Save the São Tomé Giant Snail: Learning and Teaching to Preserve

The São Tomé Obô Natural Park (STONP), home to a remarkable unique biodiversity, hosts at least 30 species of endemic molluscs, including the iconic Giant Land Snail, Archachatina bicarinata. This species is herbivorous and substrate decomposer, indicator of well-preserved native and secondary forest, widely known by local inhabitants for its medicinal and food uses. This species, endemic to São Tomé and Príncipe, has suffered a rapid decline in the last decades, due to a combination of habitat loss and indirect competition with the introduced West African Giant Snail, Archachatina marginata, an invasive species in many countries outside the native distribution range in West continental Africa. The project is aimed at creating a São Tomé Giant Snail conservation breeding Centre as a tool to involve, aware and educate local communities about the conservation of the Obô Natural Park. Update the IUCN Red List status by obtaining fundamental knowledge about the ecology and biology of the endemic threatened São Tomé Giant Snail, through the breeding Centre. Investigate the major threats affecting the species. Specifically, investigate on factors that influence and/or favour the entrance of the invasive species inside the limits of the Natural Park and its interaction with the endemic species.