Neotropical Program

Status: Active, started in 1990

All projects within this program:

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:

Robert B. Berry Orange-breasted Falcon Project Director
Marta Curti Biologist
Kathia Herrera
Saskia Santamaria
Russell Thorstrom Director, Madagascar and West Indies Projects
Hernan Vargas Ph.D. Program director – Neotropical Science and Student Education
Rick Watson Ph.D. Vice President and Director of International Programs
Thomas Hayes Ridgway's Hawk Project Coordinator
Jose Hernan Sarasola CECARA - CONICET advisor
Edwin Campbell Biologist
José de Jesús Vargas-González Biologist
Kike
Nojini
Jesús Almonte
Rigoberto Aripio Volunteer
Leofano Berrugate Technician
Jorge Luis Brocca
Rutilio Calderón Technician
Darisnel Carpio Technician
Melania Cedeño Student
Juan Cespedes
Calixto Conampia Technician
Carlos Cruz Biologist
Mari Cruz Jaramillo Msc student
Samuel Balbuena de la Rosa
Ednilio Degracia Technician
Luis Diaz
Eladio Fernández
Orlando Garrido
Florecindo Guainora Volunteer
Ben Hulefeld
Arilio Ismare Technician
Jake Kheel
Arturo Kirkconnell
Ronaldi Martinez Biologist
Indalesio Mecheche
Indalesio Mecheche Jr.
Camille Meyers Biologist
Arnulfo Minguizama Volunteer
Angel Muela Biologist
Nils Navarro Pacheco
Scott Newbold Biologist
Stacy Novy Biologist
Patricia Parker UMSL, University advisor
Ernesto Reyes
Jose Rivera MSc student
Pedro Rodríquez
Sonia Sanchez Volunteer
Yeray Seminario Biologist
William Suarez
Aristides Tascon Volunteer
Jonathan Urbina Biologist
Dasminia R. Vargas González Student
Roderick Vargas González Volunteer
Lance Woolaver
Maximiliano Adrián Galmes Ph.D. Student

Cooperating Partners:

  • Academy for Education and Development (AED)
  • Alfred Juzykowski Foundation
  • American Zoo Association Conservation Endowment Fund
  • Andrés and Pilar Sada
  • Arkansas State University
  • BBC TV
  • Belize Agricultural Health Authority
  • Belize Audubon Society
  • Belize Forestry Department
  • Belize Ministry of Natural Resources
  • Belize Zoo
  • Bull Run Overseas, Ltd.
  • Cap Cana
  • CARE/Guatemala
  • CECON
  • Central Romana Cooperation, Ltd.
  • Charles Darwin Foundation
  • CITMA
  • City of Knowledge
  • Colegio Brader–Misión: Águila Arpía
  • Comarca Emberá/Wounaan
  • Comarca Ngobe-Bugle
  • CONAMA
  • CONAP
  • Conservation International
  • Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  • Crystal Channel Foundation
  • Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund
  • Ecoflight
  • Ecological Police
  • Embera and Wounaan Communities of Darien
  • Environmental Authority of Panama (ANAM)
  • Evie Donaldson
  • Fanwood Foundation
  • FIIT
  • Forestry Department of Belize
  • Fundación Cóndor -Parque Cóndor
  • Fundación Galo Plaza Lasso – Comuna and Hacienda Zuleta
  • Fundación Mario Dary Rivera (FUNDARY)
  • Fundacíon Mosco Puello, Inc.
  • Galapagos National Park Service
  • Gold Family Foundation
  • Grenada Government, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry Division
  • Grupo Nacional de Trabajo sobre el Cóndor Andino en Ecuador
  • Grupo PuntaCana, S.A.
  • Henry and Wendy Paulson
  • Hidden Valley Inn
  • IDAEH
  • Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INAC)
  • Joe and Flinda Terteling
  • KENNETECH/U.S. Windpower
  • LightHawk
  • Mill Pond Press
  • Ministerio del Ambiente de Ecuador
  • National Environmental Authority (ANAM)
  • National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
  • National Museum of Natural History of Cuba
  • Norcross Foundation
  • Offield Family Foundation
  • Panama Canal Authority (ACP)
  • Panama Ministry of Education (MEDUC)
  • Panama’s Universidad Autonóma de Chiriquí
  • Parque Metropolitano
  • Programme for Belize
  • PRONATURA
  • Punta Cana
  • Robert Berry
  • Ruth Andres
  • Secretaría de Estado de Medío Ambiente y Recurso Naturales
  • SEDUE
  • SIMBIOE
  • Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)
  • Soberania, Chagres, and Camino de Cruces National Parks
  • Sociedad Mastozoológica de Panamá
  • Sociedad Ornitología de la Hispaniola (SOH)
  • Stanford University Center for Conservation Biology
  • Stichting De Harpij
  • Swiss Friends of the Galapagos
  • The Butler Foundation
  • The Galapagos Conservancy
  • The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • The Pew Charitable Trusts
  • Tierras Colectiva Embera y Wounaan
  • U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • U.S. Man and the Biosphere Program/Tropical Ecosystems Directorate
  • Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala
  • Universidad Nacional de La Pampa
  • University of Missouri Saint Louis
  • University of Wyoming
  • Weeden Foundation
  • Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center
  • William H. and Mattie Wattis Harris Foundation
  • 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