The hyacinth macaw is a social, smart, and vulnerable parrot species whose numbers have plummeted due to poaching, the pet trade, and habitat loss. Their already precarious situation was made worse by recent devastating fires in a key portion of their habitat. With your support, we’re doing what we can to help them recover.

Last year, devastating wildfires hit Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, at 42 million acres. The fires had scorched more than one million of those acres before the month of June had even ended, despite that time of year not being part of the traditional fire season. As the months raged on, millions more acres burned, while millions of animals that call the biodiversity hotspot home were killed.

Brazil-based conservation organization Onçafari was impacted by the fires, with three of its eco-tourism reserves sustaining damage. That included the former Perigara Farm, which the organization purchased following another devastating wildfire in 2020 that had burned 92% of the farm’s acreage. It was home to the largest concentration of hyacinth macaws in the world.

Onçafari says, “Before the [2020] fires, the farm hosted up to 800 hyacinth macaws, representing 15% of the species’ living population in the world. The year after, in 2021, Onçafari acquired the land, transforming it into the Sao Francisco de Perigara Reserve (RSFP) with the primary goal of preserving the area and restoring the macaw population. Onçafari has been partnering with Instituto Arara Azul to restore and manage the area, including its native forests which are crucial to macaws.”

The species depends on three plants in particular – the palm fruits acuri and bocaluva, which make up the majority of their diet, and the manduvi tree, which is large and sturdy enough to support the macaw’s nests. Adult birds can measure over three feet long, so they need more space.

The reserve is filled with all three of these significant plants. Unfortunately, 2024’s wildfires burned 90% of the reserve, and manduvi trees can take up to 80 years to grow large enough to support the macaws’ nests.

With your help, we’ve teamed up with Greater Good Charities to support Onçafari’s work to restore forests with these essential native plants, help maintain natural nests while building artificial ones, monitor nests and band chicks, and take important fire mitigation steps, including creating and maintaining firebreaks, using controlled burns, and working with the surrounding community to strengthen efforts to prevent devastating wildfires.

If you’d like to help these efforts, click below!