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A Corridor of Hope for the Great Green Macaw |
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By Katiana Murillo*
This endangered bird is the emblematic species of a nature protection effort aimed at saving crucial ecosystems in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
SAN JOSE - Two biological corridors that meet at the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border are among the last hopes for the survival of the great green macaw in one of its most important Central American habitats.
In this border area are 25 to 35 mating pairs, but 50 are needed to ensure a genetically healthy population, according to the Green Macaw Research and Conservation Project, which has been working in the region since 1994.
This member of the psittacidae family, also known as Buffon's macaw, has a limited distribution along the Caribbean coast, from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia, and an isolated population on Ecuador's Pacific coast.
This macaw species, a luminous green, measures around 79 cm long. It nests from December to June, producing an average of two offspring. But not all pairs reproduce every year.
They can travel 35 km a day in search of food, which is why it is important to protect their habitat, say conservationists.
The reduction of the green macaw population is associated with deforestation, particularly the logging of the almond tree (Dipteryx panamensis), which is the bird's favored nesting tree and source of sustenance -- but whose wood is highly prized.
In Costa Rica, the habitat of the great green macaw today is just 10 percent of its original area.
The colorful bird is a symbol of a much broader conservation effort, one that seeks to protect crucial ecosystems in the highlands, northern plains and Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, and the southeastern ecosystems of Nicaragua.
Work is underway to integrate the Costa Rican biological corridor known as San Juan-La Selva with the Nicaraguan El Castillo to form a binational corridor that would consolidate 29 protected areas with a total area of 1.3 million hectares.
What is known as the North Huetar Zone in Costa Rica, extending along the Nicaraguan border, holds the last viable habitat connection between the two countries, maintaining the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, an ambitious project that extends from the states of southern Mexico through the seven Central American countries.
The challenge of the two-nation initiative, however, is to re-establish biological continuity in a region where the forests are very fragmented.
The instruments include establishing more protected areas and paying landowners for "environmental services": to preserve the forest on their land and to encourage sustainable production activities, such as organic farming and reforestation with native tree species.
A binational committee is working to standardize the legislation of the two countries, to train the staff of the protected areas in keeping an eye out for species trafficking, and to share experiences in research and environmental education, says Carlos Ulate, representative of the North Huetar Zone in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor Project.
"The objective is to create 'bio-literate' communities, with environmentally friendly production and a tourism industry that truly benefits them," Ulate explained to Tierramérica.
To ensure biological continuity, a coalition of 15 Costa Rican organizations -- forming the Executive Committee of the San Juan-La Selva Biological Corridor -- aims to establish the Maquenque National Park, which would cover most of the Costa Rican territory where the green macaw reproduces, estimated at 1,120 square km.
"The initiative responds to the need for a protected area that is large enough to provide a habitat for the green macaw, and would also serve as a buffer zone for the Maíz Indian Reserve in Nicaragua," Olivier Chassot, of the Green Macaw Research and Conservation Project, told Tierramérica.
A decree from the Costa Rican government establishes the preliminary borders of the park, and has suspended forest exploitation in the area. Meanwhile, environmental studies are being conducted and funds are being sought nationally and internationally to purchase the land that remains in private hands.
* Katiana Murillo is a Tierramérica contributor.
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