Bolivia

While brief, this recording captures the dawn chorus in Bolivia’s Noel Kempff Mercado National Park. The sounds were captured by Ted Parker, a former senior scientist at Conservation International who designed the organization’s Rapid Assessment Program, which evaluates the health of ecosystems around the world. The first expedition, which included the renown botanist Al Gentry, surveyed the Madidi region in Bolivia and led to the establishment of the Madidi National Park — 1.8 million hectares (4.5 million acres) of tropical wilderness. Tragically, Parker and Gentry were killed while conducting an aerial survey for a Rapid Assessment Program in Ecuador in 1993. Conservation International has since conducted more than 120 rapid assessments around the world.