“If you take care of birds, you take care of most of the environmental problems in the world”
– Thomas Lovejoy, Biologist and Godfather of Biodiversity
Celebrating the 2018 Year of the Bird
This year nature lovers around the world join forces to celebrate the year of the bird and commit to protecting birds for the next hundred years. 2018 marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the most important bird-protection law ever passed.
Birds are hunters and gatherers; they range in size from the tiny hummingbird to the ostrich that can weight up to 100 Kilos. Their feathers include all possible shades and tones. They have mastered the art of flying, having migrated since the beginning of time: birds were the first travelers. There are more than 10,000 species of birds alive today in every continent. Their incredible variety explains their importance for the preservation of ecosystems, providing provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services.
Provisioning services refer to birds as commodities or sources of food for humans; regulating services include their roles as pollinators, controlling populations of pest species and dispersing seeds; supporting services are those that relate to processes such as nutrient cycling, soil formation, ecosystem engineering and even cleaning up; cultural services place birds as central in human society as expressed in art, religious and other leisure activities such as birdwatching.
A collaborative effort
The Year of the Bird is an initiative led by National Geographic, the National Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and BirdLife International joining forces with more than 100 other organizations and millions of people around the world. Participating organizations also include nonprofit and conservation groups, state and federal agencies, zoos, nature centers, and ornithological societies that are working together to raise the visibility of birds and inspire action through throughout 2018. The campaign will also utilize National Geographic’s portfolio of media platforms reaching millions of people around the world with engaging bird content that will educate, inspire, and raise awareness about the challenges that birds are facing and what people can do to help.
Through storytelling, science research, and conservation efforts, Year of the Bird will examine how our changing environment is driving dramatic losses among bird species around the globe and highlight what we can do to help bring birds back.
Birding in Peru
Bird life is especially relevant to us as our Andean region has the greatest bird biodiversity in the world, with Peru alone boasting over 1,800 species of birds. Thanks to the region’s dramatically varied geography – from high snow-capped mountains to the cloud and lowland forests of the Amazon, right down to the desert and the freezing waters of the Pacific Ocean – the Andean region is rich in biodiversity. This provides a home to 90% of the world’s bird species and be explored on our private tailormade itineraries, such as 14-day trip An Amazing Andean Adventure.
The national bird in Peru is the Andean cock-of-the-rock, but other spectacular birds in the region include hummingbirds, parakeets, storks, albatrosses, six species of boobies, frigate birds, harpy eagles and flamingos, to name just a few. As well as well as providing a great draw for keen birders, birds in Peru also have an economic importance, as large concentrations of guano deposits are exported to other countries for use as fertilizer.
In Peru you can watch majestic Andean Condors soar overhead in the Colca Canyon, spot colorful macaws and toucans in the heart of the Amazon at Tambopata National Reserve, and cruise to the Ballestas islands as Humboldt penguins play in the sea. In Tambopata, visitors can get partake in the Macaw Project when staying at Tambopata Research Center, Peru’s most remote Amazon lodge. Another of the top places for birding in Peru is the Manu Biosphere Reserve, belived to have the highest concentration of bird species in the world. Aracari offers bespoke trips to all of these destinations.
The Aracari
Twenty two years ago, Marisol Mosquera founded Aracari Travel inspired by the Aracari, a highly intelligent and sociable toucan found in Central and South America. The Aracari bird is friendly and affectionate, full of personality and loving toward everyone.
In 2018 Aracari’s brand is evolving the flat logo design, drawing on the feathers used in the original Aracari bird logo. The updated strapline: inspiring, connecting, celebrating marks a new era when the aracari takes flight to reach new heights.
“If you could see every bird in the world, you’d see the whole world.”
– Jonathan Franzen, novelist
#BirdYourWorld
#aracari #aracaritravel #aracariinpires #aracariconects
#aracaricelebrates
Read more on the Year of the Bird in the National Geographic