Foro WHMSI

The Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) will be hosting a 4-day international meeting and training workshop at Punta Cana on the Dominican Republic in 14-17 November 2011. SCSCB received funds from the Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Bird Habitat Conservation, Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) for the project titled “Research and Monitoring for the Management and Conservation of the White-Crowned Pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala) in the Caribbean.”

The white-crowned pigeon (WCPI) is threatened over much of its range due to legal and illegal hunting, poaching at nesting colonies, and habitat loss due development.  NMBCA funds will be used for (1) an international meeting and training workshop in 2011; (2) small grants for management-based research and monitoring projects in 2012; and (3) special publications in 2012.  This project is a follow-up from a Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Initiative (WHMSI) and SCSCB project in 2009, and ongoing efforts to develop a regional coordinated monitoring program (Caribbean Birdwatch).

  Meeting/Workshop Activities:

• Presentations by WCPI researchers and managers working in the United States and Caribbean islands.
• Roundtable discussions of research, monitoring, and management priorities in the region.
• Training in study design, point count and telemetry methodology, statistical analysis, and presentation of results to decision makers.  Emphasis will be given to traditional and satellite telemetry to better understand WCPI movements, and point count data to estimate detection probability, occupancy, density, abundance, and rate of change (trend).
• Participants will learn about available software, such as Distance (www.ruwpa.st-and.ac.uk/distance/), Presence (www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/software.html), Mark (http://warnercnr.colostate.edu/~gwhite/mark/mark.htm), and R (www.r-project.org).  The training will be introductory and pragmatic to promote system thinking and teamwork.

  The workshop is open to interested persons/organizations from all Caribbean islands. Preference will be given to persons/organizations that are conducting WCPI research, monitoring, and management in the insular Caribbean.  Travel and subsistence funding will be provided for selected participants.  Participants who can contribute all or part of their costs will also be welcome.

  To apply complete the attached application form and send it to Frank F. Rivera-Milán (frank_rivera@fws.gov) and Lisa Sorenson (Lsoren@bu.edu) no later than September 30, 2011.  Please note that spaces are limited and we cannot guarantee that all applicants will be invited to attend.  Please forward this announcement and form on to other colleagues that may be interested.

More information:

WCPI Working Group July 22, 2011 Meeting Report

Dipika Chawla
Rainforest Alliance

24 de agosto del 2011

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