I graduated in Biological Sciences in the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul State in 1987 with the goal of working with research.

In 1988 I got a scholarship from CNPq, working in EMBRAPA, in Campo Grande, under the coordination of Dr. Cacilda Borges do Valle, where I started working with scientific research. Even though I was working with research, I wasn’t happy because I wanted to work with the Pantanal’s fauna.

In November 1989, while I was taking a Nature Conservation practical course, I saw a Hyacinth Macaw flock (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), and heard they were endangered and could disappear from the wild. On that moment I made the decision to do something so that the species wouldn’t disappear and other people could see it in its natural environment. This event changed my life, and I started fighting for the Hyacinth Macaw, beginning the Hyacinth Macaw Project.

 From 1991 to 1993, I got my master’s degree in Forest Sciences in the Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz” – ESALQ/USP, with a CAPES scholarship. My dissertation’s subject was the Hyacinth Macaw. After finishing my thesis I continued the Project. It had already become my life’s project. In March 1994 I entered CESUP, currently called UNIDERP – University for the Development of the State and Region of the Pantanal.

In UNIDERP I continued the biological research, management and conservation of the Hyacinth Macaw in the Pantanal. I always worked with the support and partnership of the local population, who were aware of the importance of keeping the Hyacinth Macaws free and flying in the wild. I’ve worked not only with the Hyacinth Macaws, but also with the Green-Winged Macaws (Ara chloroptera), the Gold and Blue Macaws (Ara ararauna) and other parrots and birds that co-habit in that same environment. I’ve dedicated my life to the conservation of the Hyacinth Macaw, the Pantanal as a whole and the Brazilian biodiversity.

         Getting to know Mark and Marie in 2002 and having them here in the Pantanal afterwards was the natural path of people with the same goals, working for the conservation of parrots. So being part of Parrots International is important because I can contribute with fieldwork and at the same time, PI is the Hyacinth Macaw Project’s partner in the USA.

Neiva Maria Robaldo Guedes

Address: Rua Klaus Sthurk, 178 – Jardim Mansur

79 051-660 Campo Grande-MS

Phone/Fax 67 3341-3331

Email: projetoararaazul@uol.com.br

Website: www.projetoararaazul.org.br