Bird Conservation in Brazil: Challenges and practical solutions for a key megadiverse country

Abstract

Brazil is among the three countries with the highest diversity of bird species in the Americas. However, it ranks first in number of threatened birds with 166 species. Changing this troubling scenario is not an easy task and requires the active involvement of society and engagement in practical conservation measures, besides gathering quality scientific information. Measures such as the implementation of protected areas, conservation initiatives on privately-owned lands and the direct management of certain species have contributed to reverse this status of threat to Brazil’s birds. In the last two decades public and private protected areas encompassing 79,500 hectares have been created specifically to protect some of the world's most endangered bird species such as the Blue-eyed Ground-dove (Columbina cyanopis), Alagoas Antwren (Myrmotherula snowi), and Cherry-throated Tanager (Nemosia rourei). The integration between ranchers and environmental sectors has also resulted in positive outcomes for the grasslands of southern Brazil, where 242 bird species (six of them globally threatened) are being conserved on private lands. Direct management was key to foster population growth in species such as the Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) in the Pantanal region. Population recovery is also the only hope for the Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) to return to nature, through a reintroduction program led by the Brazilian government in association with international partners. The active participation of society is also crucial and is bolstered by the recent growth in the number of Brazilian birdwatchers, currently estimated at between 30 and 40 thousand people. New web tools such as WikiAves, a community science website that provides access to over 3 million photographs of Brazilian birds, as well as eBird, are being used to store all the information generated by birdwatchers. Thanks to their contribution, many knowledge gaps regarding the distribution of Brazilian birds are being filled, while we nurture a society that is much more attentive to the cause of bird conservation. Even considering the inefficient and detrimental environmental policy of the current government, integrated practical actions backed by good scientific knowledge and civil society participation can help Brazil to reverse this alarming title of being the Americas’ number one country in number of endangered birds.