Ciudad de los Pájaros

Changemaker: Francisco Iñiaki Morón Zajama

Country of implementation: Argentina

Ciudad de los Pájaros (City of Birds) is the first interurban biological corridor of North West Argentine Republic for migratory birds aspiring to be a 10 year project, which serve as indicators of biodiversity that benefits both animals and humans as Mother Earth habitants in the northern part of the city of Salta. It proposes a participatory, coordinated, and complex intervention that will improve quality of life in a comprehensive manner, bringing together the social and biological spheres melt with each other between citizen of all ages participation, endorsing democracy, environmental - earth rights and community management between different neighborhoods.

General Objective

To create the first interurban biological corridor in a participatory and coordinated manner, for the protection of biodiversity, from the perspective of migratory birds, in the northern part of the city of Salta.

Specific Objectives

Conduct a biological and social survey in El Huaico as the first step in the intervention. 

Design a map of the interurban biological corridor as a connector between existing ecosystems where birds migrate, as indicators and guarantors of biodiversity. 

Develop a comprehensive environmental conservation and urban and architectural intervention plan that promotes the protection of plant and animal species representative of the area, assesses the impact of nearby watersheds on the quality of life of the community and biodiversity, and includes a reforestation program with native species to promote the feeding and habitat of migratory birds.

Conduct comprehensive environmental awareness workshops, preferably for children and young people, on caring for our common home.

Create a mural and plant native species as a participatory community intervention.

Strengthen inter-institutional coordination and citizen participation.

Create educational and public awareness materials on caring for biodiversity and birds in particular.

Sponsor green spaces within the biological corridor. Strengthen the agroecological and biodynamic approach of urban gardens in the area. Promote annual art competitions (audiovisual, photography, arts, and poetry) to raise environmental awareness.

Methodological Framework

An action research methodology will be applied, integrating biological and social areas. The proposal will be tailored to local institutions, organizations, and needs. The project envisages a 10-year strategic intervention for the establishment of the corridor. An annual feedback report on the proposal will be produced, as well as a publication of its results, together with a video disseminating the experience and testimonies of participants and direct beneficiaries.

How did this project come about?

This project was born during the pandemic, when during a visit to the Ciudad Judicial building, we witnessed the death of birds crashing into its large glass surfaces. As a result of this situation, we began an investigation throughout the area, confirming its plant biodiversity, numerous reserves, and aquifers, noting the presence of migratory birds and the importance of intervening in the area to strengthen the biological corridor from San Lorenzo to Mojotoro, and from Vaqueros to Bicentennial Park.

Salta is the province with the greatest biodiversity and cultural diversity in Argentina. Biodiversity has a high intrinsic value that is interdependent with human needs and is the main indicator of quality of life and sustainable development.  

The northern part of the city of Salta, which is undergoing rapid urban growth, is located between important watersheds and mountain ranges representative of the biodiversity of the transition valleys and yungas. It is also home to two biological reserves, lagoons, Bicentennial Park, and two university campuses, which is why urgent measures are needed to protect biodiversity and guarantee the environmental quality of its inhabitants. For all species a tree is a shelter, food, nesting place. But we can say that for migratory birds a biological corridor would be important since they are “passing through” between different ecosystems such as Chaco, Yunga and Puna regions. Also, if we talk about conservation, a corridor would be a safe space for endemic birds, which are those found only in this region.

More information in spanish at: https://fundacioncebil.org/la-ciudad-de-los-pajaros/.