In the 1960s, the future didn’t look bright for golden lion tamarins.
The first field surveys of the species revealed that they were in serious trouble: only an estimated 200 of these small, fiery-orange primates remained in the wild. The species is native to the Atlantic rainforest in Brazil, which had been steadily diminished by logging, agriculture, and urban expansion. The remaining tamarins lived in small groups scattered throughout fragmented patches of rainforest. With continued destruction of suitable habitat, the odds seemed to favor golden lion tamarins going extinct before long.
But a worldwide community of primate conservationists refused to let the species disappear. They started a broad, international effort to save golden lion tamarins. The Brazilian government oversaw conservation activities, which were supported by conservation nonprofit groups and zoos with established populations of the species in their collections.
Since these efforts were occurring separately—from the Atlantic rainforest to zoos around the world—the stakeholder groups needed to coordinate their work in order for them to be efficient and effective. The Brazilian government invited CPSG to guide the groups in determining exactly what it would take to not only save golden lion tamarins from extinction but allow them to thrive again in their rainforest home.
At the workshop in 1990, CPSG created population simulation models to generate an overall picture of what conditions the species needed to survive in the wild. This helped the group articulate a specific vision that all their individual efforts would strive to achieve. Together they determined that to survive, the wild population needed to grow to at least 2,000 and have access to 25,000 hectares of connected and protected forest by 2025.
Using this goal as a starting point, they identified the activities needed to achieve it, such as restoring and protecting habitat and moving tamarins from one area of forest to another for the genetic health of the whole population. The models clarified the objectives of the overall breeding program as well, so participants were able to identify what steps zoos and breeding centers should take next.
The workshop also established clear relationships among the various organizing entities and a type of governing structure that would help them function together as they implemented the plan. At two subsequent CPSG-led workshops, in 1997 and 2005, the participating conservation groups and institutions updated their strategy in response to progress, new research, and lessons learned.
“The three workshops created the goal-oriented framework that was necessary to make progress for the golden lion tamarin,” said Bengt Holst, Director of Conservation at the Copenhagen Zoo. “The work on the ground has been carried out by local conservationists and international experts, but the workshops created the framework and showed what way to go. That part was just as important as the work on the ground.”
Thanks to reintroductions, efforts to preserve habitat, and moving tamarins out of doomed rainforest fragments, the wild population gradually increased. In 2003, their status was officially changed from Critically Endangered to Endangered, demonstrating that the species’ risk of extinction was lowered as a direct result of conservation activities.
Now, just over 25 years after the first workshop, the project’s most important goal has been partially realized: a little more than 2,500 golden lion tamarins swing through the treetops in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest. Efforts to protect the species’ habitat are just as intense as ever. “This conservation success demonstrates how a goal-oriented approach can have a huge effect and really make a difference,” said Holst. “It shows the great value of the CPSG workshop process as a force for conservation.”
The golden lion tamarin conservation effort is held up around the world as a clear example of a conservation success story. Setting aside a few days—even in the midst of urgent conservation activities—to define a goal and develop a responsive plan really can make the difference in helping an endangered species beat the odds.
