In Memoriam - Pablo Canevari, 1951 - 2000

The international conservation community was shocked by the sudden and untimely passing away of Pablo Canevari on March 22, 2000. For the previous 25 years, Pablo's name was synonymous with Latin America's wetlands and waterbirds. A biologist by training, Pablo was a multi-faceted man: a scientist, a conservationist, an artist, a gifted writer, but above all, a naturalist in the most magnificent sense of the word. Most importantly for those who had the fortune of knowing him, he was a wonderful and unforgettable friend.

Pablo's productive career started in the venerable Natural History Museum of Argentina, where his love for nature found fertile ground. From there, he held important posts in Argentina and abroad, including with the National Parks Foundation of Argentina, the International Council for Bird Preservation, the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, Wetlands for the Americas (of which he was a founder), Wetlands International, and the Convention on Migratory Species in Bonn. Pablo was associated with many conservation groups including Birdlife International (particularly the former Pan-American Section of ICBP), IWRB, IUCN, WWF, and others. He was a strong promoter of conservation in Latin America and can be considered one of its most effective advocates: many younger conservationists found inspiration and guidance from him. He was passionate and optimistic but realistic; above all, he always found wisdom where others saw despair. He published widely in scientific and popular journals, on topics such as birds, conservation and wetlands. His legacy is immense.

As an artist, he left a large collection of wonderful watercolors and photographs, in which we can see nature through his eyes and revisit the natural world that he loved so much. His illustrations embellish several books, including la Nueva Guía de Aves de la Argentina (the new Guide of Argentine Birds), of which he is an author.

His untimely death left an immense, unfillable void in the conservation world. A beloved husband and father, Pablo also left behind his wife María José, his two daughters Sofia and Valentina, and his son Andrés.

Gonzalo Castro, Daniel Blanco, Enrique Bucher and Ian Davidson
March 2001
Courtesy of Wetlands International