Power of Partnerships for Region-Wide Bird Conservation Promoted in Month-Long Festival

(The Valley, Anguilla) - For the ninth consecutive year, countries from around the Caribbean, including Anguilla, will be organising activities for the annual Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF. The Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) will coordinate month-long Caribbean-wide activities beginning today, Earth Day, 22 April, through to International Biodiversity Day on 22 May, in more than twenty countries.  The highly successful program that attracts some 80,000 participants and volunteers each year, this year aims to celebrate the important role that partnerships—local, regional and global—have played in bird conservation success stories.

“Partnerships are essential to securing the survival of the Caribbean’s unique bird life,” said Dr. Lisa Sorenson, President of the SCSCB at a launch of the month-long activities. Dr. Sorenson noted that although the Caribbean is recognised as one of the richest areas on the planet for biodiversity, especially birds—some 150 bird species are only found on Caribbean islands—an unsettling 56 of these species are globally threatened with extinction, due to destruction of habitat for development, pollution, mining, and other unsustainable uses. In addition, some birds are threatened with poaching or capture for the pet trade. “Conservation organizations, government agencies, educators, and individuals have shown that they can make a real difference when they work together,” commented Dr. Sorenson, “we have many inspiring stories of successful bird conservation collaborations.”

One such success story is that of the West Indian Whistling-Duck (WIWD), a long-legged duck known for its mystic whistling call and unusual habit of perching in trees. Numbers of this threatened regionally-endemic species had declined to less than 10,000 birds and it had disappeared from some of its former range due to wetland habitat loss and unregulated hunting and poaching. In recent years, however, the duck has undergone a resurgence in numbers, thanks to the hard work of local and regional partners that have worked together to save the species. This charismatic duck has been the flagship of a regional program—the WIWD and Wetlands Conservation Project, run by the SCSCB, that focuses on raising knowledge and awareness about the value of local wetlands and the plight of the duck.

“As a result of our efforts, hunting has declined dramatically on many islands,” said Sorenson, “and for the first time ever, the species has been discovered breeding in Guadeloupe, which is an extension of its range.” Conservationists with the Environmental Awareness Group in Antigua worked together with educators, hunters, and local residents and through monitoring, have been able to document a steady increase in the number of whistling-ducks on Antigua over the last 8 years. “As the population has grown, birds are apparently dispersing to nearby Guadeloupe and have begun settling and breeding there,” said Sorenson. “This conservation success is a cause for celebration and reason for hope for other threatened species.”

Sheylda Díaz-Méndez, Regional Coordinator of the CEBF noted that similar partnerships throughout the Caribbean have helped conserve many threatened species, such as the Grenada Dove, Montserrat Oriole, Hispaniolan Parrot, and Ridgeway’s Hawk, to name a few. Díaz-Méndez invited each Caribbean country to use the festival theme as an opportunity to highlight their own conservation success stories, as well as congratulate the usually unrecognized and under-appreciated organisations, institutions, and individuals that have worked together to produce remarkable conservation programs in support of the region’s exceptionally rich and threatened bird life.

“We need to let our citizens know about this great work and the amazing dedication of Caribbean people involved in wildlife conservation!” Díaz-Méndez remarked noting that many have laboured entirely as unpaid volunteers, following their convictions and dedication to Caribbean biodiversity conservation.  Díaz-Méndez said that we must find ways to more effectively educate the public about the region’s collective unique natural heritage as a critical step towards bring Caribbean wildlife conservation into the wider consciousness of more Caribbean nationals.

The purpose of the month-long Festival over its 9-year history has been to increase public awareness of the region’s exceptionally rich and threatened bird life, using the Caribbean's celebrated endemic birds as flagships of conservation. The Festival has been described as an unprecedented initiative of regional unification for heightening environmental education and awareness by leading international conservation organizations. In Anguilla, the Festival commenced early when the Anguilla National Trust assisted the Yes I Can! Science Camp by facilitating two wetland and birding sessions at Road Pond. Other national activities include a photo exhibit at the Public Library of Anguilla’s only colony of nesting cattle egrets. Images are provided by Jacqueline Cestero, a local nature photographer and ANT volunteer. A wetland bird count of all 25 of the island’s saltponds is also scheduled to take place from 28 to 30 April.

For more information about the CEBF or the events and activities planned for the Festival in Anguilla, please visit the ANT office in The Valley or call 497 5297.