The new Walisuma collection of spectacled caiman leather goods includes handbags, wallets and accessories originating from managed populations within the Takana Indigenous Territory. These goods will include a label specifying the origin of the leather and the ecological characteristics, management and conservation of the species by the Takana communities within an environmental, economic and social sustainability perspective.
To date the Spectacled Caiman Management Association “Matus’a Aid’a” made up by 23 partners from six communities (Cachichira, San Antonio del Tequeje, Carmen del Emero, Copacabana, Tres Hermanos and Buena Vista) has made four spectacled caiman harvests: 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011 using the specific management plan for this species, approved in 2007 by the General Directorate of Biodiversity and Protected Areas (DGBAP) and with the support of CIPTA and WCS. Harvest indicators including: time spent hunting, average capture size and selection of water bodies, show that spectacled caiman populations are not being affected by the annual harvest of an assigned quota of 524 individuals.It is also important to consider that this harvest contributes to the control of illegal hunting in the water bodies which previously threatened the species.
Commercial agreements with Walisuma respond to the Takana strategy to ensure value-added markets for spectacled caiman products, complementing the actions of scientific research, species management and organizational strengthening for sustainable management. Also, this marketing strategy is part of the Spectacled Caiman National Conservation Program, executed by the General Directorate of Biodiversity and Protected Areas (DGBAP) of the Vice Ministry of Environment, Biodiversity, Climate Change and Forest Management and Development.
Walisuma: www.walisuma.net