Death by farmer has become a very real threat to the survival of the
highly endangered Lear's Macaw.
In early 2006 Parrots International partnered with the Lymington
Foundation to initiate funding on a
pilot program to reimburse the local indigent subsistence farmers in
Canudos and Jeremoabo, Brazil, for
damage to their crops from the marauding Lear's Macaws. Although 95% of
the Lear's Macaw diet consists of the meat of the Lucuri Palm nut, the
Lear's have also grown fond of the sweet corn from the fields of the local
subsistence farmers within the macaws' habitat.
A Lear's Macaw takes his "catch" to an
adjacent tree. His friend dines in the background.
In April 2006 Parrots International partnered with the Lymington
Foundation to purchase 10 tons of corn, in 60 kilogram sacks, and dispense the corn
as compensation to
the local farmers based on the severity of the attacks on their
plantations. The assessment and dispensing of corn was managed and supervised by
Joaquim Neto, of CEMAVE, with the assistance of Monalyssa Comandaroba
(whose salary was paid by ProAves, Brazil, during the pilot subsidy).
In
the course of feeding on a farmers' corn crops, the Lear's Macaws will often
break the ears off of the corn stalk, fly to an adjacent sentinel tree, and
then begin to eat the ear, dropping and wasting more than they consume.
A Lear's Macaw feeds on farmers' corn
For
These farmers cultivation of any crop is a struggle, They grow only enough
to feed their families and goats. They do not have the modern advantages
of irrigation, nor fertilizer, nor farm tractors.
A subsistence farmer and his wife tend to
their field.
(photo courtesy of Monalyssa
Comandaroba)
Therefore, the farmers
see the Lear's Macaws as pests, taking food from the mouths of their
children and family. During interviews by Parrots International we learned
that the farmers are often forced to keep their children home from school
for months at a time to help scare the Lear's away from the families' corn fields. The Lear's, on the
other hand, have become increasing acclimated to humans running around the
corn fields screaming and waving their arms. The result is that death by
farmer has become a very real threat to the Macaws....perhaps a greater
threat than poaching and habitat loss. Over the past decade, as the
wild population of the Lear's Macaw has grown, so has the frequency and
severity of the attacks on the farmers' fields.
Damage to a corn field
from Lear's Macaws.
When the Lear's attack
a corn field, they act like all normal parrots and forage with extreme
waste. They will bite and damage an ear of corn, but not necessarily eat it before
moving on to the next ear of corn. consequently, the damage to the crop is much
higher than it appears during a superficial look at the corn field. Once an ear of corn has been nipped
or crushed by a macaw beak
it stops developing and becomes worthless as a crop.
A typical family home of a subsistence
farmer in the Lear's habitat
(photo courtesy of Monalyssa
Comandaroba)
Joaquim Neto, of CEMAVE, a
department within IBAMA (the Brazilian equivalent of the US Fish and
Wildlife Service) proposed a method to assess the damage to each
farm. Each farm was measured in area in units called a "Tarafa". One
Tarafa equals 1/3 of a Hectare. The normal/average production of a
corn field is 4 sacks per Tarafa. Based on Joaquim's assessment, each
farmer receives compensation based on a sliding scale:
Each farmer that suffered low attack is ..........subsidized 1 sack/tarafa
Each farmer that suffered medium attack is ....subsidized 2 sack/tarafa
Each farmer that suffered high attack is .........subsidized 3 sack/tarafa
Each farmer that suffered severe attack is ......subsidized 4sack/tarafa
During
April 2006 a total of 16 farmers were subsidized, eight from Jeremoabo
and eight from Canudos. A total of 161 sacks, 60 kilos each, was
dispensed....totally 20,000 pounds, or ten tons, of corn.
In November
2006, Parrots International and Lymington again funded the second Corn
Subsidy and increased the reimbursement to 30,000 pounds, or 15 tons of corn total. We
do not reimburse in cash, rather in corn. We attempt to reimburse 110%
for losses. Thus, the Lear's Macaw becomes an asset, rather than a
liability to the farmer. The farmer can let the macaws feed, knowing
that he will be over compensated. The farmer does not have to harvest
the lost corn, nor process the corn and sack it. All the "work" is
"done by the Macaws" and he is handed the subsidized
compensation in nice
clean sacks of corn at the end of the season. The idea is to create a win -
win arrangement for both the farmers and the macaws.
Click
here for the Feb 2006 Field Subsidy Report with English Translation
Joaquim Neto of CEMAVE (on right) signing
corn subsidy documents with a local corn farmer
(photo courtesy of Monalyssa
Comandaroba)
Sacks of corn ready to load in Joaquim's
truck for delivery to the local farmers
in the Lear's Macaw Corn Subsidy Project
(photo courtesy of Monalyssa
Comandaroba)
Click here
for the Feb 2006 Field Subsidy Report with English Translation
