In 2019, I was invited to join a team of ornithologists, conservationists and community members who were involved with the conservation of Lear's Macaws (Anodorhynchus leari) in the Boqueirão da Onça National Park. The Lear’s Macaw is endemic to the state of Bahia, Brazil, and is globally threatened. The program was sponsored by Enel Greenpower and executed by the Lear's Macaw Research and Conservation group. The aim was to release captive-reared individuals to help ensure the persistence of the species in the area, and to preserve the ecological knowledge contained in the heads of the last two, non-reproductive, individuals of Lear’s Macaws that remained in the vicinity of the National Park.
In my first campaign in the field, I assisted with pre-release protocols including transition to wild food, flight training and acclimatization for the first six individuals that were being prepared for soft release. In my second campaign in the field, I assisted with post-release monitoring, as well as monitoring of the remaining wild individuals.
Having had previous experience with environmental education in local communities, I helped the Lear's Macaw Research and Conservation group to develop and deliver the first environmental education campaigns with local schools and communities surrounding the National Park. I developed and wrote the text for an educational coloring booklet that tells the story of the Lear's Macaw in the region, describes current threats to the species, and communicates the need to protect them. I wrote the booklet in the traditional local style of Cordel literature, and arranged for the illustrations to be drawn by Lia Cunha from DUNA Editora. It is expected to be distributed to local schools in the second half of 2020.
