The most valuable birds in the world: International conservation science and the revival of Peru's Guano industry, 1909-1965

The extraction of guano, the accumulated droppings of marine birds, is a dominant theme in Peruvian history. In fact, the period 1840-1880 is known as Peru's "Guano Age." Beginning in 1909, environmental experts implemented a program that led to dramatic increases in the guano bird population and the production of excrement for human benefit. Indigenous workers dug up 7.6 million metric tons of fresh guano to serve Peruvian agriculture under this new system before its final collapse during the El Niño event of 1965. Extraction and sale produced a net profit to the Peruvian state and private shareholders worth over $650 million in today's dollars, in addition to increases in local agricultural productivity. These profits directly funded further scientific research in Peru. Compared to the fleeting gains produced by so many development projects, the Peruvian guano industry accomplished almost exactly what its managers envisioned over a period lasting five decades.