Will Brazilian City Dwellers Actively Engage in Urban Conservation? A Case Study with the Charismatic Neotropical Blue-and-Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna)

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dc.abstract.enThe Blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara ararauna) is a charismatic and easily recognized species. While they are classified as being of “least concern” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, their populations are declining. In Brazil, the accelerated destruction of one of its key habitats, the Cerrado biome, is a principal cause of their decreasing abundance. As with other species affected by loss of the Cerrado, active conservation measures are required. While usually rare in urban ecosystems, Ara ararauna occurs and breeds in small numbers in the city of Rondonópolis, a medium-sized city located in Mato Grosso, Central-West Region of Brazil. Blue-and-yellow macaw pairs nest in the tops of dead palm trees, but as the macaws are nest-site limited and suitable dead trees are scarce in urban areas, the installation of artificial nest sites in domestic backyards could help that urban population to thrive. To investigate whether local people would be willing to engage with conservation efforts and in particular to support macaw conservation, we surveyed the attitudes of Rondonópolis residents to measure: (1) citizens’ preferences among the bird species that occur in the city; (2) the average area of their yards, and (3) the willingness of residents to: (a) plant fruit trees to attract macaws to their yards and (b) to install artificial nests in their yards. Larger and more colorful birds (Ara ararauna, the Red-and-green macaw Ara chloropterus and Toco Toucan Ramphastos toco) were the bird species most valued across all socio-economic groups, suggesting that the charismatic species would be more likely to be supported by urbanites. Overall, people had good biodiversity knowledge, with respondents being able to identify half of our sample of local bird species, on average, and almost half had seen a nest site. The great majority were willing to plant fruit trees (78%) and provide nest sites (70%) for macaws. This willingness to engage was not affected by socioeconomic differences. These data indicate that a municipal macaw conservation program could be successful in Rondonópolis, and we argue that macaws could be a flagship species which would benefit wider efforts to engage Brazilian urbanites in active engagement with nature.
dc.affiliationWydział Medycyny Weterynaryjnej i Nauk o Zwierzętach
dc.affiliation.instituteKatedra Zoologii
dc.contributor.authorAngeoletto, Fabio
dc.contributor.authorTryjanowski, Piotr
dc.contributor.authorSantos, Jeater
dc.contributor.authorMartinez-Miranzo, Beatriz
dc.contributor.authorLeandro, Deleon
dc.contributor.authorBohrer, João
dc.contributor.authorJohann, Juciane Maria
dc.contributor.authorFellowes, Mark D. E.
dc.date.access2026-01-09
dc.date.accessioned2026-01-12T11:19:39Z
dc.date.available2026-01-12T11:19:39Z
dc.date.copyright2022-06-01
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstract<jats:p>The Blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara ararauna) is a charismatic and easily recognized species. While they are classified as being of “least concern” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, their populations are declining. In Brazil, the accelerated destruction of one of its key habitats, the Cerrado biome, is a principal cause of their decreasing abundance. As with other species affected by loss of the Cerrado, active conservation measures are required. While usually rare in urban ecosystems, Ara ararauna occurs and breeds in small numbers in the city of Rondonópolis, a medium-sized city located in Mato Grosso, Central-West Region of Brazil. Blue-and-yellow macaw pairs nest in the tops of dead palm trees, but as the macaws are nest-site limited and suitable dead trees are scarce in urban areas, the installation of artificial nest sites in domestic backyards could help that urban population to thrive. To investigate whether local people would be willing to engage with conservation efforts and in particular to support macaw conservation, we surveyed the attitudes of Rondonópolis residents to measure: (1) citizens’ preferences among the bird species that occur in the city; (2) the average area of their yards, and (3) the willingness of residents to: (a) plant fruit trees to attract macaws to their yards and (b) to install artificial nests in their yards. Larger and more colorful birds (Ara ararauna, the Red-and-green macaw Ara chloropterus and Toco Toucan Ramphastos toco) were the bird species most valued across all socio-economic groups, suggesting that the charismatic species would be more likely to be supported by urbanites. Overall, people had good biodiversity knowledge, with respondents being able to identify half of our sample of local bird species, on average, and almost half had seen a nest site. The great majority were willing to plant fruit trees (78%) and provide nest sites (70%) for macaws. This willingness to engage was not affected by socioeconomic differences. These data indicate that a municipal macaw conservation program could be successful in Rondonópolis, and we argue that macaws could be a flagship species which would benefit wider efforts to engage Brazilian urbanites in active engagement with nature.</jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.bibliographyil., bibliogr.
dc.description.financepublication_nocost
dc.description.financecost0,00
dc.description.number2
dc.description.points5
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.description.volume3
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/birds3020015
dc.identifier.issn2673-6004
dc.identifier.urihttps://sciencerep.up.poznan.pl/handle/item/6717
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://www.mdpi.com/2673-6004/3/2/15
dc.languageen
dc.relation.ispartofBirds
dc.relation.pages234-244
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.sciencecloudsend
dc.share.typeOPEN_JOURNAL
dc.subject.enurban ecology
dc.subject.entropical cities
dc.subject.enurban biodiversity
dc.subject.enbirds
dc.subject.enAra ararauna
dc.subject.enbackyards
dc.subject.enBrazil
dc.subject.enCerrado biome
dc.subject.enAra chloropterus
dc.subject.enRamphastos toco
dc.titleWill Brazilian City Dwellers Actively Engage in Urban Conservation? A Case Study with the Charismatic Neotropical Blue-and-Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna)
dc.title.volumeSpecial Issue Feature Papers of Birds 2021
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.issue2
oaire.citation.volume3