Flor y Canto

For nearly four decades, the Vicente Guerrero Agency, an indigenous community with limited resources in Zaachila, Oaxaca, endured the effects of an open-air landfill. They have been working for years to restore their river and polluted waters. This inspired a community initiative based on participatory science in collaboration with Celebrate Urban Birds to reconnect the community with its natural heritage and explore nature-based solutions that includes birds as indicators to improve the shared habitat with our feathered friends and nature.

‘We must learn from the birds, from their freedom and the way they seek out their home,’ reflects one of the adult participants in the activity. ‘They choose the best places and conserve them; the life of the birds is an analogy for the positive change we must make.’

Thirty-five young people ventured into a territory they had seldom visited. Equipped with the Merlin Bird ID application and accompanied by biologist Eugenio Padilla of the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), the youth began a five-hour adventure that would change their perception of the place they inhabit.

The group organized into small teams to start the trek with the utmost silence. Suddenly, the forest filled with sightings: participants began identifying species they didn’t know inhabited the area.

For the young people, the experience was revealing: ‘It’s another way to get to know the place you live; it opens up the possibility for us to re-evaluate what we have in terms of nature and the environment.’

In a community that for decades carried the burden of pollution, birds became messengers of hope. Their presence, previously ignored, is now celebrated as a symbol that life finds a way to flourish, marking the beginning of a renewed commitment to environmental justice and conservation.

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