Rapid Assessment Program – serie

The Chuquisaca and Tarija regions of Bolivia cover areas of extraordinarily varied vegetation, providing one of the most dramatic shifts in flora and vegetation along the eastern Andes. However, biological information for this area has remained very limited. This text is the result of the work of an interdisciplinary team of biologists who surveyed south-central Chuquisaca in May 1995. It describes the large uninterrupted tracts of Bosque-Tucuman-Boliviano wet forest with many endemic species, but reports that the area also suffers from heavy development pressures.

The Upper Rio Orthon Basin of Pando, Bolivia, is a transition zone between moister lowland Amazonian forests and dryer deciduous forests. This largely unexplored region potentially harbours one of the most richly biodiverse aquatic systems within Bolivia, if not within the Amazon River basin. A multinational and multidisciplinary team of scientists surveyed the area to provide a baseline assessment of its biological and conservation value as well as the current and future threats facing the region. In just over two intensive weeks, scientists surveyed water quality, zooplankton, benthic macroinvertebrates, crustaceans and genetics.

Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado, located in eastern Bolivia where the moist forests of the Amazon meet the dry forests of the Cerrado, contains numerous unique ecosystems and exceptionally high levels of biodiversity. This book presents the results not only of an intensive biological survey of the area conducted in 1991, but also of long-term research conducted from 1987 to 1995. Among other findings, the survey discovered 26 new species of plants, one new mammal species, and three new species of reptiles. This report, with text in both English and Spanish, includes extensive data appendices, a large fold-out satellite map of vegetation, and conservation recommendations for the region.

The Raja Ampat islands are another example of a highly diverse coral ecosystem under threat. Such regions stand out not only because of their species richness, endemism and habitat level diversity, but also because of their relatively pristine condition. Yet portions of these coral ecosystems face imminent destruction and degradation because of over-fishing or destructive fishing, pollution, population growth and the urbanization of coastlines. This rapid assessment catalogs the current biological state of the Raja Ampat islands and assess potential threats.

Based on Conservation International's successful terrestrial biological survey approach, the Marine Rapid Assessment Program's goal is to rapidly generate and disseminate information on coastal and near-shore shallow-water marine biodiversity. Its surveys yield appropriate and realistic recommendations for conservation—and have, at times, resulted in the finding of new species.This marine assessment surveys the coral reefs of Papua New Guinea's Milne Bay Province, which plays an integral role in sustaining coastal communities and represents an important component of the nation's rich natural heritage. Until recently, this environment was under minimal stress, threatened only by a small human population. Now, however, there are increasing signs of habitat degradation due to land-based activities and over-harvesting of sedentary marine resources. Milne Bay Province contains some of the best examples of undisturbed coral reefs in the entire Coral Triangle region, making it vitally important for both government agencies and communities to respond to these threats.

This report contains the biological findings and conservation recommendations of an aquatic expedition along the Pastaza River, one of the least disturbed of the upper Amazon River tributaries. The scientific team discovered moderate to high species richness; they concluded that the area has high conservation potential because of its relative intactness—a product of its remoteness and the low density of human population nearby.