The islas maras biosphere reserve is an archipelago worldwide recognized for its high biodiversity and endemism richness

The U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 9 Headquarters awarded a $531,970 Project Grant under the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation (CFDA 15.635) program to Grupo De Ecologia Y Conservacion De Islas AC, a foreign-owned non-profit organization, to conduct the following activities on the Islas Marias Biosphere Reserve in Mexico:

1. Baseline monitoring of the abundance and distribution of 12 neotropical migratory bird species.
2. Evaluation of the impact of invasive mammals (cats, goats, and rats) on these bird species.
3. Building local capacity on island biosecurity and environmental education for park rangers and navy personnel.

The project aims to contribute to the fulfillment of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the objectives of the Islas Marias Biosphere Reserve's management plan regarding restoration and knowledge generation, as well as the goals of the North American Waterbird Conservation Plan. The grant period is from July 10, 2023 to July 10, 2025.

There are 177 bird species recorded of which 23 are listed under a risk category by the mexican law, 125 of them are neotropical migrants, and 17 are of conservation concern for the nmbca. These islands are an important bird area which offer nesting habitat for 24 mexican endemic land birds. Mara madre island is the biggest and most biodiverse of the archipelago, and the one that has suffered the most impacts due to human activities since 1905 when a federal penitentiary was built. Several hectares were deforested for agricultural activities and invasive alien species were introduced, causing habitat loss and predation on native fauna, including neotropical migratory bird species (NMB). Monitoring and restoration activities on mara madre island have been limited, and the information about the status of birds and the impact of invasive mammals to take conservation actions is scarce. The federal penitentiary was closed in 2019 opening the opportunity to start restoring mara madre island. Here we propose 1) to conduct baseline monitoring of the abundance and distribution of 12 NMB species, 2) to evaluate the impact of invasive mammals (cats, goats, and rats) on these species, and 3) to build local capacity on island biosecurity and environmental education in park rangers and navy personnel. The proposed actions contribute to the fulfillment of the aichi goals of the convention on biological diversity, also to the achievement of the main objectives of the management plan of the natural protected area regarding restoration and knowledge generation and with the goals of the north american waterbird conservation plan.