Hooded Grebe
Photo Juan María Raggio
Nat io nal t r easur e
Creating a safer environment for some
of our most threatened birds
This isn’t the first time Aves Argentinas has secured
National Park status for a habitat in danger. In 2013,
their passionate lobbying convinced the Argentinian
government to set up the Patagonia National Park to
protect breeding colonies of Hooded Grebe Podiceps
gallardoi, a Critically Endangered waterbird with less
than 500 adult pairs remaining. However, proposals
for two massive hydroelectric dams on the Santa Cruz
River now loom over the species once again, and Aves
Argentinas’ tireless campaigning continues.
returned life to the warrior, transforming him
into a beautiful, slender bird adorned with pink
feathers. From that moment on, flamingos have
inhabited the salina.
Enshrining the lake’s colloquial name in the
national park title speaks volumes. Community
engagement – participatory planning,
empowering local stakeholders and establishing
a network of ‘local conservation guardians’ –
has been integral to Aves Argentinas’ strategy
from the outset. Moreover, bolstering the local
economy through nature-based tourism is
fundamental to the project’s success. Having
identified Mar Chiquita as a priority area in
Argentina’s 2016 National Sustainable Tourism
Strategic Plan, the Ministry for Tourism is
delighted. “A vibrant ecotourism circuit at
Ansenuza,” says Srur, “will lengthen the tourist
season and generate sustainable livelihoods
over a wider area. Local communities will
become strongly committed to Ansenuza’s
long-term conservation.”
It is this inspiring future that British
Birdwatching Fair funds will help create. But it’s
not just about the money. “Birdfair recognition
has already been a major boost for building
domestic political awareness about why Mar
Chiquita/Ansenuza needs to be protected,” says
Srur. Isadora Angarita-Martínez (Biodiversity
apr-jun 2018 • birdlife
4 Collared Plover
Charadrius collaris
Photo Pablo Rodríguez
Merkel Conservation Manager, BirdLife International)
goes further, offering that the Birdfair brand “will
help gain birding-industry support, which is key
to making Ansenuza a birding paradise”.
Chaco Earthcreeper
Tarphonomus certhioides
Photo Pablo Rodríguez
Merkel Competition to be the project supported by
the annual Birdfair is intense. Birdfair decision-
makers have to take into account how the
project will strengthen the wider BirdLife
Partnership. Angarita-Martínez welcomes Aves
Argentinas’s intention to help build capacity in
policy development among BirdLife’s Americas
Regional partnership. And she praises how
the organisation is “integrating the project
across BirdLife programmes: from IBAs in
Danger, through Flyways to the Southern
Cone Grassland Alliance”.
A project to convert an IBA in Danger into a
protected national park. An initiative to develop
sustainable livelihoods through ecotourism. A
design that will benefit BirdLife Partners across
an entire continent. A worthy recipient of 2018
Birdfair support indeed. The goddess Ansenuza
may still weep, but her tears are no longer those
of sadness – rather those of joy.
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