Project BiodivRestore-802, 2022-2025

Priority areas for conservation and restoration of Amazonian forest-frugivorous fish interactions and associated fisheries

Objectives and project description

The Amazon Basin : A socio-ecological system under pressure

Rationale

Frugivorous fishes directly depend on the forest and play a crucial role in maintaining forest diversity as seed dispersers and constitute a key source of food and income for traditional, local human populations.

Objective

ForestFisher propose to integrate these diverse components to define priority areas for conservation and restoration that should ensure the resilience of the socio-ecological system

Activities

Analyse recent and ongoing impacts of land-use change on frugivorous fish diversity (France, USA, Brazil)
Build regional informed scenarios of the future Amazon land-use change (Germany, Portugal, Brazil)
Forecast the frugivorous fish distribution shifts (Portugal, Brazil, France)
Set participatory land use planning involving stakeholders (Brazil, Germany, Portugal)

Expected Scientific Impact

The Amazon is at the centre of an ongoing intense international debate.
ForestFisher offers a timely and interdisciplinary approach to assess the combined effects of multiple threats on fish species that are essential to the functioning of a socio-economic system and to the ecological processes needed for forest sustainability.

Research questions addressed

How recent land-use changes have affected the frugivorous fish diversity ? (WP1)
Will future climate, land-use, and river fragmentation changes in the Amazon affect the availability of suitable areas for frugivorous fish species ? (WP2 & WP3)
How these expected shifts in the distribution of frugivorous fish species will affect fishing communities and their traditional fishing grounds ? (WP4)

Expected Societal & Policy Impact

Main societal challenge

Contribute to a successful mitigation of the current and future changes in the fishing resource

…and policy issue

Build a protocol that guides public policy and decision makers to design Fishery agreements and land use planning
A participatory instrument that associates fisheries and land use in communal rules, based on scientific and traditional knowledge
Participatory workshops with identified stakeholders:
Two Brazilian Partners as stakeholders (CEMADEN & NGO Ecoporé)
Representatives and leaders of local communities
State and Federal agencies, local associations and schools