Preserving Guyana’s bird community

By Venessa Deosaran

To preserve Guyana’s bird community and our natural heritage through stimulating an interest in the environmental field is Gajendra ‘Andy’ Narine’s mission. With this in mind, Andy founded the Guyana Amazon Tropical Bird Society (GATBS) in January, 2003. It was officially registered May 24, 2005 under the friendly societies act, to protect Guyana’s birds. The society is a charitable, non-governmental entity.

“I’m a school dropout, and went to Bartica to learn to make jewellery. I returned to Georgetown after a few years and opened a jewellery shop. I wondered where gold came from and wanted to find out, so I journeyed into the interior to see how and where they got gold from, and arriving there I saw a different gold in the trees. … I then sold all my jewellery tools to go explore the forest. I went all across Guyana’s jungles into Wai Wai land; Gunn’s Strip, Rupununi, Pakaraima… and lived among the indigenous people for a while. I started to work with a tour company in the Rupununi and met with bird enthusiast Davis Finch, my inspiration. From this my birding career blossomed,” Andy narrated to Guyana Times Sunday Magazine.

Development GATBS started with one birding book and one pair of binoculars, and now has a room filled with modern equipment and volumes of books on birds from around the world. The organisation supplies other societies, environmental clubs, students and other interested persons with any information and data needed on birds.

The society undertakes rapid assessment programmes, educational exercises and research projects in the field. Bird data is compiled and accumulated from all over the country and findings are used by the society to determine ways to manage the local bird trade, migratory birds, wetland species, and other important aspects of birds, and in so doing provide education on bird preservation.

Andy noted the need to put together guidelines for ensuring the sustainable use of the bird community.

The society recognizes the importance of safeguarding our rich biodiversity, and works towards ensuring the sustainable management of our natural resources for future generations to enjoy. There are more than 25 members in the society, with Randy Jordan as president and Andy as vice-president.

The society was supported by tourism consultant Donald Sinclair in 2004, to send Guyana’s first official representative from the Guyana Amazon Tropical Bird Society to London to make a presentation on birds at the British Bird Fair. The field specialist disclosed it was the society that went out on an international forum to showcase Guyana as a birding destination.

Concerns

“There are 10 species of parrots in Guyana, and the society has been tracking these over 11 years. We had nine species of parrots in the society’s compound, and it took us 11 years to finally collect the last specie in the parrot family, the Caica parrot, which is one of icons of the rainforest,” the naturalist said.

Although filled with excitement to see the last specie, Andy is disheartened that the only way he was able to do so was because their habitats were being destroyed by mining camps. Many miners who are familiar with Andy’s work would report that they are seeing numerous baby birds due to felled trees for mining camps.

“The Caica parrots are very unique and are not known to be in captivity. We have received news that many [persons] are buying these and using them as calling birds for capturing others of its kind, and this is bad because these birds do not survive for long in captivity. We are willing to work with the relevant public ministries to avoid the destruction of bird habitat, especially during the heart of the breeding season. They may not know when these periods are, and that’s where we come in to provide informative information on birds and their habitats,” Andy disclosed.

He believes that miners need to have knowledge about birds – like the fact that the period between January and March is the biggest breeding season for the forest birds – to avoid ultimately the extinction of bird species.

His aim is to help the mining sector, not to stop their work; but to do so conscious of certain environmental preservation policies.

Andy is pleading with the various organisations to work in consultation with the society to learn about the various breeding periods.

Bird facts

Guyana, Andy pointed out, has more than 877 species of birds and provides habitat for other non native birds.

The society, from October to March, would go along the coast and the Rupununi savannahs searching restricted water locations to find areas migrant birds inhabit. This is an ongoing programme carried out by the society.

Our country is now part of the Important Bird Areas Program, which is a global effort to identify and conserve areas that are vital to birds and other biodiversity. We host certain species of birds which, in other countries, their existence is threatened.

Awarded the President’s Award for Bird Guide of the Year 2012, Andy would soon release a publication based on a documented bird list compiled by the society. The document, ‘A bird life and a checklist of birds in Guyana’, would outline every fact collected by Andy and his team on birds in Guyana. He wants to also have the publication used in school curriculums so that generations to come could learn to appreciate and preserve our avifauna.

“The society doesn’t only serve as a tourism agent, but we serve as advocates to prevent the destruction of bird habitats. We are willing to divulge our extensive scientific data we have collected over the years, and to help in whatever way we can. It is our hope that we will serve as a catalyst to stimulate other projects that will force Guyana to implement necessary policies for the continued monitoring of bird species and proper strategies for their preservation,” Andy declared. (Taken from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)