African palm cultivation reduced 90% of birds in the plain Piedmont

The pechiwhite toucan (Ramphastos tucanus) / UN

* with information from Unimedios Agency

Coclí birds, guacamayas, caravans and Sabaneras bisbitas, among other species of birds, are no longer seen in the flat foot, especially in San Martín de los Llanos and Acacías (Meta).

According to research by biologist Diana Tamaris, PhD in Science and Biology at the National University of Colombia, the author of the most recent and comprehensive study on the impact of African palm monoculture on birds in Colombia, the panorama of plants and shrubs that visited more than a hundred migratory species from the United States, Canada, Argentina and Chile is being replaced by rows of palm trees 30 meters high where birds no longer reach.

A paradox if we consider that Colombia is the country with the largest number of bird species in the world. The study concluded that 90% of the bird species that were in the Piememonte llanero are no longer there. It does not necessarily mean that they have disappeared forever, but that with the gradual displacement of other species of trees, birds must nest and seek food elsewhere.

In 2014, the Wildlife Conservation and Management Group of the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales (ICN) of the National University of Colombia had warned of the reduction of specimens in those municipalities while increasing monoculture of African palm. At that time there were about 60,000 hectares of palm oil cultivated in the department of Meta.

Now that Colombia is the fourth largest oil palm producer, and that cultivation is found in 124 municipalities in 20 departments of the country, the figure should be up to date. The last count is from 2016, and according to Fedepalma, there are 141,068 hectares planted with oil in the Meta, and 116,161 hectares in production, which makes it the dapartamento with the largest number of hectares of African palm in the country.

Research

Between 2015 and 2016, researchers went into the crops of the municipalities of San Marín de los Llanos and Acacías (Meta) in the flat foothills and made 2.5 km walks to make a census of how many and what species of birds inhabit that region. They also used the fog net technique, a 12-meter mesh that catches the birds that biologists capture, measure, photograph and release.

They then compared the information with the Orinoquia bird report published by professors Orlando Rangel and Orlando Acevedo, according to which there are 761 species. The results were overwhelming: only 44 species made up of 468 individuals from 23 bird families were found.

According to Diana Tamaris, most of the remaining species are common species "of low conservation value, wide distribution, without threat category or migratory quality". They are residents and supreme tolerant of changes in the environment, such as the large turpial, the cook, the tigua and some rapacious birds.

The importance of birds in these ecosystems is vital because, according to research, they exercise biological control that prevents the proliferation of insects harmful to other crops, not just palm crops. "the absence of birds modifies the architecture of forests and the dispersion of fruits and seeds, preventing new trees and generating fewer resources for logging," the biologist explained to Unimedios.

African palm monoculture seriously affects species such as:

The study also confirmed that forests are much more favourable to birds than African palm crops. While 84% of species remain in forests, only 37.5% do so in monoculture.

New visitors

According to information from the Unal Agency, the effect of this intensive use has been the gradual change in the native food chain. The cultivation of African palm involves laying down leaves and leaving them lulled, and there are also fruits that fall. This new dynamic promotes the perfect food, hunting and habitat for rodents who, according to biologist Hugo López, find everything they need there.

Then come snakes that consume rodents, and behind them or their decomposed flesh (because people kill them and leave their remains) arrive the scavenging birds and others that also feed there: "then there are new relationships that need to begin to understand," he added.

Not everything is lost

The study is explicit in that it does not intend to stop growing palm, and makes the following recommendations for a sustainable and friendly crop with birds:

1. Sembrar palma junto con otros cultivos para fomentar la heterogeneidad y aumentar la diversidad
2. Los lotes de palma deben tener límites de vegetación con arbustos nativos para garantizar la permanencia de la biodiversidad nativa y favorecer la movilidad de las especies de todo tipo, no solo de aves.
3. Cultivar en lotes más pequeños y de diferentes tamaños para favorecer la biodiversidad.