New research in Biotropica asks FIFA to follow through with its
environmental claims. The 2014 FIFA (Fédération Internationale de
Football Association) World Cup will be played in Brazil. Its “Football
for the Planet” program aims to monitor greenhouse gasses, provide
environmentally friendly stadiums, and better waste management. However,
FIFA has not maximized this opportunity. In an article published in the
upcoming issue, researchers challenge the role that FIFA and the
Brazilian government play in protecting the environment, asking both to:
protect 1,000 hectares of the critically endangered Caatinga ecosystem –
the natural habitat for its World Cup mascot, Fuelco - for each goal
scored in the World Cup.
For the 2014 FWC in Brazil, FIFA has adopted the endemic Brazilian
Three-banded armadillo, an endangered species, as its mascot. They named
it FulecoTM by combining the Portuguese words for football (“futbol”)
and ecology (“ecologia”). The armadillo, when threatened, will protect
itself by rolling up into a ball. The mascot plays an essential part in
driving the environmental awareness of the World Cup.
Two species of Tolypeutes occur in Brazil, the endangered and endemic T.
tricinctus and the lesser-known T. matacus. Although decreasing in
population, there is no conservation plan for the species. The animal,
and some 20 million people live in an area known as Caatinga, a tropical
dry forest that once covered 845,000 square km in northeastern brazil
that has been reduced in area by 53 percent. Despite being known as a
biodiversity-rich region, the Caatinga is the least protected of the
Brazilian ecosystems.
“Protecting the remaining Caatinga is extremely urgent. We want the
choice of one of the Caatinga’s most iconic species as the World Cup
mascot to be more than just a symbolic one”, says José Alves Siqueira,
one of the paper’s authors and a Professor at the Federal University of
the Valley of São Francisco.
However, after the frenzy that centered around the Fuelco mascot
fizzled, the environmental claims have not been fulfilled. The authors
suggest steps that the federation and government can take to reaffirm
their positions on providing an ecologically-friendly World Cup, such as
promoting the ‘Parques da Copa’ project, protecting areas of the
Caatinga, and instituting a conservation plan for the Tolypeutes
tricinctus species.
“The Caatinga is a uniquely Brazilian ecosystem. By acting boldly and
swiftly, FIFA and the Brazilian government could help save the Brazilian
Three-banded armadillo and protect thousands of hectares of its
habitat”, says Enrico Bernard, another author also based at the Federal
University of Pernambuco. “That would be the best goal scored this Cup.”
Link to the original on the Biotropica blog: http://biotropica.org/worldcup/
Portuguese version: http://biotropica.org/gol-de-placa/
Scientists challenge @FIFAcom in advance of #WorldCup: Save the
Armadillo http://t.co/weOUAdfiaV
IC: J. A. Siqueira pic.twitter.com/wV6wCNwqOu
— Wiley Research News (@WileyResearch) May 6, 2014
