Protect Seabirds in the Caribbean

The baby bird in this photo is just as excited as we are for 2019!

In case you missed our last update, we received a grant which will allow us to have an even bigger impact. With our new full-time staff, we can train more Volunteer Patrol members who use their own fishing and tour boats to monitor and protect seabirds, their eggs, and chicks from threats like poaching.

However, this grant does not cover volunteer travel costs. Our volunteers are artisinal fishers or laborers who cannot afford the gas it takes to get out to some of these remote wildlife refuge islands. That's why it is vital that donors like you continue to support these volunteers in their work.

As the number of trained volunteers increases, so does the need to reimburse them for their costs. Your donation of $25 or more ensures that volunteers can continue to be the caretakers of these globally important colonies, home to tens of thousands of nesting birds. 

In the coming year, we will also be expanding the project to:

• Create the first-ever Community-based Conservation Management Plan for Grenadines Wildlife Refuges in cooperation with local governments. 
• Promote wildlife conservation in schools and communities through educational programs and media.
• Place signs at key Wildlife Refuges which explain their protected status to visitors.
• Develop a mobile data entry app for the Volunteer Patrol and supply them with phones and mobile data plans if they can't afford one.
• Use drones to create accurate GIS maps of the islands, different habitat types, and where birds nest for the first comprehensive baseline data on these islands.

We truly appreciate that you have chosen to help protect these last refuges for nesting seabirds. I hope we can count on you to keep volunteers out at sea, in beautiful, rugged, and remote places which offer sanctuary, but only if the Volunteer Patrol can ensure they are safe for nesting birds and their chicks.

Wishing you all the best for the New Year, we can't wait to share all the wonderful work to take place in 2019!

Links:

• Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC) website