Birdscaribbean

Programs: All of birdscaribbean's programs are promoted and advanced at its international conferences. During july 13-17, 2017, international organizers and local practitioners met at the 21st birdscaribbean international conference in topes de collantes, cuba. Hailing from 30 different islands and countries, 240 enthusiastic students, researchers and other professionals came together for five days to support caribbean birds by networking, learning and sharing. The conference included a robust schedule of over presentations, workshops and panel discussions, covering the breadth of birdscaribbean's regional programs and working groups.

birdscaribbean leads the region on issues relating to atlantic flyway shorebird conservation. In 2017, the majority of expenditures were directed towards projects in bonaire, guadeloupe, french guiana and guyana, although birdscaribbean maintained its regionwide promotion of annual counts, including world shorebirds day (september), the caribbean waterbird census (regional count in jan-feb + year-round), international piping plover census (jan 2016 and every 5 years), and global big day (may). The work in bonaire focused on surveys, analysis and documentation of the importance of cargill salt ponds bonaire, a privately-owned salt production facility at the southern end of bonaire. This information led to the nomination of the site as a whsrn site of regional importance, only the second whsrn site in the caribbean. Work in guadeloupe focused on the ecological role of islands in the archipelago for supporting shorebirds throughout their life cycles as well as an assessment of the sustainability of harvest regulations. The objective in french guiana was the development of a management plan for the mana rice fields, to include a compatible grazing plan; development of sustainable tourism activities, including birding; and shorebird monitoring to inform site-specific management alternatives. In guyana, work focuses on determining the magnitude of harvest and commercial selling of migratory shorebirds along the coast.

in september 2017, the caribbean islands were ravaged by two back-to-back category 5 hurricanes, irma and maria. In addition to the humanitarian crisis, there was also a crisis for the birds. Birdscaribbean quickly put out a call for donations from the bird-feeding industry to address the needs of birds whose food sources disappeared when the winds stripped leaves, fruits and flowers from all trees and bushes; thousands of pounds of seed, nectar mix and feeders were shipped to affected islands. Birdscaribbean also conducted a public funding campaign to allow for the travel and equipment to make immediate surveys and assessment of damages, including to populations of species endemic to single islands and already in danger of extinction. Once critical needs of birds and bird biologists in the region were addressed, birdscaribbean began directing funds towards hurricane restoration and repair activities such as habitat improvements through clearing of debris and planting of mangroves and other native species, and rebuilding of kiosks and other structures.

caribbean birding trail - the carribean birding trail was developed to raise global awareness of the unique birds and biodiversity of the caribbean and to create a sustainable economy around rare species, in an effort to protect them. The "trail" is actually a multi-faceted program to train and support local tour guides and encourage nature tourism that supports local communities by outreahc to individuals and international tour companies. Festivals - bird conservation in the caribbean relies on the awareness and stewardship of local people. To this end, birdscaribbean supports the celebration of the caribbean endemic bird festival (cebf) in april and may, and international migratory bird day (imbd) in september and october. Finally, birdscaribbean has a robust suite of flagship programs to conduct science, capacity-building, education, and networking with multiple partners in the caribbean region.