This month, Bouton is publishing the results of her unique study of a wading bird colony in the Pantanal in the February issue of Conservation Biology, the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology. The article, co-authored with Peter C. Frederick (University of Florida), is titled "Stakeholders' Perceptions of a Wading Bird Colony as a Community Resource in the Brazilian Pantanal." Unlike other research projects that consider only the biological effects of tourism, Bouton has combined her biological research with a study of how the colony serves as a resource for the local community. Her practical suggestions for meeting the twin goals of managing and developing tourism and conserving the colony have attracted the attention of top government officials and diplomats in Brazil and have made her study site at Porto da Fazenda a model for similar efforts in the region.
Today, as a result of those suggestions, local forestry police have posted a guard in front of the colony to control the behavior of tourists and fishermen. A local conservation group, Associao Ecolgica Melgassense (AMEC) has established a staffed observation post that is occupied year-round to protect the birds and the forest. AMEC trains young people from the community as guides to take tourists along newly constructed trails at a safe distance from the colony and runs workshops for local children and adults so that everyone is aware of the biology of the birds, their importance to the community and how to behave so as not to disturb them.
"The tourists really appreciate the new amenities," Bouton say
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Contact: Judy Steeh
jsteeh@umich.edu
734-647-3099
University of Michigan
12-Feb-2003