By Talli Nauman

When Martín Camacho was a child, he had to leave school because his help was needed at home to support his family. Instead of attending classes, he went with his father to capture birds in the countryside. "Out in the country, when I was crying because I was hungry, I would be given wild birds' eggs, cactus fruit or other wild fruits. I liked to eat pigeons roasted over a fire," he said.

But at the age of 10, he had a revelation. A pigeon splayed and roasting on the fire looked to him like the figure of Jesus Christ martyred on the cross. A devout Roman Catholic, Camacho said, "It caused me great pain. I swore I would never again kill a bird, because I felt it was a living being who had to be respected."

Camacho, who is 45, never forgot this vision. It led him to transform his third-generation family bird-catching business into a group conservation project that not only saves birds but gives the former bird catchers jobs.

A Union of Bird-Catchers

In 1989 Camacho formed the Puebla Bird Catchers' Union, which now maintains an aviary that is housed in a gleaming geodesic dome, 75 feet (25 meters) high and 180 feet (60 meters) wide, which mirrors a 360-degree view of mountain cloud forests and replicates their images in a pool at its base. Called the Puebla Ecological Aviary, the dome shelters 1,300 birds in five artificial habitats that duplicate these highlands, as well as the tropical jungles, wetlands, deserts and plantations of Mexico.

Puebla Ecological Aviary

It is a reflection, too, of 10 years of concerted efforts by its caretakers, the low-income members of the non-profit Puebla Bird Dealers Union, to encourage the reproduction of a dwindling wildfowl population on which they depend for their living.

This spring, 11 white-fronted parrot chicks hatched inside the dome, one of a series of landmark accomplishments on the difficult road Camacho charted for the group when he formed it to save both the birds and the bird catchers' jobs. The union, one of 16 registered in as many states, was the first in the country to try breeding wild birds in captivity and now, after many tribulations, it has been so successful that other unions are following in its footsteps.

When Camacho turned his family bird business into a group conservation project, he promoted it by telling other bird catchers and sellers: "You're going to have more income and you're going to protect the raw material." And that's what he's telling members of different unions and non-profit community groups to this day. Now, he and his colleagues have introduced the concept to dozens of grassroots organizations around Mexico.

"Martín Camacho has developed a social organization that promotes the concept of sustainable use. It has been very successful," says biologist Ricardo Guadarama, of the federal office of the Attorney General for Environmental Protection in the south-central Mexican state of Puebla. "It is an excellent project that has a presence at the national as well as the state level."

A Venerable Trade

Catching and selling wild birds for pets is a venerable trade in Mexico, a bustling part of the small-business economy nationwide. A familiar figure in many neighborhoods is the street vendor going door to door with a stack of wooden bird cages strapped to his back or bicycle. The government allows trade in 85 wild species. Homemakers buy them to enhance their patios with song. And thousands of bird lovers take their feathered friends to Mexico City's basilica to be blessed in annual Palm Sunday pilgrimages.

But here, as in other Latin American countries, which boast some of the planet's richest biodiversity, wild bird populations are succumbing to increasing pressures from human populations, including demographic growth, urbanization, industrial development, species trafficking and pollution, all of which have led to habitat degradation. Today 36 of the 1,150 wild bird species in Mexico are in danger of extinction, among them toucans, parrots, woodpeckers, pheasants, turkeys and the eagle, the emblem on the Mexican flag.

Protection Programs are Necessary

Several Latin American governments have undertaken programs to protect their birds and beasts. For example, Venezuela is carrying out a pilot project of habitat improvement for a group of colorful tropical birds called psitacids, which includes education and licensing of bird catchers with the aim of reducing the black market export trade. Colombia has established official crocodile breeding grounds, providing jobs for the rural population while reproducing the species, which is valued in the market for its hide. Local and international non-governmental organizations, as well as private businesses and academic institutions, have contributed to these and similar efforts. But many of the programs are in their infancy, and the Puebla Bird Dealers Union has the jump on them.

Says Guadarama of the group's experience, "It would be advantageous to share it with scientists on the international level." Camacho and the 70 participants in the Puebla-based project "can and do contribute a lot of information to other groups."

Camacho is an empirical scientist. Like others in his organization, he has only a primary school education but he has learned about birds since childhood. Old-time bird catchers, he recalls, only caught what they knew they could sell and "they taught the youth who followed them the same approach."

But as joblessness began to run rampant in Mexico in the 1980's, newcomers turned to bird catching to eke out a living. They captured and sold birds without any respect for the species or the trade itself," said Camacho. The newcomers, as well as some of the experienced bird catchers, increasingly took part in illegal activities, like operating without permits, taking birds in danger of extinction, capturing them off-season and selling nestlings. "I lived through these two eras, but I stick to the old ways," he said.

Tired of watching the bird population dwindle while environmental groups pinned the blame on bird catchers and authorities turned a blind eye, he decided some kind of organization was necessary.

Raising Conservation Awareness

"The first thing was to defend our job source," he said. The hardest thing was to raise consciousness about conservation practices. They set out to accomplish this, first by holding a series of short courses and conferences to educate themselves. They made use of scientists, such as veterinarian Fernando Seriña, and developed a set of regulations for members. They also compiled information about wild birds, and later shared their knowledge through guided tours at the aviary, through publications and with outreach to other birdcatchers' organizations. In every step of the process, they found they had to address the challenge of sacrificing short-term gain for the long-term good of their profession.

"As a pioneer, I came up against a lot of difficulties, including gaining the understanding of other bird catchers and sellers," said Camacho. Through short courses and conferences involving veterinarians and biologists, his union members began to rethink their role in the business. They developed a self-policing system. Members who break conservation regulations receive two warnings and can be ousted from the organization if they don't mend their ways.

However, their focus on replacing bird catching with reproduction is what really distinguishes the union members from the approximately 1,500 other bird dealers in Puebla, the nation's fourth-largest city. The aviary breeding ground has helped union members reduce their capture of wild birds by 20 percent. Said Camacho, "The object is to reduce it more and more – and also to be an example for other people who aren't in the union. A lot of people are watching us."

The project got off the ground with the technical assistance of veterinarian Fernando Seriña, who secured a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for the reproduction experiments with the group. They built a breeding ground in the cloud forest where experiments with the gray silky flycatcher, brown-backed solitaire, slaty solitaire and blue mockingbird, attracted television publicity that led to an invitation from the Puebla municipal government for the union to take charge of the city aviary.

Putting an Aviary to Rights

The aviary was in disrepair when the union took over. By donating labor and 35 dollars apiece, members created five mini-habitats within the structure, which are conducive to the lifestyles of the 140 species gathered there. The union had its first successes with pheasants, peacocks, cardinals and pigeons. Within five years, participants were experimenting with 12 more species. Today they boast the successful reproduction of 36 Mexican and migratory species, including parrots, ducks, doves, sparrows, grosbeaks and goldfinches.

With no government subsidies or private funding, the bird dealers, whose typical earnings were two to three times the minimum wage, or about 12 dollars a day, before deducting the cost of birdfeed, began to finance the work by charging a one-dollar entry fee to the aviary. They started providing guided tours to some of the 2,000 people who visited the dome each month, emphasizing respect for nature and preaching against trafficking in endangered species. The money was destined for maintenance, research and protecting the young birds from disease and predators until the time of sale, about two years.

Within a few years, their efforts began to have repercussions. In 1994, the government of the neighboring state of Tlaxcala, inspired by the union's example, built an aviary, enlisted the Puebla Bird Dealers' advice and succeeded in reproducing several species there.

Support From the United States

The following year, the union secured support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a bird study and general management plan for the 1,517-acre (614-hectare) Flor del Bosque Biosphere Reserve, one of the nation's newest parks of this kind and an important source of oxygen and water recharge for Puebla.

Following the plan, the reserve has created an aviary with 16 shelters for injured wildfowl, together with a rehabilitation and liberation program. Also as part of the plan, the reserve is now developing a tree nursery to help reforest the bird's habitat and a small zoo where Camacho is providing advice on reproduction efforts.

In 1995, Camacho admitted that despite the conservation progress the organization had made, union members had not been able to strengthen their financial position. He supplemented his family income by operating a stationery supply store. "I have sacrificed," he said, adding, "We have a lot of faith that in the short or medium term, we'll be able to improve our standard of living."

This faith and a good deal of persistence has paid off. Ashoka, a non-profit organization that supports social entrepreneurs worldwide, recognized Camacho's program as an innovative environmental enterprise, providing him with a small grant, the only one he had ever received, and the main thing to which he attributes a relaxation of personal financial stress.

In 1996 the union members got another financial boost when the Puebla state government provided them with a loan to remodel the aviary and upgrade its services. Although the aviary was closed to the public all year for the work, it reopened as one of the finest in the country, and with a correspondingly higher entrance fee of $1.30. This, and the sale of birds born in captivity, have helped defray the approximately $3,000-a-month cost of bird feed, maintenance and gardening, as well as providing money to increase from two to seven the number of union members who earn a salary at the dome.

Training Far and Wide

Word has spread, and peasant organizations in far-off states seek the union's expertise to improve their financial lot. On the Yucatan Peninsula, the union accepted an invitation to train rural community members in Campeche state to breed wildfowl and then went on to provide workshops for the construction of an aviary and breeding grounds for an indigenous community in Yucatan state.

Locally, it has inspired six backyard breeding projects in the township of Puebla, and has given courses in other low-income and indigenous townships around the state. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service renewed support for the union with a project this year covering six communities in Puebla state's highlands, including training residents to conduct an ecotourism and bird-watching enterprise.

The federal government's National Biodiversity Commission is also supporting the union now in a year-long effort to identify and count the birds in the 53 townships covered by the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Biosphere Reserve, which spans parts of the states of Puebla and Oaxaca. By mid-1999, the union had identified 86 species and researched their reproduction seasons and their food supply.

The union advises the boards of the two other bird dealers' organizations in Puebla state, encouraging them to promote backyard breeding grounds. Camacho also coordinates the Puebla governor's Subcommission for the Establishment and Development of Natural and Protected Areas. "It's gone well for us," said Camacho, "the work has multiplied."

As the years have passed, the union's efforts have raised consciousness about the need to protect the birds and their environment, resulting in a change in regulations that restricts the number of federal permits issued for capturing wild fowl: The number statewide in Puebla is down to 29, from 70, six years ago.

Alas, Capturing Birds Is Cheaper

In theory, this should guarantee that more wild birds survive, but in practice it has led to more illegal bird catching, because many who now can't get permits catch birds anyway, and they are hard for authorities to detect.

The Puebla Bird Dealers' answer to this problem: Continue promoting reproduction in captivity. "When they see that this is good business, people will stop capturing and start raising birds," said Camacho.

Nonetheless, he admits that catching a dozen birds in the wild is still cheaper than raising them in the backyard, and most bird catchers or potential dealers lack the money to build the cages, feed the birds and provide the attention necessary for reproduction in captivity.

This kind of hands-on information, coupled with well-reasoned ecological arguments, the union's ability to demonstrate its successes, its ongoing follow-up consultations with beginners, and Camacho's clear devotion to the principles of his cause, help involve other bird catchers in the conservation effort.

Building Aviaries Is Catching On

At the aviary, the Puebla Bird Dealers Union also provides environmental education to student groups at all levels, with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service backing. If student groups lack the money for the entry fee, they get in free. One group of middle school students was so impressed that they built a small aviary on their school grounds, making nests to aid in reproduction.

With the co-sponsorship of the American donors and the Mexican Attorney General for Environmental Protection, the bird dealers have just published two books (in Spanish): "A List of the Birds of Puebla" and "The Illustrated Guide to the Native Birds of Mexico." They are available by mail.

The aviary outreach work aims to impart a philosophy to visitors, said Camacho. "The most important thing for us is that they go away with the ecological message that nature is something of which we are a part."

Thirty-five years after the revelation that changed his life, and with four children of his own, he maintains his conviction. "The birds have given us a living. They have made it possible for my children to go to school. I would be an ingrate if I did nothing for them, when they have given me so much. It's a moral obligation I have to them."

Raising a Thousand Chicks in Two Years

In the last two years, his group has raised more than 1,000 chicks in the aviary, no small feat, considering that wild birds don't begin to reproduce in captivity for at least two years. Some birds have laid eggs for four or five seasons now, providing the market with a supply greater than its demand. "But that doesn't mean that we're going to eat them with rice on the side," he joked.

He had hoped that by now this project would allow Mexican bird dealers to join their Dutch and Australian counterparts in the lucrative, century-old export market for wild birds reproduced in captivity. But that dream has yet to become reality. Because of the government paperwork required, limited financial resources, and the importance of experimenting with reproduction techniques, the union has assigned exports a lower priority. Whether the group integrates itself into the international trade scene will depend largely on the financial and technical resources it can muster.

By 2010, Camacho hopes the aviary will be the best in Latin America. He hopes the Puebla Bird Dealers' Union will have consolidated its economic base and expanded its capacities enough through its conservation, reproduction, education and sales efforts to claim a significant impact on the protection of Mexican wildfowl, and to have firmly inserted itself into worldwide efforts to raise environmental awareness through partnerships with other organizations and institutions.

"Our resonsibility to society is to make people conscious of how close we Are to destroying our ecosystems and losing our biodiversity," he says.

---

Needs of the Bird Dealers Union:

Mates for birds

Bird feed

Tax-deductible legal status for donors

Financial support

Technical support on legal status, exporting and breeding

Computer equipment

Internet access