Amazon founder Jeff Bezos allocated $ 12 million to the “Conserva Aves” project, promoted by a consortium of bird protection organizations in the United States and Latin America to address the climate crisis in the tropical Andes.
BirdLife International, National Audubon Society and American Bird Conservancy, together with RedLAC, which brings together almost thirty environmental entities in Latin America and the Caribbean, applauded in a note this Monday the donation, which will establish protected sites in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
“The Bezos Earth Fund’s support of the ‘Conserva Aves’ initiative is exciting and deeply appreciated. As an Ecuadorian, it is very important to me to address the most urgent problems facing threatened birds and biodiversity in the tropical Andes,” said the director. BirdLife executive, Patricia Zurita.
The investment will help support local communities and indigenous peoples to establish and strengthen between 30 and 40 new essential protected sites for migratory and threatened bird species in the Andean zone, representing between 450,000 and 600,000 hectares by the year 2027.
The forests and grasslands that the project is focusing on have one of the highest rates of biodiversity on Earth and are home to migratory birds that spend the summer in North America, such as warblers, tanagers, weevils and sandpipers, according to National Audubon. Society in the note.
The organizations warned of large-scale habitat degradation and biodiversity loss that are advancing rapidly in Latin America, with particular emphasis on the “severe decline” of migratory birds, as well as the importance of safeguarding it through protected areas.
The Bezos Earth Fund, created by the businessman in 2020, plans to allocate 10 billion dollars to finance scientists, activists, NGOs and companies that fight the climate crisis and seek environmental justice, and this Monday announced 44 donations worth 443 million .
