2013 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grants Announced
On May 1, 2013 the Service announced $3.5 million in Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grants for 27 collaborative projects in the Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and the United States.  The grants will leverage a 3.5-to-1 return for conservation, a match of $12.5 million in private funds.  The projects will conserve more than 250,000 acres of habitat for hundreds of Neotropical migratory bird species including Golden-cheeked and Golden-winged Warbler, Buff-breasted and Western Sandpiper, Sprague's Pipit, Reddish Egret, Bicknell's Thrush, and Hudsonian Godwit. Grantees will protect and manage key habitats such as the pine-oak forests of Central America, critical bays in Panama and Paraguay, high Andean wetlands, the Ecuadorian Choco, and a multitude of protected areas.

Read the press release
Browse the summaries of funded projects

BirdLife International Wins Coveted Biodiversity Conservation Award
On March 20, 2013, Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grantee BirdLife International was presented with a BBVA Foundation Biodiversity Conservation Award for their work to identify and conserve places rich in both native and migratory bird species throughout Latin America. This prestigious award is given by the Spanish foundation to a single winner in Latin America each year, with a prize of 250,000 Euros. BirdLife's work on Important Bird Areas has recorded a whopping 2,345 biodiversity hotspots for birds in Central and South America.  These are helping countries design habitat networks to protect the world’s most diverse birdlife. The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act has funded BirdLife projects for the last nine years, putting a total of $2,057,140 toward the organization’s work and leveraging an additional $6,571,834 for bird conservation, a three-to-one match.

Read the press release (in Spanish)
Learn more about Important Bird Areas on BirdLife's website
Browse the project summaries to learn more about conservation projects Act has supported

The Sandpiper Challenge' Race Connects Eco-Adventurers with Migratory Birds in Paraguay 
On November 3, 4, and 5, 2012,  eco-adventurers from several countries converged in Paraguay for a fierce 80, 150, or 300 kilometer race along part of the migratory route of the 'mbatui' (the Buff-breasted Sandpiper) and other neotropical migratory shorebirds. Competing over ground, water, and wetlands, competitors experienced a bit of what these amazingly hardy migrants encounter on their up to 32,000 km annual trek across Canada, the U.S., and South America. The race was made possible in part by support from the Service's Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act to grantee Guyra Paraguay, working with the Geographic Society of Paraguay and Expedición Tembiasá. It is part of a larger grant project to develop conservation plans and engage local communities around Paraguayan wetlands, home to exceptionally abundant and diverse wildlife.

Learn more about grantee Guyra Paraguay on their website.
Follow the race on our Facebook page.
Read the  project summary.
More info in  Spanish.

Conservation Plan for Grassland Birds in the Chihuahuan Desert
The Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO) has released the first-ever conservation plan for grassland bird species that winter in the Chihuahuan Desert. Grassland birds have declined more steeply than any other group of North American birds.
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The Southern Cone grasslands
The Southern Cone grasslands of South America are important for resident and migratory birds.  Read about the efforts of the Southern Cones Grasslands Alliance, a collaboration funded by NMBCA grants. In an effort to preserve important areas and promote responsible land management in southern South America, international conservation organizations created the Southern Cone Grasslands Alliance.  A 2003 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided the seed money the Alliance needed to get off the ground.  
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US bird lovers help inspire new private nature reserve in Dominican Republic
SAN FRANCISCO DE MACORIS, Dominican Republic — An elusive songbird that wings its way each year from austere mountaintops of the northeastern U.S. to the steamy forests of the Caribbean has inspired the creation of what conservationists hope will be a new model for nature reserves in a country that has long struggled with deforestation.
Read more
A Multidisciplinary, Community-based Approach to Protect Biodiversity and Bicknell’s Thrush Habitat in the Dominican Republic

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