After the Gold Rush... — Birds on the Brink

Birds on the Brink is supporting an ongoing conservation project aimed at understanding how understorey bird communities are responding to small scale artisanal gold mining (ASGM) in the rainforests of Guyana. With 79% of the world’s 1,227 threatened bird species living in tropical and montane forests, this biodiverse region is an important area of global conservation interest. Moreover, birds play important roles through the ecosystem services that they provide. They act as predators, pollinators, scavengers, seed dispersers, and seed consumers. Many of these services are environmentally irreplaceable and their loss could have catastrophic impacts on the surrounding ecosystem health.

***Above: An aerial view of artisanal gold mining in Guyana. Photo ©Sean Glynn***

ASGM is rapidly becoming the largest driver of deforestation in the Guiana shield region, an area which has some of the highest levels of intact forest left in any country. This gold mining has devastating impacts on local landscapes, converting primary rainforests into abandoned wastelands of sand and pools, devoid of any nutrients and polluted with toxic mercury.

***The environmental blot on the landscape left by gold mining in Guyana. Photo ©Sean Glynn***

***Sean Glynn, BOTB grant recipient, with a Rufous-throated Antbird. Photo ©Sean Glynn***

In this project, awardee Sean Glynn of the University of Kent’s Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) is undertaking the first research to understand the impacts of gold mining on understory bird communities. This research aims to answer questions such as: How do bird communities change after mining has taken place? After what time period do we see recovery of forest specialist species in mining areas? And, what impacts to ecosystem services are we seeing with the changes in bird communities?

***Black-necked Aracari - a consumer of berries and seeds, and unwitting agent of seed dispersal. Photo ©Sean Glynn***

With the aid of local ex-miners, Sean and his research team will undertake a 3-month research expedition into the remote jungles of Guyana, collecting data in abandoned mines of different sizes and ages (time since abandonment). Using mist nets, the team will study understorey bird communities in the mined areas, the surrounding forest edges and surrounding forests themselves. They will be compared to the bird communities surveyed in nearby pristine forests. The knowledge will provide insight into community changes, whether or not bird populations recover following mine abandonment, and the pace of recovery if that takes place.

***Artisanal gold mining leaves deep scars in the landscape. Photo ©Sean Glynn***

The outcomes of this study will increase the scientific knowledge of the impacts of ASGM. In addition, they will also be vital when putting forward conservation land management and recovery plans. Hopefully, this research will highlight the impacts that mining has on bird communities and the ecosystem services that they provide. This can then be used to guide land use planning and regulations on ASGM, not only in Guyana but also in the rest of Amazonia.