I am very excited to announce a
new partnership with the Tambopata Macaw Project. I have been involved with the
project for more than 11 years now.
This year I am offering a variety
of new parrot and macaw prints for sale through my website. For every print
that is purchased 50% of the proceeds will be donated to the Tambopata Macaw
Project.
For those of you not familiar
with the long and storied history of this important conservation research
project here is a brief description.
The Tambopata Macaw
Project was begun in 1989 by Eduardo Nycander (supported by the Wildlife
Conservation Society) with the goal of studying the ecology and natural history
of large macaws so that this information could be used to help protect these
birds throughout the tropics. The site chosen for this research was on the
upper Tambopata River in the center of a huge uninhabited track of pristine
tropical lowland forest. The Tambopata Research Center was founded to host this
research project. Intense investigations were conducted from 1990 – 1993 under
Eduardo’s direction. After this point the research continued at a slower pace
as Eduardo’s focus shifted towards creating the ecotourism company Rainforest
Expeditions to ensure that the Tambopata Research Center would remain open and
active. In November of 1999, Don Brightsmith joined the team and took over the
direction and day-to-day operations and direction of the Macaw Project with the
blessing and aid of Eduardo.
Since 1999 the project has
produced many new publications on a variety of topics including parrot nesting,
clay lick use, ecotourism, disease prevalence, genetics, and nutrition. The
project has also become an important training ground where over 200 young
scientists (> 70 from Peru) have been trained in the techniques and
applications of macaw conservation research. In this way we are working to
create a cadre of trained scientists willing and able to tackle the
conservation and research problems in the coming decades
The current objectives of the
project include:
Study how nesting success varies
among years and how this relates to food supply, weather and clay lick use.
Determine the movement and
habitat use of large macaws to determine the scale at which these birds must be
protected
Study the genetic makeup of macaw
populations across the landscape
Determine why most macaw pairs
allow one or more chicks to naturally starve in the nests to be better able to
boost reproduction in endangered populations
Manage and protect clay licks to
maximize parrot and macaw use and reduce disturbance by humans
Document the nutritional content
of parrot foods in the forest to better understand the role of clay lick in the
diet of macaws and parrots.
Determine the health status of
adult and young parrots to use this information to help manage parrots in
captivity.
For those of us who have a great
love of parrots and may never be able to see these magnificent birds in their
natural habitat, I hope my images provide a sense of the unbelievable beauty
and grace of these birds. Believe me when I say seeing a macaw flying in the
wilds of the rain forest is a sight that stays with you forever.
I have created a gallery on my
website titled Tambopata Macaw Project Conservation prints. Any image purchased
from that gallery translates into a donation to the project.
There are two options available.
A signed, mounted and matted print or you may choose to purchase just a print.
I look forward to being able to
provide beautiful images for your home or office and provided needed funds for
the research and conservation of the endangered group of birds known as
parrots.
You may go directly to my website
or Facebook page for more information
You may also want to visit the
project’s pages
Both Don Brightsmith and I would
greatly appreciate you spreading the word and sharing this, we are grateful for
your support.
Best Regards,
Tracey Kidston, Don Brightsmith
and the staff of the Tambopata Macaw Project
