20 November 2018: Fourteen jaguar range States and international conservation organizations launched the ‘Jaguar Conservation Roadmap for the Americas’ at the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 14) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Roadmap seeks to protect key jaguar corridors while also contributing to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
The jaguar ranges across 18 countries in Latin America. As a result of habitat loss and fragmentation, human-jaguar conflict and illegal poaching, 50 percent of the jaguar’s original range has been lost, and the jaguar is now extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay. According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), successful jaguar conservation requires landscape planning and management in development and economic sectors, such as agriculture, forestry and infrastructure, to maintain biodiversity and connectivity. By conserving jaguars, conservation initiatives also maintain biodiversity, forests, carbon, watersheds and cultural and national heritage, and support achievement of the SDGs, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
The Jaguar Conservation Roadmap represents the type of innovative partnership that is essential for achieving the SDGs.
The Jaguar Conservation Roadmap for the Americas aims to strengthen the Jaguar Corridor, which ranges from Argentina to Mexico, by securing 30 priority jaguar conservation landscapes by 2030. The regional initiative will strengthen international cooperation and raise awareness on jaguar protection initiatives, such as connecting and promoting jaguar habitats, mitigating human-jaguar conflict and promoting sustainable development opportunities that support the well-being of indigenous peoples and local communities. The initiative also seeks to raise awareness on the jaguar’s role as a keystone species whose presence is indicative of a healthy ecosystem. The Roadmap outlines four strategic conservation pathways: coordinating at a range level to support protection and connectivity; developing and implementing range countries’ strategies and improving contributions to transboundary efforts; scaling up conservation-compatible sustainable development models in jaguar corridors; and enhancing the financial sustainability of systems and actions to conserve jaguars and their ecosystems.
UNDP Head of Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Midori Paxton, said the Jaguar Conservation Roadmap “represents the type of innovative partnership that is essential for achieving the SDGs” and will help protect key jaguar corridors in ways that strengthen sustainable livelihoods for local communities and open up business opportunities for sustainable agriculture and ecotourism.
Also in support of jaguar conservation, the UNDP, Panthera, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and government representatives announced the creation of the first-ever Jaguar Day to raise awareness about threats facing the jaguar and conservation efforts in support of the species. The Day will be celebrated annually on 29 November.
The Roadmap’s release comes after a UN high-level forum that resulted in the launch of the ‘Jaguar 2030 New York Statement’ by 14 jaguar range countries and international conservation organizations.
COP 14 is taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from 15-29 November. [UNDP Press Release] [IISD RS Coverage of UN Biodiversity Conference]