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Bolivia's Comprehensive Bird Guide Overview

The document outlines the creation of the first comprehensive bird guide for Bolivia, highlighting the country's rich avian diversity with 1435 registered species, including 17 endemics and 54 endangered species. It details the challenges faced over 14 years in producing the guide, including funding and coordination, while emphasizing its importance for conservation, education, and ecotourism. The guide aims to promote sustainable development and enhance Bolivia's visibility as a birdwatching destination, addressing the current lack of infrastructure and promotion in the sector.

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40 views19 pages

Bolivia's Comprehensive Bird Guide Overview

The document outlines the creation of the first comprehensive bird guide for Bolivia, highlighting the country's rich avian diversity with 1435 registered species, including 17 endemics and 54 endangered species. It details the challenges faced over 14 years in producing the guide, including funding and coordination, while emphasizing its importance for conservation, education, and ecotourism. The guide aims to promote sustainable development and enhance Bolivia's visibility as a birdwatching destination, addressing the current lack of infrastructure and promotion in the sector.

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Dr. Sebastián K.

Herzog
Scientific Director
Harmony Association
Outstanding data

1435 registered species - 14% of all birds


of the world
17 endemic species - only exist in Bolivia
54 species endangered
The richest Mediterranean country on the planet in
diversity of birds
On the 6thtorichest of all the countries in the world
Number of species per km2it is more than six times
greater than that of Brazil, 33 times greater than that of
North America
Why a
bird guide

Megadiverse country but with little documentation


High levels of little-known biodiversity
inside and outside the country
Obstacle to scientific development
Obstacle to conservation
Obstacle for eco and birdwatching
-Obstacle to general knowledge and the
appreciation of natural heritage
The preparation of the first guide of
all the birds of Bolivia:
14 years of challenges, but with a happy ending

(1978-2015: field studies by the authors)


2003-2005: initial search for financial support
2005-2008: work on a bird guide for the
Yungas with support from WWF
2009: redesign of the project approach and
expansion to the whole country
2010-2016: work in the national guide with support
from Swiss Cooperation, Ramsar Convention and
private donors
July 2016 to April 2017: layout and
printing of both editions
Features of the guide
24 pages of introductory chapters
220 color plates, 2375 illustrations
Detailed distribution maps with points
of record
Concise texts detailing: vernacular names and
científicos, largo total, estado de conservación, estatus
general in the country (resident, migratory, visitor)
occasional, etc.), relative abundance, habitats,
behavior, distinctive subspecies, species
similar, distribution by ecoregions and altitude
•Indexes of names in Spanish, English, and scientific
The importance of history museums
natural and its scientific collections
The biggest challenges
Continuity and scope of financing
Coordination with such a large group of artists and
coauthors in 9 countries and 3 different continents
compliance with delivery dates of reports and
products to donors
Achieve continuity and uniformity in quality and style
of the illustrations
•Learn to perform the tasks that are usually
carried out by a professional publisher
The main benefits
A tool for:
sustainable development through eco and
birdwatching
the planning of the conservation of the
biodiversity and sustainable development
students of biology and related fields for their
studies
the general population to get informed about the
natural heritage of the country
Implicancias de la guía y su potencial
economic for the ecotourism sector
Thebirdwatching: a hobby of millions
"birdwatchers" in many developed countries
A multimillion-dollar untapped market in Bolivia
One of the megadiverse countries with fewer observers of
birds and tourist visits from foreign birdwatchers
Economic losses and opportunities for conservation
Some foreign travel agencies
specialized in birdwatching
Citizen science portals used by the
birdwatchers to upload their bird records
Why do so few visit us?
foreign birdwatchers?
Lack of a nationwide bird guide
Lack of adequate/systematic promotion
on an international level of Bolivia as a destination
extraordinary ecotourism
Limited infrastructure for ecotourism of
high level
Limited offer of high-quality services
Scarcity of national experts in guiding
foreign birdwatchers
Destination of the funds raised with
the sale of the guide
Training courses for guides
ecotourism
Preparation of a second volume with information
more detailed (manual) about the birds of Bolivia
Field guide publication for sites
tourist interest (e.g. local, regional parks,
national
Species conservation projects
Eventually, publication of a second one.
updated and improved edition of the national guide
Thank you very much to all our
sponsors!

Rita and George Fenwick; Alfonso EscajadilloO’Connor;


Jasmin Caballero and David Ricalde–America Tours (Bolivia)

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