PETITION TO SAVE THE SAN MARCO MUSEUM IN PERU - 19 NOVEMBER 2010

[Wagner, David]

Trouble in Peru.

David L. Wagner
Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Storrs, CT 06269-3043
v. (860) 486-2139; f. (860) 486-6364

________________________________
From: ASIH [mailto:asih at allenpress.com]
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 1:33 PM
To: Wells, Kentwood
Subject: PETITION TO SAVE THE SAN MARCO MUSEUM IN PERU - 19 NOVEMBER 2010


Dear Colleague:

This message is to inform you of a threat to the future of the largest biological scientific collections in the oldest Peruvian institution, the Natural History Museum (Museo de Historia Natural).

The authorities of the University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru have unilaterally decided to propose the construction of a building in the area presently occupied by the Natural History Museum. Their plan under the pompous name of Academic, Cultural and Research Complex does not offer the needed housing for the largest scientific collection in the country, nor for any improvement of research facilities for the study of its biodiversity. Despite that the role of the museum in the life of the University has been widely recognized and praised by the same authorities, since their affiliates contribute a large part of the scientific publications of the institution (in peer reviewed journals like PNAS, Science, Nature); they have ignored or diminished the role and needs of the scientific legacy housed in the museum. There is almost a complete lack of financial support of the authorities of the university to the Natural History Museum with a budget of less than 108000 US dollars per year, only 35% of which is devoted to the activities related to the scientific collections. The Natural History Museum in Lima is an institution over 80 years old that includes the largest collections of the flora and fauna of the country. The herbarium includes over 500,000 plant specimens, the mammal collection near 37000, birds 28000, amphibians and reptiles 50000, fish 450000, insects and arachnids 750000, mollusks 30000, geological samples and fossils 9000. It also includes historical collections made by naturalists during the XIX and part of the XX centuries such as Raimondi, Taczanowski, Jelski, Stolzman, Weberbauer, Weyrauch, Eigenmann, and Koepcke.

To sign the petition online please visit:

http://www.petitiononline.com/musm1710/petition.html
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