The raawwwk of a pair of Scarlet Macaws—guacamayas— rings out from the tree canopy. It’s a sound that was absent from the Los Tuxtlas region of Veracruz for over forty years, as these birds were driven to near-extinction across much of México in the 1970s, due to a combination of poaching, illegal wildlife trade, and habitat loss. But thanks to a reintroduction project begun in 2013 by a coalition of academic researchers, non-governmental organizations and ecotourism businesses, guacamayas are once again beginning to grace the canopy with their rasping call and brilliantly-hued feathers.
On this particular day, a crew of UTSA and Alamo College students and faculty stared upward through misting rain at a perched pair of guacamayas. We had been learning about these efforts from a diverse group of biocultural researchers and communitarian monitors. The success of the reintroduction illustrates the importance of diverse coalitions and community-centered conservation to support biodiversity. It also illustrates a nexus of interest across the Urban Bird Project (UBP) and the Coalition for Regenerative Ecologies and Agriculture (CREA).
In Fall 2023, three principal investigators from the Urban Bird Project (Amelia King-Kostelac, Kenneth Walker, & Jen Smith) and Marissa Ramirez (Professor of English and Mexican American Studies at St. Philip’s College) were delighted to learn that their grant application to the USDA-HSI National Institute of Food and Agriculture was accepted for a four-year, $935,000 award to establish CREA (Read all about it on UTSA Today), a program which trains UTSA and Alamo College students in the principles and practices of regenerative agriculture and ecology in South Texas and Veracruz, México. These select and well-funded students participate in a fellows program, on-farm internships, and a summer study abroad experience in Veracruz. Through the CREA program, each year about 20 faculty and students engage with some of the best examples of agroecology in the Americas.
As our experience learning about guacamayas illustrates, CREA and UBP share a common interest in regenerating habitat for biodiversity, especially along major migratory corridors. This was one of the reasons UBP started collaborating with Terra Advocati for their Huertos Familiares project and it is also why CREA integrates bird-related experiences into our study abroad program.
This summer our team of students, faculty, and community partners explored intersections of regenerative ecology and biodiversity via three field engagements in Veracruz, Mexico:
1) A songbird mist-netting opportunity in Coatepec with Dr. Ernesto Ruelas Inzunza, which provided opportunities to observe bird banding and release birds from hand, as well as engage in discussion around conservation and how the presence of certain birds are indicators for ecosystem functions and health;
2) A visit to La Jungla and Nanciyaga Ecological Reserve to learn about the Scarlet Macaw Reintroduction Project with Dr. Rafael Rueda-Hernandez, and engage in a table discussion on communitarian monitoring with indigenous communities in the Altas Montañas region of Veracruz with Dra. Graciela Alcantara-Salinas, Dra. Martha Lozada Ronquillo and a team of their communitarian monitors, including Gabo Nuevo Porvenir, Ángel Ricardo Cervantes and Antonio Colpos.
3) A birdwalk in the rainforests near Ruiz Cortinas in the Los Tuxtlas region with Alberto Lobato (check out his YouTube, Crónicas de Chivizcoyo) and local guide Braulio Malaga. This year we encountered an adult and juvenile Ornate Hawk Eagle!
These field-based experiences provide experience with intersections of conservation, environmental justice, agriculture and biodiversity relevant to a wide range of disciplines— Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Biology, Sustainability, Conservation, Rhetoric and Writing, and Environmental Justice.
For more about our community partners and the program, visit the CREA website.