Southern Wings partners with American Bird Conservancy (ABC), Fundación para el Ecodesarollo y la Conservación (FUNDAECO), and Izabal Agro-Forest to promote and facilitate the conservation of forests bird species in the U.S., through the protection and conservation of their wintering habitats in the Caribbean Lowlands of Guatemala.

The Izabal region of Caribbean Guatemala is home to over 150 species of Neotropical migratory birds. It encompasses over 780 mi2, stretching from the country’s Caribbean shoreline to the hills of the Izabal Department. ABC includes this region in ABC’s BirdScape initiative as the Conservation Coast BirdScape (Figure 1). The Conservation Coast is critical for many Species of Greatest Conservation Need, such as golden-winged warbler, Kentucky warbler and wood thrush.

More than 65% of the region’s original forest cover has already been lost due to the expansion of cattle ranching, annual crops, and oil palm plantations. The partners work on habitat protection, restoration, and management in accordance with the 2020-2030 Conservation Coast BirdScape Conservation Plan. The conservation actions include land acquisition and conservation of primary forest (Figure 2), as well as restoration of degraded lands with agroforestry practices (Figure 3 and 4), such as shade-grown cacao and spices and silvopastures.

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