Saving Amazona Imperalis: the pride of Dominica

In the year 2017, 150 mile-per-hour winds of Hurricane Maria barrelled into Dominica, popularly known as the nature island of the Caribbean. Hurricane not only affected the human habitat but it took a big toll on wildlife and nature too. The national bird of the country, ‘Amazona Imperalis’ (Sisserou parrot) was one of the most affected during natural catastrophe on the island. Also, Amazona Imperalis is listed in endangered species by the ‘International Union for Conservation of Nature’. The parrot can also be seen on the national flag of the country.

However, two years after the devastating hurricane took place, circumstances are becoming different for this bird. The current government seems to be working out on creating favorable conditions for the bird to reside on. The country now has a reserved land to protect its wildlife from any malformed situation.

The country celebrated ‘Caribbean endemic bird festival’ this year, where people of all ages came together to save their precious birds. At an event organised for this festival acting assistant forest officer in the Environmental Education Unit, Norma Anthony said, “We really want to bring out awareness regarding the significance of birds to our nature, we know that country had a serious blow after hurricane Maria, which caused a serious effect to our forest and our biodiversity, so, what we are trying to let the public know is that together we can prevent it,” she stated.

On the one hand, the government is providing free houses to people whereas it is not letting its natural habitat ignored. A number of steps are being taken to recover the nature at its best. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit the Ministry of Environment, Climate Resilience, Disaster management, and urban renewal is coming out with new policies to nurture the nature.