A community based approach towards protecting the endangered huemul deer: A case study of Parque Municipal Shoonem, Argentina

SMITH-FLUECK JM; FLUCK, WT; ESCOBAR RUIZ, M; LOPEZ GUTIERREZ, M; COTIDIANO, LA; KAMBER CELINE

Harbin

Congreso; 8th International Deer Biology Congress; 2014

Northeast Forestry University

Preservation of natural habitats through participation of inhabitants of local communities, fostering enhancement of their economic capacities, is a well recognized strategy throughout the world. The municipality of Alto Río Senguer (MARS; a rural Argentine community of 1700 inhabitants), through concern to protect the valuable natural resources within their jurisdiction, has been working with this approach in a manner that can serve as an exemplary model. They created a protected area in 2013, (ca.150,000 ha), naming it Parque Municipal Shoonem (PMS), signifying huemul in the tongue of the native Tehuelche people, the original inhabitants of this region. As a novel strategy for Argentina, the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), an endangered deer of southern Argentina and Chile, was chosen as the umbrella species under which the park management program is being developed. Already holding an emblematic status, given National Monument distinction in 1996 and represented on MARS? coat of arms, this flagship species forms the cornerstone upon which the myriad tasks are being conducted in PMS. Protecting the huemul implicates protecting the habitat. Given the species? special protection under federal and provincial law, having the huemul represent the backbone of the park?s interests should also facilitate relations with federal and provincial government agencies for any activities that might call for cooperation. A variety of stakeholders founded the NGO Fundación Shoonem (June 2014) to protect the natural resources corresponding to the Rio Senguer watershed. A main reason behind creation of this Foundation was to provide a means to manage the newly protected area, since the municipal government, administrating this small, impoverished rural community, lacks the capacity. The Foundation has thus been tasked to write the park management plan and obtain funding for general park operations. Current priorities for the Foundation involve a recovery plan for this huemul population, including a research project to study the theorized cause behind the population?s failure to recover, and the establishment of a rehabilitation center for wildlife. The ultimate goal of the recovery program is to achieve repopulating huemul to the grasslands to the west, which are confirmed to have been part of their prior distributional range. Another objective of the park and the Foundation is to create jobs through responsible tourism for the younger generation of the community, currently forced to move to the big cities for employment opportunities. Today a staff of part-time and volunteer park rangers works to enforce permitted use by the visitors who come to take part in a variety of recreational activities; one aim of the Foundation is to connect the local community to the park through activities involving the youth, particularly with the charismatic huemul. Currently the stakeholders are trying to find a means to secure that laws established to protect the upper watershed of Río Senguer under the current government of MARS cannot be easily tampered by future elected officials. The legal agreements between MARS and the recently established Fundación Shoonem are being designed to ensure continuity into the future and can serve as a model for other protected areas.