Building Capacity and Mobilizing the Migratory Shorebird Project in Guatemala

December 23, 2019

The Migratory Shorebird Project (MSP) is a multinational collaboration initiated in 2011 by Point Blue. With our international partners in this effort we conserve wetlands through science, partnership, and outreach along the Pacific Flyway, a bird migration highway that stretches along the West coast of the Americas from Alaska to Chile. We are excited to welcome Guatemala as the 13th and most recent country to join MSP!

From the 9th to the 11th of December, 2019, Point Blue sponsored and organized a Migratory Shorebird Project training in El Peredon, Guatemala.

 

During the two and half day workshop, 25 participants representing over five different organizations and agencies led by partners from Costa Rica and Colombia, learned shorebird identification, counting techniques, and Migratory Shorebird Project protocols. Many of these trainees will participate on MSP surveys across Guatemala in January 2020.

Some press of this emerging work in Guatemala can be found here (in Spanish).

In addition to the workshop, Point Blue, Wildlife Conservation Society – Guatemala, and Fundaeco hosted a half day forum at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) on December 12, 2019. We shared recent and upcoming shorebird monitoring and conservation activities in Guatemala. We also  presented the exciting applications of Migratory Shorebird Project data in other countries that have been active in the network for the last 8 years – particularly in Costa Rica and Colombia. An open panel following the presentations revealed a strong desire for greater efforts to protect Guatemala coastal wetland habitats.

Learn more about the Project and how to get involved by visiting www.migratoryshorebirdproject.org. Learn more about Point Blue’s overall work to protect our shorelines at www.pointblue.org/our-work/shorelines.