Hunters No More - hiring former macaw trappers to help protect the birds - Brief Article

E: The Environmental Magazine, July, 2000 by Lillian M. Roberts

Jose Lima called Munn. "Let's talk," he said. "I don't want to go to prison." The Hyacinth Cliffs Project is now the only place in the world where visitors can be guaranteed a close-up view of dozens of these giant blue macaws.

Carlinhos, in the meantime, found prison unbearable. Locked in a 10-foot by 10-foot cell with four other men, he had plenty of time to reflect on his options. He was a rich man thanks to smuggling, but times were finally changing. So when Salvador-based conservation group BioBrasil approached him, he seized the opportunity to change his life. It could be the beginning of the end for parrot trapping in Brazil. CONTACT: InkaNatura, (888)287-7186, www.InkaNatura.com.

(The author thanks Dr. Charles Munn and Richard Hartley for arranging and translating the interviews from the Spanish.)