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Your gifts save parrots every year. Thank you!
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Have you ever stopped to think, "Why parrots?"
Parrots are "forest engineers" that deliberately plant seeds of palms and other forest trees. They anchor the vibrancy and biodiversity of the forests. Without parrots, the forests decline. Sustained support from donors like you has saved parrots and enriched forests.
Many of you are familiar with the endangered yellow-naped amazon parrot (Amazona auropalliata). In 2009, research found that more than 90% of nests in southwestern Nicaragua were failing due to poaching and lack of nest cavities. These very social parrots were nearly impossible to find in large groups.
Thankfully, donors like you and institutions such as the Loro Parque Fundación started a dedicated Paso Pacífico program to protect these parrots. Each year has ups and downs. Last year, your donations had great success: 39 birds were protected and zero were lost!
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This year, reopened borders and the economic impacts of a year of COVID-19 are driving more wildlife trafficking. Poachers have already destroyed a record six parrot nests, and nesting season won’t end until June. But with your encouragement, community members are stepping up to safeguard endangered wildlife. Because of your gifts, more nests are succeeding. Thank you for your support to protect young endangered birds!
More exciting things are unfolding. First, new protection efforts in northwestern Nicaragua have succeeded on your behalf, with two nests saved. Second, in El Salvador, a parrot conservation alliance (made possible by donors like you) identified a key parrot nesting area among cashew farms at Isla Tasajera.
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Third, through your long-term support, large groups of parrots are visibly coming together again! After many years of not observing roosting behavior among the decimated parrot population in the Paso del Istmo, rangers are starting to see large communal roosts with more than 50 parrots together at a time. These roosts are when extended families of parrots share language, food, and social connections with the young parrots and their extended families. These reunions are now happening, and they are joyous.
Because of donors like you, many parrots are flying free, engineering the brilliant biodiversity of the forests. THANK YOU!
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Thank you for saving endangered parrots!
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Thank you to all who gave to the Earth Week matching campaign!
We will email soon to share more.
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Thanks to donors like you, Carlos Chávez has been protecting endangered wildlife for 11 years. He mainly works in the primate monitoring program and has actively helped monitor parrots, reptiles, bats, amphibians, and migratory birds. Carlos has personally witnessed wildlife bounce back after reforestation that donors made possible. His favorite animal is the yellow-naped amazon parrot, and he considers this species to be "one of the most intelligent animals that adorn the forest." Thank you for powering his work!
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Recently, one of you stepped up in a wonderfully unique way. Here is the story: a couple of months ago, donor Ginger Woolley watched an insightful film about climate change. She gave her extended family an unusual challenge: watch the film and tell her what they learned, and she would donate to Paso Pacifico. Any eco-friendly actions they took would prompt a second donation. Earth Day was the deadline.
Her family stepped up. Together, they sent over $3,200. Their gifts kept rangers in the field saving wildlife!
In addition, two of her relatives joined the Canopy Club to protect nature each month. Because of their aunt Ginger, they will continue to make a difference going forward.
Thank you very much to Ginger and her family for creatively supporting parrots, biodiversity and the planet.
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This past Earth Week, CNN's newsletter "The Good Stuff" featured Paso Pacífico's InvestEGGator sea turtle egg. Our team was thrilled to receive this mention, especially as the olive ridley sea turtle nesting season is about to begin in Central America. Now more than ever, the world needs tools like this to combat the illegal wildlife trade. Thank you for your support.
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Because donors like you in the Ventura area voted, Target Giving Circle donated $1,463 to protect wildlife with you. Thank you to all who participated — your votes made a difference!
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PARTNERS MAKE IT POSSIBLE
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The parrot conservation you support is strengthened by our friends and partners at Morgan's Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge. Twenty years ago, before building a world-class ecolodge, the founders, Clemente and Claire Ponçon, established a 4000-acre private reserve. The forest and beach areas of Morgan’s Rock are birding hotspots, with migrating birds, a protected mangrove estuary and a lush riparian forest. The beaches are also home to nesting sea turtles.
Since we began nest protection efforts together in 2017, a whopping 11 yellow-naped amazon parrots have successfully fledged their nests With your support, we are also working together to improve forest management: our ranger team held a workshop with the Morgan's Rock staff this past February. We look forward to continued partnerships with the reserve to increase the impact of your donations.
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Thank you for your support!
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Thank you to all the photographers who contributed photos used in this e-newsletter. These include but are not limited to Hal Brindley, Gabriella Trejoss (via Unsplash), Johnny Aguilar, Franklin Ruiz Morales, and Paso Pacífico rangers Marcos Calero and Jarinton García.
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