While ACTP has its merits breeding and releasing Spix's macaws, I think their new success in the reproduction of released birds should not overshadow their obscure methods of acquisition and commercialization of rare birds under the rug.
From 6 to 10 of November, the 77th Meeting of the Standing Comitee of CITES is being held in Switzerland. Among the themes being debated is the commercial trade of Spix's and Lear's macaws, as pointed by the Doc. 33.8 (
link here), despite the critical situation of both species. RENCTAS, a brazilian NGO, has called out
(link) the EU for not implementing the CITES requirements the way it should, given the fact that 26 Spix's macaws and 4 Lear's macaws were sold from ACTP to a private zoo in India without the knowledge of neither CITES nor the brazilian government. Said zoo also is not currently in any conservation program for either species. They also mentioned the illegal importation of 2 imperial amazons and 10 red necked amazons from Dominica by ACTP in 2018 (both species protected by law and the red necked amazons being prepared to be released in the wild at the time).
The debate can be seen on YouTube
here, with the pronunciation of the brazilian representative starting at minute 31. If you are interested in a short summary of the reunion, you can see
here, although the subtitles are in portuguese.