In La Moskitia, the great green macaw (Ara ambiguus) is facing a worrying decline driven by habitat loss and illegal wildlife trafficking. To ensure its survival, community monitoring has become an essential tool: it allows for understanding the status of its populations, identifying critical areas, and guiding evidence-based protection actions.
The great green macaw (Ara ambiguus) in the forests of La Moskitia, one of the species’ last key refuges. Right photo by Manfredo Turcios-Casco.
In this context, from October 28 to November 7, 2025, the communities of Mavita and Wampusirpi hosted specialized training for 14 technicians, community members, and local stakeholders committed to the conservation of the species.
During the training, participants strengthened their skills to locate, identify, and monitor great green macaws and their habitats, applied basic population monitoring protocols, and worked with technological tools such as GPS devices, digital forms, and camera traps. These capacities are key to generating comparable and timely information that supports decision-making for the species’ management in the territory.
The training process also delved into the conservation status of the great green macaw, its ecological role in the forests of La Moskitia, and the threats it faces, while also promoting spaces to strengthen inter-institutional coordination for its protection.
The activity was led by WCS-Honduras, with support from the Biodiverse Landscapes Fund (BLF) and the WCS-Guatemala program, as part of regional efforts to strengthen environmental education and community-based conservation in La Moskitia.
Participants from Mavita and Wampusirpi.