A number of organisations, including BirdLife, have been involved in raising awareness of threatened birds within the Tumbesian EBA. Zoom In | Hi-Res

Tumbesian region celebrated in new online book

09-05-2007

One of the most important books to cover bird conservation in Ecuador and Peru has today been re-launched online.

First published in 1995, Biodiversity and Conservation in Tumbesian Ecuador and Peru was described as a “major milestone” for conservation in the Tumbesian region - one of the world’s most important Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs), holding numerous species that exist nowhere else on Earth.

Authored by Brinley Best and Michael Kessler, the new downloadable version of the book has been made possible through DarwinNet (www.darwinnet.org), BirdLife´s ecoregion web-based information portal dedicated to improving knowledge in the region. The work was undertaken by project-partner Naturaleza y Cultura Internacional, based in Sullana, north Peru.

“The book was the result of five years' work into the ecology of the Tumbesian region carried out by teams of European scientists working in partnership with Ecuadorian counterparts,” said Brinley Best, Author.

The Tumbesian region, which stretches from northern coastal Ecuador south to just north of Lima in Peru, holds exceptional numbers of endemic bird species.

In terms of Globally Threatened Birds, the region holds 24 threatened species and 8 near-threatened species.  Additionally there are 61 endemic species not classified as threatened. 

Heavy deforestation in recent years has posed an increasing threat to many of these species, making conservation efforts a priority in the region for BirdLife and a number of other conservation organisations working locally.

“The book was the result of five years' work..." —Brinley Best, Author of Biodiversity and Conservation in Tumbesian Ecuador and Peru

“When we first set foot in these forgotten forests in 1989 the future seemed bleak. Now, thanks to the work of local groups in Ecuador and Peru, things are looking much brighter,” said Best.

Crucial to much of this work has been BirdLife’s Important Bird Areas programme, with a total of some 68 sites catalogued.

“New information has become available on sites and species, new reserves have been declared and overall there is greater awareness amongst the people of Peru and Ecuador as to the region’s importance,” said Jeremy Flanagan of DarwinNet in Peru.

Such information, incorporated into Biodiversity and Conservation in Tumbesian Ecuador and Peru, is now being used at local and regional levels to better protect sites within the region.

In recognition of the region's global importance, the British Birdwatching Fair, the Lottery Foundation, IUCN Netherlands and the Darwin Initiative have each committed valuable funds amounting to over US 1 million in support to vital conservation and development work in this globally important ecoregion.