Grow Food Party Crew - Ventura

Problem: Help bird conservation in North America by participating for one day in the annual Christmas Bird Count.   Prior to the turn of the century, people engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas "Side Hunt": They would choose sides and go afield with their guns; whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won.   Conservation was in its beginning stages around the turn of the 20th century, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declini...

Action: The Christmas Bird Count season is December 14 through January 5 each year. Your local count will occur on one day between those inclusive dates. If you have more than one local count, they will probably be conducted on different dates within the CBC season. You can pick the most convenient date, or participate in more than one count.   There is a specific methodology to the CBC, but everyone can pa...

Problem: Bird monitoring has played an important role in conservation planning in the northeastern United States for over 50 years, providing essential information on avian distribution, abundance, and population trends. Some monitoring initiatives also have quantified species-habitat relationships and population responses to environmental change.  Integration of monitoring into management and conservation has helped stabilize or restore several high-profile species that once were imperiled or extirpa...

Action: This handbook presents ten steps that optimize the value of bird monitoring when designing new programs, modifying existing ones, or applying results to the practice of bird conservation. These steps echo themes contained in an extensive bird monitoring literature and summarized in Opportunities for Improving Avian Moni...

Problem: The ecological, social and economic importance of birds is well documented. Mexico provides a home for about 1,100 species of resident and migratory birds. Despite international conservation efforts, many bird populations are in dramatic decline. In most cases, this is due to the degradation or loss of the natural habitats upon which they depend.   Economic opportunities are limited in many rural communities. Facing poverty and a daily quest to meet their basic needs, many people remain una...

Action: The key to turning this situation around is to help rural people understand not only the ecological and social values of birds and their habitats but also the tremendous economic opportunities and ecotourism; dollars that birds can bring to the region. Bird-watching remains one of the fastest-growing pastimes in an aging, increasingly affluent and globe hopping human population. Simple bird identification training workshops, if conducted correctly and for an extended period of time, can help ...

Problem: La importancia ecológica, social y económica de las aves está bien documentada. México provee unhogar para unas 1,100 especies de aves residentes y migratorias. A pesar de los esfuerzos internacionalesde conservación, muchas poblaciones de aves se encuentran en un dramático descenso. En muchos casos, esto se debe a la degradación o pérdida de los hábitats naturales de los cuales dependen.   En muchas comunidades rurales, las oportunidades económicas son limitadas. Al enfrentar la pobreza yuna...

Action: La clave para revertir esta situación es ayudar a la gente rural a entender no sólo los valores ecológicosy sociales de las aves y sus hábitats, sino también las tremendas oportunidades y los ingresos “del ecoturismo” que las aves pueden traer a la región. La observación de las aves se mantiene como uno de los pasatiempos que crecen más rápidamente entre una población madura, cada vez más solvente y que viaja por todo el mundo.   El Review Group: Conservation Review

Problem: Africa contains more than 300 threatened species of birds that would significantly benefit from the compilation and implementation of Species Action Plans. Until recently, the capacity for this form of species conservation planning in Africa was limited. Through the Species Action Planning Project, jointly funded by the UK Darwin Initiative and the RSPB, the BirdLife International Africa Species Working Group and the RSPB have built the capacity of African NGO’s and governments in species act...

Action: Experience has shown that species action plans make a real contribution to conservation. This manual is meant to act as an aid to African conservationists when preparing action plans for their priority species. It was developed for work on birds, although the format has been successfully used to develop plans for other taxa.   The Manual includes:   Section 1: BirdLife Inter...