The GLT is Featured on a Brazilian Stamp
The Golden Lion Tamarin is featured on a new Brazilian stamp issued in Rio de Janeiro yesterday commemorating 50 years of the IUCN Red List – the International List of Endangered Species.
The Golden Lion Tamarin stamp was issued at the opening ceremony of the 1st IUCN World Congress of Environmental Law taking place this week in Rio de Janeiro. The stamp honors the many individuals and organizations - governmental and non-governmental, Brazilian and international - who contributed over the past 30+ years to achieve the spectacular increase in the wild population of Golden Lion Tamarins, an endangered species that exists only in the Atlantic Rainforest of Rio de Janeiro state.
Representing GLT conservation at the ceremony were Luis Paulo Ferraz, Executive Director of the Brazilian Golden Lion Tamarin Association (Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado) and Adelmar Coimbra Filho, a Brazilian scientist. Coimbra Filho was the first to recognize the plight of GLTs in the 1960’s. He initiated actions creating Brazil’s first Biological Reserve - Poço das Antas - to protect GLT habitat, and encouraged the international zoo community to breed the species in captivity. Coimbra’s efforts eventually grew to become the Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado, whose mission is to assure the species has a future in perpetuity in its native habitat.
“The creation of the Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado demonstrates an interesting path to inspire other species-focused efforts that protect habitats and ecosystems, including protected areas, ecological corridors, and integration into regional development” said Claudio Maretti, President of ICMBio (the Brazilian government agency responsible for endangered species).
Coimbra & Claudio Maretti, President ICMBio