The long term goal of this project is to stop all loss of key wintering habitat for the bicknells thrush (bith) in the dominican republic and to restore at least 50 percent of the habitat lost between…

The U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service awarded a $665,877 Project Grant under the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation (CFDA 15.635) program to the American Bird Conservancy (ABC). The grant, with a performance period from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026, supports comprehensive conservation efforts for migratory birds in the Dominican Republic. Key activities include:

1. Maintaining and improving management and law enforcement capacity on over 64,000 hectares across five protected reserves.
2. Implementing bird-friendly coffee and cacao agroforestry systems on 157 hectares.
3. Improving local staff capacity through hiring a full-time biologist and providing training on protected area management.
4. Monitoring the Bicknell's Thrush population in the project sites.

The grant includes two sub-awards to Sociedad Ornitologica De La Hispaniola, a Dominican Republic-based non-profit organization, to advance habitat conservation and restoration within the Septentrional and Sierra de Bahoruco Birdscapes for the Bicknell's Thrush and other migratory birds.

The long term goal of this project is to stop all loss of key wintering habitat for the bicknells thrush (bith) in the dominican republic and to restore at least 50 percent of the habitat lost between 2010 and 2015 in the next 30 years. Agroforestry systems such as coffee and cacao plantations are recognized as an important habitat type for neotropical migratory bird species and the dominican republic has multiple agroforestry areas for this target species. This led american bird conservancy to develop the septentrional and sierra DE bahoruco birdscapes. The objectives of this proposal include 1) maintaining and improving the management and law enforcement capacity on more than 64 000 HA in five reserves 2) implementing bird friendly coffee and cacao agroforestry systems on 157 HA 3) improving local staff capacity through hiring a full time biologist and attending training on management of protected areas 4) and monitoring our project success by surveying the bith population in our project sites.