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November 2007
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SGP Funding Helps Save Mauritius Parrot
In September, the IUCN published its “red list” of loss of biodiversity on the planet. Amongst the bad news was a piece of good news: the last endemic parrot of Mauritius (psittacula eques also known as the echo parakeet) has been upgraded from “critically endangered” to “threatened.” The initial funding for conserving this critically endangered bird came from the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) in Mauritius in 1996, when only nine birds were found in the wild. With funding from the SGP, the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation (MWF) developed a captive breeding program and then successfully released the birds into the wild. Today, 333 echo parakeets are in the wild. The GEF and SGP offer their congratulations to the MWF and all the funders past and present who support them.
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