From Josh Weiss
Boston, MA USA
excerpts from the University of Michigan’s Newswire
Shannon Bouton, a Ph.D. student in the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) at the University of Michigan published the results of her unique study of a wading bird colony in the Pantanal in an article co-authored with Peter C. Frederick (University of Florida) in Conservation Biology, the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology. Unlike other research projects that consider only the biological effects of tourism, Bouton has combined her biological research with a study of how the colony serves as a resource for the local community. Her practical suggestions for meeting the twin goals of managing and developing tourism and conserving the colony attracted the attention of top government officials and diplomats in Brazil and have made her study site at Porto da Fazenda a model for similar efforts in the region.
The first part of the study documented the potential effects of human activities on nesting and found that viewing from boats caused significant nest desertion and breeding failure. "Would you want to live in a place where people drove right up under your nest with noisy motor boats, talking and laughing all the while?" Bouton says. In addition, she points out, when the parents leave the nests there are many predators waiting to attack the eggs and the chicks.
Next, she and her team interviewed stakeholders in the community, including licensed guides, hotel owners and managers, boat drivers and local landowners. Tourists were given questionnaires to complete and return on site. Bouton developed a model of the interactions among the various groups, identified the areas of potential conflict, and developed some creative strategies for satisfying tourists while not unduly disturbing the birds.
Today, as a result of those suggestions, the forestry police have posted a guard in front of the colony to control the behavior of tourists and fishermen. A local conservation group, Associação Ecológica Melgassense (AMEC) has established a staffed observation post that is occupied year-round to protect the birds and the forest. AMEC trains young people from the community as guides to take tourists along newly constructed trails at a safe distance from the colony and runs workshops for local children and adults so that everyone is aware of the biology of the birds, their importance to the community and how to behave so as not to disturb them.
"The tourists really appreciate the new amenities," Bouton says. "Now there's a little shop to buy cool drinks, an orientation talk that tells them what to look for and well-informed guides to accompany them on the trail. Those who prefer not to walk can take advantage of spotting scopes on top of an observation tower. Tourism has increased ten-fold since our study, and at the same time the birds are happier and many more are staying in the colony."
For the complete story click here to link to: http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/Releases/2003/Feb03/r020403.html
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