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| Mexican Amphibian Society | |
|---|---|
| Name | Mexican Amphibian Society |
| Native name | Sociedad Mexicana de Anfibios |
| Formation | 1980s |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters | Mexico City |
| Region served | Mexico |
| Language | Spanish |
| Leader title | President |
Mexican Amphibian Society is a non-governmental organization dedicated to the study, protection, and public awareness of amphibian biodiversity in Mexico. The society engages researchers, conservationists, and educators across institutions in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Oaxaca while interacting with international entities based in London, Washington, and Berlin. Through programs spanning field surveys, captive-breeding, policy advocacy, and curriculum development, the society connects work in conservation hotspots like Chiapas, Veracruz, and the Sierra Madre with global initiatives in biodiversity and species recovery.
The society originated in the 1980s amid rising concern over declines documented in regions such as Chiapas and Veracruz, drawing founding members from National Autonomous University of Mexico, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, and regional museums. Early collaborations included fieldwork with staff from Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum, London, California Academy of Sciences, and networks established by IUCN amphibian specialists who tracked chytridiomycosis impacts following reports from Athens Conference on Amphibian Declines and workshops hosted by World Wildlife Fund. Over subsequent decades the society formalized governance modeled on structures used by Society for Conservation Biology and Herpetologists' League, expanded membership to include staff from CONABIO, SEMARNAT, and municipal environmental offices, and helped catalyze recovery planning inspired by programs at Museo de Historia Natural de Veracruz and the Royal Society initiatives.
The society's mission echoes objectives endorsed by IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group and regional commitments such as those discussed at the Convention on Biological Diversity conferences and the Ramsar Convention meetings. Core objectives include documenting species distributions across ecoregions like the Balsas Basin, protecting critical habitats in areas such as the Sierra Madre del Sur, supporting captive-breeding protocols established by Zoological Society of London partners, and advising policy under frameworks similar to Mexican Environmental Law instruments administered through SEMARNAT and CONANP. The society prioritizes monitoring driven by standards from Global Amphibian Assessment and contributes data to databases modeled after collections at the Field Museum and American Museum of Natural History.
Membership comprises academics from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, curators from institutions like Museo Nacional de Antropología, technicians from CONABIO, graduate students affiliated with Universidad de Guadalajara, and volunteers drawn from NGOs such as Pronatura and Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Anfibios. The governance board includes roles analogous to those at Mexican Academy of Sciences, with committees for research, policy liaison, and outreach patterned after international groups such as Herpetological Conservation and Biology. Chapters operate in regions including Oaxaca, Chiapas, Jalisco, and the Yucatán Peninsula, coordinating field stations near protected areas like Pico de Orizaba National Park and reserves managed in partnership with indigenous communities represented by organizations like Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas.
Programs combine survey efforts modeled on protocols from the Amphibian Survival Alliance and experimental work comparable to studies at University of California, Berkeley and Oxford University laboratories. Key initiatives address disease mitigation informed by research from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, habitat restoration aligned with projects by Conservation International, and ex situ breeding following standards used by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. Target species include high-profile taxa documented in monographs like those by Edward Drinker Cope legacy collections and contemporary assessments similar to entries in the IUCN Red List. Collaborative fieldwork often references methodologies developed during programs at La Selva Biological Station and by researchers affiliated with University of Florida herpetology labs.
Outreach draws on curricula and media partnerships resembling those from UNESCO education initiatives and public programming at institutions like Museo de Historia Natural de la Ciudad de México and Botanical Gardens of Mexico City. The society runs school workshops modeled after activities by National Geographic Society and community training inspired by projects at Conabio and Pronatura Veracruz. Public campaigns have paralleled awareness efforts by WWF and The Nature Conservancy and leverage exhibits coordinated with university museums such as Museo de Zoología de la UNAM and festivals similar to Festival Internacional de Ciencia.
The society publishes bulletins, technical reports, and peer-reviewed articles in outlets comparable to Journal of Herpetology, Herpetological Review, and regional journals hosted by Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Annual meetings are organized in formats akin to conferences held by Society for Conservation Biology and Latin American Herpetology Network, while special symposia have been co-hosted with institutions like Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Instituto de Biología UNAM. Proceedings and species accounts contribute to compilations modeled on the Encyclopedia of Life and provide data used in assessments for the IUCN Red List and national red lists administered by SEMARNAT.
The society maintains partnerships with international and national entities such as IUCN, Amphibian Survival Alliance, Smithsonian Institution, CONABIO, SEMARNAT, and regional universities including Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León and Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Collaborative grants have involved funders and programs like GIZ, Global Environment Facility, BirdLife International (for cross-taxa habitat projects), and university research networks linked to University of British Columbia and Universidad de Costa Rica. These partnerships facilitate multi-institutional projects, policy advisement at forums like the Conference of the Parties to the CBD, and training exchanges with botanical and zoological institutions such as Kew Gardens and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Category:Environmental organizations based in Mexico