Salto Marato

Tiger Rat Snake

We arrived in Guanacasava and took a bus up into the Atlantic Rainforest. of the Salto Marato reserve. On the way I spotted guria cuckoos and a black-and-white monjita in a pasture. Salto Marato is a private nature reserve by Fundacao Obotacario. Fundacao O Botacario is a conservation organization funded by the O Botacario cosmetic company.

Salto Marato is a relatively small reserve at 7,000 acres, however it adjoins some much larger reserves. One of the requirements of O Boticario to purchase land for a reserve is that it adjoins another protected area. This is in keeping with the theory of Biogeography, that an intact area of habitat of a certain size will have higher biodiversity than the same area of fragmented habitat.

Upon arrival at the reserve we were shown a tiger rat snake at the entrance by volunteer, Romeiro.
We had our first presentation by Zulekia, the reserve director. During the coffee break I spotted a channel-billed toucan on a bare tree outside the visitor center.

We learned about the severe degradation of the Atlantic Forest to less than 7% of it's original coverage. Zulekia explained how the over harvesting of palmito palm for hearts of palm causes a trophic cascade as it is such an important food source for furgiverous animals. Loss of this species reduces the amount of seed-dispersing birds in the forest.