The Virtual Birdfair is now live. Visit the REGUA stand here:
Please note that if you want to donate to REGUA and help to support our project in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest you need to do this via our website here. Your money will go towards land purchase, tree planting and the restoration of the area, creating vital corridors between fragmented forest.
The donate buttons on the Birdfair site will go to this year’s BirdLife International project to protect the Helmeted Hornbill in Indonesia from illegal poaching and trading.
We hope you will enjoy the new virtual Birdfair experience.
REGUA are delighted to be able to attend the Virtual Birdfair which is taking place online this year. So although travel throughout the world is disrupted the Birdfair will still be there, just a click away. REGUA will be present, and the UK team will be with you all in spirit throughout the weekend. Once live we will publish a link to bring you closer to our “stand”.
All the usual favourites will be there with live and pre-recorded talks, films, a photography competition and the familiar auction. The full Birdfair programme of lectures and events will be fully operational from 18-23 August, but until then you can follow the link to the Virtual Birdfair here to take a look at the first Virtual Birdfair.
The Guapiaçu Grande Vida (GGV II) Petrobras funded forest restoration and environmental education project has now come to the end, after two more productive years at REGUA. Here is a summary of the main achievements:
Forest restoration: In the GGV II area, 60 hectares of degraded areas were replanted between 2017-2019, with 120,000 native trees of 181 different Atlantic Forest species. Together with the 100 hectares planted with 180,000 trees by the GGV I project between 2013-2015, a total of 160 hectares have now been reforested with 300,000 saplings grown in our nursery from seeds collected on the reserve. Replanting these areas has created forest corridors between the remaining forest fragments, that are vital if biodiversity is to thrive and recover.
As part of the restoration scheme, growth and biomass counts in the previously planted GGV I area and the GGV II area were established. The GGV I area was monitored, concentrating efforts on weeding, leafcutter ant control, tree replanting and fertilizer soil enrichment. Monitoring across the whole 160 hectares planted provided the base on which to evaluate the effectiveness of the restoration and allowed for carbon sequestration analysis of the GGV I area after four years since it was planted. REGUA’s rangers, as well as both agriculturalists and land owners (totalling 32 participants), were trained to implement forest restoration methodology.
Environmental education: As part of the environmental education strategy, a water quality monitoring protocol was implemented in the Guapi-Macacu watershed. 52 Cachoeiras de Macacu secondary school students were selected and trained to collect 300 water samples at four different sites along the Guapiaçu, Macacu and Boa Vista rivers (upstream and downstream of villages and towns). In addition, a very instructive publication, Methodology and Water Quality Monitoring Results, was produced.
School visitation programme: This programme aimed at strengthening visitation to the new Grande Vida educational trail. The first 400 metres of the trail have been adapted to host the physically handicapped visitors.
The GGV school visitation programme funded children’s transport to REGUA and the Sharing Nature environmental education approach was implemented for students (primary and secondary school levels) to experience proximity to nature. Over 4000 students visited REGUA between 2017-2019. The GGV team held two teacher training courses, which allowed teachers to make the best educational use of the Grande Vida trail. A trail guiding course was also organized for 22 participants which enabled them to acquire knowledge on Cachoeiras de Macacu’s sustainable use of its natural beauties.
At the end of December 2019 the Petrobras Socio-Environmental Program grant was finally signed, and in January 2020, the GGV project, now renamed the Guapiaçu Project, started its activities. We have another two very busy years ahead of us (2020-2022), continuing the forest restoration within the upper Guapiaçu watershed, and developing the environmental education activities within Cachoeiras de Macacu and the neighbouring Itaborai municipalities.
On 27th October each year, Rio de Janeiro Bird Club gathered at REGUA for the annual event at REGUA. The previous day many birders visited the Três Picos Park and then arrived to stay overnight at REGUA and explore the Reserve on the following day.
The event was a real success with 76 birders participating and 242 bird species seen. REGUA took birders on the green trail to see the Shrike-like Cotinga and to Waldenoor to see the Long-tailed Potoo, both enigmatic birds that can be tough to see anywhere else.
The Birdfair was in full swing this time last week, and REGUA had an amazing time. Many friends came along to find out the latest news of the project and we kept in touch here in Brazil via messages and photographs. Our UK team received vital help over the weekend, so a big REGUA “thank you” to Alan, Sue, Stuart, Ken, Tracy, and Ian, who gave their time.
Everyone who visited our stand showing continued interest and support in the project really makes a difference and keeps us pushing forward with new impetus to protect and restore more land. Without our amazing team of workers, volunteers, visitors, donors and support from so many people across the globe we would not have been able to achieve so much in so short a time. You are all playing a vital role in continuing to build the reputation and success of REGUA.
In only two weeks the Birdfair will be in full swing, and our stand (marquee 8, stand 12) will show the amazing journey REGUA has travelled. Come along and meet the UK REGUA team from 16-18th August.
REGUA is delighted to offer its premises to a number of Universities in Rio de Janeiro.
The most recent group, Zoology 2019, arrived from Rio de Janeiro Federal University. These students, starting their first term, have come to REGUA for their four day field course.
REGUA offers full board accommodation and the Reserve gains a chance to receive these young minds and an opportunity to explain the purposes of the project. The students gain a safe place to be introduced to the world of science.
Students working hard in the laboratory
A perfect match and we trust these youngsters will take their skills and remember their time here and contribute to conservation in some way in their professional lives in the future.
For the 13th year, REGUA will have a stand at the British Birdfair at Egleton Nature Reserve, Rutland Water, Leicestershire. Why not come along and catch up with all the latest news from the reserve. We will be in different Marquee this year, marquee 8, stand 12, so make sure you don’t miss us!
A conservation project of this dimension is not possible without constant support from a whole team. In REGUA’s case some of our team are based in the UK. The UK team, led by Alan Martin, include Lee Dingain, Rachel Walls and Sue Healey. They have been a pillar of strength to this project. All volunteers, they started by visiting REGUA to see birds and were smitten by the REGUA bug; a desire to get involved and ensure the continuation of this project. It seems only yesterday we first met them and within a couple of days they were asking how they could help. With zillions of contributions, Alan with his experience in business administration, Lee with website skills, Rachel who runs our Volunteer Programme, and Sue with her communication skills, this incredible team has helped increase the capacity of REGUA to promote its work.
Today these efforts are responsible for its international success. The team have also been promoting REGUA and our steady progress over the last twelve years at the British Birdfair, so go along and see the latest updates at this years fair at Rutland Water, Leicestershire, Marquee 8, Stand 12 from 16th to 18th August 2019. You can follow the progress of our project here on our website, or follow the links below to our Facebook page and Twitter feed. Every visitor is welcome at REGUA and your time here contributes to its perpetuity. All of us at REGUA wish to thank the volunteer team who have devoted so much time to this project and continue to shine in every respect.
The Rio de Janeiro Miraflores bilingual school made their 7thannual visit this year, expressing their keenness to learn about Nature and helping to plant native trees.
Miraflores’ School’s director Luiz makes sure that this event is given the right importance for he sees in this excursion, an activity that awakens the pupils to environmental responsibility. This year REGUA received 65 children between the age of 6 and 7, divided them into smaller groups to walk them around the reserve showing flora and fauna, from insects to reptiles and mammals to the trees growing. Being a bilingual school they demand the talking in English enjoyed by all. They visit the nursery, fill the individual plant bags, plant seeds and transfer seedlings to understand what is involved in the entire process to start a forest.
Their walk shows that forests can be started and provide habitat for a multitude of species. They feel responsible and connected, and learn that restoration is only about effort.
The school has been visiting annually since 2011 and I always remind them that they are the reason why we want to continue planting trees. It is a true privilege too offers these children the opportunity of sharing this unique experience here at REGUA.
Thank you Luiz for providing the opportunity to share our work with you; your staff and your children.
This was the 12th year in a row that REGUA has attended the British Birdwatching Fair, and what a successful Birdfair it was!
Held each year at Egleton Nature Reserve at Rutland Water in England, the Birdfair is the world’s largest conservation fundraising fair and this year (the 30th Birdfair) is helping to fund the creation of the Ansenuza National Park in Argentina.
Our stand was once again organized and manned by our dedicated volunteers, Rachel Walls, Lee Dingain and Sue Healey, with assistance from Alan Martin, and Ken Sutton and Stuart Housden also both helping out for a day. It was good we had so many people helping because we had a large number of visitors to the stand, new faces, past visitors and volunteers and volunteers signed up to our volunteer programme.
REGUA is now well and truly on the birdwatching map and we are a firm believers that international birdwatching tourism is crucial in helping REGUA carry out our urgent conservation work protecting the Atlantic Forest of the Guapiaçu valley.
A huge thanks to everybody who visited our stand and also to all the Birdfair volunteers for making the event run so smoothly. We would also like to give a special thanks to Guto Carvalho of Avistar (the Brazilian Bird Fair) for mentioning REGUA in their excellent talk, and to Rachel Walls for all her hard work behind the scenes organising the REGUA stand each year and for baking her amazing cakes!
We look forward to seeing some of you at REGUA soon! If you have any enquiries about visiting REGUA then please drop us a email.
The Sao Paulo Birdfair, Avistar, held at the Butantã Gardens has to be one of the greatest venues to attend in South America, if not the Americas. It is just teeming with bird guides, exciting news, conservation projects and photographers. The date is always mid-May and the event is run by Gustavo “Guto” Carvalho and his wonderful team, he brings together the best of the birding world in Brazil.
Butantã is world famous for producing snake serum and the Gardens holds the marquis full of stands. REGUA has one small stand that is shared with other Rio birders and this makes for one of the most popular venues. We get to meet up with the birders, guides and tour companies to share news and comment on recent activities. Everyone is a member of a big extended family and we leave feeling fully revived and firing on all cylinders. The photograph shows Nicholas and Raquel with just a few of the people they met this year. Already looking forward to next year’s venue.
If you want to meet up with Guto, he will be at the UK Birdfair this August – our UK Team look forward to seeing him there.
REGUA has just received the Federal University of Juiz de Fora and Uppsala University on a week-long workshop at REGUA as part of the International Research Council project “Greenhouse gases arising from reservoirs in Brasil”.
Reservoirs providing water to hydroelectric plants have always been perceived as “green energy” but in fact this is not always the case. In partnership with Uppsala University and other partners, various doctorate and master students have worked over three years to study various reservoirs across the country to determine their long term effects and the results will help the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to perhaps cast a shadow as the future of their construction.
Although the countries of Mozambique and Brazil are located far from each other in miles, they share the same mother tongue and have relatively similar climates and also economic interests.
Can they learn from each other and can they help each other? Since 2006, the German Development bank GIZ has been promoting a cooperation agreement between both countries in various sectors, and late last year one Rio de Janeiro University invited several successful conservation projects to share an internet platform that would increase visibility and promote tourism.
Both the Golden lion Tamarin Project, and Conservation International participated and it shows we all have common interests in reaching out to help other organizations in both countries to engage with and share experiences. The very first stone was laid!
INEA – Rio de Janeiro State Environmental Agency – encourages land owners to create their own private reserves which are officially recognized by the state government. RPPN status allows no direct use of the land but allows activities such as environmental education, sustainable tourism and scientific research to be carried out. Much of REGUA’s land has been granted RPPN status and three new areas were finalised last August.
There were over 100 participants attending the event that started in the morning and continued until the evening.
Studies on forest ecology, flora and fauna inventories were presented to a very interested audience.
Land owners, university professors, undergraduates, post graduates, state and municipal authorities enjoyed this seminar which enriched everyone´s knowledge on the Atlantic Forest.
Last Friday to Sunday, tens of thousands of birders and wildlife enthusiasts descended on Egleton Nature Reserve at Rutland Water in the UK for the annual British Birdwatching Fair.
This was the 11th year in a row that REGUA has been represented at this internationally important event and our stand was once again organized and manned by our dedicated volunteers, Rachel Walls, Lee Dingain and Sue Healey. Past volunteer bird guide Ken Sutton was also on the stand on the Friday and Saturday and did a great job helping out the team.
The Birdfair is the ideal place for us to spread the word about the excellent birdwatching at REGUA and how international birdwatching tourism is crucial in helping REGUA carry out the important conservation work protecting the Atlantic Forest of the Guapiaçu valley.
Once again we had a huge amount of interest from birders and tour companies alike, and it was great to catch up with many past guests and supporters, as well as with our friends at the World Land Trust and Serra dos Tucanos.
We’d like to say thank you to everybody who came by our stand and for helping to once again make Birdfair such a special event for us. It gives the whole REGUA team, both in Brazil and the UK, such a boost to receive so many compliments and encouragement. Also, we’d like to give a special thanks to Mr and Mrs Lee for making such a generous donation towards our land purchase and tree planting.
If you have any enquiries about visiting REGUA then please drop us a email. We look forward to seeing some of you at REGUA soon.
It’s that time of year again – the annual British Birdwatching Fair, better known simply as the Birdfair, returns to Rutland Water in the UK next weekend.
This huge event attracts over 20,000 people and raises thousands of pounds for nature conservation every year. The Birdfair is the perfect place for us to spread the word about the excellent birding at REGUA and on our excursions in surrounding Serra dos Órgãos mountains and beyond, our beautifully situated bird lodge, and also to demonstrate how birding tourism is helping REGUA to conserve and restore one of the best preserved areas Atlantic Forest remaining in Rio de Janeiro state.
REGUA has had a stand at the Birdfair since 2007 and this year it will once again be manned by Rachel Walls, Sue Healey and Lee Dingain, along with past volunteer bird guide Ken Sutton will also be on the stand on Friday and Saturday. All of our publications will be available to buy (with a special Birdfair discount) and you’ll also be able to grab some free RAW Baking goodies from Rachel including her now legendary “Bristlefront Brownie” and “Fruitcrow Flapjack”!
If you are going to the Birdfair then why not drop by the REGUA stand and say hello at stand 37, marquee 1. We look forward to seeing you there!
The Birdfair will be taking place at Egleton Nature Reserve, Rutland Water, UK, from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th August 2017.
REGUA received members of the Rio de Janeiro voluntary Forestry Brigade, a grass roots organization made up of professional people from Rio city who are committed to conservation.
The Team arrived on a lovely Saturday morning to enjoy a walk around the wetlands and discuss opportunities to support REGUA’s work. Among the issues discussed during the day were potential for help in combatting hunting and forest fires, first aid courses and community engagement through education programmes, these are all issues which could be used to support landowners across the globe. With REGUA’s successful Ranger Team, Community, Young Ranger and School education programme we were delighted to host the event and share our own experiences.
The Brigade would like to include REGUA as a place where they can stage weekend events including hiking on the forest trails on the prowl for any hunters.
Many members are retired but totally committed to forest protection and very keen to support REGUA activities.
REGUA recently hosted the Atlantic Rainforest Restoration Pact workshop. The Restoration Pact is made up of all the environmental projects that are in some ways contributing to increasing forest cover in the biome.
Headed by the Brazilian organization CEPAN, and funded by German development bank, KfW, REGUA hosted this three day workshop with professionals in the field o
Severino and Ludmilla, led the group and the aim of the three days here was to test and improve monitoring techniques needed for the Pact restoration process.
Itself a member, this was also an opportunity to present REGUA’s work and the group was divided into three teams to test the techniques the Pact had developed. Out in the field the groups were very impressed with REGUA’s forest restoration process which left us not only proud of our efforts but committed to continue reforesting.
This is often the type of support needed to reach out and keep up the motivation factor. We are only too happy to contribute.
The Rio de Janeiro Birding Calender for 2017 successfully kicked off on March 11th and 12th at REGUA.
Some 30 local birders came to enjoy the wetlands and waterfall trail. An early start, followed by Cirilo’s guiding enabled many first time birders to walk the yellow trail and see many of the over 180 species found in this habitat.
The REGUA stand at the British Birdfair (© Lee Dingain)
