| Notes |
This information has been taken directly from
the PROVITA Website:
Year
of incorporation: 1987
Mission:
the conservation of the environment in its widest sense, with emphasis
on Venezuelan threatened species and habitat, through the
implementation of projects that integrate conservation and
development.
Lines
of action:
a)
Environmental Research and Management: includes basic and applied
research in both natural and social sciences. The main priority for
research is the establishment of baseline information and monitoring
programs, while all gathered data is stored in easily accessible
databases and other information systems. This line of action strongly
emphasizes management of species and their habitat in the context of
human resource use conflicts.
b)
Strict Protected Areas Support: includes providing expertise to
governmental organizations that manage such areas. Includes
environmental and social surveys, proposals for the creation of new
protected areas, strengthening current natural areas management
practices, development of visitor centers and other educational
activities, facilitation of national and international cooperation
through the implementation of interinstitutional agreements.
c)
Conservation Education: begins with an initial sensitizing stage where
people are presented with different elements of the environment,
followed by an awareness building phase where the target audience is
encouraged to become responsible towards its surroundings and to
recognize its role in environmental processes. Provita has developed
an educational model based on symbols that encourage local pride, with
excellent results. We also develop promotional activities and interact
closely with the mass media, as well as produce scientific and popular
publications.
d)
Sustainable Development: through community participation, we encourage
and suggest sustainable economic alternatives, especially in rural
areas. Includes the promotion of microbusinesses based on ecotourism,
local handcrafts, and traditional economic activities. Also includes
rescuing traditional cultural traditions as a means of developing or
strengthening local pride.
List of
active projects:
1. Title:
Conservation of Threatened Species in the Laguna de Tacarigua National
Park, Miranda State: Awareness Building Campaign in the Town of
Tacarigua de la Laguna
Sponsors: British Embassy, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA)
Participating Institutions: Provita, Instituto Nacional de Parques (Inparques)
Initiated in: 2001
Laguna de Tacarigua national park is located in the central portion of
Venezuelaís Caribbean coast. This campaign focusses on marine turtles
and American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus), which nest on the parkís
sandbars and lagoons, respectively. In addition to activities in
schools and with park weekend visitors, Provita conducts a workshop
program for national park staff aimed at increasing the level of
knowledge of these species and their role in the ecological services
performed by the lagoon.
2.
Title: ProCosta: Integrated Conservation and Development Project Costa
Barlovento
Sponsors: PDVSA
Participating Institutions: Provita, Inparques, Ministry of the
Environment and Natural Resources, Neighborhood Organizations,
Business Cooperatives.
Initiated in: 1999
The Venezuelan national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) is
Provitaís partner in this major project devoted to the development of
conservation minded practices along the Venezuelan coast. Focussed on
marine turtle conservation, activities range from the establishment of
turtle hatcheries, to eco-business development and conservation
education in schools. The pilot phase of the project is currently
being developed in the town of Chirimena, but it is expected to begin
expanding to several additional coastal states in early 2002.
3.
Title: Project Amazonas: Contribution to the Establishment of
Sustainable Practices in the Venezuelan Amazonia
Sponsors: NOVIB (Netherlands)
Participating Institutions: Provita
Initiated in: 1999.
Set in the Sipapo forestry reserve, this project explores current
indigenous peopleís resource use with the objective of developing
sustainable practices that can be extrapolated to the other Venezuelan
lowland forest areas. Five family groups are part of an initial pilot
phase which includes both the analysis of their traditional practices
and experimental tests with a variety of alternative food and cash
crops.
4.
Title: Project EVE (for Especies Venezolanas en Vías de Extinción):
Red Data Book of the Venezuelan Fauna
Sponsors: Fundación Polar
Participating Institutions: Venezuelan Wildlife Service (Profauna),
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), World Conservation Union (IUCN),
Provita
Initiated in: 1998 (second edition already published).
The first edition of the Red Data Book of the Venezuelan Fauna was
published in 1995 and it went out of print shortly after that. The
second edition includes an update with recent information, and it is
currently in the process of being distributed.
5. Title:
Integrated Conservation and Development Alternatives in the Laguna de
la Restinga National Park
Sponsors: Government of the Canary Islands, Government of Nueva
Esparta state, Inparques, WCS
Participating Institutions: Amigos de la Tierra Canarias, Provita
Initiated in: 1997.
Laguna de la Restinga national park is located in Margarita island,
along the isthmus that connects the islandís two peninsulas.
Vegetation is composed mainly of mangrove forests and spiny shrubland.
The park is home to several threatened species including ñángaros
(blue-fronted conure, Aratinga acuticaudata neoxena) and American
crocodiles. This project comprises a series of workshops with local
inhabitants aimed at developing a variety of skills, ranging from
handcrafts to marketing and business development. It has been very
successful, particularly among women in the towns where workshops and
held.
6.
Title: Integrated Center for Conservation and Development, Macanao
Peninsula.
Sponsors: Government of the Canary Islands, Government of Nueva
Esparta state, WCS
Participating Institutions: Inparques, Amigos de la Tierra Canarias,
Provita
Initiated in: 1997. (currently being reformulated)
This project is directly associates with the previous one. This is the
facility at which many of the activities are organized, and it serves
as a community assistance center. Special attention is given to
economic alternatives that directly benefit the islandís threatened
species and habitats. For example, recent handcraft workshops have
begun to emphasize local wildlife themes.
7.
Title: Ecotourism in the Macanao Peninsula
Sponsors: Palm Beach Zoo, Tulsa Zoological Park, WCS
Participating Institutions: Provita
Initiated in: 1997. (currently being reformulated)
Aimed at generating financial resources to support conservation
activities in Margarita, this project takes advantage of the
popularity of Margarita island as a tourist destination. Tourists
staying in the major hotels in Porlamar are offered day tours to the
sites where Provita carries out its field projects, and are given
education information about the conservation activities and how to
help support them.
8.
Title: Project EVE (for Especies Venezolanas en Vías de Extinción):
Red Data Book of the Venezuelan Flora
Sponsors: Fundación Polar
Participating Institutions: Fundación Instituto Botánico de
Venezuela, Provita
Initiated in: 1996.
This is the second in the series of “Red Books” developed by
Provita in close partnership with the Fundación Polar. The Red Data
Book of the Venezuelan Flora benefited from the participation of all
major scientists with knowledge of the countryís threatened plants.
Publication is expected in late 2001.
9.
Title: Action Plan for the Conservation of Venezuelan Species
Sponsors: Fundación Polar, PDVSA
Participating Institutions: Profauna, Fundación para la Defensa de la
Naturaleza (Fudena), Venezuela, Provita
Initiated in: 1995
As a follow up to the publication of the animal and plant red books,
this project aims to define priorities for action for the conservation
of Venezuelan species. This project will involve the Venezuelan
committee of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and will be designed
along the lines of traditional IUCN action plans.
10.
Title: Conservation of the ñángaro (Aratinga acuticaudata neoxena)
in the Laguna de la Restinga National Park: an Integrated
Education-research Approach. Stage II
Sponsors: WCS
Participating Institutions: Inparques, Provita
Initiated in: 1995.
This critically endangered endemic subspecies is threatened by
extraction of fledgling for the pet trade and nest predation by
introduced rats (Rattus sp.). For several years Provita has been
monitoring reproductive success, overseeing surveillance of the main
nesting areas, and developing an educational campaign directed at
boatmen who take tourists to the parkís lagoons (who are also
implicated in the illegal trade of ñángaros).
11. Title:
Education for the Conservation of the Neoespartan Biodiversity
Sponsors: WCS, Fondene, Government of Nueva Esparta state
Participating Institutions: Ministry of the Environment and Natural
Resources (MARN), Provita
Initiated in: 1993
The purpose of this project is to conserve the biodiversity of Nueva
Esparta state through increasing the awareness in the general public
of environmental problems. Activities focus on the yellow shouldered
parrot (Amazona barbadensis) and other species of regional value in
order to help develop regional pride on behalf of the islandís
threatened species and habitats. This project organizes the “Festival
de la Cotorra,” an annual event that includes music, poetry, dance,
and other cultural activities which incorporate the yellow-souldered
parrot into their themes.
12.
Title: Conservation of the Yellow-shouldered Parrot (Amazona
barbadensis) on La Blanquilla Island
Sponsors: WCS;
Participating Institutions: Venezuelan Navy, Aerotuy, Provita
Initiated in: 1992 (currently being reformulated).
Roughly 80 yellow-shouldered parrots inhabit La Blanquilla, a small
and remote island located northwest from Margarita. The only permanent
settlement there is a base of the Venezuelan Navy, though fishermen
use it as a base during long fishing expeditions. Activities consist
of monitoring of reproductive activity, protection of nests, and the
release of birds from Margarita to supplement the local population.
Logistics and high costs make this a difficult project to carry out on
a regular basis.
13. Title:
Research and Management of the Yellow-shouldered Parrot (Amazona
barbadensis) in the Macanao Peninsula, Margarita Island
Sponsors: WCS, British Embassy, Papageienfond, BirdLife International,
Manomet Bird Observatory, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Australian
Embassy
Participating Institutions: Fundo San Francisco, Provita
Initiated in: 1992
This is Provitaís longest-lasting research project, in development
since 1989. Activities include: a) annual estimates of the population
size of Amazona barbadensis in the Macanao peninsula, b) monitoring of
reproductive and feeding habits of the parrot, c) experiment with
artificial nests, d) raising in captivity and reintroducing fledglings
confiscated from the illegal trade by the National Guard, e) protect
nesting sites from poachers during the breeding season.
14.
Title: Conservation of the Yellow-shouldered Parrot (Amazona
barbadensis) Through Environmental Surveillance
Participating Institutions: MARN, WCS, National Guard and Provita
Initiated on: 1992.
Program for the surveillance of the parrotís main nesting areas to
prevent poaching.
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