In the grassland priority conservation areas (gpcas) cuchillas DE LA zarca and malpais, partners will use management and restoration actions to benefit 5,948 acres

The Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service awarded a $1,501,173 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation (CFDA 15.635) grant to Pronatura Noreste AC, a non-profit organization, for a 2-year project. The grant will support conservation, restoration, and sustainable management activities across 5,948 acres in the Grassland Priority Conservation Areas of Cuchillas de la Zarca and Malpais in Mexico. Key activities include establishing conservation reserves with native grasslands, installing livestock management infrastructure, restoring degraded habitats, constructing erosion control features, monitoring migratory bird populations, delivering environmental education programs, and strengthening grassland management policies. These efforts aim to benefit migratory bird populations and sustain ranching, a primary economic activity in Durango, Mexico.

In this project, alliances between local actors will be strengthened to continue sustainable management of grasslands, thus ensuring permanence of habitat for migratory birds and ranching, one of the main productive activities of the state of durango. In several ejidos in these gpcas the following activities will occur: (1) creation of conservation reserves with native grassland areas, (2) installation of infrastructure according to ejidal livestock management plans, (3) habitat restoration to reduce thickets, (4) construction of 126M2 of branch dams to reduce soil erosion, (5) monitoring at the farm level during the 2024 winter season in 10 properties distributed in both gpcas, in order to know the status of the migratory bird populations and thus the health status of the grasslands in each property. To outreach to new generations about the importance of grasslands and migratory birds, the rancho escuela model will be delivered in EL OJO and LAS yucas ejidos, where environmental education will be carried out for children and young people from some of the schools near both ranches, and (6) strengthening of the legislative framework for the sustainable use of grasslands in the state of durango.