A new land purchase of 302 acres (122 hectares) has connected Colombian cloud forests that are home to Ocelot, Oncilla, and the Antioquia Brushfinch, a Critically Endangered bird once known only from museum specimens.
The expansion of the Guanacas Reserve in the Colombian Andes was backed by our Action Fund supporters and made possible by the foresight, knowledge and hard work of World Land Trust (WLT) partner Fundación Guanacas Bosques de Niebla. This latest Action Fund victory will expand the reserve to 1,700 acres (687 hectares) – that’s the size of Gibraltar!
The reserve extension brings a major reprieve to a wealth of endangered life, none more so than the endemic Antioquia Brushfinch. First identified from three museum specimens in 1971, this songbird with its striking rusty crown was not seen alive until 2018. Lying on the edge of extinction, its population is thought to number fewer than 50 individuals, restricted entirely to a small area of northwestern Colombia.
WLT began supporting the Guanacas Reserve in 2019, during which time communities and researchers – led by the American Bird Conservancy – were rallying to save the Antioquia Brushfinch. This culminated in some fantastic news last year, when the species was spotted in the Guanacas Reserve for the first time.
The new land purchase provides the few remaining Antioquia Brushfinches with “territory free from the threat of habitat loss, being a sanctuary of biodiversity in perpetuity,” says José Rodrigo Castaño Díaz, Founder of Fundación Guanacas, who adds: “Expanding the reserve is the best strategy to guarantee their reproduction and improve their population.”
https://www-worldlandtrust-org.cdn....ews/2021/01/guanacas-wildcats-brushfinch/amp/
The expansion of the Guanacas Reserve in the Colombian Andes was backed by our Action Fund supporters and made possible by the foresight, knowledge and hard work of World Land Trust (WLT) partner Fundación Guanacas Bosques de Niebla. This latest Action Fund victory will expand the reserve to 1,700 acres (687 hectares) – that’s the size of Gibraltar!
The reserve extension brings a major reprieve to a wealth of endangered life, none more so than the endemic Antioquia Brushfinch. First identified from three museum specimens in 1971, this songbird with its striking rusty crown was not seen alive until 2018. Lying on the edge of extinction, its population is thought to number fewer than 50 individuals, restricted entirely to a small area of northwestern Colombia.
WLT began supporting the Guanacas Reserve in 2019, during which time communities and researchers – led by the American Bird Conservancy – were rallying to save the Antioquia Brushfinch. This culminated in some fantastic news last year, when the species was spotted in the Guanacas Reserve for the first time.
The new land purchase provides the few remaining Antioquia Brushfinches with “territory free from the threat of habitat loss, being a sanctuary of biodiversity in perpetuity,” says José Rodrigo Castaño Díaz, Founder of Fundación Guanacas, who adds: “Expanding the reserve is the best strategy to guarantee their reproduction and improve their population.”
https://www-worldlandtrust-org.cdn....ews/2021/01/guanacas-wildcats-brushfinch/amp/