BirdLife International, in an effort to avoid bird species extinctions has developed the Preventing Extinctions Program. Asociación Armonía is managing the program in South America. The program is designed to promote conservation activities, initially with Critically Endangered birds. One aspect of the program is the concept of a Species Champion and Species Guardian. Species Champions are corporations or individuals who financially support a specific threatened bird. Armonía will be working to develop and support the Species Guardians; individuals who will put an effort into the protection of individual Critically Endangered species. The Armonía Preventing Extinction program does this by working directly with Guardians, offering training and utilizing the BirdLife network for support.
In South America there are currently 50 Critically Endangered species. Fifty percent have on ground conservation programs, but others remain “ghost” species with an absence of records for many years. Many times, the initial conservation action is a survey of the population and evaluating the level of threat. The priority is to make sure no species becomes extinct through neglect, and to stimulate conservation program with Critically Endangered species requiring attention.
