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| painting by Azidez |
Everybody's favorite tropical bird (
iconic is worn out from overuse), the macaw, is under severe pressure throughout its habitats in Central and South America. Good news for the blue-throated species come from Bolivia. The government has doubled the size of Barba Azul Nature Reserve which protects forest remains now standing in isolated islands amid wet savanna. Some twenty forest islands are the nesting and roosting sites for
Ara glaucogularis. A coalition of conservation groups helped to purchase 14,820 acres of additional savanna and forest in the Beni wetlands. The nature reserve now protects 27,180 acres and half the world's population of blue-throated macaws. One hundred or more macaws have been recorded in the Reserve. Macaw populations have been devastated by habitat loss and the insidious pet trade. Conservationists are assisting the bird's survival with breeding boxes and habitat protection. The combined action of outside conservation groups is credited with the expansion of Barba Azul and is
held up as an example for other groups to follow in assisting poorer countries to protect their natural assets from corporate exploitation. The US Fish & Wildlife Service was among the donors.