US Fish & Wildlife Service WWB-LAC Grant for Society for Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds

The purpose of this project is to support the institutional strengthening of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds and its long-term sustainability in order to further advance its mission to conserve birds and their habitats in the Caribbean. Specific objectives include: developing and building consensus with membership for a new Strategic Plan for 2014 – 2018, preparing and implementing a fundraising strategy that includes a branding and communication strategy, and enhancing regional capacity-building and information-sharing by hosting a regional meeting at St. Georges, Grenada, in July 2013. One of the primary strategic goals of the Wildlife Without Borders Latin America and Caribbean (WWB-LAC) program is to foster regional networks to facilitate learning and collaboration across sites. The WWB-LAC program helped to create the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds and has supported it for the past 25 years to implement regional trainings, capacity building projects, bird festivals, youth education programs, and collaboration among the islands of the Caribbean for biodiversity conservation. The Society has reached a critical point in its existence where it must now focus on building its own capacity in order to secure the resources, strategies, and staff necessary to ensure its long-term sustainability. WWB-LAC staff will provide input to their 2014-2018 strategic plan, fundraising strategy, and regional meeting workshops focused on institutional strengthening.