A visit to the endangered Yellow-eared Parrots of the Cucuana Watershed, Colombia

“I used to work on my land growing crops and tending my cattle, but then about 13 years ago, I entered a new world, that of conservation, of species, of nature. And I feel content, because I feel I am contributing my part of love, and I am helping to raise the awareness of my friends and colleagues in the municipality. And I think that contributes to a healthy future for Roncesvalles.” — Gonzalo Cardona, Fundación ProAves.

Alan Hesse, Pride program manager for Rare, shares with us this video about the care and conservation of the Yellow-eared Parrot, an Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) species in the area of Roncesvalles, Colombia. The Yellow-eared Parrot is unique and very scarce, with about 600 in Roncesvalles.

The Yellow-eared Parrot is the flagship species of the Heidy Valle’s Rare Pride campaign. Heidy’s Rare Pride Campaign aims to conserve the forest and wetlands of the Roncesvalles Watershed in Colombia. This campaign will also help protect the habitat of 300 bird species.

This campaign is part of Rare’s Program forAlliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) habitat and watershed protection in the Andes. The framework for the cohort is straightforward: Lowland farmers, who depend on stewardship of highland watershed habitats, contribute to a conservation fund. The fund provides “payments” to the highland landowners as an incentive to maintain healthy forests. The most popular payments are barbed wire, fruit trees, and bee keeping equipment. Pride campaigns accelerate and deepen community support for this approach.