Brazil's Fragile Biodiversity

The call of the Araripe Manakin, a delicate, redcrested songbird, was heard for the first time in 1998, on the slopes of a remote plateau in northeastern Brazil. The excitement felt by the group of conservationists who discovered it was short-lived: they quickly realized that if something wasn't done, they might end up being both the first and the last humans to hear it. Despite their efforts over the past eight years, the Manakin -- Antilophia bokermanii -- remains one of Brazil's (and the world's) most endangered birds.

For Weber Silva, leader of the Manakin project for the charity AQUASIS, the story of that first sighting is a personal one. "I started studying birds seriously in 1995, when still a biology student. At the time, my girlfriend was a student of Professor Galileu Coelho, a well known ornithologist who made frequent trips to the Araripe region," he says.

"When I was invited on one of these fieldtrips, I jumped at the opportunity." Silva found himself accompanying Coelho on a mission to investigate a strange call that had been heard on previous visits to the area.

The pair did not have to wait long for a breakthrough. "As we approached a stream we noticed a very distinctive song, similar to the one produced by the Helmeted Manakin, but with slight differences in the order of the notes. And then, we were astonished to see the bird's bright red crest glowing against the morning light."

Silva and Coelho christened it the Araripe Manakin, a species completely new to science.

Finding the bird was the first, and perhaps the easiest step. The task now confronting local conservationists was enormous, and time was not on their side. Silva and his colleagues had to determine the extent of the Manakin's habitat and make an estimate of its population size. They realized that it was restricted to a narrow strip of forest at the edge of the plateau and that there were perhaps only 250 individuals left. At the same time, human pressures on this fragile habitat were increasing constantly, with parts of the forest being developed for luxury homes and country clubs.

The next phase of the Manakin's conservation involved documenting the bird's lifecycle and analysing its genetic profile. Some incredible facts came to light. Antilophia Bokermanni has evolved to take full advantage of its environment, the leafy streams that emerge from the Araripe Chapada, or plateau lands. This level of specialisation has its drawbacks, however: there are few places beyond the patches of forest where this species makes it home which provide anything like the ideal habitat.

"The Manakin is inextricably linked to the hydrogeology of the area," says Alberto Campos, a member of the field team. "It only builds its nests in what is called the 'gallery forest,' directly above narrow streams." Situated at the heart of an ecosystem dominated by thorn forest or Caatinga, the Chapada is a raised area of land that functions as an enormous water collection and storage structure. The moist forests that nurture the Manakin are fed by these waters, but it's this oasis-like setting that also makes the area so attractive to its biggest threat -- people.

As if to highlight just how precarious the existence of this tiny bird is, forest fires broke out on the slopes of the plateau in December 2004. It is not known how they started. The field team were carrying out a routine check when they noticed smoke rising close to one of the key nesting sites. They tried to stop the flames spreading with buckets and bottles of water, and managed to contain them until the fire brigade arrived. Amazingly, not a single nest was lost. It was a terrifying moment, but, as Campos explains, "the most incredible sight during this whole operation was not the human effort to stop the flames, but the resignation of the Araripe Manakin mothers, sitting motionless in their nests, protecting their eggs, regardless of all the noise and rising temperatures."

Having narrowly avoided disaster, AQUASIS set about bringing the Manakin's critically endangered status to the attention of the local people and the federal government. It has managed to secure funding to develop an officially recognised conservation plan for the species, which will be ready by October.

In the meantime its members are working to promote the idea of a protected area covering this particularly fragile ecosystem.

Campos is positive, but he's fully aware of the difficulties involved. "I feel the majority of Brazilians are concerned about environmental issues, but they don't really understand the connection between society’s patterns of resource use and the implications for future generations," he says.

Deforestation, the biggest threat facing the Manakin, is a case in point. "Slopes where the forest was completely destroyed are now devoid of surface water. The lower the level of vegetation cover, the deeper underground the water table, and the more difficult it is for people to access."

And what difference does a little bird make? "Maintaining natural ecosystems which provide vital resources like water and soil means protecting the species that keep them functioning. These environments form the cornerstone of a sustainable society. They’re what keep our planet habitable."