Help for Ecuador’s Great Green Macaws
11/19/2009
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A great green macaw at the Cerro Blanco Protected Forest in Ecuador. This one was rescued from the pet trade so can't be released back into the wild/ |
In the 1990s, The Peace Corps sent Eric Horstman to Bosque Protector Cerro Blanco (Cerro Blanco Protected Forest), a dry tropical forest near Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil. It was a far cry from the Amazon jungle he initially dreamed of, but he grew to love the place. He stayed for two years, writing recommendations to the Pro-Forest Foundation (Fundacion Pro-Bosque) on how best to manage and preserve its rich biological diversity, and especially its crown jewel, the critically endangered great green macaw (Ara ambiguus guayaquilensis). Horstman went on to other Peace Corps stints in Ecuador, but in 1993, Horstmann got the chance to return to implement the plan he’d written. He’s been there since.
“The great green macaw or Papagayo de Guayaquil is the symbol of our reserve and also the natural symbol of the city of Guayaquil, through a municipality declaration,” says Horstman. It is an endangered subspecies of the great green macaw which has a broader range throughout South America, and the Cerro Blanco Protected Forest is one of few protected areas in Ecuador for the species. “The resident population of 15 macaws range widely outside of the 16,000 acre reserve. This points to the need of establishing a conservation corridor between Cerro Blanco and adjacent patches of dry forest, most less than 100 acres in size."
I visited the reserve in 2007 on my single day on the mainland Ecuador after an eco-cruise of the Galapagos Islands on Ecoventura. After hiking through the hills of the reserve for a bit, photographer Jason Kremkau and I met up with Horstman and he told us the reserve’s history, and showed us a couple of enclosures that housed many animals from the area that had been intercepted from the pet trade – including some great green macaws. Sadly, most cannot be returned to the wild because people either clipped their wings, or they have been in captivity so long they wouldn’t survive in the wild.
To try to increase numbers of the macaw in the wild, the Rescate Jambeli Foundation captively breeds the birds, and more than 20 chicks have now born and raised at their center. “It is hoped that in the near future, work will begin to begin releasing macaws back into the wild to help bolster the population,” says Horstman.
The Cerro Blanco forest preserve is unusual in that it’s owned, in part, by the cement company Holcim, as mitigation for their limestone quarries nearby, and partly by the Pro-Forest Foundation. Tropical dry forest itself in Ecuador is an endangered habitat, with a high level of biodiversity. The Cerro Blanco forest preserve alone boasts 54 mammal species, including howler monkeys, white-fronted capuchin monkeys, and the South American coati, as well as 219 bird species and over 500 vascular plants, 100 of which live only in this region. One proactive aspect of the reserve is that they have converted former cattle pasture to a native tree farm, which they’re using to help restore dry tropical forest in other locales, including the corridor Horstman mentioned.
Horstman recently published an article in Order of the Earth newsletter which highlighted Ecuador as the first country to inherently recognize nature's rights. In 2008, the country approved Article 71 to their constitution that states: "Nature has a right to integrally respect its existence as well as the maintenance and regeneration of its vital cycles, structures, functions and evolutionary processes. In addition, all people, communities, and nationalities can demand the public authorities comply with the Rights of Nature." Article 73 also states: "The state will apply measures of precaution and restriction for all activities that could lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of ecosystems, or the permanent alteration of natural habitats."
That is huge. According to the article, Ecuador has now become the world's first nation to recognize and legally protect nature's inherent rights.
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