Watch this space for more news about both projects!
Next stop now: Davos, Switzerland for the World Biodiversity Forum. Swapping fish for fungi!
2 weeks ago, we hosted an IUCN Red List Assessment workshop for North American freshwater molluscs, with 20 experts from the IUCN SSC Mollusc Specialist Group, the IUCN SSC Center for Species Survival network, & AZA SAFE North American Freshwater Mussel & @fmcs-mollusk.bsky.social & many others! 🐌
Next stop: El Potosi, Nuevo León, Mexico - aka putting ex situ into practice!
The area was home to 3 spp of pupfish - all Extinct in the Wild & still alive because of ex situ efforts. The goal is to bring them back home!
Because all work and no play makes mollusc assessors - or really anybody! - sad, we also visited the White River Mussel Propagation Facility at the Bureau of Water Quality in Muncie, a project supported by the Indianapolis Zoo! @protectspecies.bsky.social
The first two weeks of June were all about freshwater fish!
1st stop: Albuquerque - Ex situ conservation planning for highly threatened species of fw fish! Working hard & playing hard, Team Palearctic managed their way through around 60 spp!
Thank you to everybody who contributed time and energy to this process - we could not do this without you! 💕👏
To do so, the project team from ZSL & Mexican partners held 3 local community workshops, to plan their return, bringing back the spring sites/ponds & associated activities!
These workshops were part funded by an Indianapolis Zoo conservation grant. A true privilege to attend & see this work LIVE!
Our task: assess the extinction risk status of ca. 500 species of North American freshwater molluscs. Part of a wider initiative to complete the IUCN Global Freshwater Mollusc Assessment, the workshop will contribute to the goal of providing the first ever global assessment for freshwater molluscs.
Monni Böhm
Freshwater molluscs are highly threatened in North America. From spring endemic snails in tiny ecosystems drying up before our eyes to vanishing mussel populations due to channelization, damming, pollution & invasive species, the outlook is dire but our experts kept going nonetheless! Thank you all!
Huge thank you to the team from Albuquerque BioPark & the IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group for expertly guiding us through the process!
