Conservation at risk: the urgent need for political action to protect river dolphins in South America

River dolphins in South America face critical threats including illegal hunting for bait, accidental
bycatch, mercury pollution, habitat fragmentation from dams, and extreme droughts driven by
climate change. Consequently, species such as Inia geoffrensis and Sotalia fluviatilis have been
recategorized as endangered following decades of consolidated monitoring in the Amazon and
Orinoco basins. To address this crisis, political advocacy led to the South American Action Plan
(2010-2020) and the implementation of national management plans in Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia,
Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela. These efforts are supported by the River Dolphins Initiative
SARDI, a consortium of organizations that leads and generates data on dolphin abundance and
threats to guide science-based policy decisions. At a global level, conservation has advanced
through the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) of the International Whaling Commission
and the Global Declaration for River Dolphins (2023), which seeks to halt population declines
and protect critical habitats. Furthermore, river dolphins have been integrated into international
treaties like the Ramsar Convention, which recognizes them as indicator species for the health of
freshwater ecosystems. However, the sources highlight that effective implementation is hindered
by legal asymmetries between countries—such as differing regulations on the piracatinga
fish trade—as well as weak governance in the Amazon basin, illegal transboundary trade,
and institutional instability during government transitions. Long-term survival depends on a
strategic alignment of national policies and international commitments to address these threats
at the regional scale where they occur.