‘Buy a parrot, go to jail’ campaign launched by local, foreign agencies

Santo Domingo.- Dominican government agencies and foreign institutionson Thursday launched a campaign to protect the Hispaniola Parrot (Amazonaventralis), whose sale and destruction of its habitat have made it an endangeredspecies.

The 46-second video ‘Buy a parrot, go to jail. Let them fly’seeks to raise awareness and enforce Environment Law 64-00.

"It is vital to the protection, conservation andsustainable use of various ecosystems that make up the natural and culturalheritage of the Dominican nation and native species of flora and endemic andmigratory wildlife, which are a fundamental part of them," the law states.

The Environment Ministry, the US State Dept. and the HispaniolaOrnithological Conservation Society (SOH) figure among the institutions which signedthe agreement.