SAVE Brasil

Brazil

Threatened Species: 121 more info»
IBAs: 0
EBAs: 24 more info»

SAVE Brasil

SAVE Brasil is the BirdLife Affiliate in Brazil.

Founded in: 2004
Members: yet to be developed
Address: Rua Fernão Dias, 219 cj 2 Pinheiros
São Paulo SP
Brasil
05427-010
Email: priscila.napoli@savebrasil.org.br
Web: http://www.savebrasil.org.br

Mission of the organisation

Brazil shares with Indonesia the position of the world’s most important country for bird conservation in terms of number of threatened species. Yet until recently BirdLife had no presence nor programme in the country. Thanks to a grant from the British Birdwatching Fair and in the absence of a native bird and biodiversity conservation NGO suitable to become a BirdLife Partner, in 2000 the BirdLife International Secretariat established the Brazil country programme with the very clear purpose to develop conservation action in priority sites and species in need of urgent attention, as well as to lay the foundations for the development of a BirdLife Partner organisation in the country.

Key Activities

Five main achievements during the last four years:

Publication and launch of IBA inventory in the Atlantic Forests of Brazil followed by the completion of the IBA inventory for the Amazon, Cerrado and Pantanal, covering the whole country (to be published soon).
Successful campaigning culminated in the declaration of the Murici forest as a strict protection Ecological Station.
Securing ca. USD 2M for Sustainable use and Conservation of the Serra das Lontras IBA. Purchase of land and proposal for a nature reserve in the IBA. The project promotes “shade grown” coffee and organic certification to maintain forest buffers and reduce the pressure on the forest.
Purchase of ca. 360 hectares of forest to create a Private Nature Reserve in the Serra do Urubu IBA and implementation of an environmental education campaign with activities to sensitize and increase awareness among local population.
Establishment of an awareness raising programme at the Boa Nova IBA, which resulted in the adoption of the threatened species Slender Antbird (Rhopornis ardesiacus) as the symbol of the region.

Other activities:

Collect data and update information on the conservation status of globally threatened species, sites and habitats, using birds as indicators. SAVE Brasil also contributes to the BirdLife’s Globally Threatened Bird Forums by collecting information from ornithologists and promoting their participation in the fora.
Influence land-use and other social and economic policies impacting on birds and their habitats.
Signature of a MoU with the Federal Government to work on Protected Areas and active participation on the elaboration of the National Strategy and Plan for Protected Areas.
Work with other NGOs and governmental bodies to propose the creation of three new public protected areas, at Boa Nova, Serra das Lontras and the Restinga de Maçambaba, respectively. Proposals are under evaluation at the Federal Government.
Initiate or promote relevant conservation action with particular reference to IBAs and globally threatened species
The fact that SAVE Brasil works collaboratively with local NGOs in Brazil provides an important capacity for the coordination of a national IBAs strategy, including monitoring and identification of new IBAs.

Species

Species conservation projects have been conducted in collaboration with other institutions and researchers for the following species: Brazilian Merganser, Fringe-back Fire-eye, and Red-billed Curassow. In addition, due to the prioritization of IBAs based on neglected species, most IBA projects benefit threatened species, particularly the Araripe Manakin, Slender Antbird, Restinga Antwren, Bahia Tapaculo, and Cherry-throated Tanager.

Among the results achieved by SAVE Brasil with Species are:

Conduction of biodiversity inventories in Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu (REGUA) and Centro Pernambuco, in search of threatened species.
Elaboration of a report on the status of water-birds provided to BirdLife’s Secretariat.
Liaison with the national scientific community and government to discuss and define strategies for bird conservation in Brazil.
Dissemination of information about the Red-billed Curassow and development of environmental education actions involving the surrounding communities of REGUA.
Assessment of the Red-billed Curassow population in the Reserva Biológica de Una and surroundings, and in the Parque Nacional do Descobrimento, both at the Bahia state.
Conclusion of the research on the Cherry-throated Tanager ecology that was awarded first place in the Research category of the prize “Prêmio Ecologia 2006”, an initiative organized by the Espírito Santo State Secretary of Environment and Water.
Development of the Conservation Action Plan for Albatrosses and Petrels, the Red-billed Curassow’s Crax blumenbachii, the Araripe Manakin Antilophia bokermanni, the Brazilian Merganser Mergus octosetaceus and the Restinga Antwren Formicivora littoralis in partnership with the Brazilian Environmental Agency and civil society organizations.

Sites & Habitats

SAVE Brasil is currently working for the conservation of 7 IBAs of the 16 priority IBAs in Brazil: Boa Nova, Chapada do Araripe, Murici, Pampas, Restinga de Maçambaba, Serra das Lontras, Serra do Urubu. All projects are based on the ICDP concept, integrating sustainable development and biodiversity conservation and involves partnerships with local, national and international NGOs and the Brazilian Government in various instances.

Also, SAVE Brasil is actively involved in the gap analysis for the identification of new conservation sites in Brazil, and is providing the current data based on birds to help that process. Data on IBAs of the states of the Atlantic Forest Domain were provided to the government during the elaboration of a new directory of priority areas for conservation in Brazil.

The focus of SAVE Brasil has been in the Atlantic Forest region, but there is an important trans-boundary initiative in the Grasslands. In 2007 SAVE Brasil initiated the process of identification of IBAs in the Amazon, and remaining Cerrado areas including the Pantanal. Future initiatives may be developed for these areas.

People

SAVE Brasil has gained experience in working with people to increase conservation and sustainability. The work is based on the promotion of education and dissemination programmes, to sensitize the society about the importance of birds and biodiversity in general, and on the development of sustainable economic alternatives and good governance instruments in order to improve people’s quality of life and empower local communities.

Among the list of activities that SAVE Brasil develops with the people are:

Supporting and promoting shade grown organic cacao in the Serra das Lontras region to improve livelihoods of people as a mechanism of awareness raising on conservation issues as a whole. Project has already benefited more then 400 cacao producers and promoted the certification of 1,800 hectares of organic production.
Partnership with farmers’ associations, governmental bodies, civil society organizations and universities to improve the conservation status of grassland species through efficient and sustainable management techniques of cattle raising at the Pampas (Brazilian Grasslands).
Identification and mapping of social issues at the Serra do Urubu IBA to define current needs and future investments in conservation, education and socioeconomic development.
Capacity-building to improve livelihoods at a Rural Settlement (Pacas) neighbour to the Murici Ecological Station. The long-term objective of this initiative is to reduce local impact over native forests.
Collaboration with Universities and Research institutions, providing support for research projects for the conservation of threatened species.