Spanning from southern Mexico across Guatemala and Honduras
into Nicaragua, Central America's pine-oak forests represent a global epicenter
of biological and cultural diversity. Roughly the size of Louisiana, this
43,000 square mile swath of highland forest is home to more species of pines
and oaks than any other place on Earth of comparable size.
In addition to being a thoroughfare for some 225 species of
migratory birds—three of the four principal flyways for migrating birds
converge on this forest—the pine-oak ecosystem also sustained a number of
Mayan kingdoms, including the world renowned Pre-Columbian city of Copán.
Today, the region is home to some of the most densely
populated, poorest and socially marginalized indigenous and rural populations
in the Western Hemisphere. Despite the global importance of the pine-oak forest
and the benefits it provides to humans, such as clean water, fuel wood,
protection from natural disasters and economic opportunities through
ecotourism, only two percent of Mesoamerica's pine-oak forests are effectively
conserved within existing protected natural areas such as national parks or
other reserves.
Smart, Effective Conservation
The conservation of migratory birds requires
near-simultaneous work at multiple scales. Integrated strategies that reach across political and
geographic boundaries are the most effective at ensuring the long-term
conservation of migratory birds and other highly mobile species.
This means that the most effective migratory bird
conservation will involve projects with partners that span the geographic range
of one or more species and that have shared goals and a unified vision.
The Nature Conservancy is present in every state and in more
than 30 countries, and uses effective partnerships and innovative science to achieve tangible conservation results. The Nature
Conservancy is uniquely placed to address the urgent need of migratory bird
conservation.
The Conservancy in Action
The Conservancy's Migratory Bird Program works to scale-up
efforts to conserve this habitat and improve the livelihoods of the region's
inhabitants. Working with local communities, government agencies and
regionally-based nongovernmental organizations, the Conservancy has launched a
protection effort to preserve these forests.
Our hope is to significantly increase protected areas,
strengthen biodiversity-compatible forest management activities, reduce illegal
logging and build additional capacity for our partners for long-term
conservation. By preserving these important forests, significant wintering
populations of the Golden-cheeked Warbler and other migratory birds may also be
protected.
The goals of the Migratory Bird Program's pine-oak forests
conservation include
- Inclusion
of over 40,000 acres of pine-oak forest within protected areas;
- Improvement
of 1.75 million acres of forests through strengthened management and
planning;
- Reduction
of illegal logging and other non-compatible uses of pine-oak forests
across Guatemala, southern Mexico and Honduras by 20 percent;
- Leveraging
additional financial and technical resources for the conservation of the
pine-oak forest;
- Significantly
build capacity within 10 partner organizations working as part of the
Alliance.
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