The Blue Macaw is not only the beautiful animal featured on the front of our Amazon Flakes cereal boxes, they are an endangered animal in need of our help. EnviroKidz is proud to partner with The Amazon Conservation Team in their efforts to coordinate with local populations and develop education-based conservation strategies. Read on to learn more about these beautiful animals and what The Amazon Conservation Team is doing to ensure they have a brighter future.
Did you know?
- Blue macaws are the largest of all parrots and can have a wingspan of five feet.
- Macaws have toes with special grips that enable them to latch onto branches as well as to hold items – they’ve even been known to use tools!
- Macaws have large, powerful beaks that can easily crack nuts and seeds.
- Macaws are playful and inquisitive and are able to mimic human vocalizations very well.
- Macaws live an average of 60 years. They mate for life, and share the task of raising young.
Amazon Conservation Team
The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving South American rainforests. This small but robust outfit occupies a unique niche among other environmental non-profits working in the tropics. ACT works hand in hand with local indigenous communities to devise and implement its conservation strategies. They seek to grow the number of indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin who can monitor, sustainably manage, and protect their traditional forests. Their ethno-education programs teach indigenous children about both Western subjects and their traditional cultures and local ecosystems. Through ACT curriculum, students can apprentice with local healers, learning the art and mystery of plant medicine. The understanding they gain through such programs gives them both reason and resources to defend the rainforest.
Our Support
EnviroKidz funding has helped ACT develop educational materials for their ethno-education programs, and has created opportunities for indigenous youth to learn about the rainforest and their traditional cultures. We’ve helped them build a school and fill it with culturally appropriate learning materials, and we’ve supported the development of curriculum and field trips in Suriname and Colombia. We’ve also helped ACT develop collaborative partnerships with other organizations, like UNICEF and tribal associations, to support indigenous education.
Recently we partnered with 2 schools and the University of Amazonia. We trained over 30 students as ecological monitors, and developed a participatory research program that trained 8 students as local researchers. We also facilitated workshops, monitoring expeditions, and sampling activities to raise awareness among the children about the importance of their community's natural resources.
How can you save the blue macaws?
- Dedicate a school project to learning about the rainforest.
- Ask teachers to include the rainforest and biodiversity in your school’s curriculum. The Amazon Conservation Team has resources to support you.
- Donate by skipping your daily coffee so you can help provide the Amazon indigenous tribes with much-needed supplies.
- Host a bake sale or another fundraiser.
- Enjoy EnviroKidz Amazon Frosted Flakes Cereal knowing that 1% of sales goes to support these great programs.
Every time you buy one of Nature’s Path’s EnviroKidz products, 1% of the sales are donated to support endangered species, habitat conservation, and environmental education for kids worldwide. To date, we have raised over $3 million to help our partnering organizations with their educational and protection efforts!
