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ENVIRONMENT-LATAM:
Protecting Birds
by Hunting Them - With
Binoculars
Yensi
Rivero*
CARACAS, (Tierramérica) - The
chance to see a
yellow-shouldered Amazon parrot
(Amazona barbadensis) can be
motive enough for birdwatchers,
who, binoculars in hand, are on
a mission to identify the
greatest possible number of
avian species -- to learn about
their habitats, behaviours and
the threats they face.
In Latin America, birdwatching
draws hobbyists of all ages and
occupations. With guidance of
experts and the support of local
groups or environmental
coalitions, such as Birdlife
International, these
enthusiastic bird fanciers set
out on their searches in parks,
rivers, savannas, marshes and
forests.
Colombia and Venezuela, in first
and fifth place, respectively,
in terms of bird biodiversity in
Latin America, organise periodic
species counts to collect
information to fill their
databases and allow them to
define policies and actions for
the recovery of endangered
birds.
''The National Birdwatchers
Network (RNOA, in Spanish) took
the initiative of coordinating
the censuses of these species in
Colombia for the last four
years. Before, ornithological
associations and groups carried
out these activities on their
own, which prevented unification
and standardisation of the
data,'' network coordinator
Camila Gómez told Tierramérica.
The censuses allow experts to
track how many species there are
and the number of different
birds that remain in a certain
area over time.
''Knowing how many species there
are in a country is useful for
conservation efforts. How can we
know what to preserve if we
don't know what there is out
there?'' said Gómez.
Nine percent of the 1,800 bird
species in Colombia face some
degree of threat. ''Reduced
habitat, inappropriate use and
lack of knowledge are the main
causes of threat,'' she said.
The most vulnerable habitats are
the highland marshes, swamps,
all types of forests, and the
naturally occurring savannahs.
''The most endangered species
are the endemic ones, which are
reduced in distribution and the
victims of hunting or illegal
wildlife trade,'' Gómez added.
In the case of Venezuela,
organised birdwatching dates to
the 1970s. Later, it became a
tradition to hold Christmas
outings for birdwatching.
''More recently we have also
been following the initiative of
Birdlife International, which
organises a counting effort
jointly with several countries
in the month of October,''
Clemencia Rodner, member of the
Audubon Society of Venezuela,
told Tierramérica.
Venezuela has 1,490 species of
birds, and among the most
endangered are those that
inhabit the forests. The
expansion of the farming
frontier and mining activities
are serious threats to the
survival of many types of birds,
said Rodner, whose organisation
is at the forefront of
Venezuelan birdwatching.
The military macaw and the
yellow-shouldered Amazon were
identified as ''endangered''
during the last count, in
October 2004.
In other cases, pressure on the
species comes from human demand
for their meat, such as the
birds in the tinamid family ('gallinas
de monte' and 'soisolas', among
others), not just in Venezuela,
but throughout South America.
In countries like Brazil and
Colombia, world leaders in
biodiversity, extinction
threatens 114 and 77 bird
species, respectively. In
Venezuela at least 40 native
avian species have been
identified as endangered.
Figures from Birdlife
International indicate that of
the 9,170 bird species in the
world, 4,500 are found in the
Americas. Of that total, 649 are
in danger of becoming extinct by
2020.
Latin America is home to
''representative niches that
make us privileged in terms of
biodiversity. The case of
Ecuador is emblematic, because
even though it is a small
country, it is among the first
in terms of biodiversity, due to
the dramatic changes in altitude
found there,'' said Rodner.
This natural wealth creates
difficulties when it comes time
to categorise the species,
however, and underscores the
importance of the census in
guiding the direction of
research.
Many birds ''are facing a low
grade of threat simply because
almost nothing is known about
their habits, distribution,
population and natural
history,'' according to
Colombia's RNOA coordinator
Gómez.
Experts do not necessarily
consider bird sightings by
hobbyists as scientific data.
But the accumulation of species
counts may reveal trends in the
life cycles of the birds.
''Some years ago it was possible
to find in Caracas parks birds
like the red-capped cardinal (Paroaria
gularis). Today it is nearly
impossible and that tells us
there is strong pressure
threatening the population of
that species,'' explained Rodner.
Initiatives like those of the
Venezuelan Audubon Society are
being replicated, with its
collaboration, in the private
sector.
The Hato Piñero ranch, on the
central Venezuelan plains, holds
representatives of all animal
species of the Orinoco plains,
and has won fame as a bird
observatory.
On the 80,000-hectare hacienda,
27 percent of the birds
inhabiting the country are
concentrated, Edgar Useche,
executive director of the Hato
Piñero Foundation, told
Tierramérica.
''We organise visits with local
and international tourists in
areas intended for birdwatching.
Visitors have fun learning, and
hold out hope of seeing some
endangered species,'' he said.
The Hato Piñero Foundation is
conducting an inventory of flora
and fauna species, and the data
is to be used for its
conservation projects.
The information that Audubon
gathers in its censuses is sent
to the regional Birdlife
International headquarters in
Quito, and from there it is
distributed to other
institutions to determine if it
qualifies for financing for
special species protection
projects.
''We want to build the best
inventory of birds in the
country and thus ensure a count
of species that is not
repeated,'' said Marieta
Hernández, president of the
Audubon Society of Venezuela,
during a birdwatching tour in
October 2004.
In Colombia there is a
free-access database on birds
that is updated each year with
the new census information.
Shortly a broader database,
known as DATaves, will be ready,
with contributions of
experiences of people from
throughout the country.
There are some 70 million
birdwatchers worldwide, and
experts estimate that this
figure represents 35 percent of
all international ecotourism.
(* Yensi Rivero is a
Tierramérica contributor. With
reporting by Yadira Ferrer in
Colombia. Originally published
Mar. 26 by Latin American
newspapers that are part of the
Tierramérica network.
Tierramérica is a specialised
news service produced by IPS
with the backing of the United
Nations Development Programme
and the United Nations
Environment Programme.)
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