Argentine scientist reaches the finals of the "green Oscar" of science

This is cone researcher Michaela Camino, who studies chimelero bovine, an endemic species of the endangered Chaco. What are the Whitley Awards?

The Conicet Scholar is among 15 finalists for the Whitley Awards, Prestigious award from the Conservation Foundation UK, Known as the “Green Oscar”. Michaela Camino He works at the Coastal Applied Environment Center (Cecoal, conical-UNNE) and study in Beef shimleroowhich is an endemic species of Chaco . region This is threatened.

The Wheatley Awardsmeanwhile, are delivered every year and are intended for wildlife conservation workers in countries rich in biodiversity. In addition to recognition, the distinction includes financial resources to implement projects designed on the basis of scientific knowledge and joint work with local communities, with the aim of achieving lasting benefits for the landscape and people.

“Increasing the Capacities of Local Communities to Preserve the Argentinean Chimelero and Chaco” is the name of the proposal proposed by Camino, who in 2010 settled in this region of the country when he was beginning his doctoral studies. Since then, it has been consolidated Chemilero . projectIt is an initiative that seeks to spread the importance of this animal.

chemical bovine (Catagonos Wagnery) he is Species endemic to the Chaco Dry Zone He is threatened. It is included in Red List of Threatened Species From the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The chemist belongs to the group of hoofed mammals. It is the largest bovine of the three extant – along with the collared bovine and the lip-covered bovine – and can measure over a meter and weigh up to 40 kilograms in adulthood.

“It is an emblematic species for the Chaco region because it has a tremendous ability to adapt to long drought times when surface water is very scarce, which shows a remarkable evolution process that throughout its life has reached the ability to live in these environments,” highlighted the researcher, who is part of the team Cecoal Conservation Biology Laboratory.

After saving these valuable species, theThe project promoted by Michaela Camino aims to contribute to the conservation of the entire Chaco Forest.

“We are in the second largest ecoregion on the continent, after the Amazon, and we have one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. What is happening around us is tragic and is due to the progress of industrial agriculture, which is replacing existing forests with large-scale production, especially soybeans and beef for export.” The chemist is a science to our project because it is a species that is resistant in forests and allows us to identify areas that we need to conserve or restore so that large mammals like this can continue to perform their important function through seed dispersal, contributing to the structure and diversity of all ecological services of the environment,” said the researcher.

One of Camino’s most recent studies notes that habitat loss is one of the major threats to the species, which is why it warns that the need for conservation action is urgent. He emphasized that “in less than 30 years, chimelero can become extinct and that protected areas are insufficient to preserve this species.”

To protect this species and its unique evolutionary path, the project considers the role of the communities living in the Chaco as fundamental, many of which belong to indigenous peoples and have a high value on the factories. “We work with communities and share knowledge permanently. It’s not just about conservation models that we can develop using scientific tools to determine which areas of forest we should conserve, it’s about co-constructing, and bringing together the knowledge and knowledge they have through multiple generations, which is very valuable. Therefore, it is necessary to work with the local communities, who are the ones who protect the forests, because their lives depend on them.”