November 2008

Conservationists Race to Conserve Colombian Bird Habitat

By David Dudenhoefer

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Because Colombia claims the world's greatest bird diversity as well as 45 million citizens exerting pressure on its natural resources, the South American nation is a priority for environmentalists. But the presence of armed groups in the countryside have long made the country a challenging place to do conservation work or field research. Yet, for Colombian biologists such as Alonso Quevedo, the biggest worry isn't what might happen to him when he's in the woods, but what is happening to the woods themselves.

"Our biggest challenge is deforestation," says Quevedo, the director of conservation at the Colombian NGO Fundación ProAves. During his 15 years of fieldwork, Quevedo has witnessed first-hand the steady deforestation of Colombia's Andean region -- home for about 31 million people and most of the country's endemic flora and fauna species. He believes that about 80 percent of Colombia's Andean forests have already been destroyed and has noticed an increase in deforestation in recent years, which he blames on strong markets for ethanol and beef.

The destruction threatens many of Colombia's 1,879 bird species, including some of the 192 migrant species that spend part of the year there. Fundación ProAves is consequently working to protect endangered ecosystems nationwide and to educate local people about the importance of bird conservation.

With support from the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, ProAves has undertaken an array of efforts to protect the habitat of birds that winter in Colombia. The funds have helped ProAves purchase land to expand its network of private reserves and bird monitoring stations and to strengthen its ambitious research and environmental education programs.

ProAves owns 15 bird reserves which encompass a total of 41,000 acres (16,600 hectares) of wilderness ranging from Andean cloud forests to coastal forests on the Caribbean island of San Andrés. Those protected areas are resting and wintering grounds for everything from Baltimore orioles (Icterus galbula) to Canada warblers (Wilsonia canadensis), and olive-sided flycatchers (Contopus cooperi). ProAves has even established reserves specifically to protect migratory species whose populations have plummeted in recent decades, such as the cerulean (Dendroica cerulea) and golden-winged (Vermivora chrysoptera) warblers.

Quevedo explains that regardless of whether a reserve is created to protect a migrant or endemic species, they provide refuge for plenty of both in addition to other threatened wildlife. He cites the example of an antpitta subspecies (Grallaricula nana hallsi) that was recently discovered in the foundation's Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve, which was created to conserve that species. ProAves biologists have discovered four new bird species and rediscovered four species that scientists had believed to be extinct.

ProAves has created reserves specifically for endemic species such as the endangered blue-billed currasow (Crax alberti) and yellow-eared parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis), which once was presumed extinct in Colombia until Quevedo rediscovered it in 1998. He found about 80 of the parrots living in an isolated forest that was being steadily degraded by people who cut down the wax palms (Ceroxylon quindiuense) to sell the fronds, always in demand by churches on Palm Sunday. With funds from NMBCA and organizations such as the Loro Parque Fundación, ProAves purchased land to establish a reserve, which is now home to approximately 430 yellow-eared parrots, which nest in slow-growing wax palms, Colombia's national tree.

In many cases, however, important bird habitat was destroyed before ProAves could purchase it. María Isabel Moreno, who runs the foundation's migratory bird program, has experienced the impact of Colombia's advancing agricultural frontier during her five years with ProAves. "In the beginning it was hard. We would sometimes return to areas where we had been monitoring birds the year before, and the forest was gone," says Moreno.

Quevedo explains that ProAves is registering all of its reserves with the government to ensure their permanence. He says they've identified many areas that are vital for the survival of threatened species, but are unable to raise enough funds to purchase all of that land. "We are running against the clock, because there is truly a lot to be saved and we need a lot of resources to do it."

Moreno notes that ProAves' environmental assessments helped convince the Colombian government to create two new national parks. Research is one of the foundation's priorities -- it has funded more than 80 research projects and trained more than 400 biology and conservation students to date. ProAves has 36 bird monitoring stations scattered across Colombia where Moreno and her colleagues have banded more than 60,000 birds and recorded data on more than 250,000.

ProAves' other priority is environmental education, and the foundation has developed and distributed materials to 422 schools, often using a mobile classroom called the "Parrot Bus." The foundation has also promoted the formation of 240 "Friends of Birds" groups and organized celebrations for International Migratory Bird Day. As a result of its hard work, ProAves has delivered its conservation message to nearly 80,000 people over the past three years.

According to Sara Lara, ProAves' executive director, this focus on community outreach not only makes the organization more effective, but has helped to ensure the safety of biologists and educators working in areas with security problems. She explains that ProAves gets involved with communities near areas it wants to conserve as soon as possible and works to maintain a high profile and positive image. "Obviously it's more difficult to work in Colombia. You have to be very transparent and very careful," says Lara. "One reason that ProAves has been so successful is the relationship that we've established with the communities near our reserves."

Lara says ProAves has begun to involve landowners in the establishment of conservation easements, which are a cost-effective way to expand protected habitat and create biological corridors. ProAves lobbied local governments to establish tax breaks on property placed within easements, which the foundation monitors to ensure that owners maintain forest cover. ProAves has established Colombia's first three conservation easements, and Lara says they hope to have 15 by the end of 2009.

Quevedo explains that ProAves is also working with farmers on environmental restoration activities, which he believes will become increasingly important in Colombia. "We have shown that by working with the communities, we can get people to take better care of their natural resources," he says. ProAves' tree nursery produces about 100,000 native tree saplings per year that are given to students and farmers to plant in buffer zones.

Contacts: Sara Lara, María Isabel Moreno, and Alonso Quevedo, Fundación ProAves, Carrera 20 Nº 36-61, Bogotá D.C., Colombia. +57/1-3403229-3403261-2455134, fundacion@proaves.org, www.proaves.org.