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Future Steps
Leptopelis susanae (a treefrog), Ethiopia / Photo by Malcolm Largen |
Our understanding of the world’s amphibians is rapidly evolving. Prior to the Global Amphibian Assessment, the conservation status of fewer than 1,000 species had been assessed, mainly in Australia, North America, and Europe. New species of amphibians are still being discovered at a rapid rate, and these will be incorporated in future updates of the GAA.
The GAA is an ongoing project now focused on maintaining and updating the database (first released in 2004) of information on amphibian species globally.
A new IUCN/SSC Global Amphibian Specialist Group (GASG) has been formed consisting of regional sections. One of their first priorities was to convene the Amphibian Conservation Summit from September 17-19th 2005, hosted by Conservation International in Washington DC. The summit concluded with proposals for a series of actions, including emergency responses to save species under the greatest threat. More than 60 specialists drafted the seven-page Amphibian Conservation Action Plan declaration.
The action plan adopted at the summit addresses the key issues affecting the world's amphibians, and is divided into four key strategies:
- Understanding the causes of declines and extinctions
- Documenting amphibian diversity and how it is changing
- Developing and implementing long-term conservation programs
- Delivering emergency responses to crises
Captive breeding has been used successfully to conserve other species, such as the Hawaiian goose and Mallorcan midwife toad. The action plan proposes a major expansion of such programs in countries where species are the most threatened by the disease.
The plan also calls for research into the control and elimination of the fungal disease in the wild, as well as greater habitat protection, to maintain or re-establish viable wild amphibian populations in the future.
For more information regarding amphibian conservation plans please contact Don Church (d.church@conservation.org) or Robin Moore (r.moore@conservation.org), at Conservation International.
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