REFUGIO NACIONAL DE VIDA SILVESTRE DE VIEQUES

REFUGIO NACIONAL DE VIDA SILVESTRE DE
VIEQUES
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
“TO CONSERVE THE NATURAL RESOURCES
OF VIEQUES IN PERPETUITY”
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By:
Erick Bermudez, Francheska Ruiz, Jose Luis Herrera & Mike Barandiaran
The Caribbean is one of the five most important
of the world’s 25 biodiversity hotspots
The Caribbean needs natural resource
Conservation, Protection & Enhancement
The Caribbean supports approx. 8,000 endemic species in
only 65,000,000 acres (about the size of Illinois and
Kentucky, which together have fewer than 200 endemic
species). The Caribbean is home to some of the richest
land and marine environments on earth.
Info obtained from Island Conservation
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service's mission is,
working with others, to
conserve, protect and
enhance fish, wildlife, and
plants and their habitats
for the continuing benefit
of the American people."
Caribbean Islands
National Wildlife Refuge
Complex
Desecheo NWR
1976
Culebra NWR
1909
Cabo Rojo NWR
1974
Vieques NWR
2001-2003
Laguna Cartagena NWR
1989
Buck Island NWR
1969
Navassa NWR
1999
Location: Caribbean, island in the Caribbean
Sea, about one-fourth of the way from Haiti to
Jamaica
Geographic coordinates: 18 25 N, 75 02 W
Green Cay NWR
1977
Sandy Point NWR
1984
Brief Ecological History of Vieques
• Before the arrival of the Spaniards the island
was inhabited by the Taino Indians.
• When the first Europeans arrived in 1493 they
described a rich tropical paradise with vast
natural resources, including rivers.
• The first industry was unsustainable timber
harvest. By 1851 all the island forests were cut
down.
• The sugar cane industry was established in
1830. Most of the island was used for growing
this crop, until 1940. This is when a number of
invasive species were introduced.
• The U.S. takes over Vieques in 1898.
• In 1936 the U.S. Navy moves into the island. The are
over 60 years of military activity on the island affected
thousands of acres.
• During this time by the 1980s the U.S. Navy allows a
local ranching cooperative to graze cattle on the base.
More than 20,000 head of cattle spread invasive trees
across the island.
• The DNER reserve was established in 1985
• In 2001 U.S. Congress transfers DOD lands to the
PRCT and DOI – USFWS for conservation
• In 2003 the Navy leaves the island and approximately
15,000 acres are added to the VNWR.
For what purpose was the
Vieques NWR established?
• Purpose of the Refuge: Section 1508 (d)
of Public Law 106-398 dated October 30,
2000, established that the lands
transferred to the Department of the
Interior “shall be managed to protect and
preserve the natural resources of the
lands in perpetuity.”
Why is the Vieques NWR important for
conservation?
• Puerto Rico only has 8.71% of its lands legally set aside for
conservation. The largest protected area in PR and the USVI is El
Yunque National Forest with approx. 29,000 acres.
• The Vieques NWR is the second largest with approx. 18,000 acres
when you add the PRCT and the DNER protected areas; Vieques has
approx. 20,000 acres of lands set aside for conservation. DNER also
has a 9 mile marine reserve.
• The DNER Mona Reserve is the third largest with approx. 14,000
acres. The St. John National Park is the largest conservation area in
the USVI with approx. 15,000 acres (this includes approx. 5,600
submerged lands)
• Vieques and Culebra are land bridges between the Greater and
Lesser Antilles
Vieques as part of the
conservation landscape
LCC Map of Puerto Rico and the USVI
Vieques has characteristics of both a subtropical
dry and subtropical moist forest
The Principal Partners for Conservation
in Vieques
• Some of the most important conservation areas within and around
the refuge in Vieques are:
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Mt. Pirata
Laguna Kiani
Laguna Playa Grande
Punta Carrenero Bays
Peninsula Puerto Ferro
Ensenada Honda (DRNA/VNWR)
Cayo Conejo (DRNA)
Bahia Mosquito (DRNA)
Punta Este
Quebrada Marunguey
Quebrada Hueca
Quebrada Amargura
Cerro el Buey (PRCT)
Cayo Tierra (DRNA)
Cayo Afuera (DRNA)
Playa Matias (DRNA/VNWR)
Playa Brava (DRNA/VNWR)
La Ceiba (PECCV/Municipality)
There are over 950 terrestrial plant species.
Goetzea elegans
In these areas we find a number of animal species:
Invertebrates make up the largest number of terrestrial
animals. Within this group we have a terrestrial snail
(Physa cubensis), land crabs (Cardisoma guanhumi) as
well as a large variety of insects and arachnids.
-Birds make up the largest group of vertebrates (there are
170+ species). A 50+ added to the original list.
Anas bahamensis (White-cheeked pintail
Phoenicopterus ruber (Greater flamingo)
Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon
Melanerpes portoricensis
Puerto Rican woodpecker
Pelecanus occidentalis brown pelican
Columba leucocephala white-crowned pigeon
Coereba flaveola Bananaquit
Sterna dougallii Roseate tern
Dendrocygna arborea Chiriría
-Herpetofauna make up the second largest group of vertebrates on the
island. There are total of 30 +/-species, which include 6 amphibians, 9+
lizards and geckos, potentially 10+ snakes and 5 species of turtles. Of
the latter the 4 species of sea turtles are endangered or threatened.
Leptodactylus albilabris white lip frog
Bufo marinus marine toad
Eleutherodactylus cochranae coqui pitito
Eleutherodactylus antillensis coqui churi
Puerto Rican racer
(Alsophis portoricensis aphantus)
Ameiva exsul siguana
Anolis cristatellus crested anole
Green iguana (Iguana iguana)
Brown caiman Caiman crocodilus
Ball python (Python regius)
Trachemys stejnegeri Puerto Rican slider
Eretmochelys imbricata Hawksbill
Chelonia mydas green sea turtle
Caretta caretta loggerhead
Dermochelys coriacea leatherback
-Bats make up the largest number of mammals, with a total of 9
described species and are the only native mammal species found in
Vieques. Two new records were discovered by the USFWS for Vieques
in 2008.
Fishing bat (Noctilio leporinus)
Monophyllus redmani Greater Antillian long
tongue bat - Murciélago lengüilargo
Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis)
Erophylla sezekoni
Brown flower bat - Murciélago de las flores
Invasive mammal
Mongoose (Herpestes javanicus)
Marine mammals that frequent the waters around Vieques
Trichechus manatus manatus
manatee
Megaptera novaeangliae
humpback whale
New species records for Vieques
Osteopilus septentrionalis
Epicrates inornatus
Acacia laeta
Buteo platypterus
Tyrannus savana
Arrhyton exiguum
Vieques NWR has sites and habitat to re-establish and enhance
additional populations for Puerto Rican and VI endangered species
Peltoprynus lemur
(Puerto Rican crested toad)
Agelaius xanthomus
(Yellow-shouldered blackbird )
Amazona vittata (Puerto Rican Parrot)
VIRGIN ISLANDS TREE BOA
(Epicrates monensis granti)
Varronia rupicola
Eugenia woodburyanna (T)
Anegada Ground Iguana (Cyclura pinguis)
Have you seen this guy ?
Anolis roosevelti (Culebra giant anole / anolis gigante de Culebra)
The Vieques NWR attracts over 300,000 visitors a year. The natural
areas of Vieques are one of the main reasons people come to
vacation on this beautiful island. During the seasons hotels and
restaurants are full, car rentals are booked and public transportation
taxis are very busy.
Based on this, a number of commercial outfitters have realized the
economic benefits of nature based and wildlife dependent activities
in Vieques, such as:
• Bird watching
• Horseback guided tours
• Hiking
• Fishing
• Snorkeling
• Scuba diving
• Paddle boarding
• Kayaking
• Bicycling
• Botanical tours
• Environmental interpretation
• Non-intrusive beach shade
• Guided tours & Photography
• Hobby cat tours
• Night Fishing
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Currently there are over a 17 outfitters who have USFWS special use permits and
conduct a variety of nature based and wildlife dependent commercial activities.
There are a number of other outfitters who are in different stages of the
application process. As well as over a dozen public transportation/taxi operators
who also receive direct economic gain.
In addition to outfitters the Vieques NWR also works with a local and community
based conservation group, TICATOVE. This group works and supports the DNER
and USFWS sea turtle program, as well as number of other conservation related
projects.
Through nature based tourism and conservation projects at the refuge, outfitters
created an estimated 70 private-sector jobs, the NGO TICATOVE an estimated
30 jobs and public transportation owners an estimated 18 jobs. This does not
take into account the vast number of other jobs in hotels, restaurants, car rentals
and many others that attend visitors to Vieques. Most come to enjoy natural
areas and thus consider the DNER Reserve and the USFWS-VNWR as travel
worthy destinations.
The Programs of the Vieques NWR
Maintenance:
New Service Facilities
New Service Facilities
Fire Fighting
Law Enforcement
Environmental
Education/Outreach
Biology
Administration
Where are the horses?
VNWR working with partners to control feral horses on and
off refuge.
Establishing and managing a sustainable
land crab trapping season & area on the
VNWR
CERCLA clean up and risk reduction in
the VNWR:
• Several areas where research, monitoring
and conservation management are being
conducted might contain UXO.
• The USFWS works with a number of
Municipal, Commonwealth, Federal
agencies and the community on CERCLA
issues.
Map representing areas of significant habitats located within CERCLA areas.
Management of these areas requires close coordination with many stakeholders
Natural Resource Damage Assessment and
Restoration coordinated by the VNWR as a
result of CERCLA clean-up activities
Areas that are currently closed to the public, but
will be handed over by NAVFAC for USFWS active
management starting in 2014.
As clean-up at the VNWR
progresses, there will be
more opportunities for
visitor services, as well as
nature based and wildlife
dependent activities.
The Service provided
recommendations to the
Navy for prioritizing the cleanup to make areas accessible
to public, sooner.
More marine reserves should be
established and re-established
Is the Vieques NWR an Urban Refuge?
Standards of Excellence for Urban Refuges:
• 1. Connect Urban People with Nature via Stepping
Stones of Engagement
• 2. Build Partnerships
• 3. Be a Community Asset
• 4. Ensure Adequate Long Term Resources
• 5. Provide Equitable Access
• 6. Ensure Visitors Feel Safe and Welcome
• 7. Walk the Sustainability Walk
We believe that it is!
Questions?