|Goal||Build capacity for bird conservation throughout the Dutch Caribbean|
|Islands||Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten|
Although the Dutch Caribbean boasts five terrestrial protected areas and 23 Important Bird Area’s (IBA’s), in the past little consistent monitoring, outreach or education has addressed the theme of bird conservation and related habitat conservation.
In 2008, DCNA and its parks and conservation organisations began working with Vogelbescherming Nederland (Birdlife Netherlands) to address this gap through long-term training and exchange programmes and the development of strategic outreach and education materials.
One of the project’s goals is to build a standardised bird monitoring programme for the Dutch Caribbean, with proper support that allows park management bodies and other conservation organisations to recognise threats and issues affecting bird populations and allow informed and adaptive conservation action to be taken.
To this extent training handbooks have been developed for both terrestrial and seabird monitoring. These manuals are used hands-on during workshops and exchanges and form a solid framework for standard protocols and guidance for survey design, data collection, data analysis and report writing. Dr. Adrian Delnevo has led the effort to develop these materials.
A second goal of the project is to develop outreach and education materials and campaigns that raise awareness not only on the six islands of the Dutch Caribbean, but also internationally about birds and bird conservation. This includes materials such as bird identification cards, bird field guide books, and bird- themed classroom educational boxes. DCNA has also directly targeted Dutch audiences to create a sense of pride for the rich biodiversity in the Dutch Caribbean. In 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, DCNA and Vogelbescherming Nederlands created nature exhibitions for public display at Dutch zoos.
Bird ID Cards
Bird Field Guides