Preventing the local extinction of the black lion tamarin population living in the Caetetus Ecological Station (São Paulo State Forestry Foundation – FF/SP), located in the Médio Paranapanema region (SP), in the municipality of Gália/SP, is the top priority in the planning of around 20 specialists who are part of the Black Lion Tamarin Population Management Program (PMP-MLP). This public policy aims to ensure the long-term viability of black lion tamarin populations and, in this way, the conservation of the species. The Program follows the guidelines of ICMBio Normative Instruction No. 5/2021.
Gabriela Rezende, coordinator of the Black Lion Tamarin Conservation Program, who also leads the Management Program (PMP-MLP), explains the challenge: “This population faces a very imminent risk of local extinction due to its extremely reduced population size. We conducted studies using recorders across the entire area, which confirmed that this is indeed a population in urgent need of management so that it does not goes locally extinct.”
The scenarios modeled in VORTEX (software that models and assesses population viability, helping in planning for species conservation and management) make it possible to determine how many groups will need to be moved into this area to save the population, what the supplementation frequency should be, and also the impact of this management on source populations (where the individuals will come from). “At the Caetetus Ecological Station, we will need to work with group translocation there within a maximum timeframe of five to ten years.”
Public Policy
The decision to designate the black lion tamarin population of the Caetetus Ecological Station (FF/SP) as a priority was made during the Workshop for the Implementation of the Black Lion Tamarin Population Management Program, which brought together around 20 specialists at the headquarters of IPÊ – Institute for Ecological Research, in Nazaré Paulista (SP), in March (11–13). The workshop had the following objectives: to assess the current status of black lion tamarin populations based on updated data; to define priority population management strategies for the species conservation; and to conduct the annual monitoring of the Black Lion Tamarin Population Management Program.
During the workshop, specialists updated the 2021 population viability model, which guides the planning of management actions. Based on the new discussions, they assessed and identified populations and areas requiring management according to the modeled scenarios; carried out population viability analyses to identify populations eligible for management; and established a minimum number of individuals or groups to be managed within a certain timeframe in order to ensure population viability – all of these being actions under the PMP-MLP.
Among the professionals present was Fábio Stucchi Vanucci, responsible for the models and scenarios of population viability analysis at the Conservation Planning Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC-CPSG/IUCN), which provided support in planning the workshop with an exclusive focus on population management.
The Black Lion Tamarin Population Management Program includes professionals from the National Center for Research and Conservation of Brazilian Primates (CPB-ICMBio), the São Paulo State Forestry Foundation, managers of protected areas that shelter the species (ICMBio and FF/SP), ex situ institutions (São Paulo Zoo, Guarulhos Municipal Zoo, and the Wildlife Research and Conservation Center – CECFau/SEMIL-SP), university researchers (LaP/UNESP and LabBMC/UFSCar), and IPÊ – Institute for Ecological Research.
Safeguarding the Population with the Greatest Genetic Diversity of the Species
During the workshop, the group aligned on the fact that the black lion tamarin population of the Capão Bonito National Forest (Flona), in Alto Paranapanema, is also a priority. “This is the population with the greatest genetic diversity recorded for the species,” highlights Gabriela.
The challenge lies in the ongoing concession process for the Capão Bonito National Forest for forest management, in which around 3,000 hectares out of a total of 4,200 will be cleared and, in the future, restored with native species. This is an area of planted forest, predominantly pine and eucalyptus, interspersed with native forest in riparian zones, in addition to araucaria plantations. The tamarins use both the native forest and the pine stands, as these are older areas with a well-developed understory. “The models showed us that removing some groups from the area to be cleared is an important alternative for safeguarding the genetic diversity of this population,” explains Gabriela.
Learn More
The black lion tamarin is an endangered species classified as “Endangered,” a more hopeful category than its previous status. A scientific article published in Conservation Biology in 2024 revealed that among endangered primates worldwide, only the black lion tamarin had its status improved. The most recent estimate indicates that 1,800 individuals live in the wild, distributed across around 20 locations in the state of São Paulo – between the Tietê River and the Paranapanema River – with approximately 65% of them living in Morro do Diabo State Park.
