The Vinaceous Amazon (Amazona vinacea) has become rare throughout its large range, with human activity greatly affecting wild populations. Capture for the wild bird trade causes the loss of nestlings, and forest destruction and degradation have had severe effects on breeding.

Since 2011, the World Parrot Trust has supported a series of in-country conservation actions to re-establish the species in areas of its historic range, rehabilitate and release confiscated birds, support the species with in-situ conservation management in Argentina’s Atlantic Forest, including installing nest boxes, and encourage parrot education and special events in local communities.

WPT-Brazil has participated in releases, the first of their kind, with the R3 Animal organization in Santa Catarina in southern Brazil. In 2022, in partnership with Natural Encounters Conservation Fund, WPT helped support Aves Argentina’s goal to implement long-term conservation strategies, update the conservation status of Vinaceous Amazons and other parrots of the southern Atlantic Forest, understand the impact of illegal trade, increase breeding success by installing nest boxes and work with local communities to change perceptions of the birds. In early 2023, a new annual count was held in Misiones with Aves Argentinas, local birdwatching clubs, farming families, the Ministry of Ecology of Misiones, the National Parks Administration and students from the University of San Pedro. The final count was 247 parrots, about ten percent of the world’s population.

The region’s yearly Fiesta Provincial del Loro Pecho Vinoso has begun celebrating the Amazons as a symbol of cultural identity. With the help of a young student ranger, the team is also building an interpretation centre that will highlight the parrots’ plight and promote conservation actions.