The prdner is the state agency with the mandate to conserve and protect the natural resources in puerto rico

This Project Grant award of $379,593 was provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 4 under the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund program (CFDA 15.615) to the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) in Puerto Rico. The funding will support various initiatives to conserve and recover threatened and endangered species, including:

• Continuing to support the propagation and monitoring of the Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur)
• Providing equipment and resources for the DNER Marine Mammal Rescue Program to respond to West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) stranding events
• Enhancing the breeding success and recovery of the sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus venator) within its historic range
• Conducting population surveys and research on the yellow-shouldered blackbird (Agelaius xanthomus), Alsophila dryopteroides fern, and Thelypteris inabonensis fern
• Restoring sea turtle nesting beaches and mitigating threats
• Expanding population surveys of the Puerto Rican boa (Chilabothrus inornatus) in caves

The 3-year project period runs from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026.

The prdner protected species program has been implementing an array of initiatives and actions towards the conservation and recovery of threatened and endangered species. The funding that the state receives for these actions are limited and relies mainly on the identification of collaborators, volunteer work and funding secured through grants. Funding from the cooperative endangered species conservation fund-traditional conservation grant programs grant-in-aid funds (section 6) is one of the few funding sources used by prdner to finance the actions identified as needed for the recovery of those species considered threatened or endangered under the endangered species act and by the state. The available funding sources are limited for which this grant opportunity makes feasible the implementation of actions extremely significant for these species. This grant proposal includes, as mentioned before, various activities addressing different species, actions that could not be implemented without these funds, and that are needed for the recovery of these species. Each will be described further in the following sections as jobs, and a statement of need will be included for each with more details. In general, the activities included in this proposal are (table 1): continuing supporting the propagation of the puerto rican crested toad (prct), peltophryne lemur the west indian manatee, trichechus manatus manatus, stranding response conducted by the prdner marine mammal rescue program the recovery of the sharp-shinned hawk, accipiter striatus venator, within its historic range through enhancement of its breeding success, and the yellow-shouldered blackbird, agelaius xanthomus further the study of alsophila amintae (SYN. Cyathea dryopteroides) conduct research on the distribution of thelypteris inabonensis support sea turtle nesting beaches restoration and threats mitigation and the population status assessment of the puerto rican BOA, chilabothrus inornatus. General objectives: support prct tadpole releases and monitoring. Procure the materials and equipment needed to support the response of the prdner marine mammal rescue program to west indian manatee stranding events and other activities of the prdner endangered species program to conserve and protect listed species. Support sea turtle nesting beaches restoration and threats mitigation. Evaluate current population status of the ferns alsophila dryopteroides (SYN. Cyathea dryopteroides) and thelypteris inabonensis. Continue supporting the ongoing recovery actions for the sharp-shinned hawk, accipiter striatus venator, within its historic range through enhancement of its breeding success expand the puerto rican BOA, chilabothrus inornatus, population surveys in caves. O conduct surveys in four caves every two months to carry out mark recapture studies for population estimateso design and deploy an automated capture-recapture program for monitoring puerto rican BOA populationo design protocols for the detection of the puerto rican BOA using edna in five caveso validate protocols for the detection of the puerto rican BOA using edna in five caves continue the recovery actions for the yellow-shouldered blackbird, agelaius xanthomus o manage (repair, monitor and install) artificial nesting structures to support the propagation and breeding success of the yellow-shouldered blackbird o tag yellow-shouldered blackbird with transmitters to obtain information on habitat use, movement patterns and mortality rates.o conduct surveys to determine population trends at the municipalities of ceiba, salinas and cabo rojo, and in mona island