concentration of the whole colony in only two caves : it was found out that out of the seven caves identified, only two were permanently occupied by seals throughout the year. The population is then highly threatened by stochastic events such as cave collapsing, black tides, red tides or viral
epidemics. A large part of the monk seal cubs that are born during the wintertime die on account of the storms banging against the caves, either dragged by the stream or dashed against the rocks by the strong surge. The mortality rate for individuals born in autumn and winter has been estimated to be 0.71 while for the rest of the year it is 0.32. The results of the studies and scientific monitoring carried out in the Cabo Blanco colony were widely disseminated through magazines and a Newsletter was produced to inform about the project actions. The project set up the bases for drafting the conservation and management plan for the monk seal colony of Cabo Blanco. Also, very productive contacts were maintained with the Mauritanian authorities in order to implement conservation actions in the area. Environmental issues addressed: Themes Habitats - Marine Species - Mammals Information - Governance - Environmental training - Capacity building Keywords population dynamics protected area introduction of animal species coastal area island marine environment emergency plan Target EU Legislation Nature protection and Biodiversity Directive 92/43 - Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora- Habitats Directiv... Target species Monachus monachus Natura 2000 sites
SCI ES7010014 Cueva de Lobos Beneficiaries: Coordinator Type of organisation Description Partners Consejeria de Politica Territorial : Gobierno de Canarias Regional authority The beneficiary is the regional authority of the Canarian authonomous region. Regional authorities are, in Spain, responsible for the implementation of nature protection policies and are, among other tasks, in charge of protected areas designation and management. University of Las Palmas (ULPGC) University of Barcelona (UB) ISIFER (The Spanish Association for the Study and Conservation of the Monk Seal) Administrative data: Project reference LIFE96 NAT/E/003144 Duration 01-JAN-1997 to 31-DEC -1998 Total budget 613,428.60 EU contribution 480,576.30 Project location Canarias(España) Read more: Publication: Article-Paper Publication: Article-Paper Title: Status and distribution of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) on the Cabo Blanco Peninsula (Western Sahara-Mauritania) in 1993-94. Author: GONZÁLEZ, L.M., A. AGUILAR, L.F. LÓPEZ & E. GRAU Year: 1997 Editor: Biological Conservation, 80: 225-233. No of pages: 9 Title: Jaque mate a la foca monje? (Checkmate to the monk seal?) Author: Silvani, L. Year: 1998 Editor: Quercus 143: 16-18 No of pages: 3
Publication: Article-Paper Title: Did algal toxins cause monk seal mortality? Author: Hernandez, M. et al. Year: 1998 Editor: Nature 393: 28-29 No of pages: 2 Project description Environmental issues Beneficiaries Administrative data Read more