Subsequently, people lost their interest in guano, since it seemed to have lost its fertilizing superiority. It appears that the success experienced by guano had been owed to several intervening factors. Firstly, guano had no serious competitors at the time when it became known around the world. Secondly, the fact that its British supporters had promoted it brought confidence to the farmers. The industry only lasted for a few decades, as people had focused their attention on alternatives. Farming changed along with the coming of artificial fertilizers, which surpassed guano both in price and in efficiency. Not only did guano have to suffer as a result of better fertilizers emerging, but it also lost important ground because of its reserves being consumed. It seemed that all hope had been lost when concerning guano industry.

Other important factors which lead to the collapse of the Peruvian guano industry had been overfishing and the occurrence of several El Nino events in the area. It appears that guano exploitation was doomed from its very beginning, as a great number of events worked together in putting an end to the industry. Guano bird populations are experiencing difficulties in the present, with their numbers having decreased dramatically. Even with that, matters appear to have improved in the last few decades and guano is gathering again as a result of the birds receiving a favorable treatment.

Considering the fact that guano reserves are planned to increase in the future, the industry may return to being a profitable business. In the present, the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture buys 80% of the total guano harvest.

Guano is not what it used to be, as it is presently used rarely, by organic gardeners and such. The success experienced by guano during the nineteenth century is known as the guano rush or as the age of guano. In their run for profits, people failed from noticing that their actions had devastating effects on the guano bird population.

Guano birds are presently protected by the Peruvian authorities and fishing is prohibited in areas near them. All in all, the guano industry did not manage to survive for a long amount of time, with people having been unable to protect it. The greatest enemy that the guano birds have is man, as humans are their main competitors for food.

Works cited:

1. Goodman, Jordan. "Guano Happens (Sometimes): The Discovery during the Mid-19th Century That Bird Droppings Could Be Used to Reverse Falling Crop Yields Saw Governments around the World Join a Frenzied Rush to Annex Any Guano-Encrusted Outcrop They Could Get Their Hands on. Jordan Goodman Delves into the History of the Excreta Change...

78, November 2006.
2 W.M. Matthew. "Peru and the British Guano Market." 1840-1870. The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Apr., 1970)

3 W.M. Matthew. "Foreign Contractors and the Peruvian Government at the Outset of the Guano Trade ." The Hispanic-American Historical Review, Vol. 52, No. 4 (Nov., 1972)

4 W.M. Matthew. "A Primitive Export Sector: Guano Production in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Peru." Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1 (May, 1977).

5. Elton, Catherine. "Peru's Fertilizer with a Fragile Future." Americas (English Edition), Vol. 53, March 2001.

Goodman, Jordan. "Guano Happens (Sometimes): The Discovery during the Mid-19th Century That Bird Droppings Could Be Used to Reverse Falling Crop Yields Saw Governments around the World Join a Frenzied Rush to Annex Any Guano-Encrusted Outcrop They Could Get Their Hands on. Jordan Goodman Delves into the History of the Excreta Change the World." Geographical, Vol. 78, November 2006.

W.M. Matthew. "Peru and the British Guano Market." 1840-1870.

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=econhistrevi

W.M. Matthew. "Foreign Contractors and the Peruvian Government at the Outset of the Guano Trade ."

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=hispamerhistrevi

W.M. Matthew. Foreign Contractors and the Peruvian Government at the Outset of the Guano Trade.

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=hispamerhistrevi

W.M. Matthew. "Foreign Contractors and the Peruvian Government at the Outset of the Guano Trade ."

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=hispamerhistrevi

W.M. Matthew. "A Primitive Export Sector: Guano Production in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Peru."

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=jlatiamerstud

Goodman, Jordan. "Guano Happens (Sometimes): The Discovery during the Mid-19th Century That Bird Droppings Could Be Used to Reverse Falling Crop Yields Saw Governments around the World Join a Frenzied Rush to Annex Any Guano-Encrusted Outcrop They Could Get Their Hands on. Jordan Goodman Delves into the History of the Excreta Change the World." Geographical, Vol. 78, November 2006.

idem idem

W.M. Matthew. "A Primitive Export Sector: Guano Production in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Peru."

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=jlatiamerstud

Elton, Catherine. "Peru's Fertilizer with a Fragile Future." Americas (English Edition), Vol. 53, March 2001.

idem