A decade ago, residents of this poor fishing village stumbling upon a nest of the colorful great green macaw (Ara ambigua) would have captured the nestlings and sold them in the domestic pet market for a hundred dollars each. Today, locals are being paid to protect the young macaws and their primary habitat, the hardwood almendro tree (Dipteryx panamensis). A dozen of these “nest caretakers” were honored this month at the second annual Great Green Macaw Festival, a meeting of some 300 Nicaraguan and Costa Rican residents, conservationists and government officials. The festival’s twofold goal is to promote preservation of the great green macaw, known here as the lapa verde, and make the bird a symbol of a larger campaign to forge a critical link... [Log in to read more]