Asociación Armonía
Asociación Armonía is a non-governmental organization legally established in 1996. Its mission is to protect the most endangered birds in Bolivia and prevent the extinction of any bird species in the country. Armonía’s areas of work include restoring and protecting key bird habitats in coordination with local communities and other important stakeholders and managing self-sustaining, private protected areas that can integrate activities, such as ecotourism and beekeeping, into key habitats. It supports the creation and management of national and municipal protected areas to preserve threatened bird species and their habitats. To achieve that goal, Armonia creates educational programming, including programs to stop the illegal wildlife trade in parrot species. Asociación Armonía is a leading scientific resource for information about Bolivia’s most endangered bird species and how to protect them.
As an Acción Andina partner, Armonía works with high Andean native communities within the Tunari National Park in Cochabamba. Together, they restore native forests with a large array of native species such as Polylepis, Tipa, Jarca, Molle, and Lloke.
Restoration Leaders
Rodrigo Soria
Rodrigo obtained his bachelor’s degree in biology at the Universidad Mayor de San Simón in Cochabamba, Bolivia. In 2003, he led teams of biologists in identifying Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) in Bolivia, a collaborative project between the University of Glasgow, Armonía, and the Noel Kempff Mercado Natural History Museum. Rodrigo played an important role in the identification of Important Bird Conservation Areas in Bolivia. Later, he developed the Stone Tuft Guan Conservation and Research Program. Rodrigo was the first biologist to document the population of this endangered species in the TIPNIS (Indigenous Territory and Isiboro Sécure National Park). In 2009, he obtained a PhD at the University of Goettingen in Germany. He continued on as a postdoc associate until July of 2011. Later that year, Rodrigo returned to Armonía as Director of Conservation Programs and has served as Executive Director since August 2016. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of BirdLife International’s Regional Council for the Americas since September 2018.
Omar Oporto Daza
Omar is a forest engineer who has worked for numerous institutions managing and inspecting environmental and natural resource conservation projects. He has a deep interest in forest management. Before joining the Armonía team, he was responsible for the Forestation, Reforestation, and Comprehensive Forest Management Project in the department of Cochabamba, executing the improvement of nurseries, production of seedlings, forest management, afforestation campaigns, monitoring, and evaluation of tree plantings.