Donation Goal: $80,000
$49,570 Raised
62% Funded
About Our Campaign
CAMPAIGN GOAL:
To greatly reduce the loss of Wood Thrush wintering habitat through implementation of sustainable land management practices. To do this we will work with partners to pilot a sustainable method of coffee production in the Yoro Biological Corridor, and work with cattle ranchers in the Agalta Valley to improve ranching techniques on pasture land.
FUNDRAISING TARGET:
To raise $80,000 to work with cattle ranchers and coffee farmers in Honduras to implement production practices that are compatible with forest conservation. A reforestation program will also be launched in the Agalta Valley to restore degraded lands.
LOCATION:
The Agalta Valley (Olancho Department) and the Yoro Biological Corridor (Yoro Department) of Honduras
HABITAT:
The Agalta Valley of Honduras harbors what remains of a unique dry tropical forest ecosystem, which is becoming increasingly scarce throughout Central America but is home to numerous plant and animal species, as well as a significant degree of endemism. The Yoro Biological Corridor is characterized by montane wet forest that is home to priority migrant species as well as resident species such as the Ocellated Quail and Highland Guan. The corridor is also important for the endangered Baird’s Tapir.
FOCAL SPECIES:
Our project sites provide habitat for Wood Thrush and Golden-winged Warbler, two species of conservation concern. The Agalta Valley also provides critical habitat for the endangered and endemic Honduran Emerald, a hummingbird species with fewer than 1,000 individuals left.
Other rare plants and reptiles can be found here, including the critically endangered Honduran Paleate Spiny-tailed Iguana.
Wood Thrush by Greg Lavaty
Golden-winged Warbler by Laura Erickson
Honduran Emerald by Robert Hyman
PARTNERS:
Migratory birds of the Americas are in trouble. More than 140 species are in decline, including the Wood Thrush. It was once a very common species, but the bird and its beautiful flute-like song are becoming increasingly rare. Donate today (deadline extended) to help protect tropical forests and save the species—and the song.
Tropical forest of Honduras are a haven for Wood Thrush during the winter.
In the fall, Wood Thrush migrate south to Central America, where deforestation rates are some of the highest in the world. The birds are particularly dependent on the tropical forests of Honduras, sharing their wintering range with other migrants like the Golden-winged Warbler and resident species like the endangered Honduran Emerald hummingbird, the only endemic bird species in the country.
Help Protect Tropical Forests
In Honduras, habitat for birds is rapidly being converted to coffee farms and cattle ranches. With your support, ABC can help protect tropical forests with local partners and landowners by introducing and implementing sustainable land management practices. Over time these efforts will help benefit thousands of acres of tropical forests for both birds and people.
Found nowhere else on earth, the Honduran Emerald will stand to benefit from conservation efforts in this region.
Sustainable Lands and Livelihoods
In Honduras, ABC is working to conserve two regions where Wood Thrush are known to occur during the non-breeding season: the Yoro Biological Corridor and the Agalta Valley.
In the Agalta Valley, much of the native dry tropical forest has been cleared for cattle pasture. Just 3,000 acres of forest is left. With pastures over-grazed and soil exhausted, ranchers will soon look to expand further into forested land. But with your support, ABC and our local partner can work with landowners to improve cattle management and implement techniques that allow for livestock, forage production, and forest conservation to occur on the same land.
The Yoro Biological Corridor, approximately 3,728 square miles in size, is an area where sun coffee production is expanding rapidly and destroying the montane wet forest—an extremely valuable habitat type for Wood Thrush. Working with partner organizations, local farmers, and a fair trade coffee cooperative, we can help implement Integrated Open Canopy (IOC)TM coffee production, which can result in higher coffee yields for the farmer while still preserving large fragments of forest for birds. To begin, our partners will pilot the technique on 250 acres, but our long-term goal is to help implement IOC on several farms to protect upwards of 31,000 acres of forest.
Coffee grown in the sun (pictured) is not bird-friendly. IOC coffee is a bird-friendly alternative.
Coffee and cattle are critical to local economies, but with your help, we can implement innovative approaches to make these livelihoods more sustainable and preserve what precious forest fragments remain.
Enlarged Area
American Bird Conservancy is the Western Hemisphere’s bird conservation specialist—the only organization with a single and steadfast commitment to achieving conservation results for native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. With a focus on efficiency and working in partnership, we take on the toughest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on sound science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation.
La Asociación de Investigación para el Desarrollo Ecológico y Socio Económico (ASIDE) was founded in 1993 to work throughout the country to advance projects and programs that contribute to the socio-economic development at the regional and national level of Honduras. The organization seeks to address the pressing needs of Hondurans, aiming to achieve concrete results in improving living conditions, greater community participation, gender equality, improving social justice and proper management and appreciation of Honduras’ natural resources and ecosystems.
Mesoamerican Development Institute (MDI) is a non-governmental organization with offices in UMASS Lowell, Costa Rica, and Honduras. MDI specializes in technology transfer and market development; and works to remove barriers to moving producer organizations up the value-added chain in agro-industrial processing in rural Mesoamerica. Technology transfer and sustainable market development in Mesoamerica entails creating the conditions in which new tools can be adopted by rural enterprises that allow them to participate in agro-industrial processing and the export of value-added products.
The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service is a multi-faceted agency that manages and protects 154 national forests and 20 grasslands in 44 states and Puerto Rico. The agency’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.