Photo CreditL Courtesy of Eduardo Pávez

Animals Chile18. December 2021

Conservation Efforts Pay Off For This Endangered Bird

The Burrowing parrot’s population increased 20-fold over the last 35 years throughout Chile, and good conservation practices have proven to be fruitful, whether by establishing a national reserve or holding environmental workshops for school children.

”The Burrowing parrots that inhabit Chile are an endemic subspecies, that is, they cannot be found anywhere else in the world,” says Marcia Ricci, head of Conservation of Biological Diversity at CONAF. “It is one of the four native parrots and also the largest. It was on the brink of extinction.”

In 1986, the Río de Los Cipreses National Reserve was established to protect the nesting sites in three regions: Coquimbo, O’Higgins, and Maule. The population of the Burrowing parrot went from 217 to 4,478 over a 35 year period. As part of the conservation efforts deployed, Chacayes School offers workshops to 38 children between 5 and 12 years old so they learn about the wildlife living within the Río de Los Cipreses National Reserve located close by. Up until 2010, the classrooms were located within the Reserve premises, a testimony of the close relationship between the educational institution and the protected area.

Source:
Evolve to Ecology

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