Dendrobates parvuius
poison dart frog
Photo by Paul Freed

This poison dart frog (Dendrobates parvuius) lives in the forests of Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia. Only an inch long, its sharp, colorful patterns of primary color will make predators less likely to be tempted by a bite-sized snack. This isn't camouflage -- it's a purposefully visible warning sign. Indigenous forest peoples who use the frog's poison know this, and they heed the warning -- not by avoiding the frog, but by handling it carefully.

While a few individual frogs are lost due to the poison extraction, the species as a whole is protected. Since the species is useful to the indigenous communities, they are careful not to endanger it. It is precisely this sort of sustainable use of rainforest resources that the Rainforest Alliance promotes worldwide. Our concerns center around the wildlife management, logging and farming in and around tropical forests. In many of these areas, we can learn from the examples set by the indigenous communities.