[TN-Bird] New Refuge in Dominican Republic

 









Below is an announcement from the American Bird Conservancy about a 
newly-formed refuge in the Dominican Republic.  
There probably are only a few members of the Tennessee Ornitological Society 
that realize that TOS has a sister organization in the Dominican Republic.  
Approximately 10 years ago, eleven members of TOS (mostly from Knoxville and 
Nashville) took a two-week birding trip to the DR.  There we saw many of the 
endangered and threatened species that this refuge is attempting to protect.  
We also attended a meeting of the bird club of the Dominican Republic and 
re-affirmed the special relationship with TOS.
 
As the article notes, the DR also has important wintering grounds for many 
neotropical migrants that breed or pass through Tennesse.
 
So this is certainly good news.  Perhaps it will provide motivation for TOS to 
renew its "sisterhood" with the DR bird club.  
 
New Refuge to Protect Migratory and Resident Birds in the Dominican Republic






Bay-breasted Cuckoo. 
Photo: Lance Woolaver
(Washington, D.C., October 20, 2009) Leonel Fernández, President of the 
Dominican Republic, has announced the creation of a new refuge ?Reserva 
Biologica Loma Charco Azul? on the northwestern border of Sierra de Bahoruco 
National Park, a global biodiversity hotspot. The decision extends protection 
in the region by 111 square miles, providing essential habitat protection for 
the globally threatened Bay-breasted Cuckoo and threatened resident and 
migratory birds that depend on the Island of Hispaniola. American Bird 
Conservancy and its partner Grupo Jaragua prepared the proposal for the 
Secretaría de Estado de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales to designate the 
new protected area and conducted the biodiversity inventory work needed to 
justify the new area.

?With 30 endemic bird species, Hispaniola ranks high in global importance for 
bird conservation,? said Dr. George Wallace, American Bird Conservancy?s Vice 
President of Oceans and Islands. ?With forests in Haiti virtually gone and an 
accelerated rate of forest loss in the Dominican Republic, many of these 
species face a bleak future?of the 30 species, 14 are ranked by IUCN as 
globally threatened. That?s why expanding land protected in the vicinity of 
Sierra de Bahoruco is so important and such a significant accomplishment.?

In addition, over 30 species of Neotropical migratory birds have been recorded 
there; they form an important component of the biodiversity during the northern 
winter, making up more than 50% of the bird life in some habitats, particularly 
pine forests. 

?Loma Charco Azul contains populations of several threatened endemic birds and 
migratory species and, until now, was an unprotected portion of the Sierra de 
Bahoruco Important Bird Area,? said Yvonne Arias, President of Grupo Jaragua, 
which has partnered with American Bird Conservancy on the conservation of 
threatened and migratory birds in the region.. ?Key among the endemics there 
are the Bay-breasted Cuckoo, and a good population of the vulnerable 
Hispaniolan Parrot. We applaud the action of President Fernández to designate 
this important new protected area.

?Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, an Alliance for Global Extinction (AZE) 
site, is the global stronghold for three endangered species?Bay-breasted 
Cuckoo, La Selle Thrush, and Hispaniolan Crossbill?and five more that are 
globally vulnerable?Hispaniolan Parrot, Hispaniolan Parakeet, Golden Swallow, 
Chat Tanager, and White-winged Warbler. Other endangered species such a 
Bicknell?s Thrush and the Black-capped Petrel are also present. Unfortunately, 
the park and its environs are under severe threat because some of the dry 
forest, especially important for the Bay-breasted Cuckoo, adjacent to the park 
boundaries, has been cleared for an avocado/papaya plantation.

The Bay-breasted Cuckoo is declining around Loma Charco Azul, due to the 
creeping expansion of this plantation which has destroyed habitat for 5-6 pairs 
since 2002 according to research by Lance Woolaver, a Canadian graduate student 
doing his thesis on the species. The new protected area will help to safeguard 
one of the three most important known populations.

The work to create the new protected area was part of a part of a broader 
effort to improve the management of Sierra de Bahoruco National Park supported 
by the US Fish and Wildlife Service through the Neotropical Migratory Bird 
Conservation Act grant program. Other aspects of the project included hiring 
guards to protect the Park and to establish a monitoring program for migratory, 
endemic and resident birds. Other important supporters of Grupo Jaragua?s 
efforts to expand protection in the vicinity of Sierra de Baharuco National 
park include BirdLife International and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur 
Foundation.

#30#
American Bird Conservancy (ABC) conserves native wild birds and their habitats 
throughout the Americas. ABC acts to safeguard the rarest bird species, restore 
habitats, and reduce threats, while building capacity in the conservation 
movement. ABC is the voice for birds, ensuring that they are adequately 
protected; that sufficient funding is available for bird conservation; and that 
land is protected and properly managed to maintain viable habitat. ABC is a 
501(c)(3) membership organization that is consistently awarded a top, four-star 
rating by the independent group, Charity Navigator.

Grupo Jaragua is a non-govermental, non-profit organization founded in 1987. 
Its mission is to achieve the effective management of the Dominican Republic's 
Biodiversity Resources through research and implementation of specific projects 
to solve local conservation problems. Grupo Jaragua places especial attention 
to regional development of Protected Areas through participatory processes at 
the community level, in particular in Jaragua National Park and its surrounding 
communities. To achieve its mission, Grupo Jaragua works in collaboration with 
government and non government institutions, as well as grass-roots 
organizations. 

                                          
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