Although not occurring within officially protected areas, nearly 60 percent of the hoary-throated spinetail’s habitat is inside indigenous reserves, where the indigenous people have a much better record of maintaining the ecosystem than non-indigenous peoples. Most rice production in Roraima is carried out illegally by non-indigenous people on indigenous land, but in some areas, such as São Marcos Indigenous Reserve, rice producers have been evicted, hopefully giving renewed hope for the wildlife there (3) (4) (7). Producers should also have been evicted from Raposa-Serra do Sol following its legalisation in 2005, but this is not yet known to have occurred (3) (7).
Due to a lack of data on the hoary-throated spinetail, the species was taken off Brazil’s list of threatened species, although it is hoped that it will be put back on in the future (3) (7). Priorities for the conservation of the hoary-throated spinetail include improving knowledge about its ecology and behaviour, and taking measures to protect its habitat, including assessing the impact of recent fires, supporting indigenous peoples seeking to prevent habitat destruction within their reserves, and increasing the number of officially protected areas within Roraima (3) (4) (9) (10).