Three Hyacinth macaw perching in the Altamira Ranch. ©Jesús N. Pinto Ledezma.

The research will be conducted in eastern Santa Cruz de la Sierra Department, Bolivia, in special nature reserves (Otuquis National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area and San Matias Integrated Management Natural Area) with the goal of testing a habitat suitability model for the Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), and to determine and map the areas in the reserves that would be most effective as special protection areas at the landscape level. Also the research serves to estimate the abundance of Hyacinth Macaw in the study area, and to establish the importance of the habitats of the Hyacinth Macaw to maintain the population.

This study is divided into two parts, which are:

1) Testing a habitat suitability model for the Hyacinth Macaw developed previously at the Department of Zoology of the MHNNKM,

2) Mapping the habitat suitability for Hyacinth Macaw in the protected areas, to identify which places in the protected areas are most important for the species.

The study focuses on testing a habitat suitability model and mapping the habitats defining special protection areas, minimizing the weaknesses of traditional methods in defining protected areas.

The results will help to establish special protection areas for Hyacinth Macaw and strengthen the role of protected areas in conserving natural resources, and will serve to inform managers on how to zone the natural areas, improving the long term conservation of Hyacinth Macaw’s populations. The final product of this study will be the identification of priority areas to protect the specie, and will also be an important contribution to the knowledge of the species in Bolivia, providing the necessary baseline information to manage the habitat of the Hyacinth Macaw in the study area.