By Gail Koelln | Co-director
With the funds raised on GlobalGiving and other funding, we were able to assist local government patrols with undertaking 10 visits to our conservation areas. The government agency, CONAP, also assisted with nest box placement and responded immediately when local parrot rangers reported poaching activity in their conservation areas. We were able to install ten nest boxes but, unfortunately, over half of them were occupied by Africanized bees and the parrots were not able to use them. We plan to install more nest boxes in November, utilizing methods that will repel bees.
Dr. LoraKim Joyner visited the project’s conservation sites in May 2022 and conducted tree climbing instruction, as well as nest monitoring and protection training. She also brought needed equipment with her, which will vastly improve the capacity and safety for the people who are climbing nest trees.
One Earth Conservation also offered a bi-coastal parrot conservation workshop in May that included this project and our yellow-naped amazon project on the southern coast of Guatemala. This workshop not only provided training and increased the skills of Guatemalan parrot conservationists, but it also increased social capital and allowed all participants to coordinate, at a national level, how best to address the needs of amazon parrots in Guatemala.
From February to mid-June we were also able to support three people with stipends who work in the Pantanal ranch and six other people in the community of Quineles. No nests were poached in Quineles, but only two nests successfully fledged chicks this year. However, even these two would not have fledged without the parrot ranger patrols. In Pantanal, we lost four nests to poachers, as these nests are located far from oversight and have historically been poached for years. However, three nests near this location were able to successfully fledge chicks.
We know now that we need to incorporate the presence of more governmental authorities camping at these two nesting sites, and another one where we, up to now, have not been able to conduct nest monitoring and protection. With our partners, we are developing a logistical and financial plan to make this happen. We also plan to reengage with education and conscious-raising activities, critical for any conservation project, that focus on the importance of stopping the illegal trade in wild parrots.
Our annual parrot population count occurred in late July and we assisted with scientific oversight and supported community members to receive stipends during this important week-long count.
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