Dr Federico Kacoliris, Season 2 Episode 4
Argentina’s Somuncura Plateau in the Patagonian steppe resembles a vast rocky lunar landscape. It’s where a volcanic stream allowed for the evolution of a tiny amphibian, the El Rincón stream frog which has found its biggest champion in Dr Federico Kacoliris.
“Unlike most people, I was drawn to those often seen as ugly or feared – frogs, snakes, lizards, but also many insects. I like them. I don’t know why…” he tells Kate Humble and Edward Whitley. The frog was one of the most endangered amphibians in the world.
In this episode, Federico explains to Kate and Edward how his team at his NGO Fundación Somuncura brought the frog back from the brink of extinction through captive breeding and finding solutions for people living in this remote landscape whose livestock were a threat. Federico is now scaling up and creating a nature reserve to share his enthusiasm for the extreme landscape that he loves with tourism on the agenda to see his favourite frog and other fauna.
Read the transcript here.
NEWS FROM FEDERICO
Since winning the Whitley Award in April, Federico received the Fundación Azara award in recognition for his work in conserving Argentina’s natural heritage.
Federico’s NGO, together with Fundación Hábitat & Desarrollo and with support from World Land Trust, acquired a new property to add to their managed Natural Reserve. This property adds 5,000 new hectares of habitat. The reserve now totals 20,000 ha and protects almost 35 percent of the whole population of El Rincón frogs. Federico’s eco-tourism plans are taking shape with two nature trails established and work started on the creation of a camping area in the reserve which will support ten professional local guides. Systematic wildlife monitoring with camera traps has identified cougar and fox activity in surrounding ranches and helped to identify a promising site for future ecotourism focused on puma watching.
Fundación Somuncura is collaborating with researchers from the province of Misiones to incorporate Environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques into their monitoring programme. The team completed construction of a new permanent fish barrier, which together with an existing downstream barrier, will secure two parts of the Valcheta Stream from trout reinvasion.
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