Three awards were presented in the category of Leadership

John Alexander (Executive Director for the Klamath Bird Observatory)

Since 1992, upon founding the Klamath Bird Observatory (KBO), John has worked in northern California and southern Oregon to implement all aspects of Partners in Flight.  John’s commitment to implementing PIF monitoring and research objectives has resulted in one of the country’s most substantial long-term bird monitoring and research datasets in the world.  He also helped create the Landbird Monitoring Network of the Americas .  John’s publications have forwarded PIF’s approach to informing conservation with science.  His tireless work with universities, NGOs, and regional schools to promote bird conservation, his international coordination with bird banding in Costa Rica , and his dedicated work on state and local PIF committees is highly commendable. 

Larry Neel (Nevada Division of Wildlife)

This award is in recognition of Larry’s widespread work on bird conservation in the Great Basin. Larry has been a leader in PIF for almost 15 years. His many accomplishments include: co-authorship of the early Nevada Partners in Flight strategy which set the course for Nevada bird conservation; membership on the Nevada Intermountain West Joint Venture Steering Committee and contribution to the Joint Venture plan that integrates recommendations from all bird initiatives; as co-founder of the Great Basin Bird Observatory (GBBO), Larry raised funds, hired the Executive Director, and pushed for funding of the NV Breeding Bird Atlas; and Larry has chaired the Western Working Group (WWG) of PIF for the last four years.

Partners in Flight Mesoamerica National Coordinators – Group Award

The Partners in Flight Mesoamerica National Coordinators for each country who received awards are as follows:

Costa Rica - Pablo Elizondo

El Salvador - Wilfredo Rodriguez (former National Coordinator)
                       - Luis Pineda (current National Coordinator)

Guatemala - Daniel Tenez

Honduras - Francisco Aceituno

Nicaragua - José Manuel Zolotoff-Pallais

Panama - Beatriz Schmitt (current National Coordinator)
                 - Karla Aparicio (former National Coordinator)

This group award goes to the Partners in Flight Mesoamerica National Coordinators for the countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The goal of Partners in Flight Mesoamerica (PIF Meso) is to contribute to the conservation of Mesoamerican avifauna through the activities of Mesoamerican members, and to establish a bridge of mutual cooperation with institutions in North America. A few examples of activities undertaken by PIF Meso include: promotion of and contribution to La Tangara, the bilingual newsletter of the Partners in Flight International Working Group (http://www.latangara.org); implementation of the MoSI (Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal) Program, in collaboration with The Institute for Bird Populations, which measures over-wintering survival of migratory birds in the Neotropics; and development of Important Bird Areas Programs in all countries throughout the region. At this point in time, PIF Meso is the only official PIF working group outside the U.S., and the PIF Meso National Coordinators are the only official and active PIF positions outside the United States.

Two awards were presented in the category of Stewardship

Martha Isabel “Pati” Ruiz Corzo (Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda)

Over the past sixteen years, Pati Ruiz Corzo has worked to protect the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, which encompasses almost 400,000 hectares of diverse bird habitat in Mexico, from semi-desert to cloud forest. More than 360 bird species have been identified within the biosphere reserve, along with a suite of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and butterflies. Protection of this reserve has been made possible in part to the tireless efforts of Pati. She has focused her efforts on motivating the 600 communities and 100,000 inhabitants of the region to take part in preserving their natural resources. Pati's work has resulted in the creation of a grassroots environmental movement that has transformed the natural resources management practices of the local population and reoriented public investment from government authorities. The Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda, which she and her husband founded, addresses the survival needs of the 100,000 men, women and children living in this biosphere by promoting alternative economic approaches while preserving the area’s endangered ecosystem. As a result of its visible success, in 1997, the Mexican government designated the area as the first federally protected reserve in Mexico.

FUNDACIÓN PROAVES

Fundación ProAves is a nonprofit membership-based NGO in Colombia established in 1998. Its mission is to protect birds of conservation concern and their habitats across Colombia via research, direct conservation action, and community outreach. ProAves currently has 65 full-time professional staff (all Colombian), and 21 conservation programs in progress. It works in partnership with over 60 cooperation agreements and 20 institutional agreements. Among their many accomplishments, ProAves:

• Provided data that has been crucial in understanding the non-breeding distribution and ecology for many migrants, especially the Cerulean Warbler and Golden-winged Warbler;
  
  
• Identified San Andres Island in the Caribbean as a critical migratory stopover site, with plans to establish a bird observatory on the island;
  
  
• Established the first migratory bird reserve in Latin America – the Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve;
  
  
• Owns over 37,000 acres in 11 bird reserves (identified for migratory and resident birds), which represents the most comprehensive bird reserve network in Latin America;
  
  
• Was crucial in establishing two new National Parks in Colombia protecting 440,000 acres;
  
  
• Established the first ecological easement in Colombia, with many more planned that specifically protect shade coffee and forest for migrants;
  
  
• Organized the 4th Migratory Birds Festival with more than 7,000 participants; and
  
  
• Established the Andean Migratory Bird Festival campaign celebrated in Colombia (awareness to an estimated 1 million people), Ecuador, and Peru.

Two awards were presented in the category of Public Awareness

FLYING WILD

Flying WILD is a national bird education initiative, initiated by the Council for Environmental Education in 2004 with the publication of the supplementary curriculum guide Flying WILD: An Educator’s Guide to Celebrating Birds. Flying WILD is currently being distributed in 18 cities by a variety of organizational sponsors.  The program introduces middle school students to bird conservation through classroom activities and environmental stewardship projects. Flying WILD encourages schools to work closely with conservation organizations, community groups, and businesses involved with birds to implement school bird festivals and bird conservation projects. Students take the lead in teaching their classmates and community about migratory birds.

Dr. Jeffrey Wells

Dr. Jeffrey Wells has dedicated his life to the conservation of North America’s migratory bird populations, with service in a number of conservation organizations and coalitions, including Partners in Flight. In recent years he has devoted his energies to raising awareness of the conservation values of the Boreal Forest—North America’s largest remaining unfragmented forest ecosystem—for billions of migratory birds. His efforts are part of a strategic campaign for implementation of an initiative to protect over 600 million acres of the Canadian Boreal Forest. Thanks to his dedication, millions of people have learned about the need to protect birds in venues as diverse as the New York Times, The Nature Conservancy magazine, and community radio programs. Dr. Wells co-authored an assessment of bird conservation priorities for PIF that laid the foundation for development of population estimates and stewardship responsibility concepts that have been central to PIF bird conservation plans. He also completed the first Important Bird Areas inventory in the Western Hemisphere, identifying 127 IBA sites in New York State, and published one of the first IBA books in the U.S. In October 2007, Dr. Wells published Birder’s Conservation Handbook through Princeton University Press. The book is receiving tremendous praise from bird conservationists.