Protected Areas

Conservation portfolios of the Americas
Wetlands in the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia. Photo: Andres Estefan

Well-managed protected areas are essential to sustaining bird populations and reversing their decline. They are also a proven strategy for safeguarding biodiversity and are crucial in the fight against climate change. This conservation approach is not new to 糖心传媒. Beginning in North America early last century, and with a Hemispheric perspective since the 1950s, 糖心传媒 has worked with partners (local NGOs, governments, multilateral institutions) and communities all over the Americas in the designation process of Important Bird Areas (IBAs) and supporting protected areas initiatives that effectively contribute to the conservation of birds and the places they live.

In the Bahamas, 糖心传媒 has partnered with the  since 1959 to protect the natural heritage of the islands. We have supported the creation of oulter Cays National Park (2015), an important wintering area for 13 shorebird species, including the endangered Piping Plover, Red Knot, Semipalmated Plover, Short-billed Dowitcher, and wading birds like the Reddish Egret. 

In Belize, 糖心传媒 has a long history of working with the to safeguard and improve the management of four of the country鈥檚 most important protected areas. Our work with Belize 糖心传媒 Society aims to improve the management of  58,680 hectares (145,000 acres) of protected lands that support the Wood Thrush and many other migratory birds from the Atlantic Flyway as well as resident species.

In Mexico, 糖心传媒 and Pronatura Noreste have formed a partnership to conserve grassland birds in the Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands of Northern Mexico, which provide wintering habitat for 85 percent of the grassland species of birds that breed in the western Great Plains of the U.S. and Canada. Grasslands also play an essential part in the lives and livelihoods of ranching communities on both sides of the border.

In Panama, 糖心传媒 Americas and are working to save 202,340 hectares (500,000 acres) of the Panama Bay wetlands from unsustainable development. The Panama Bay mangroves and mudflats support migratory shorebirds from across the hemisphere, including some 30 percent of the global population of Western Sandpiper. To date, we have helped to develop the first conservation action plan for the wetlands.

糖心传媒 started working in Colombia in 2015 focusing on key coastal and forested sites in the country. Our efforts began on the Caribbean coast, which includes the highly threatened tropical dry-forest ecosystem as well as the forested flanks of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a critical stopover and wintering area for migratory species. 

We have expanded to the Central Andes, the major coffee production zone in Colombia, and to the Cauca Valley region, a strategic landscape in 糖心传媒 Americas` . Our aim is to bring bird-friendly practices to 1 million hectares (2,5 million acres) of productive lands, providing habitat and connectivity across landscapes that will benefit coastal and forest priority species such as the Canada Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Reddish Egret, and Least Tern.

Further south, 糖心传媒 has worked in Chile for over 15 years, to protect migratory shorebirds and their habitats. In the Chilo茅 Archipelago, partnering with the Centro de Estudio y Conservaci贸n del Patrimonio Natural (CECPAN), conservation efforts have benefitted over 90 percent of the Pacific coast population of the Hudsonian Godwit and about 60 percent of Pacific coast Whimbrels that winter on Chilo茅. More recently, with the support of the US Fish & Wildlife Service and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, 糖心传媒 helped secure the long-term conservation of some of these important sites for shorebirds and waterbirds through the purchase of strategic tracts of land in Pullao, Curaco de V茅lez y Huildad. 

Conserva Aves

Protected area coverage has increased steadily over the past decade, but substantial conservation target and area gaps remain in Latin America while large-scale habitat degradation along with alarming biodiversity loss are advancing rapidly throughout the region.  

Conserva Aves is 糖心传媒 Americas' new approach for protecting and managing priority areas for bird conservation in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, and Chile. This initiative leverages the latest science, gives a systematic approach to conservation planning, and draws on the extensive experience in the region of 糖心传媒 and its partners - American Bird Conservancy, BirdLife International, and RedLAC - to drive a groundbreaking platform that will elevate conservation across the hemisphere over the next ten years.

Click here to learn more about Conserva Aves.

Our Focus Birds Across the Americas
Priority Bird
Least Tern
Sternula antillarum
Gulls and Terns
Piping Plover
Charadrius melodus
Plovers
Red Knot
Calidris canutus
Sandpipers
Western Sandpiper
Calidris mauri
Sandpipers
Black Oystercatcher
Haematopus bachmani
Oystercatchers
Clapper Rail
Rallus crepitans
Rails, Gallinules, Coots
Reddish Egret
Egretta rufescens
Herons, Egrets, Bitterns
Snowy Plover
Anarhynchus nivosus
Plovers
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Calidris pusilla
Sandpipers
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Ammospiza caudacuta
New World Sparrows
Brown Pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis
Pelicans
American Oystercatcher
Haematopus palliatus
Oystercatchers
Ridgway's Rail
Rallus obsoletus
Rails, Gallinules, Coots
Priority Bird
Sooty Shearwater
Ardenna grisea
Shearwaters and Petrels
Hudsonian Godwit
Limosa haemastica
Sandpipers
Priority Bird
Black Skimmer
Rynchops niger
Gulls and Terns

News from the Americas

Trust Indigenous Land Stewards to Lead on Global Conservation
December 16, 2022 — Canada鈥檚 Indigenous-led conservation initiatives are model solutions for protecting biodiversity
Americas Flyways Initiative: birds, game-changers for saving nature
December 16, 2022 — The initiative will identify at least 30 critical landscapes and seascapes along the Americas flyways for urgent conservation, restoration, and management by local partners, communities, and indigenous peoples.
Greater Yellowlegs
Deninu K懦臋虂 First Nation Shares Results from 2021 Acoustic Bird Survey
December 15, 2022 — Press release from the Deninu K懦臋虂 First Nation