Budgeted expenses include costs for Armonía personnel Tjalle Boorsma, Project Supervisor and Luz Mercado, Project Lead plus a field assistant and a contracted botanist.  This critical project will require 17 months to conduct the activities of surveying, reforestation and monitoring during two dry and one rainy season.

The project will begin with baseline surveys to assess the current state of the habitat, including the area of the new land purchase (to be announced soon). Baseline data and evaluation of the remnant forested areas where the Blue-throated Macaw breed will assess the different states of habitat degradation. The surveys will document current forest diversity, structure, and composition of the remnant forest, an important first step in understanding the ecosystem and what needs to be done to restore the habitat. Data collected will serve as a baseline for the reserve management plan as well as guide the restoration efforts including a long-term Reforestation and Monitoring Plan.

After completing the baseline surveys, activities include restoring motacú palm trees Attalea phalerata, the fruit of which is the primary food source for the Blue-throated Macaw. Subsequently, Armonía will construct firebreaks to protect the restored areas.  In addition, workshops will be conducted on conservation and ecological restoration at the Laney Rickman Reserve engaging landowners, cattle ranchers, local government technicians and university students. 

Based on the results of the surveys, other native tree species considered for forest enrichment include the IUCN Vulnerable Big-leaf mahogany tree Swietenia macrophylla, the fruit-bearing evergreen tree Calophyllum brasiliense, the flowering tree Dypterix odorata that bears tonka beans, the Spanish cedar Cedrela odorata, and Ormosia spp. trees which produce striking black and red seeds.