By Natalia Collier | Executive Director
It's the time of year when tens of thousands of terns and gulls return to their remote nesting islands in the Grenadines, renewing bonds with mates after months of separation while forgaing at sea. They have a few short months to build a nest, lay an egg, and raise a chick, all while avoiding the dangers of poachers, predators like rats, fires set by people, and plastic pollution. It is an eternal sign of hope to see them return year after year despite these challenges.
Our Grenadines islands Project Coordinator Juliana Coffey has begun surveys of nesting areas as part of an ongoing training program for our Grenadines Volunteer Patrol members. The terns and gulls mentioned above are joining some of the year-round nesting seabirds such as tropicbirds, boobies, and frigatebirds, many of which have fluffy chicks.
In order to address the threats to seabirds and other wildlife, Juliana has also been meeting with stakeholders, including high level government officers, in order to draft a Community-Based Conservation Management Plan for these islands.
As thousands of birds begin nesting, we are reaching out to request your support so that we can reimburse the Grenadines Volunteer Patrol members for keeping watch over these islands. Many of these individuals are artisinal fishers who don't have funds to cover fuel costs. While we are thrilled to have received a grant which allows us to hire full-time staff, we still have to cover daily operational costs.
Your donation of $10 or more ensures that volunteers can continue to watch over these globally important colonies, home to tens of thousands of nesting birds.
Your donation can also be matched! April 8-12 is the Little by Little Matching Campaign, wherein GlobalGiving will match donations up to $50 at 50% while matching funds remain.
This project has been successful thanks to donors like you who, little by little, have increased our impact over the years. We sincerely thank you for all you have made possible and hope we can count on you to continue your crucial support for protecting threatened wildlife.
Photos by Juliana Coffey
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
