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Ranching and Birding in Uruguay go Hand-in-Hand
Sustainably raising cattle in natural grassland systems
© Nicolás Marchand
In the Departamento de Maldonado of Uruguay, lives a biologist, Nicolás Marchand, who has been working with ranchers to make conservation and sustainability compatible with raising cattle in grasslands. A kind of approach that makes sure pastures for livestock also help host birds like the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, which spend their winters here. He wants to keep enhancing connections with ranchers, restoring pastures, and creating management practices that benefit wintering shorebirds — all to avoid losing more of these crucial ecosystems.
Listen to this episode in Spanish here.
BirdNote®
Ranching and Birding in Uruguay go Hand-in-Hand
Written by Camilo Garzón
This is BirdNote.
Biologist Nicolás Marchand lives in the Departamento de Maldonado of Uruguay, and works with ranchers to make raising cattle in grasslands sustainable and compatible with conservation. A kind of approach that makes sure pastures are appropriate for livestock and also helps host birds like the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, which spend their winters here…
[Buff-breasted Sandpiper, ML 131488]
Nicolás Marchand: Nosotros somos un país que hace ganadería en un sistema natural.
Uruguay, Nicolás is saying here, is a country that does ranching in a natural system. Not a transformed one. That means, unlike other kinds of ranching, these pastures are still native grassland ecosystems that offer a vital habitat for birds and other wildlife. And he’s working to conserve ranching from intensive urban development nearby. He and his Manomet team build relationships and engage with ranchers and agricultural agencies operating among these lagoons.
Nicolás Marchand: Todavía tenemos un gran porcentaje, 60% del Uruguay es campo natural…
We still have a great percentage of natural pastures and grasslands, about 60% of Uruguay, Nicolás says here.
Nicolás Marchand: Pero hemos perdido mucho en muy poco tiempo, no? Entonces...
But many have been lost in a short period of time. He wants to keep enhancing his connections with ranchers, restoring pastures, and creating management practices that benefit wintering shorebirds — all to avoid losing more of these crucial ecosystems.
This show is part of a series on Manomet's shorebird conservation research, and it's also available en español — visit our website, BirdNote dot org, to learn more. I'm Camilo Garzón.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Script Editor: Camila Kerwin from the Rough Cut Collective
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Buff-breasted Sandpiper ML 131488 recorded by G. Vyn, and Soundscape Xeno Canto 200500 recorded by A. Riccetto.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote October 2022
Narrator: Camilo Garzón
ID# manomet-06-2022-10-11 manomet-06
Camilo Garzón
Writer NarratorSights & Sounds
