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The LPF has since 1995 continually supported the efforts of the NGO and BirdLife International partner Armonía to save the critically endangered Blue-throated macaw, endemic to the department of Beni in northern Bolivia. The range of the Blue-throated macaw, estimated to be about 8,000 sqkm, has been characterised as seasonally inundated floodplain savanna interrupted by a mosaic structure of marshland and raised outcroppings of low forest fragments. Importantly, these forest fragments were seen to be consistently associated with the Blue-throated macaw. The dominant species in most of the forest islands is the Motacú palm Attalea phalerata, which affords both nutrition and nest sites to the different species of macaws that live in the area, including Ara glaucogularis. The land use in the savannas relevant to the Blue-throated macaw is primarily cattle ranching.

Soon after the eventual discovery of the species in 1992, a research expedition initiated by the volunteer-organisation Earthwatch to work on the species' biology led to the establishment of the Bolivian NGO Armonía. From 1995, the LORO PARQUE FUNDACIÓN LPF has been the principal donor to Armonía's Blue-throated Macaw Conservation Programme. The Armonía field team, led by the Anglo-French coordinator Alan Hesse, hwas been able to identify sites of occurrence of the macaw, define local population sizes and trends, and to establish environmental education programmes at the sites of greatest importance. Importantly, close links could be formed with a crucial partner: the Federation of Cattle Ranchers of the Beni and Pando (FEGABENI), which brings together all the private landowners in the area - except for a few state-owned properties, all the lands in the Beni are under private management, and the willing collaboration of the owners is an essential prerequisite since any conservation initiative or field investigation in the area will necessarily involve access to private cattle ranching land.

By 1998, surveys and censuses using GPS (Geographical Positioning System) had revealed 8 locations of the macaw and the remaining population of the macaw was believed to stand at 100-150 individuals. However, in general therecent surveys conducted by the field team during the year 2001 indicated a general severe decline across the known sites of occurrence and produced a population figure of only 30 remaining wild birds in disjunct sub-populations of a few birds only. Although the reason cannot finally be established, there is sufficient evidence that trapping for the bird trade continues in the area and may have contributed to the decline. However, during 2003/2004, several new sites could be confirmed near the formerly known localities, and evidence has emerged that further new localities of the species may exist and that the range of the Blue-throated macaw may be far larger than previously thought. An encouraging exampleis the discovery in October 2004 of a new disjunct site at Santa Rosa, 100 km west of previous records, where at least 8 Blue-throated Macaws have been observed. However, within the entire southern area of the suspected range, extensive searches revealed only 12 birds, with a postulated maximum population of no more than 25 individuals.

In the face of the Blue-throated macaw's critical situation, the LPF and Armonía havesspearheaded a proposal that produced a Species Recovery Plan, following several workshops in Bolivia be formulated between all the parties involved in Blue-throated macaw conservation. The Recovery Plan will summarises the available knowledge on the Blue-throated macaw and discusses research priorities and conservation action for the future of the conservation programme. The aim of the Species Recovery Plan is that it will provides a comprehensive and integrated framework to guide future efforts to save the Blue-throated macaw, and that the strategies identified have theobtain full endorsement ofby the national and regional governmental authorities, the regionally represented NGOs and the local stakeholders. Additional surveys in and outside the known range of the species, including the verification of recent new records will be essential to continuein the process, as well as a with the permanent presence of an expanded field team and new field coordinator in Beni and its departmental capital Trinidad, to strengthen existing relations. Thus, the project has an office in the centre of Trinidad which functions as the base of operations for the field research, and the continuing education programme covering local schools as well as communities in the ranches where the macaws exist or are likely to occur.

Financial support: US$63,474 + €162,000

Blue-throated Macaw Conservation Project