We are pleased to report that three Rainforest Trust partner projects have been awarded grants totaling almost $330,000 through U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA).

Our Bolivian partner, Association Armonia, has been awarded $100,000 for their work in protecting the critical stopover habitat for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper at the Rainforest Trust-funded Barba Azul Nature Reserve–a critical stopover area for the bird after it crosses the Amazonian rainforest. With this project, partners will protect and manage savanna habitat; restore habitat and conduct law enforcement within the Barba Azul Nature Reserve savanna and river-edge foraging habitat; and manage habitat through a patch burn plan that will create Buff-breasted Sandpiper habitat. Partners will also research and monitor sandpiper populations, movements, and habitat use in the Beni Savanna and use community outreach and education to help increase and improve the quality of foraging habitat on private cattle ranches. You can read more about our partner and their work.

Fundación Jocotoco has been awarded $80,109 for their work conserving the Cerulean Warbler in Eastern Ecuador at the Rainforest Trust-funded Narupa Reserve. The subtropical and foothill humid forests of eastern Ecuador are a highly threatened vital wintering area for the Cerulean Warbler and other priority migrants. This project will strengthen the protection and management of one of the key wintering sites for the species: the Fundación Jocotoco’s Narupa Reserve in eastern Ecuador, covering nearly 600 hectares of primary and secondary forest. Public outreach and ecotourism will be used to increase public support for the conservation of migratory species and their habitats. You can read more about our partner and their work.

In Guatemala, our partner FUNDAECO has been awarded $149,446 for their conservation of stopover and wintering habitat at the Rainforest Trust-funded Sierra Caral Forest project. With funds through the NMBCA and a broad international partnership including Rainforest Trust donors, FUNDAECO will purchase two adjacent parcels of forest in the Sierra Caral mountains in the Caribbean region of Guatemala. These lands will become the core of a larger protected area at Sierra Caral, a critical wintering and stopover area for at least 33 species of neotropical migrants. Funds will also be directed to train, equip, and support personnel to prevent unsustainable activities and to provide outreach and education to local communities. Bird monitoring efforts will be expanded to assist management objectives. Check back for updates on the creation of this new reserve.

Click here for more about the NCMBA grant program through U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.