CONSERVING BICKNELLS THRUSH WINTERING H

General

Bicknell's Thrush (BITH) is a neotropical migratory bird species whose population overwinters predominantly in the Dominican Republic where forest habitat is under threat from agricultural expansion and fire. With past NMBCA support, significant progress has been made in protecting and managing critical habitat, and restoring forest conditions for migratory birds. This project builds and expands upon those advances. Partners will: 1) engage coffee/cacao farmers and industry stakeholders in Bird-Friendly production methods and marketing; 2) restore 65 ha by planting 114,900 native trees and coffee/cacao plants; 3) conduct a land tenure study to explore new lands to protect; 4) develop a Payment for Ecosystem Services program to incentivize forest protection; 5) improve law enforcement of four key habitat areas by hiring one new park guard, and supporting patrols and boundary-marking; 5) monitor presence, and distribution of BITH and other Partners in Flight priority migratory species. With matching funds, they will: 1) protect up to 100 ha of habitat through acquisition; 2) maintain 23 existing guards, 8 protected area personnel, and 20 fire/patrol brigade members; 3) map cacao farms & help develop/test Bird-Friendly cacao standards; and 4) build capacity in our partner through investment in personnel and institutional strengthening.