Brazil’s red-tailed amazon parrot is a rare success story for reviving a species heading toward extinction, Mongabay Brasil’s Xavier Bartaburu reports. By the end of the 20th century, the population of the red-tailed amazon (Amazona brasiliensis) had dwindled to fewer than 5,000 individuals in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered biomes in the […]
Well that’s great to hear for the conservation efforts, even if locals are mainly in it for tourism money. I definitely plan on visiting Brazil someday to experience its beautiful biodiversity and help support nature tourism to these vulnerable areas.
A pic of the red-tailed Amazon parrot, from the Full Report article. :)
Yeah, and there’s also an uncomfortable paradox there too. Tropical ecotourism is generally powered by long-haul air travel, which is disastrous for the per-capita carbon emissions of the ecotourists and basically unsustainable at scale. One argument that squares the circle is that the near-term benefits of ecotourism - avoiding imminent extinctions and so on - outweighs the extra climate disruption. Somewhat convincing. But this is not a debate I see much sign of, certainly not among ecotourists. All that said, there’s no doubt that ecotourism has been a godsend for environmental protection in places like Costa Rica and Ecuador.