Tobiana Passion: join the efforts to preserve the Maca Tobiano

Asociación Ambiente Sur assumed as one of its main commitments since its formation, transmitting information to the community and generating interest in the Macá Tobiano (Hooded Grebe- podiceps gallardoi) and the place where it lives, to then lead actions that help improve its critical conservation situation taking care of its habitat and contributing in the awareness on the critical danger of extinction that the species goes through. The main program of the NGO that frames these actions is the Macá Tobiano Project, which is being carried out together with the Aves Argentinas NGO. Now, Ambiente Sur has launched a campaign called "Pasión Tobiana", from which community leaders linked by passion and enthusiasm for Macá tobiano, call to join efforts and support with donations the actions carried out by Ambiente Sur.

The Macá Tobiano is a slender bird of great gallantry, which identifies the Association and is exclusive to the Province of Santa Cruz; It is a migratory species that, to successfully complete its biological cycle, uses different environments depending on the season of the year. During the months of August and September, the Maca begins its migration from the coast to the high plateaus located west of Santa Cruz. In November, he begins his reproductive period that extends until April. The Macá tobiano during this time lives in lakes and lagoons of the Patagonian plateaus that are over 700 meters above sea level. In winter, it migrates again towards the Atlantic estuaries, among them the Rio Gallegos river.

The Tobiana Passion Campaign was launched

by social networks and will last four weeks, during which the stories of four referents of the local community who have adopted the name or image of the macá Tobiano as a symbol of their organization or that, simply, the bird has been a stimulus in their lives.

The fans of the Macá tobiano.

In this way, the message of conservation is strengthened and it is sought that individual citizens, but also local businesses, become even more involved in the commitment to sustain and generate the necessary resources to undertake the actions required for the conservation of the species .

One of the protagonists of Pasión Tobiana is Germán Montero, Executive Director of Ambiente Sur, who explains in the videos published on the Facebook page of the NGO, that "despite everything that has been achieved, we still need many more efforts to reverse the process that is suffering the Macá tobiano "and adds:" we need the support to meet the expenses of the Project (Macá Tobiano), for which we have to work hard in very hostile conditions in the middle of winter, with intense cold, and in all the activities we develop. "

Martina Faller is 7 years old and is a fan of Macá Tobiano. Such is her admiration and passion for this little Santa Cruz bird that she never missed a function of the successive environmental plays that Ambiente Sur has released,

where the birds of the estuary and the urban nature reserves of Río Gallegos are the protagonists. In addition, her mother Margarita made her the stuffed macá tobiano with his pigeons and "Manolo Lagunas", the pink flamenco star of the plays. She, like every child, carries it with her everywhere.

The Macá Tobiano Rugby Club (MTRC) is a sports institution of Río Gallegos that already has 30 years of history and that involved young people from 6 years of age, both sexes.

One of its founders, while trying to choose a name for the club, read an article that told the story of Macá tobiano and the extreme difficulties it was going through for its conservation. That motivated him to choose the name for the club, as a way to multiply the message and now, continue adding wills and contributions to sustain the actions that can prevent its extinction. Oscar Funes, President of MTRC, expresses: "I want to invite you to join this Tobiana Passion with passion, passion and drive like us".

The fourth protagonist of Pasión Tobiana is Miguel Miño, a young actor from Río Gallegos, who has been part of the cast of the environmental theater plays produced by Ambiente Sur.

Miguel tells us that the character he most liked to represent is precisely "Macanudo", the Macá tobiano, since, as he says, "he was the one I enjoyed the most, as well as seeing how adults and children were joining the cause".

So far, since the campaign has not yet concluded, Pasión Tobiana has achieved an incidence of 19,051 participations, through the visualizations and interactions in the publications of the videos of the protagonists of the campaign and other posts related to it.

From Ambiente Sur we invite you to join the Tobiana Passion knowing these stories, sharing yours or making your contribution to the care of the species.