LoraKim Joyner's Blog, page 5

Trucked on the Letham Road, Guyana

From the Get Real Dictionary: “field conservation (n): an approach to the preservation of species and ecosystems primarily by attending to nonfunctional trucks. See also ‘mother-trucker,’ ‘we’re trucked,’ and ‘truck it, not again!" ( definition supplied by Meredith Garmon) My conservation life in the field does indeed seem to center around nonfunctional trucks, so it was with some trepidation that we planned to return to Georgetown, Guyana on the Letham Road. We were in Iwokrama conducting parrot counts and spreading the word of parrot conservation where our driver and owner of our rented truck had borrowed a tire inflator for the leaky tires and a portable battery charger for our weak battery, and had made sure to have with him large truck jacks to get us out of the mud. This was not overly reassuring, give that just a week ago we had hit a bad spot in the road (okay, several bad spots) from Karasabia to Rewa, that necessitated picking up an extra person to help us get out of the mud. He indeed was a great help and we made it just fine. We lost our spare time on the Rewa Road, and nearly our teeth from the sudden jolt By the time we left Saturday morning from Iwokrama we had a new battery. But before we had even gone 5 minutes while waiting at the Kurupukari Ferry Landing, we had to ask the driver of another waiting, and much bigger truck, to use his air compressor to inflate our flat (photo below). Then we had to wait in the rain for the ferry to come pick us up to take us across the Essequibo River. From there we had only gone 5 minutes before we found a minibus broken down on the road that asked for us to haul them back to the ferry, which we did (photo above). Finding ourselves back at the ferry landing (photo below) with mud already covering us and the truck, one of my traveling companions refused to cower, exclaiming, "We are going to dominate the sh_t out of this road!" I'm not sure we dominated it, but we did enjoy it. Within minutes we had seen 4 blue and yellow macaws, and later up the road I saw my first jaguar, and now with all eyes on the road, a few minutes later we saw a jaguarundi cat. We also passed several species of monkeys Some of the thrill of seeing wildlife was tempered by the truck that was going in the opposite direction with a hunter perched up on the roof with a high power hunting rifle. I was assured that this was not an example of sport hunting, but hunting for food. I was also concerned with the high number of logging trucks on the road, making me suspicious that the extraction rate might be too high for sustainability. Logging storage stop along the road I have been on rougher roads, but not longer rough roads. It was 8 hours of driving (counting our stops, it was 10 hours), most of it on pitted uneven mud surfaces. One of the many bridges along the way (logs placed over a creek) One hill proved too much for a truck hauling wood, which had tumbled only the night before (photo below). The driver reportedly escaped serious injury. After about 4 hours we approached Mabura Hill Immigration and the road broadened out, though still pitted. We were able to stop for gas and lunch (okay, a few beers), and now the wildlife we saw was captive, including one red-and-green macaw (photo below) and a capuchin monkey. After another two hours we were getting close to pavement, and during one stretch break, we realized that we had more than survived without any truck issues. Maybe, just maybe, my luck was changing with field conservation trucks. Celebrating that we got this far on the Letham Road. Thanks companions and driver!

A List of Labor and Love

Fruit eating bat outside of laboratory of research station (Mabita, Honduras, May 2016)LoraKim is deep in the field in Guyana right now and I had not heard from her for a number of days. I've learned through the years not to be concerned, as WiFi access is limited at best in many of the places where she works. She did manage to post on Facebook today about losing a spare tire on a truck on a particularly rough and wet dirt road. Such are some of the many challenges of conservation work in the field.Lost spare tire in mud (Guayana, January 2019)Below is a blog LoraKim wrote from Mabita, Honduras in May 2016 that details more of what "comes with the job" of wildlife conservationist:Here’s a list of what I’ve encountered after three weeks in the field in La Moskitia, Honduras.Chiggers that start at the feet but don’t burrow in until they hit the waist line, and they don’t stop there. The secret is to make like you are adjusting your underclothes while really scratching as nonchalantly as possible.No-see-ums that blacken your feet with bites if you forget to put on insecticide while wearing sandals. They make a nice pattern I think.Fire ant attack in the shower. Who saw that coming?Venomous snake on the way to the latrine. It’s enough motivation to make sure not to drink too many liquids before bedtime and keep very fresh batteries in your flashlight.Huge fruit eating bat hanging upside down outside the field laboratory at night. I don’t mind stepping around bat feces in the morning to enter the lab.A kind of grass that first cuts the skin, then swells it to a dark red color, and then when it peels, leaves a nice wide scar, which I am sure will fade in time. It stands out now because of how dark the skins gets here in the tropical sun.Flu and diarrhea outbreak in the villages around us (I’ve been spared but we are always giving rides to mothers with sick babies). It has something to do with the low water flow of the rivers and creeks. You just gotta love chlorine bleach in your drinking water because it keeps you well.Flat tire under a nest tree. Thank goodness we had a spare but continued to work several more days without a spare….until….Stranded in the dark after a climbing a nest tree, not with a flat tire, but with a broken timing chain in our truck We were first rescued by two people and a turtle on motor bike. The turtle was strapped upside down to the seat and was on her way to being made into soup. Then came the brigade of motorbikes from Mabita to take us and our climbing gear back to Mabita.Now stranded in Pt. Lempira awaiting car repairs. Our project doesn’t have enough funds to purchase our own car as of yet.Memorable sighting of 3 scarlet macaws along side of road leaving Mabita for Pt. Lempira two days ago. They flew through the fog and the deep, dark pine trees calling when our car rolled past them at 5 a.m. in the morning. Macaws haven’t been seen this far from the protected area in some time.Seventeen active scarlet macaw nests with 21 chicks and 8 eggs, no nests poached as of yet.The last two on the list are what makes it all a labor of love.

Fostering Parrots Here and There

We at One Earth Conservation conduct all of our conservation work in collaboration with others. Our partners range from indigenous villages in Central America to the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York City. Today, as LoraKim is in the field in Guyana, I’d like to tell you about one of our most important partners from the United States. That is, the nonprofit organization known as Foster Parrots/The New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located in southern Rhode Island.Foster Parrots is a truly amazing place! Located in a former chicken farm, it is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the rescue and protection of unwanted and abused companion parrots and other displaced captive exotic animals. It provides place, peace and protection for captive parrots; working from the belief that parrots and all wild animals should be free.One Earth Conservation would not exist without Foster Parrots. When our fledgling nonprofit was getting ready to grow and then spread its wings, Foster Parrots provided us with the fiscal sponsorship we needed to start raising donations from a variety of sources. They invite us to their annual fundraising gala, where we are provided with a table to talk to the attendees about our work. In fact, it was at that table a few years ago where we met a representative of one of our largest and most steady foundation donors!More recently, One Earth Conservation and Foster Parrots have begun to partner in the field. Since both organizations had experience and contacts in Guyana, last year LoraKim traveled to that country with, among others, Foster Parrots’ Founder and Chief Executive Officer Marc Johnson, Executive Director Karen Windsor and Santuary Director Danika Oriol-Morway. During that visit, they discussed with local villagers the status of the parrots in various areas. Together, they made plans for One Earth and Foster Parrots to partner with Guyanese conservationists to work to save the beautiful sun parakeet, one of the most endangered parrots in the world, as well as to ascertain the status of other parrot species so they can develop conservation plans. As I write this, LoraKim and Danika are back there, continuing the work that started one year ago. Danika Oriol-MorwayThank you, the wonderful people of Foster Parrots, for all you do for wild and captive parrots in need in the United States and internationally, and for your invaluable support for One Earth Conservation!You can learn more about Foster Parrots at https://www.fosterparrots.com/.

The Year of the Parrot

Rose Parade 2018 "Gift of Time" float picturing parrots with the Maya calendar January marks not only the start of the year in the Americas, but the time in many regions where parrots are laying eggs and the conservation field season cranks up in earnest. Of particular interest to One Earth Conservation are our projects in Central America, and the sun parakeets of Guyana where we are heading to on National Bird Day, January 5, 2019. In these regions, parents are looking for nests, and some have already laid eggs, sitting tight on their nests waiting for the hatching. The parents commit much time, and face hardship and risks to their lives, as predators are looking to take not only eggs, but perhaps also might catch the female in the cavity, cornered as she protects her eggs or young chicks. Predators include iguanas, snakes, birds of prey, and humans. Our patrollers and conservationists must also face hardship and risks to their safety. If you ask them why they do this, you will get a variety of answers, which includes respect, employment, teamwork, and having the opportunity to do meaningful work that protects what they cherish. Santiago Lacuth, our field coordinator in Honduras wrote a song about his beloved ancestral lands. In this video, sung in Miskito, he tells us and all who would listen...These are our riches that we have to care for and defend, from children to men like our ancestors did giving their life for these animals. So we begin this year with a song in our heart, the song of the earth, and all its beauty. Let's make this year, and every year, the year of the parrot, by giving parrots the gift of more time on this planet, and ourselves as well.

Dreaming Big

With the overwhelming reports recently of thewild bird trade throughout the world decimating local populations and pushing nearly 50% of all parrot species towards extinction, I dream.............That for every homed bird in the world, which number, 249,651,000, the owners contribute $1.00 for conservation. That comes to nearly $250 million, which would provide protection for every parrot species in the Americas. These projects would also support jobs for conservationists, economic incentives, community development, reforestation, student training programs, rescue and liberation centers, anti-poaching enforcement, and community awareness and education.....That the people of the USA didn't spend 8 billion a year on pet birds, and instead used that money for conservation. With that we could ease hunger and provide medical care and economic support for the human communities that live where parrots exist. We could also fund every bird conservation project in the world......That every time someone had the desire to have a bird in their home, they didn't get one in a cage but helped keep one free flying in their native range (by bird watching, becoming a conservationist, etc)....That eventually there would be no more birds in cages, and that they would fly free over prospering human communities. It would take a lot to make this happen, but it would only take a little from each person. Only $1 per bird in the USA would raise 8 million, and boy howdy, would this make a huge different to so many people and parrots in the Americas. We could end the nightmare of the wildlife trade by dreaming, and then acting together. As the parrot says above, no more excuses. Let's not stop until all are free.

Parrots Die by the Bucketful

When I was in La Moskitia, Honduras a few months ago several people told me this story of what happened to several illegally traded scarlet macaws. One of the villages in our core conservation area has several families of poachers. They take macaw chicks from wild nests and then transport them by boat or truck to the coast where they can be sold on up the line both internationally and domestically. They have to move the birds clandestinely because of recent efforts by authorities and our conservation project to end the poaching trade in the region. Parrots, such as these wild scarlet macaw chicks, belong in their nests, not in a bucket or in cages. This particular batch of ten scarlet macaw chicks were being transported in a bucket in the back of a truck traveling along the dirt road to Pt. Lempira in the summer of 2018. The ride is bouncy and hot enough for humans, let alone young chicks in a plastic bucket. To make matters worse, some soldiers decided to get a ride on the truck with the macaws. The only place for them to sit was on top of the lidded bucket. The poachers didn't dare say anything or take care of the birds, for fear the soldiers would discover the hidden chicks. So the bucket remained closed and by the time the chicks got to Pt. Lempira and the soldiers had off-loaded, the chicks had died. My heart breaks to hear of a bucket full of dead chicks, because these were chicks from nests we have charged ourselves with protecting. It is a personal loss as well as regional one. Scarlet macaws, the Honduran national bird, are protected under Honduran and international law - they cannot be trapped from the wild and cannot be sold. Yet the dying continues. The stories we hear or the small batches of parrots confiscated are only the tip of the iceberg of what is actually being drained from the forests. Parrots captured by the hundreds of thousands for the illegal wildlife trade (Photo courtesy of the World Parrot Trust) Laws alone don't stop the death and suffering of these birds, people do. You do. Every time you share these stories or otherwise contribute, you help put an end to this senseless tragedy. Thank you for your efforts and for bearing witness to what is happening.

Parrots Die by the Bucketfuls

When I was in La Moskitia, Honduras a few months ago several people told me this story of what happened to several illegally traded scarlet macaws. One of the villages in our core conservation area has several families of poachers. They take macaw chicks from wild nests and then transport them by boat or truck to the coast where they can be sold on up the line both internationally and domestically. They have to move the birds clandestinely because of recent efforts by authorities and our conservation project to end the poaching and trade. Parrots, such as they wild scarlet macaw chicks, belong in their nests, not in a bucket, or cages. This particular batch of ten scarlet macaw chicks were being transported in a bucket in the back of a truck traveling along the dirt road to Pt. Lempira in the summer of 2018. The ride is bouncy and hot enough for humans, let alone young chicks in a plastic bucket. To make matters worse, some soldiers decided to get a ride on the truck with the macaws. The only place for them to sit was on top of the lidded bucket. The poachers didn't dare say anything or take care of the chicks, for fear the soldiers would discover the hidden chicks. So the bucket remained closed and by the time the chicks got to Pt. Lempira and the soldiers had off-loaded, the chicks had died. My heart breaks to hear of a bucket full of dead chicks, because these were chicks from nests we have charged ourselves with protecting. It is a personal loss as well as regional one. Scarlet macaws, the Honduran national bird, are protected under Honduran and international law - they cannot be trapped from the wild and cannot be sold. Yet the dying continues. The stories we hear or the small batches of parrots confiscated are only the tip of the iceberg of what is actually being drained from the forests. Parrots captured by the hundreds of thousands for the illegal wildlife trade (Photo courtesy of the World Parrot Trust) Laws alone don't stop the death and suffering of these birds, people do. You do. Every time you share these stories or otherwise contribute, you help put an end to this senseless tragedy. Thank you for your efforts and your witness.

Breaking the Illegal Wildlife Trade Chain Through Economic Support

The chain of the wildlife trade has two ends. One begins with local community members or perhaps professional poachers, who then sell to local buyers, and then national and international buyers. At the other end of this chain is the final buyer who wants the parrots for their home or business, for company, adornment, and status.Tackling all points in the chain, from community supported monitoring and law enforcement, to education and income alternatives, has one goal: As many birds as possible are meant to be left where they are, the supply stopped at the source. - Nadine Freischlad in "Group helps illegal bird traders transition into different lines of business." At One Earth Conservation we address each link in the chain, either directly through our projects or supporting other organizations. We help those on the demand side of the trade (end-buyers) by our None Are Free Until All Are Free campaign which discourages keeping birds captive or trading them as commodities. We also seek to help those on the other end of the chain, those who trap the birds. For example, in Honduras La Moskitia 103 people received funds for participating in our conservation project, including 84 men, women, and youth who make up the community patrols that guard the endangered Central American scarlet macaw. This has been a surprisingly successful project, dropping from 100% loss of birds to the wildlife trade in 2014 within our core conservation area, to none in 2016 and 2017. Miskito indigena people working for parrot conservation Every conservation project is an art, and a dance of relationships, so direct community employment may not work in every region, with every project, and for every year. But what it does do is help people directly and immediately for the time period they are employed, and helps save those particular parrots from entering the wildlife trade. The cash income, especially in areas bereft of possible forms of employment, helps nurture communities by giving them a chance to have better food, better health care, and better care and materials for their school age children. It also gives the community members a sense of pride, meaning, teamwork, contribution, and respect. Though we positively impact many people in our various projects, the need outpaces us. For instance, in November I was in Nicaragua, whose tourism has been leveled by the ongoing civic unrest. Businesses in general have also suffered. Everyone I spoke to had at least one story of how their family had been hurt by the depressed economy. Many people are without jobs, which means two things:1. Employing community members becomes ever more central to the lives of in-country conservationists2. Other community members outside of the project are more desperate for income, and the risk of poaching increases. Because of the situation we and our partners are putting more attention in Nicaragua. Thanks to our donors, we were able to increase our presence in the area by supporting 16 community members in July to survey both the wild and homed populations of parrots. We also hope to include more communities in our protection efforts and do special projects in population monitoring in 2019. Alas, we have two recently rescued wild chicks that need to be cared for and released. This was an unexpected burden on the project members because we did plan to have funds or staff for this effort. The team though has increased their time and involved their families to take care of these birds. Ana taking care of the two rescued chicks on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua The local community members are also increasing their efforts in patrolling and monitoring their nests, and donate extra volunteer hours to keep the nests of soon to fledge yellow-naped parrots safe. Currently in one section of the island we have 18 nests about to fledge, up from 6 active nests last year. This is due to the very hard work of community members, LOCOs, and Fauna and Flora International. All of us do this for the parrots yes, but also for the people in the communities where the parrots nest, forage, and roost. They do not want to lose their parrots and are willing to work hard to keep them flying free. We from outside the communities merely partner with them, seeking funds where we can to support them. Thanks for any support you can offer to aid Nicaragua and their parrots in their time of need. We will emphasizing this project for our fund raising efforts at ourHoliday Parrot Party and Fundraiser next week and until the end of the year.

Give of Yourself on Giving Tuesday: Decolonizing Fundraising

Celebrating indigenous roots while advocating for parrot conservation at a Bird Festival in Catacamas, Honduras 2018 It's a tricky thing to be a nonprofit in this day and age of increasing awareness. Here at One Earth Conservation we raise funds so that we can assist communities who desire to protect their parrot populations in the Americas, and yet this income derives from enterprises and investments that exist because of the invasion, decimation, extraction, and colonizing of the people and wildlife of the Americas. The process of colonization by settlers laid waste to communities and habitats as land was stolen and life ruined. Anthropologists, economists, and philosophers have argued that nonprofits continue the colonization process by benefiting from a system that is built upon the violence of the very beings and human communities we cherish and seek to preserve. What are we to do? Perhaps we can take a clue from Adam Lewis who wrote, "There can be no resistance on stolen land without resistance to settler colonialism." How then do we at One Earth Conservation resist when our organization and projects exist, work, and dream in what is clearly stolen land and when we benefit from the settler history? I personally benefit as my family history is purely of European lineage, and though many of my ancestors were oppressed, they were also part of the wave that benefited from colonization. Here generally is then what I and others at One Earth Conservation try to do:1. Name the domination and oppressive history and practices that make up our lives in the Americas.2. Centralize indigenous resurgence as part of our practice and praxis.3. Reimagine what wildlife advocacy looks like knowing that it is happening on stolen land and in the context of white supremacy and oppressive capitalism.4. Continually ask ourselves how we can decolonize our practices and thinking, knowing that we will err again, and again, and cannot heal ourselves or the world alone.5. Forgive ourselves and others and begin again, and again, in love. Extinct Carolina Parakeet, once abundant in North America. Colonialism wiped out cultures of people and parrots. Specifically we enact these guidelines as we:1. Seek indigenous communities and organizations with which to form alliances. Ask them how we might work with them in protecting their lands, wildlife, and way of life. Then follow their lead. We currently work with indigenous territories in La Moskitia, Honduras and in Guyana. All other communities we work with are made up of a mix of those of indigenous ancestry and those from other regions of the world.2. Invite native peoples in the regions where we work on our organizational teams.3. Invite native parrot species in the regions we work on our organizational teams. We ask, "What would the parrot say?"4. Scrutinize our use of resources and donations so that the gift is maximally returned to those whose land and lives have been disrupted by colonialism5. Highlight the autonomy and effort of the people and parrots with whom we work, such as doing at our Holiday Parrot Party and Fundraiserwhere we show 3 films about the lives of the indigenous people and their parrot relationships. Children in one of our projects in La Moskitia, Honduras (photo by Dayana Serano) What can you do on this Giving Tuesday, that follows the consumptive, colonialist traditions that are linked with the Thanksgiving weekend, including the settler history of the USA enacted in our Thanksgiving celebrations, Black Friday and Cyber Monday?1. Identify your history linked to settler colonial roots and how you and your ancestors have harmed and been harmed by it.2. Find another person with whom to share your thinking and reactions to this history. Forgive one another and begin again in love.3. Seek an indigenous people or organization who have been harmed by colonialism and join their cause.In short we confess, we forgive, and we act. We give of ourselves on this Giving Tuesday.Resources:1. Vegan Washing Genocide - Animal Advocacy on Stolen Land and Reimagining Animal Liberation as Anti-colonial Praxis? Justin Kay. 2. Decolonizing Extinction. Juno Salazar Parreñas.3. Decolonization. Wikipedia.4. Liberating Wings: Freeing people and parrots together. LoraKim Joyner.5. Imagining autonomy on stolen land: settler colonialism, anarchism and the possibilities of decolonization. Adam Gary Lewis.6. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. Charles Mann.

Parrot Gratitude

We parrots are birds of peace. It's not only doves that are working towards less conflict and violence - parrots too and the people who love them. Just last month parrots from all over the world convened to make some heavy decisions. You see, our kind is in real trouble; nearly half of all parrot species are endangered, largely to the wildlife trade that decimates parrot families and populations.Our gathering began as a serious business meetings . It was hard work. One the one wing we have the trade-deniers who don't think the risk is so bad. These species of parrots largely come from areas where the trapping and extraction pressures are less intense. On the other hand, we had the alarmists (and boy can they get loud) are convinced that there won't be any more of us left in a few decades. Thank goodness both groups are parrot partiers at the core, so in the evenings we were able to relax, enjoy ourselves, and think gratefully about all that is being done on our behalf.Talking about parrot partiers, there was a lot of buzz (okay, more like squawks) about One Earth Conservation's upcoming Parrot Holiday Party and Fundraiser in December. They are trying to raise funds for their multiple projects in the Americas. The effort is being led by their Co-directors Gail Koelln and LoraKim Joyner. Gail and LoraKim are totally gaga about the people and parrots of the Americas. Have you heard of them? Maybe you know LoraKim from the famous song by Gene Keller, "Parrot Girl?"Or perhaps you know her best from her book, "Conservation in Time of War?" She and Gail go on speaking tours all the time trying to help us out.LoraKim, who even changed her name to honorus (Lora means parrot in Spanish), will be delivering an inspirational message during the party. You have got to come listen to her! She has dedicated her life to parrot conservation, as both a wildlife veterinarian and minister. We asked her to come to our parrot conference this past October so we could be delighted with her stories, but she was working in the field, as usual. This time she had joined her" peeps" (again, more like squawks) in Honduras and Nicaragua working together to lessen the stress on flocks, habitats, and human communities.We are so grateful that LoraKim will be in the USA in December so we can see her, and thank goodness the parrot communities of the Americas have Gail to co-host this parrot party. We plan to be there, will you?If you'd like to come, there are still tickets left that you can obtain here along with more information.Representatives of the Parrot Nations