Andres Laguna
Andres A Laguna C is our
coordinator of research into the Andean bear in the far north of
Ecuador. He has worked since 2009 studying human-bear
conflicts in the area. Andres also collaborated in
the
development of Ecuador's National Strategy for the Conservation of
the
Andean Bear and has participated in a documentary with
Armando
Castellanos.
Andres started his career
with the Ecuadorian Museum of Natural History in 2006, with the
Mastozoology Division (study of mammals)
where he worked and wrote his thesis on primates. He has
published at a local level about other mammal groups, for example bats.
Some of his studies on mammals have been used to justify the
declaration of new protected areas in the north of Ecuador.
Andres Laguna has led
various workshops about methods of studying mammals and management of
reserves. In the last few years he has focused his efforts on
leading talks encouraging the conservation of the Andean bear in
various universities, government institutions, and rural and urban NGOs
in Ecuador. His objective is to introduce more people to more
knowledge about the experiences, myths and truths of
conserving
this endangered species vulnerable to extinction.
The most recent studies
carried out by Andres Laguna have aimed to find more
scientific bases to strengthen the conservation criteria for the
important biological role played by the Andean bear in the development
and stability of ecosystems in the cordillera of the Andes.
Two examples: 1) Pattern and frequency of
consumption of Puya
clavata-herculis (BROMELIACEAE) and Espeletia pycnophyla
(ASTERACEAE) by Tremarctos
ornatus (URSIDAE) en two habitat types, Andean Rim (a type
of subalpine cloud forest at the transition between high montane forest
and páramo) and Frailejon
Páramo, Guandera Reserve, Carchi, Ecuador. 2)
Diversity and frequency of consumption of vegetable species by the
Andean bear (Tremarctos
ornatus) in the Pululahua Geobotanic Reserve,
Pichincha, Ecuador.
Currently Andres is
researching human-bear conflict due to cattle depredation and running
our rural
environmental education program, which is focused on raising
the awareness of both children and adults in communities which are
suffering from conflict with Andean bears. Andres thinks that
"It's not possible to carry out studies and find solutions to this kind
of human-bear conflict without suitable training for rural communities,
because those same studies, and the future of the species, depend on
this factor".
The latest achievement of
this young biologist is to be accepted as part of the Tapir
Specialist Group,
since Andres Laguna has started his studies of the mountain tapir
populations which share habitat with Andean bears in the north of
Ecuador.
Andres
Laguna
Ecuadorian biologist Andres Laguna is researching the Andean bear in
the north of Ecuador
and facilitating solutions to human-bear conflict
through community education.
