Neotropical Program
Status: Active, started in 1990
Background:
Conservation in the Neotropics – a region extending from southern Mexico to Argentina and including the Caribbean Islands -- is a global priority. About one-third of the world’s birds of prey occur in the Neotropics. Central America and the Caribbean are particularly important because of the limited extent of remaining forest, high proportion of biodiversity, and large proportion of North American migrant species that winter there.
The best way to conserve biodiversity is to set aside large tracts of untouched land, but the reality is that most side-asides will likely be much smaller than needed. This is particularly true for large, widely dispersed animals such as birds of prey. This puts extra emphasis on conserving the ecological requirements of these wide-ranging predators so that we may save the biodiversity within their fragile food chain.
This umbrella program encompasses projects related to conservation, research and restoration of birds of prey in the Neotropics, including the Harpy Eagle, Orange-breasted Falcon, and Ridgway’s Hawk, as well as the Neotropical science and student programs.
Recent Results:
2010 Results
- Neotropical Raptor Conservation projects continued on Harpy Eagles in Panama and Belize; public education in Belize and Dominican Republic; raptor research and education of students from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Peru, Argentina, and Ecuador, including the Galapagos; experimental Orange-breasted Falcon restoration and research in Belize; and Ridgway’s Hawk conservation in Dominican Republic.
- The dissolution of Fondo Peregrino-Panama as an organization was initiated after it became evident that the organization had completed its work and was no longer necessary.
Our time-tested, hands-on, science-based approach to conservation has both a unique and valuable role for conservation in the Neotropics. A significant investment now in the Neotropics will strongly influence conservation actions and raptor research for decades, if not longer. With forests rapidly diminishing, our return for investment will likely never be as great in Latin America as during the next 10 years.
This program aims to conserve raptor species in jeopardy; improve knowledge of raptor species with emphasis on those for which too little is known to determine their conservation status; answer important conservation questions using raptors’ ecological needs as a measure for conservation of biodiversity; reduce human persecution and other behaviors that have a negative impact on species, using raptors as a flagship for conservation; conserve important tracts of land; provide leadership, and develop local capacity for raptor conservation and research in Latin America.
Project Links:
| Project History | (no field notes) |
| Publications and Data | Other Information |
| Photos and Videos |
Location Note:
Central and South America and the Caribbean
Species involved
People involved in this project:
Cooperating Partners:
- Arkansas State University
- BBC TV
- Belize Agricultural Health Authority
- Belize Forestry Department
- Belize Zoo
- Bull Run Overseas, Ltd.
- Cap Cana
- Central Romana Cooperation, Ltd.
- Charles Darwin Foundation
- CITMA
- City of Knowledge
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund
- Ecoflight
- Ecological Police
- Embera and Wounaan Communities of Darien
- Environmental Authority of Panama (ANAM)
- Forestry Department of Belize
- Fundación Cóndor -Parque Cóndor
- Fundación Galo Plaza Lasso – Comuna and Hacienda Zuleta
- Fundacíon Mosco Puello, Inc.
- Galapagos National Park Service
- Grupo Nacional de Trabajo sobre el Cóndor Andino en Ecuador
- Grupo PuntaCana, S.A.
- Hidden Valley Inn
- LightHawk
- Ministerio del Ambiente de Ecuador
- National Environmental Authority (ANAM)
- National Museum of Natural History of Cuba
- Offield Family Foundation
- Panama Canal Authority (ACP)
- Panama’s Universidad Autonóma de Chiriquí
- Programme for Belize
- Punta Cana
- Secretaría de Estado de Medío Ambiente y Recurso Naturales
- SIMBIOE
- Sociedad Mastozoológica de Panamá
- Sociedad Ornitología de la Hispaniola (SOH)
- Stichting De Harpij
- Swiss Friends of the Galapagos
- The Butler Foundation
- The Galapagos Conservancy
- Tierras Colectiva Embera y Wounaan
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Universidad Nacional de La Pampa
- University of Missouri Saint Louis
- University of Wyoming
- Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center
- Wolf Creek Charitable Foundation
- Zoo Boise Conservation Fund
- Centro para el Estudio y Conservación de las Aves Rapaces en Argentina-Universidad Nacional de La Pampa (CECARA)
- Universidad Nacional del Comahue (UNCOMA)
- Government of La Pampa Province
- Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCYT)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
- Aves Argentinas
Combined Federal Campaign # 10639
