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The St Vincent amazon or parrot Amazona guildingii is one of several single island endemics of the small south-eastern Caribbean islands. With a wild population of around 600, its status is considered stable at present, but the species is vulnerable to illegal trade resumption, increasing habitat destruction and natural disasters such as hurricanes and volcanic eruptions.
The susceptibility of its national bird to disaster led the government of St Vincent & the Grenadines to form a species conservation committee, the "International Captive Breeding Consortium for the St Vincent Parrot", which included a significant portion of the institutions and private individuals that held the species in captivity. Throughout the eighties and early nineties the consortium facilitated early awareness work on the island as well as the building of nature trails in collaboration with the St Lucia branch of the RARE Center for Tropical Conservation. Its main thrust though was the maintenance of a viable captive population of the St Vincent parrot outside of its home country, and to assist in the management of the privately held parrots on the island of St Vincent.
The LPF became an official member in the St Vincent parrot consortium in 1999, when its membership was eventually signed by the national government. Since then, the consortium has witnessed major changes and also a renewal of its approach and objective. Renamed as the "St Vincent Parrot Conservation Consortium" (SVPCC) in late 2001, it now functions as an advisory body to the Government of St Vincent & the Grenadines in every aspect of importance to the conservation of the species, and from 2003 the LPF has been Secretary to the SVPCC. The LPF has assumed the responsibility to finance and draft a Species ConservationRecovery Plan that discusses the threats the species faces in nature and the options to ensure its long term survival. The recent development changes in the SVPCC furthermore led to a new strategy with regard to the captive population it controls, with. S several new breeding pairs were formed from among those held separately at varying institutions. andcCaptive breeding activities have increased, with the most notable successes oveer the past four years occurring at the Calvin Nichols Wildlife Complex in St Vincent.
Over the past The activities in recent years,have included a visit by to St Vincent by the head of the LPF's veterinary services, Dr Lorenzo Crosta, visited St Vincent to assess the health status of captive population on the island. The LPF has offered substantial financial assistance to the St Vincent Forestry Department, to addresss some of the most urgent field conservation needs. Over a period of two years the LPF already co-sponsors, together with the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary, monthly captive management consultancy visits of former LPF bird curator Roger Sweeney (who is now when he was based on the nearby island of Barbados) to St Vincent. The LPF furthermore funded and hostedexpects the visit of St Vincent's ChiefofficialvVeterinaryianOfficer Dr Kathiana Hackshaw in early 2003, who will undertookgo additional specialised veterinarian training at our bird clinic in Loro Parque.
Conservation priorities now relate to the implementation of the Species Conservation Plan, to expand the captive “safety-net” population, and especially to prevent the construction of a proposed cross-country road that would endanger the parrots and their best area of forest habitat.
Financial support: US$1,200 + €7,150