Social sciences inform our planning in order to achieve positive results for conservation of species in the field.

For the Red-browed Amazon Parrot Project, among other actions, Parque das Aves works in the community of Águas Formosas, Minas Gerais, monitoring parrot populations, conducting research on trafficking, and developing actions to engage the local community positively in favor of the conservation of the species.

One of the actions was to develop a project to promote citizen awareness focused on family groups called the Guardians of the Red-browed Amazon Parrot.

A formative evaluation survey was carried out with the local communities to refine the intervention planned, which was conducted by personnel experienced in the educational evaluation of Parque das Aves with support from external experts from the nonprofit research entity, the Institute for Methods Innovation.

Based on this, a detailed plan was developed and the recruitment of participants was completed to start the training sessions in citizen awareness and observation.

Sessions are held with the families, with the children participating taking on a leadership role to show family members how to make observations and leading part of the bird observations. An app was developed through which the children are able to record their observations of the red-browed Amazon parrot in addition to making questions about the attitudes of children in relation to the species and its main problems. These data are used to plan and refine additional actions.

The project was designed to ensure that the experiences of observing birds have the desired positive effects, overcome potential barriers, and become aligned with the logistical constraints of the local context.