Autor: Admin Paul

ProAves promotes research not only into birds but also other species such as the special but little-studied case of the grasshopper. Currently, the entity, Forestry Consulting Group, is conducting the “Grasshoppers of Colombia” series among other publications seeking to collect visual and biological information for these species.

The research is being conducted in the Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve located in the town of San Vicente de Chucurí, Santander. The entity Forestry Consulting Group, is currently conducting a photographic and information gathering survey about the grasshoppers of Colombia, with our Reserve Reinita Cielo Azul, one of the research centers that generated the observation of a large number of possible species and new records. Saltamontes de Colombia

According to the researcher Juan Manuel Cardona, a member of the research team which is performing the collection of grasshoppers of Colombia to print a number of publications, ranging from research papers and monographs, articles and books to guides oriented to the interested public.

One of the jobs that is expected to have a major impact, is the publication of the new records of species and genera in locations where they were not yet known, because as Cardona explained “specialists in these Orthopteras are practically nonexistent in the country, despite their obvious abundance and diversity.”

That is how ProAves promotes the conservation of the rich biodiversity of our Colombian forests.

On the International Women’s  Day, March 8, Women for Conservation calls international community for empowering women in the remote areas of Colombia and protecting  rainforest by creating new job opportunities through introducing a new brand of ecofriendly jewelry.

Women for Conservation assists women in Colombian rural areas rich with biodiversity by providing them with job opportunities through teaching useful craft skills and helping them to understand and actively participate in conservation. Elizabeth Salaman, CEO Women for Conservation, believes that  “women are a catalyst for change.”  Women are the key to the conservation because they have power to educate children to be better citizens of the Earth. “We want to bring to the world a different perspective on women and their major role in protecting natural resources,” said Ms. Salaman.

Giving women an access to training and opportunity to earn supplemental income help local families, whose wellbeing often depends on extracting natural resources or forest cutting, to be good stewards of their environment.  For the past two years Women for Conservation successfully conducted 20 workshops, training 45 women the skills of jewelry making; soap, candle, hand stitch leather handbag making; and knitting. Selling their goods will create an additional, much needed income for the families of Colombian artisans, living in the impoverished communities in the buffer zones of protected areas. Thanks to the extra money many families were able to purchase what they have been dreaming about for a long time, such as washing machine, a digital camera, and farm animals.

Women use only natural, sustainably harvested resources and nontoxic, lead-free dyes in creating their goods. Due to natural patterns there are never two products alike. They are unique, one of a kind masterpieces made out of Tagua, Azai, Bombona, Chocho Rojo, and Coconut. These exotic seeds are often handpicked right from the forest floor. Harvesting and commercializing seeds promotes forest growth and provides a sustainable way to generate income for local communities, reducing deforestation and illegal hunting for endangered wildlife species.

Women for Conservation is not new to the conservation field. The initiative started in 2008 by Colombian born sisters, Sara and Elizabeth Salaman, in the memory of the deceased mother. Women for Conservation began as a pilot project of Fundacion ProAves, American Bird Conservancy’s Colombian partner and had fantastic results in involving women in conservation of wildlife species at the grassroots level.

Women for Conservation’s idea of empowering Colombian women extends to encouraging them to continue their education, training them basic business and skills, providing medical assistance to them and their children, and generally making them feel valued, appreciated, and respected.

In 2009 the River Ñambí suffered a severe environment blow as a result of the illegal exploitation of oil that took place in the pipeline that runs through the grounds of the El Pangan Reserve. Today, thanks to our complaint, working together with Ecopetrol, the identification of critical areas and the provision of two forest rangers, the recovery of the river and the return of associated species are evident.

El Pangan Bird Reserve is located in the village of Junin, municipal of Barbacoas, Nariño. It was established in 2002 in the interests of conserving the forests in the south of the country, in the foothills of the Nudo de Pastos in Nambi river basin, a tributary of the River Telembí.

In 2009, the foundation ProAves made ​​a serious complaint about the irresponsible behavior of unscrupulous people who punctured the pipeline that crosses the reserve. The extraction of crude oil was made through illegal valves installed on the Empresa de Petróleos de Colombia, Ecopetrol’s pipeline.  The situation was catastrophic for the ecosystem as waste from the extracted products was thrown into the water sources, at the time it was estimated that over one hundred thousand gallons of oil had flowed through the ravines into the Ñambi river causing enormous damage and death to the flora and fauna of the region.

Today, thanks to the vigilance through patrols made by two guards at critical points of the pipeline, and timely reporting to state authorities with jurisdiction in the area, we have managed to prevent further spills. Therefore, water sources largely have recovered and hence the Nambi River, where it is again possible to observe some of the species that were displaced during the time when the river was in bad shape.

For more than 12 years the foundation also has held ​​ProAves socialization activities with neighboring communities to avoid other scourges such as logging, hunting and other activities that jeopardize the spectacular nature reserve, home to such important species as The Harlequin Poison frog (Dendrobates histrionicus), the Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatos) ) and the Plumbeous Forest Falcon (Micrastur plumbeus).

Thanks to the interest and the work of the Environmental Management Board of Urrao, in Antioquia, of which ProAves forms a part, the Municipal Council of the same municipality regulates the entry of visitors to the Paramo del Sol thus contributing to its conservation.

Since 2012 a process initially led by CORPOURABA called “Workshops Páramo del Sol” in which the Municipality, National Parks, Educational Institutions, township tour operators, civil society and Fundación ProAves participated.

First the entry rules to the Páramo del Sol for visitors were settled, then the group increased participation and stakeholders to become what is now the Urrao Environmental Board where different groups and sectors of the municipality interested in environmental conservation come together and increase the environmental knowledge among residents of this county.

The greatest achievement of the Board is to regulate the entry of visitors to the Paramo del Sol, which was approved unanimously by the Urrao City Council in November 2013. The project was born from the Environmental Board and today is in the socialization phase with the community.

For the Mayor of the town of Urrao, Luis Eduardo Urrego, “the environmental Board  allows us to hear the voice of the citizens, who recognize the importance of a naturally biodiverse zone, the protection of the paramo is very significant for those of us who live in the town and know the impact on the development of conservation areas, from the administration we hope to expand and ensure the reserve area”

During 2014 the Board will begin a series of workshops and training for its participants and socialization activities that benefit environmental education and awareness, use and appropriation of Urraeños in terms of environmental conservation and the natural spaces in the town.

The Dusky Starfrontlet Bird Reserve is located in the municipality of Urrao which is linked to the National System of Protected Areas (SINAPs). It has dense forests and high altitude Andean valleys with a variety of endemic species.

On an expedition in 2004, a critically endangered species of hummingbird, Dusky Starfrontlet (Coeligena orina), was rediscovered and the Reserve took its name from it. There has been no record of it for over 50 years.

ProAves has been present in the town of Urrao for over 8 years, where many major research, conservation and environmental education projects have taken place which seeks the benefit of environmental conservation and the natural heritage of the town.

The municipality of Jardín, Antioquia, shows its environmental commitment to providing this benefit to the Yellow eared Parrot Bird Reserve. Since 2014 we received this incentive to the conservation and protection of renewable natural resources through unified exemption from property tax.  

This incentive is a recognition of the work carried out by ProAves in the town, it shows the enormous conservation will by the municipality in terms of the preservation of rare and endangered species found in its territory. It becomes a reason to continue with the objectives of research, conservation and environmental education developed by ProAves around this protected area

Since 1998 ProAves has developed the Yellow-eared Parrot Conservation Project in the town of Jardín, one of the main activities for the protection of this species.

as a result of the Project, ProAves founded the Yellow eared Parrot Bird Reserve in 2006 with the aim of conserving the Yellow-eared Parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis) a bird species in danger of extinction. At present, the population of the Yellow-eared Parrot in the municipality of Jardín and the Yellow eared Parrot Bird Reserve is one of the two most stable populations of this species in Colombia.

Their habitat is between 1,500 and 2,800 meters above sea level and is associated with the presence of Wax Palm (Ceroxylim quindiuense) in high Andean forests. This species is recognized as the national tree but it is threatened by its use in the preparation of bouquets during the celebration of Palm Sunday at Easter time. Deforestation and implementation of open areas in palm plantations; the Wax Palm is the tallest palm in the world and it grows at higher elevations above the sea.

The reserve also conserves various species of endangered endemic flora and fauna like the Tanager Finch (Oreothraupis arremonops) an almost endemic species categorized as vulnerable (VU), the Purplish-mantled Tanager (Iridosornis porphyrocephalus) an almost endemic tanager species considered threatened (NT), the Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatos)  listed as vulnerable to extinction (VU) and the species of Jardín Passion Flower (Pasiflora jardinensis) endemic to Colombia registered for the first and only time in the Yellow Eared Parrot Bird Reserve.

Now the El Dorado Reserve has an additional property located in the upper part of the Cuchilla de San Lorenzo. There are 197 acres of which 74 acres are grazing lands that were dedicated to livestock and the rest is composed of cloud forests and palms, the original habitat of the Santa Marta parakeet.

The El Dorado Reserve was created in 2006 based on the urgency of preserving one of the most important and fragile sites in Colombia, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, home to a large number of unique plant and animal species. In 2013, the Sierra was named the most important concentration of threatened wildlife on Earth. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the place with the highest number of endemic species in Colombia, which places it as the most important for the development of conservation projects at this time in our country.

The acquisition of this property is very important for the conservation of the Santa Marta Parakeet (Pyrrhura viridicata), a species of high Andean parrot, endemic to the mountains and is listed as an Endangered species. This newly protected area gives the Santa Marta Parakeet natural resources important for their development and population stability, the forests are also the feeding, foraging, roosting and nesting place of this species.

The reserve is also home to other important bird species such as The Santa Marta Bush Tyrant (Myiotheretes pernix) EN and the Antpitta of Santa Marta (grallaria bangsi) VU, the Harlequin frogs, atelopus nahumae and atelopus laetissimus, are also endemic to Santa Marta.

In the new properties in addition to the Natural Bird Reserve El Dorado, the “Laguna Sagrada” also is an important place for the indigenous communities of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and also threatened by livestock.

All this biological and cultural heritage generated the need to purchase and preserve the new property, now, ProAves, after 3 years, can provide protection for research activities such as monitoring the population of Santa Marta Parakeet (Pyrrhura viridicata) the program of artificial nests for this species, reforestation and natural restoration programs in order to recover the 74 acres of pastures and provide more and better habitat for species conservation.

The 2530 acres that now comprise the entire Reserva El Dorado now have the maintenance and monitoring of two rangers, being one of the preferred worldwide locations for specialist birdwatchers.

Income and visits Contact Ecoturs: Carrera 20 No. 36 61, Bogotá, Colombia. Tels. (1) 245-5134, 340-3285. info@ecoturs.org 

Supported by:

Since August 2013 we have recorded the daily visit of two female and a male Blue-Billed Curassow (Crax alberti) in the vicinity of the cabin on The El Paujil Reserve. Since January the couple alternate foraging for food, which may mean a possible nesting, at the same time the second female also makes sporadic approaches.

The Blue-billed Curassow (Crax alberti) is considered one of the most endangered species on the continent, mainly due to habitat destruction, fragmentation of the forests where it lives and the hunting for human consumption.

Until now Curassow observations were very sporadic, random and of few individuals. Thanks to the creation of the Natural Bird Reserve El Paujil in 2003, a substantial recovery in vegetation cover and population density of the species has been made.

From the very same year of its creation the Reserve records have been kept of the species by camera traps installed in the Reserve, but only today, and thanks to the recovery of its habitat, it is possible to see directly and easily this elusive species.

The importance of the reserve as a safe haven for biodiversity has been confirmed with additional observations, on their properties, with camera traps, such important species as the Puma (Puma concolor) Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and one of the largest and least known of South American mammals, the Critically Endangered Colombian Tapir (Tapirus terrestris columbianus).

The ProAves foundation by running campaigns for environmental education and conservation as the main tool for the protection of threatened species and their habitats, has generated several conservation strategies complemented with research to protect the Blue-billed Curassow, it also has directly involved the community concerned in different areas where there are populations that, after more than 10 years of uninterrupted work, have achieved these concrete results.

Income and visits Contact Ecoturs: Carrera 20 No. 36 61, Bogotá, Colombia. Tels. (1) 245-5134, 340-3285. info@ecoturs.org 
Con el apoyo de

The Reciprocal Agreements for Water -ARAS- continue to promote the protection of the high Andean forests, watersheds and endangered species in the municipality of Jardín, Antioquia. The goal is to sign eight agreements with owners of significant water production for forested areas.

The year begins with the identification of the owners who are interested in signing ARAS, this is achieved through visits to each of the properties upstream strategically located in the villages of Quebrada Bonita and Herrera; also voluntary contribution receipts will be distributed and urns will be installed to start the collection of these contributions by the users of the water service in the town of Jardín, these resources will be used to encourage homeowners who signed up to maintain their properties.

The interagency committee called the ” Committee for the Conservation of High Andean Forests and Watersheds Jardín A. ” composed of officials from the Municipality, representatives of educational institutions , Boards of rural and urban community action, the water company Ingeniería Total, Jardín Environmental Table , representatives of Aqueducts Multiveredales and ProAves is responsible for promoting voluntary contributions from the community and to visit the properties for the characterization of biological significance for the conservation of water sources , implement the signatures of the ARAS for delivery of incentives and generate support among other entities to strengthen the process of compensation band the development of the Pride Campaign.

Visits to landlords and identification of strategic properties to sign the ARAS in Jardín and the first meeting of the Conservation Committee in 2014.

Parallel to these activities continuity will be given to strengthen the Pride Campaign through environmental workshops with owners and residents of the villages of the upper basin, spots and radio programs, ecological slots on television , community meetings in urban and rural areas with the community of Jardin, nature walks for the recognition of natural heritage and other cultural and educational outreach events to strengthen the spread of the ARAS project and the sense of ownership by the municipality for the conservation of the watersheds, the high Andean forests and endangered species such as the Yellow eared Parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis) EN and the Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) VU.

The support of institutions and organizations such as the Heritage Fund, The University of Antioquia, The water company Ingeniería Total, Jardín Public Enterprises, The Jardín City Hall, Corantioquia, National Police, District Integrated Management Cuchilla Jardín Támesis and Jardín Environmental Table have allowed the ARAS in Jardín to become a reality in 2014, for high basin owners who will benefit from the incentives and with their desire to protect are providing a better  quality of life to downstream users who receive fresh water and healthy forests for the preservation of many species.

Supported by:

Sharing ProAves’s Environmental Education Experience in Guanacaste Costa Rica

The Guanacaste Conservation Area in Costa Rica is considered one of the best examples of conservation in Latin America. The ProAves team visited it recently and received eight days of intensive training and exchanged lessons learned during their 15 years of doing conservation and educational work.

From November 16 to 23 Juan Carlos Rivas, Deputy Director of the Southwest Region, and Juliana Toro, Deputy Director of Environmental Education, visited the Guanacaste Conservation Area in Costa Rica, to attend a Biological Education Training Program.

The training focused on the program that, for the last 27 years, has developed and strengthened awareness of nature in children of school age living close to the conservation area, to promote appropriate attitudes about the use and conservation of natural resources.

The Biological Education Program differs from Environmental Education because it passes from basic natural concepts and campaigns to teaching biology and ecology in the field. They call it the Natural Library, in which children develop sensitivity and better criteria for environmental decision-making in the future. In contact with nature, they assimilate how nature works and is structured, and they learn all the processes that occur within it. It is a new process because it uses the forest as a laboratory classroom, the child learns through live action, he identifies with and understands the dynamics of an ecosystem.

      

      

     

     

“A child who has had a biological education will be in the future a citizen who has greater possibilities of acting correctly on the management of the environment, making more rational decisions on environmental issues and have greater capability in relation to the ordinary decisions of life” this is the program’s philosophy, according its Coordinator, Gabriela Gutierrez.

Guanacaste Conservation Area was established in 1994 and has 1,470 km ² of marine, dry, wet and cloud ecosystems. Because of its high biodiversity and special and unique connectivity, UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1999. Its size, diversity and location, both on the Atlantic and Pacific slopes, as well as the higher massifs of the Orosi and Cacao volcanoes, make the park a special place in biodiversity.

Within the research programs, entomological characterization is highlighted, cataloging more than 12,000 species of butterflies. Research into genetic improvement with native tree species led them to develop successful conservation programs such as reforestation for the recovery of dry forest that, years ago, was believed to have disappeare. As well as training and forest fire control brigades, all under the concept of bio-development hand in hand with the community, in order to make them a part of the conservation processes.

This is a great experience for Fundación ProAves and its Environmental Education area because, apart from learning the essence of the operation of the park, we learned that these processes are successful and durable. They promote values like perseverance, willingness, respect and a sense of belonging. For us the challenge is to articulate this strategy within our own Environmental Education processes, making them more experiential processes of unforgettable experiences for children, experiences that make the seed sown flourish into responsible adults, conscious of and advocates for our natural heritage.

We want to thank the entire team of the Guanacaste Conservation Area, in particular the Biological Education team, thank you for your attention and willingness to teach us another wonderful strategy to generate future conservationist spirits.

Biological Educators, who trained us:

Alban Jimenez

Rosibel Elizondo

Pablo Vásquez Badillo

Roberto Vargas Sanabria

Rolando Vega

Rolando Ramos

Gabriela Gutiérrez – Coordinator

Roger Blanco – Assistant Director of ACG

Maria Martha Chavarria – Biologist and researcher

Ruth Franco – Laboratory Coordinator BioLep

Petrona Rios – Parataxonomist

With the support of

Camera traps in the ProAves El Paujil Reserve captured a female Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos Ornatus) and her two cubs, a species that is categorized as Vulnerable (VU) according to IUCN. Its altitudinal elevation enhances the importance of this record, as it is perhaps the lowest recorded for the species.

ProAves Foundation implemented monitoring through photo trapping of fauna about four years ago as an innovative research strategy in protected areas.

This methodology involves the installation of automated devices such as camera traps, which allow logging 24 hours a day of all the movements and behavior of animals in a given area that is monitored; these devices once installed hold up to 5,000 photos on their memory cards.

During this research, we have managed to monitor the forests in 12 nature reserves, where we have managed to record 53 species of animals belonging to different orders. The record of 41 species of mammals stands out. We have found that this monitoring strategy is ideal for assessing the status of the populations of mammals present and protected in our system of protected areas.

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Likewise, we recorded the presence of this species in the high Andean ecosystems of the Municipalities of Roncesvalles and Cajamarca, in the department of Tolima, where ProAves is present in their system of protected areas. Additionally, we have established the most important records related to the altitudinal range, perhaps the lowest recorded for the species, in El Paujil bird reserve, in the middle Magdalena, an ecosystem that retains the last major remnants of tropical rainforest in this basin and where the presence and reproduction of the species is guaranteed.

In this reserve in the middle Magdalena, which is a priority ecosystem for conservation because of the advanced fragmentation and habitat destruction in this area of the Andes, a record also was achieved of the subspecies of the South American tapir (Tapirus Terrestris). This is an endangered species and rarely recorded in the wild and of which little is known about their population status.

Besides making continuous monitoring of the first primate species Ateles hybridus, the endangered Brown spider monkey, which approached an area biologically known as a salting area (saladero) and where different aspects of the intra-specific behavior of the species were obtained.

On the eastern plains, at the regional boundaries with the Colombia Amazon, a number of large mammals have been sighted like the Jaguar (Panthera onca), the Tapir (Tapirus terrestris), deer (Mazama Americana) and large groups of peccaries, or wild pigs. This demonstrates the ecological importance of this ecosystem heavily pressurized by the rapid exploitation of non-renewable natural resources in this area of the country and threatening ecological dynamics of species distributed in eastern Colombia.

Additionally, by analyzing images taken in these different areas of the country, it has been possible to establish the existence of different sub species of Mazama americana, which has allowed experts in this area to recognize the need for a thorough taxonomical review of the species.

The camera traps not only allowed us to obtain important records of mammals, thanks to its systematic installation and regular monitoring, it is possible to conduct ongoing monitoring of the Blue-billed Curassow (Crax Alberti), one of the most endangered species in the country. It has been monitored so that its recovery is evident in the Paujil Reserve, with over 150 photographic records that have identified new individuals added each year to the relict population that now shows a promising future.

This method therefore is a great tool for conservationists and research bodies in the country, allowing the study in the wild of cryptic or species shy to the observer and that can generate key information to the development of more specific future conservation plans.

A new bird in a family known as the “tapaculos” has been discovered in Colombia and described as “Scytalopus rodriguezi yariguiorum”.  It was originally discovered in montane forest which now forms part of Fundacion ProAves’ Cerulean Warbler reserve.

This finding was made during a ProAves-supported expedition in 2003 whose results also led to the protection of these forests.  Details of the discovery were only published in full this year, following completion and publication of a scientific paper describing the subspecies and including information about the new tapaculo’s morphology and vocalisations.  It occurs c.580 km distant from its closest relative, the Upper Magdalena Tapaculo of Huila, in its darker dorsal coloration, shorter tail, smaller body, lower mass and lower pitched song.

The new tapaculo is borderline as to its treatment as a species in its own right or as a subspecies of Upper Magdalena Tapaculo S. rodriguezi.  The nominate Upper Magdalena Tapaculo is restricted to mountains of Huila department.  The latter species was also discovered in 2003, but details of the finding were published much earlier, in 2005.  Both populations have tiny distributions and are considered threatened with extinction.  ProAves’ Cerulean Warbler reserve is of great importance for the protection of this new population and other bird species.

The description was published by ProAves consejo member Thomas Donegan, together with ornithologists Jorge Avendaño and Frank Lambert in Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, a leading international journal on avian taxonomy and distribution.

Video of Scytalopus rodriguezi in ibc.lynxeds.com recorded by Professor Cedric Prys-Roberts at the Cerulea Warbler Bird Reserve. The bird was seen in the forest on the side of the Camino Lengerke, in the Serrania de los Yariguies on February 22, 2012.