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Birding 10-5 09Feature3 V7.0:Layout 1 ou’ve been thinking about a big birding trip for years. You’ve earned it. You deserve it. You’re Gavin Shire Yready to make it happen. But as you begin to in- [email protected] vestigate, you quickly discover that you are confronted by a confusing array of options, with no central resource that has all the infor- mation in one place to tell you how to get the biggest bang for your birding buck. It’s like being in a big restaurant faced with a huge, imposing menu. What you need is the waiter to come to the table with a list of specials—a few fresh, new ideas that speak to you and help you make up your mind. Now there is something new for the ambitious birder; something that will surely tip the scales for many of us trying to decide where to go on that special trip. It’s called Conservation Birding, an idea being championed by the American Bird Con- servancy (ABC). Conservation birding speaks to the perennial desire of birders to see rare and interesting species, while challenging them to expand beyond the sim- ple notion of birding for birding’s sake. The focal point of the initiative is an interactive website <conservationbirding.org> that features an eye-popping Google Earth component, links to bird call audio and video downloads, plenty of great-quality photographs, and a nest full of other birder information bytes. The site reflects an ongoing evolution in the broader world of ecotourism from the initial “Do no harm” mantra of early industry pioneers to a “Let’s do some good” ethos that capitalizes on a more educated public whose desire to see rare species and habitats is The endangered Long-whiskered Owlet was first discovered in 1976 near Peru’s Alto Mayo protected for- est, east of the Abra Patricia pass. This tiny owl has been desig- nated an “Alliance for Zero Ex- tinction” species because of its very limited range. Ama- zonas–San Martín, Peru. Photo by © David Geale. 52 BIRDING • SEPTEMBER 2010 The spectacular and endangered Marvelous Spatuletail is a Peruvian endemic. A conservation easement with the local Pomacochas Commu- nity ensures the protection and proper management of about 100 acres of significant habitat for this hummingbird. More than 30,000 native trees and shrubs have since been planted there to create even more suitable habitat for the species. Pomacochas, Peru. Photo by © Roger Ahlman. matched by the wish to support the conservation of those company Neblina Forest, said much the same thing in a recent same places. online commentary in Birding <tinyurl.com/295oq2w>. She This approach is coupled with the fact that birding eco- reflected on how Ecuador’s incomparable Mindo region was tourism is no longer the sole purview of hardy, youthful risk saved from commercial development by birders, and she noted takers prepared to withstand long, arduous treks on uncom- the urgency for residents of the Mashpi region—another leg- fortable, overcrowded public buses and trains, sleep on the endary birding destination in Ecuador—to follow the example floors of roadside shacks, and subsist on occasional small of the Tandayapa Valley. In a companion piece in Birding meals of suspect origin. Today’s birding tourists are often afflu- <tinyurl.com/2epbtxj>, Glenn Bartley tells the story of Angel ent, older, and less willing to sacrifice comfort for a chance at Paz, formerly a farmer in the Mindo region. When the birding expanding their lifelists. bug hit Mindo, Paz converted the family farm into a highly Unlike places that have witnessed conservation change due profitable community nature preserve, with a special focus on to funding through foreign donations, places supported by preserving habitat for several rare antpitta species. The Refugio birding tourism dollars can, if done right, have the advantage Paz de las Aves, as the property has been renamed, is “an essen- of sustainability, and are not continually reliant on U.S. organ- tial stop for any birder visiting northwestern Ecuador,” accord- izations for grants and funding. ing to Bartley. “Birding tourism is one of the best ways to achieve sustain- Certainly, tourism has its limitations as a source of conser- ability for reserves, with the added benefit of providing eco- vation revenue. Plenty of places are simply too inaccessible nomic opportunities to the nearby communities,” says Victor ever to be well served by visitors, and others are perhaps too Emanuel, President of Victor Emanuel Nature Tours. “Families sensitive to risk the influx of significant numbers of people. It that would once have had to destroy the habitat around them is also crucial that ecotourism for conservation be developed in order to subsist can now make a better living helping to pre- according to a conservation plan. The haphazard and uncoor- serve it, earning income as reserve guides, guards, and dinated proliferation of hotels, restaurants, and tour compa- ecolodge staff, or providing services outside the reserve such nies staffed by over-eager and poorly trained guides does no as souvenirs, food, and additional accommodation.” one any favors in the long term. And it is also important that Mercedes Rivadeneira, co-owner of the Ecuadorian bird tour some of the revenue from the tourists go to support the local WWW.ABA.ORG 53 CONSERVATION BIRDING economy and provide an alternative source land, the Royal Society for the Protection of of income for residents. Birds (RSPB) and the Wildfowl and Wet- An early practical application of the con- lands Trust (WWT) have both successfully cept that ecotourism could positively influ- prevented development on thousands of ence the conservation of rare species and acres of land by creating a number of easily help local communities came in 1996, accessible bird sanctuaries. Tourism revenue when Rainforest Expeditions teamed up generated by thousands of passionate British with members of the Infierno community birders and foreign tourists helps sustain the to create the Posada Amazonas project in refuges and support local economies. Tambopata, Peru. The lodge is owned by WWT’s most recent venture is the London the community and co-managed with Wetland Centre, close to the heart of the Rainforest Expeditions, under the auspices country’s capital, where a series of disused, of a committee elected by a communal as- concrete-edged reservoirs was converted sembly. In return, the community receives into wetland habitat that now attracts more 60% of the lodge’s profits. The vulnerable Golden-plumed Para- than 200 species of birds, including water- The conservation benefits have been keet has experienced rapid population fowl, shorebirds, waders, and raptors, 80 declines throughout its range because of clear, including a reduction in hunting, a habitat destruction. The species has been pairs of Bank Swallows (Sand Martins), and halt in the local trade of wild animals, and helped by the provisioning of nest boxes even the occasional Hoopoe, Cetti’s Warbler, the creation of conservation zones for the at reserves operated by partners of the and endangered Eurasian Bittern. Where protection of rare species, including the American Bird Conservancy. Tapichalaca there may have been yet another London Reserve, Zamora–Chinchipe province, Harpy Eagle. The economic and social ben- Ecuador. Photo by © Franco Morocho. housing or shopping development, a rich efits to the community have also been sig- environment now thrives for birds that is nificant, with increased infrastructure for health, education, sustained by as many as 200,000 visitors per year. and transportation, and further income opportunities from the The new Conservation Birding initiative calls on birders to sale of handicrafts to tourists. take their binoculars and field guides to somewhat more exotic Even in developed countries, ecotourism can be critical to locations in Latin America, and put their money where it will preserving, or in some cases recreating, bird habitat. In Eng- do birds the most long-term good—bird reserves that are am- The Ecolodge at Abra Patricia is located within an almost-8,000-acre montane cloud forest preserve, adjacent to a 450,000-acre protected area. The local bird list includes 317 species, including the endangered Long-whiskered Owlet, which can be heard from the lodge. Amazonas–San Martín, Peru; September 2008. Photo by © Mike Parr–American Bird Conservancy. 54 BIRDING • SEPTEMBER 2010 The critically endangered Blue-billed Currasow has declined throughout its northern Colombian range because of defo- restation and hunting. The species is starting to regain ground, however, in protected areas such as the El Paujil Bird Reserve, established by the American Bird Conservancy and its partner Fundación ProAves. Smithsonian National Zoo- logical Park, Washington, D.C.; September 2009. Photo by © Mike Parr–American Bird Conservancy. bitiously attempting to protect habitat for the world’s rarest more about all the featured reserves and ecolodges with an and most spectacular species, as well as our wintering migra- overview of the key attractions, bird checklists, and a photo tory songbirds. Now, making a trip to see the Lear’s Macaw, gallery of facilities and the environs. Surfing through the infor- Marvelous Spatuletail, or White-winged Guan can play a role mation on the 7,900-acre Abra Patricia Reserve will bring you in saving them. face to face with one of the rarest creatures on Earth—the ABC has partnered with 16 Latin American bird conserva- Long-whiskered Owlet. At last check, more people have been tion groups in 12 countries to establish 37 bird reserves that to the moon than have seen this fist-sized bird in the wild. Go protect more than 300,000 acres. The reserves provide habitat to Abra Patricia for real and—who knows?—you could get vital to more than 2,000 bird species—nearly half of the total lucky and see it, making you a member of one of the most elite number recorded in the Americas.
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