NEI TEC is proud to offer this week of TEC Talks for free. In the spirit of conservation week, we encourage you to visit the website of our non-profit sister organization, Natural Encounters Conservation Fund, and learn more about the our conservation efforts and consider a donation. Any amount helps and will go directly to support in-situ conservation efforts all over the world.
The near extinction of North America’s largest flying land-bird and attempts to recover the California condor is known to many, but the details of the why and how are less understood. The trials and tribulations of human history in endangered species management offer landscape-scale insights in an ever-changing arena of conservation. Should we succeed in recovering this species, it will stand as a testament of our abilities to observe, study, and respond accordingly to better manage preventable impacts to ecosystems and the species within. Lead poisoning remains the single greatest threat to recovery and implications for other less studied species is equally important. Science alone does not make conservation. How we proceed will be have as much to do with success as the foundations of science we depend upon to detangle these complex issues.
Over the past 30 years, a great deal has changed in terms of how wild parrots are traded around the world as well as how threatened parrots are conserved. This NEI TEC talk will focus on these changes with emphasis on how the World Parrot Trust developed creative approaches to tackling the wild bird trade at local and international levels. Because effective enforcement generates large groups of confiscated birds, we created our FlyFree program which rehabilitates and liberates parrots back into the wild. Building upon our network’s expertise in parrot husbandry, training, and ecology, FlyFree projects not only save thousands of individuals, they also facilitate the restoration of species where they’ve been driven to extinction by trade. Finally, having now worked with dozens of species, our FlyFree experiences now empower traditional conservation of threatened parrots by adding a versatile tool to our growing parrot conservation toolkit.
Join us for a panel discussion of NEI TEC faculty members in a conversation about their thoughts on the presentations and questions from the previous sessions. Steve Martin will share how his training advice played a role in the condor recovery and earned him a seat as a behavior expert on the condor recovery team. He will also reflect on his long-term experience as a trustee with the World Parrot Trust. The panelists look forward to sharing their final thoughts and answering attendee questions.
127 Conservation Way
Winter Haven, FL 33884
