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Post by wollastoni on Aug 13, 2019 9:40:36 GMT
Bad news for entomology in French Guyana... there is a new collecting law with a limit of exportation outside of French Guyana of 100 insects per year per person... And 1 Titanus giganteus per year. This limit of 100 insects will totally ruin the entomological ecotourism in Guyana as you can collect 100 insects in one single afternoon there... nobody will pay expensive tickets for one day of collecting. This stupid law has been decided without consulting any entomologists or associations as far as I know... Several lodges will close... Now the price of Titanus giganteus will explode and amateur entomologists will not be able to study other groups anymore, knowing there are still many undescribed species in French Guyana. Stupid and sad. It should be possible to apply for permits though. Let's see to who they deliver these permits and with which limitation. Link : www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/nouvelle-reglementation-relative-aux-arthropodes-a3034.html?fbclid=IwAR27mn7EayhXhkRTVHuLnGlLaKtyzdqyG1HnnF0tS2dqMopkG6jP9ahzPhAIf you are controlled by customs with more than 100 insects, 750€ of fine per additional insect. I pity the first guy who will arrive with 1000 moths of his night collecting there...
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Post by Paul K on Aug 13, 2019 13:14:09 GMT
Another corrupted government which wants to cover illegal mining, logging and oil palm plantations. Please note that law has been sign by Government of French Guiana not France.
No worries about lodges that served ecotourism they will convert to workers camps who will be coming soon to clear the forests.
We were born 100 years too late.
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Post by wollastoni on Aug 13, 2019 13:41:36 GMT
Paul, this law is a "décret" and has been taken by the Prefet : a Prefet is the representant of the French State in a region (=province).
The forest is "rather" well protected in French Guyana, as France don't need to sell the forest.
For example, a huge gold mine project in French Guyana has been cancelled by Macron because of its environmental impact and because Macron needs the vote of the ecologists in France.
And yes, we were born 50 years too late.
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Post by Paul K on Aug 13, 2019 14:37:13 GMT
Olivier, I truly hope you are right about it. French Guiana is one of the best example of remain tropical forests/nature on Earth. I hope it will stay this way unchanged.
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Post by wollastoni on Aug 14, 2019 9:54:37 GMT
Yes it has been blocked by Macron.
This said, it would be one of the biggest gold mines in the world so there is a huge lobby pressure and a new President may validate it in the future...
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Post by jmg on Aug 16, 2019 17:48:28 GMT
Against this "wicked decree", it is necessary to know that the mobilization is organized as well in French Guiana as in Metropolitan France. A petition circulates and a lawyer is at work to try administrative or legal remedies.
Partly, I am responsible for centralizing the information and transmitting it.
Incidentally, it is necessary to contest this statement of Paul K; as far as I know, there are still no oil palm plantations in French Guiana! And deforestation remains limited, very limited.
Anyway, from year to year, Rhopalocera are less and less numerous in French Guiana (this is not the case for Heterocera). The entomologists concerned pull out their hair to determine the causes! Maybe it is a cyclical effect more or less thirty years. For my part, I attend Guyana every year since 2011 (and I was there in December and March) and I can only confirm this significant decrease in the lepidofauna.
Only the Morpho remain numerous (eugenia, marcus, hecuba, telemachus, helenor, achilles, deidamia). As for the Heliconius, even the most common (sara, erato), they are rare on the forest trails.
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Post by Paul K on Aug 16, 2019 19:15:04 GMT
It is very sad to hear that Lepidoptera is in decline also in this part of Amazon! This year in Canada we have a much less number of any kind of insects ( even mosquitos ), in Thailand there is same problem and now we hear that is also the case of South America.
I truly hope that this is only temporary and the numbers will rebound in few years and it’s not a global collapse of insects population.
Cheers Paul
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Post by jmg on Sept 24, 2019 9:01:01 GMT
There is currently a great mobilization of French entomologists and their associations, both in Guyane (SEAG) and metropolis (SEF, ACOREP, ALF and so on). Negotiations are in progress with the local authorities (prefecture). It is very likely that the statutory texts will be changed in the right direction. The task of the authorities concerns especially the massive outflows of the territory of Guyane large arthropods like Theraphosa blondi and Titanus giganteus effected by collectors from the countries of Eastern Europe for commercial purposes. It is obvious that there are no common measures between 100 Titanus giganteus and 100 micro-Lepidoptera or 100 Rhopalocera. Quotas will certainly be modified in a good way.
Anyway, at the airport in Cayenne, customs officers have so much to do with "mules" (those who swallow drug sausages) that they have little leisure to deal with insects.
SEAG = Société d'entomologie Antilles-Guyane SEF = Société entomologique de France ACOREP = Association des Coléoptéristes de France ALF = Association des Lépidoptéristes de France
All these associations are linked with the National Museum of Natural History.
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Post by Paul K on Sept 24, 2019 14:04:49 GMT
Jmg, this is a great news, I hope this issue will be resolved in the right direction.
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Post by jmg on Jan 11, 2020 10:21:40 GMT
Following the last meetings (December) held between the prefectural authorities of French Guyane and the representatives of the entomologists, a new prefectoral decree brings the quota to 1000 specimens per person per year; quota increased to 2,500 for approved persons, those who make insect transfers. Without being perfect, this text very clearly improves the situation created by the decree of last July. On the website of the DEAL (prefectural department responsible for the environment), you will find the electronic form to be filled in, here is the link for the declaration of arthropod collection: www.demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/declaration-de-detention-d-arthropodes_pp The situation is therefore clearly improved and the formalities simple and quick. As we know, the main purpose of these regulations is to limit commercial exports of Theraphosa blondi and Titanus giganteus. Photo : Morpho menelaus menelaus (Linnaeus, 1758), ♂. Montagne de Kaw, premier layon à l'est du Relais Patawa (French Guyane), 11 décembre 2018. Photo : L. Voisin Second picture : Accommodation well known to entomologists of all countries, located in the middle of the forest and surrounded by paths allowing easy exploration around: Le Relais Patawa, Montagne de Kaw (French Guiana), February 26, 2019. Photo: J.-M. Gayman. The Relais Patawa is run by two entomologists, a specialist in cerambycidae and a specialist in Euchromiini.
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 11, 2020 11:21:45 GMT
A very good news for amateur entomology and all these entomological lodges ! A big thank you to all the French Entomological Associations who have explained entomological rules to French authorities (and a special thanks to you Jean-Marc). And a big thank to French authorities, it is so rare in our modern world that politics listen to entomologists !
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Post by jmg on Jan 11, 2020 11:37:30 GMT
Wollastoni: my role was and remains modest, that of transmitting information. We must especially compliment the representatives of associations (from France or Guyane), Guyanese entomologists and owners of lodges with an entomological vocation (which I could provide the list to those interested). Of course, in Guyane, we don't just meet butterflies. Here is an animal that stayed 4 or 5 days in the roof of an ecolodge in Saül. This is also what makes the interest of these forest lodges: not only do you meet all kinds of animals in the surroundings or on the site itself, but you also meet scientists, animal photographers, etc. Corallus hortulanus (Linnaeus, 1758), Boa de Cook. Saül (Guyane française), March 9, 2019. Photo : J.-M. Gayman
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Post by trehopr1 on Jan 11, 2020 18:02:52 GMT
Good news indeed jmg ! Negotiations are important in ecological concerns. Compromise is necessary though....
You really do take some wonderful photographs whilst on your expeditions to foreign lands. Your capture of butterflies in flight is astounding (trojana + menalaus) ! 😱
Can you provide information on this lodge Relais Patawa? Do the entomologists at the lodge secure any travel permits to leave the country with the specimens you collect?
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Post by jmg on Jan 12, 2020 0:16:57 GMT
As I wrote earlier, the Relais Patawa is an ecolodge dedicated to the study of nature and run by two entomologists. There are lepidopterists, herpetologists, ornithologists, botanists, animal photographers, etc. It is located on Kaw Mountain in the middle of the forest and is therefore very isolated. Several paths near the lodge (in French Guiana, we say "carbet") allow to move easily in the forest. The site is equipped for night collectings. Accommodation is either in carbet hammocks or in a nice bungalow. This website gives pricing details: www.escapade-carbet.com/carbet/relais-de-patawa/ I'll be there March and April 2020! About butterflies, the place is particulary good for Morphos : all the guyanese species fly and are common on the Montagne de Kaw. Panacea bleuzeni is endemic of the said Montagne de Kaw. "Do the entomologists at the lodge secure any travel permits to leave the country with the specimens you collect? " See former post : On the website of the DEAL (prefectural department responsible for the environment), you will find the electronic form to be filled in, here is the link for the declaration of arthropod collection: www.demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/declaration-de-detention-d-arthropodes_pp Here are a map and some pictures from the Relais Patawa: The restaurant: The bungalow (kitchen and bathroom ground level, room second level): The stream and the waterfalls of Patawa: The first layon near Patawa: Howler monkeys: Capuchin monkey: Jaguar (automatic camera, 200 m from the Patawa restaurant): Brown vine snake: Morpho eugenia eugenia (flies between 5.50 and 6.15 AM): The Relais Patawa in the pristine forest: The road between Patawa and Kaw: Enjoy
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Post by trehopr1 on Jan 12, 2020 2:15:51 GMT
Thank You jmg for the information... It looks wonderful as well as very clean and tidy.
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