Future in Flight: Protecting Yellow-eared Parrots

Organization: Fundación ProAves de Colombia
Project ID: 70480
Funding Goal: USD 150,000
Amount Raised: USD 75.50
Remaining Goal: USD 149,925
Donors: 3
Monthly Donors: 0
Project Duration: 4 months

Current Status:  The project is in its early fundraising phase. While the Yellow-eared Parrot remains one of Colombia’s most iconic conservation success stories, current funding levels are far below what is required to implement on-the-ground actions at scale. The urgency remains high, and immediate financial support is critical to move from planning to impact.

Conservation Challenge:  Once believed extinct, the Yellow-eared Parrot survives today only in fragmented Andean cloud forests in Colombia, entirely dependent on the threatened wax palm. Continued deforestation, agricultural expansion, and habitat fragmentation are eroding nesting and feeding sites. Without rapid intervention, recent conservation gains risk being reversed.

Planned Actions (Pending Full Funding): Upon securing sufficient resources, the project will

• Restore degraded cloud forest and wax palm habitat

• Protect natural and artificial nests in key breeding areas

• Train and deploy local Parrot Guardians to monitor populations and prevent poaching

• Reconnect isolated forest fragments through ecological corridors

• Expand education and outreach to build long-term community stewardship

Outlook:  Although fundraising is currently at an early stage, the project framework, technical capacity, and local partnerships are fully in place. Closing the funding gap is now the decisive factor. With adequate support, this initiative can safeguard the long-term survival of the Yellow-eared Parrot while protecting biodiversity-rich Andean ecosystems and the cultural legacy of the wax palm.