By Guy Foulks and Andrea Grosse, Migratory Bird Program, Division of Bird Habitat Conservation US Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Congress passed the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) in July of 2000 and has made appropriations to support grants since the year 2002. The goals of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act include perpetuating healthy bird populations, providing financial resources for bird conservation, and fostering international cooperation. Projects benefit most of the 386 bird species that breed in the continental United States or Canada and spend the northern winter in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, or South America. Because many of the conservation needs exist south of the U.S. border, at least 75 percent of the funding supports projects outside the United States. The Act requires a partner-to-grant dollar match of 3 to 1. Outside of the US and Canada, that matching contribution requirement can be met by in-kind contributions that are less than two years old.
The NMBCA has provided 628 grants throughout the Western Hemisphere, totaling nearly $75 million and leveraging over $287 million in matching contributions. Specifically within the Sonoran Joint Venture, NMBCA funded over 45 conservation projects with more than $6 million at sites including in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Madrean Sky Islands, Durango Mountains, Sinaloan Tropical Dry Forests, along the Aros and Yaqui Rivers, as well as coastal projects in several locations benefiting shorebirds.
One of the values of the program is that it can fund a broad array of efforts to conserve Neotropical migratory birds and the habitats they need, including: protecting, restoring, and managing habitat; conducting law enforcement activities; providing community outreach and education; and supporting bird population research and monitoring. Usually, projects that are more competitive address the factors limiting populations of declining migratory bird species and have strong local community involvement. For example, NMBCA has funded collaborative work with ranchers. A strong proposal clearly identifies the threat to the birds and why the conservation interventions being proposed are the most appropriate and likely to succeed. It also includes mechanisms to evaluate success.
Are you working on Neotropical bird conservation in the Sonoran Joint Venture region? Consider applying for a NMBCA grant! Please reach out to SJV Science Coordinator, Adam Hannuksela, to discuss your ideas for a proposal.
The due date to submit proposals is typically near the end of the calendar year and the deadline for the 2021 cycle is November 5, 2020. Please be aware that the US Fish and Wildlife Service is now using GrantSolutions as the grant management system and applications will need to be submitted via that platform or through Grants.gov. Application instructions will be available on the NMBCA website no later than 60 days prior to the proposal due date; check the website in August and September. If you have questions about NMBCA, send a message to neotropical@fws.gov.