Roving Classroom Helps Rare Parrot Once Feared Extinct
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 03. 7.08
What to do when you’ve found a flock of 14 members of a species of parrot last seen in 1911 and the local human population is so spread out it’s impossible to get them all in one place to educate them about it? Well, bringing the education to them is one solution and the ‘Parrot Bus’ has been doing just that since 2005, reaching people in a tiny area of the Andes in Colombia that is heavily impacted by deforestation and home to Fuertes’s Parrot.
It’s all been made possible through a partnership between the American Bird Conservancy and its' partner group Fundación ProAves, who have established the first private protected area for the critically endangered Fuertes's Parrot in conjunction with the program of education on wheels.
Put simply, the bus has proven to be a practical way of reaching even the most remote communities with the message of conservation, and drumming up local support for the protection of a species once deemed lost to the ages.
And that seems like a terrific use for an old bus to me…
See also: Teacher Wins PETA Award for Teaching Kids to Be Kind to Bugs , Ensuring Kids Get a Ride to Wildlife
It's a great idea, and well executed too but I fear it's all too little too late. The intention is good, and I applaud anyone making an effort to stop if not reverse the damage this species continues to impose upon Gaia. But much, much, much, more is required than talking to a small number of people in a tiny area of the Andes. In fact, sorry to be so harsh, but I suspect the environmentally positive results obtained in this way are probably outweighed by the environmentally negative 'footprint' of the bus. Still, if everyone made an effort much could be accomplished.
Read this story to see what I mean