Juan Manuel Cardona

Juan is a Colombian birding guide and a passionate advocate for birds and conservation. From his formative years in grade school, Juan was always attracted to the incredible bird biodiversity found in his home country and was a founding member of a local birding group called Aguilas, where he led walks as a student and excelled in identifying birds by sight and sound. Based in the city of Pereira, he worked for several years as a nature and birding guide at the Otún Quimbaya Fauna and Flora Sanctuary, whilst also studying tourism and heritage administration at UNISARC and music at the Technological University of Pereira. As his university education progressed, he became increasingly focused on bird biology, and in particular bird communication and migration. Juan is a co-founder of an NGO called the Yarumo Blanco Community Association, an organisation whose objectives support and promote responsible tourism development, conservation, and nature education in the Otún river basin of Pereira. Juan is also opening up new worlds of birding in Colombia, helping to pioneer and develop new birding routes in the Amazon and Orinoquia regions of the country.