My brother, Francisco Marcondes Barretto, who also is a preservationist, has helped my father for many years, and as a result of the philosophy of the family’s activity, it is possible to admire the great diversity of the fauna and flora of the Pantanal eco system on the ranch.”

Ana Maria believes that the turning point in the development of the ranch came as a result of her father’s vision.  From his observation of the habits of a flock of Blue Macaws, he noticed that the bocaiuva palms near the main house were the place where around 200 to 300 of them chose to sleep every night, and he realised that to protect this population of macaws, these palms had to be preserved.

“When I inherited this special place,” Ana Maria continues, “I felt it was my responsibility to keep alive this conservation work that had been developed.  My intention has not exclusively been focused on economic results, but paying attention to the way we manage our activities, and making sure that we do not disrupt the cycle of life.”

Ana Maria’s objective, from the start, was to understand more about what she calls “this amazing Blue Macaw population” and its habitat, so she got in touch with Dr Pedro Scherer Neto PhD and Dr Neiva Guedes PhD - well known experts on birds, and particularly on Blue Macaws - who undertook the development of the project.

Pedro Scherer Neto takes up the story.  “In July 1999, WWF-Brazil organized a workshop in the north Pantanal’s southern state of Mato Grosso, with the objective of building a big program for the conservation of the Blue Macaw in Brazil. Many ornithologists, ecologists and people from IBAMA were invited to attend by the biologist, Maria Bernadete Ribas Lange, a great friend of mine.”

The aim was to discuss the development of a program for the distribution area of the macaw, so - prior to the workshop - the whole team travelled to the São Francisco farm for a first-hand view of the movements of the macaws. Pedro, together with Maria Iolita Bampi, at that time the Fauna coordinator of IBAMA, travelled to the farm in one of the last flights from the city of Cuiabá, arriving at around 4.00 pm - at which time more than 90 Blue Macaws were perched on the fences along the pista de pouso.

“It was never expected!” says Pedro, “A wonderful surprise!  At the end of the day, all the people watched a large flock of these macaws arriving from north, west, south and east, to perch in the ‘dormitory’, the group of bocaiuva palms just in front of the main house of the farm! That day marks the PSN (Pedro Scherer Neto) life forever! “