Meet the scientist
Ecologist Jon Paul Rodríguez on saving the yellow-shouldered parrot
There is potential for building alternative livelihoods around parrot conservation.
Whitley Gold Award 2019 winner Jon Paul Rodríguez has been working to conserve threatened species in Venezuela for over 30 years, including the nationally Endangered yellow-shouldered parrot.
Ecologist Jon Paul Rodríguez has an impressive CV, which now includes a Whitley Gold Award for his outstanding contribution to conservation, or a ‘green Oscar’ as it is also known.
It all started in the late eighties when he co-founded Provita as an undergraduate with other students. Since then, the non-governmental organisation has championed numerous evidence-based projects to safeguard declining species in Venezuela, including the yellowshouldered parrot on Margarita Island – a biologically diverse place and threatened species hotspot.
“My friend Franklin Rojas-Suárez worked on the reproductive biology of the yellow-shouldered parrot on Margarita for his thesis,” says Rodríguez. “This was when we discovered that the bird was in trouble on this island.”
The yellow-shouldered parrot is threatened by heavy poaching for the pet trade and habitat loss due to development. Provita created and established a long-term project to help this brightly coloured species.
“There were about 650 parrots left on Margarita when we started, so our early efforts focused on protecting nests from poachers,” says Rodríguez. “‘Eco-guardians’ kept nests safe and ex-hunters were offered an alternative livelihood.” The conservation initiative has achieved huge success and is an ongoing concern.
“Poaching of the species has decreased by 83 per cent and we have tripled the population to 1,700,” says Rodríguez. “In 2018, 126 fledglings were recorded – this is the highest number in the project’s 30-year history.”
Despite Provita’s achievements on Margarita, the pet trade is still a problem here and elsewhere across the species’ Caribbean range, which includes the neighbouring island of La Blanquilla, a couple of sites in mainland Venezuela and Bonaire.
Rodríguez intends to use his prize fund from the Whitley Gold Award to develop a multi-country conservation strategy by collaborating with IUCN experts and other winners.
“We will replicate successful experiences where possible, as well as implement new ideas emerging from our review, or that have been tried elsewhere,” says Rodríguez.
“The mainland populations will be the most challenging because we know so little about them.”
His action plan for the yellowshouldered parrot aims to benefit people and wildlife: “There is potential for building alternative livelihoods around parrot and nature conservation in Macanao,” says Rodríguez. “Many people are already involved as ‘ecoguardians’ and grow native trees for restoration – this approach needs to be strengthened as well as expanded.”
“Social and economic crisis in Venezuela is forcing conservation into the background,” says Whitley Fund for Nature trustee Sir David Attenborough. “Despite these overwhelming pressures, with a leader like Jon Paul at the helm, Provita gives us reason to be optimistic about the future.” Jo Price