Conservation of Tarucas through community involvement in Salta and Jujuy, Argentina
Project description
The Taruca (Hippocamelus antisensis) is an Andean deer globally categorized as Vulnerable due to its decreasing population trend, highly fragmented populations, and limited representation in protected areas. In Argentina, it is categorized as Endangered, with poaching considered one of the main threats to the species.
The Taruca inhabits the high-altitude grasslands of the Andes—an ecosystem globally threatened by loss and degradation—where it plays a key ecological role as an ecosystem engineer.
The goal of the project is to improve the protection of the Taruca through the involvement of local communities by tackling poaching, enhancing awareness, and developing a sustainable ecotourism programme with the participation of communities in the Salta and Jujuy provinces of Argentina.
The project area covers approximately 7,000 km² of high-altitude grasslands between 3,000 and 3,500 m asl, the natural habitat of the Taruca, and includes part of the Yungas Biosphere Reserve.
Threats
Habitat loss & degradation
Poaching
Project objectives
- Enhance protection of Tarucas by training local people as Taruca guardians to reduce poaching events, and equipping them with binoculars and GPS devices to carry out surveillance rounds along roads, trails, towns, and small isolated households.
- Increase awareness among people living in towns and isolated households about the Taruca’s conservation status and its legal protection within the project area, through educational talks and brochures providing information on the species and its protected status.
- Enhance the value of Tarucas and create economic opportunities by building local capacity to implement ecotourism activities that can increase household incomes. The project will also support three cooperatives of local women artisans in producing handicrafts and wool fabrics that incorporate the cultural value of the Taruca, contributing to local development and the species’ valorisation.
Project activities
- Train and support local people as Taruca guardians to monitor the species and reduce poaching.
- Equip Taruca guardians with GPS devices and binoculars to conduct surveillance rounds on foot, horseback, or motorcycle.
- Collect data on poaching incidents and Taruca presence, including sightings, tracks, and other signs.
- Conduct awareness talks via radio, in schools, community centres, and at social events in project-area towns.
- Distribute brochures with information about the Taruca, its habitat, threats, and legal protection.
- Organise capacity-building workshops to train local people as ecotourism guides.
- Identify and document areas suitable for ecotourism and Taruca observation, with the help of Taruca guardians.
- Support cooperatives of local women artisans in producing handicrafts and wool fabrics that reflect the cultural value of the Taruca.
This project is implemented by Foundation for Study and Conservation of Biodiversity (CEBio), Argentina
