In Colombia, sound recordist Juan Pablo Culasso is preserving wildlife’s rich but fading audio tapestry, and helping make nature more accessible to all.

Bogotá

Juan Pablo Culaso, blind since birth, has become a leading figure in conservation by recording and identifying bird calls from around the world. Using his perfect pitch, he has memorised thousands of bird calls and contributed his recordings to scientific repositories such as Cornell University's Macaulay Library. 

Culaso's work not only aids scientific research and ecosystem monitoring but also fosters inclusion by adapting nature experiences for people with visual impairments. Through initiatives like tactile trails and 3D bird models, he demonstrates the importance of preserving nature’s soundscapes for both conservation and accessibility.

Blind conservationist fights to save nature’s soundscapes

When I enter the forest, I try to walk slowly, breathe calmly, try to really connect with that sounds. My name is Juan Pablo Culaso and I would like to invite you to observe the nature through your ears. Juan Pablo has never seen a bird in his life. But the Uruguayan birder doesn't need sight to identify more than 700 bird species. His perfect pitch hearing does all the work instead. Most people believe that only sighted persons can really enjoy nature. But from a blind perspective, I have other four senses to really enjoy what's around me. Blind since birth, Juan Pablo discovered his passion for nature at 16, when he was gifted his first audio recorder. I pressed the record button and listened to that sound through headphones. It was so amazing for me. It changed my life. He's since memorised 3,000 bird calls and has travelled the world, from Africa to Antarctica, capturing the diverse soundscapes of our ecosystems. I use my material for many purposes, including science and conservation. Soundscapes are used in science to tell you how healthy an ecosystem is. For example, the most amazing indicator for that are birds. If you can record two or three species that really need that ecosystem to survive, you can say that that ecosystem is really healthy. Over his 20-year career, he's noticed certain sounds are disappearing because of human activity and climate change, which is why he's on a mission to preserve nature's auditory heritage through repositories like Cornell University's Macaulay Library, where his work can be used for educational research purposes like tracking ecosystem conditions. For Juan Pablo, these recordings are also a bridge to inclusion. It's a privilege to be there in a forest like this, and touch the plants, and touch the flowers, and touch the trees. Here in La Ilusión Natural Reserve, we are doing a lot of beautiful jobs regarding adapting trails, making 3D models of the birds, working with sounds. We are working with braille. Here in the visitor center, there are some animals here. Our eyes are in our fingers. We need touch. We need really more of that experience around the world. So there are a lot of work to do. I'm so proud to be here, record soundscapes, and show to the world the importance of conservation through sounds.

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