PROTECTION OF MOUNTAIN PLOVER WINTERING SITES

The Ascensin, is a Chihuahua region of great importance because it serves as a connection point between the Janos Natural Protected Area, the Janos-Ascension Grassland Priority Conservation Area (GPCA) and the Valles Centrales GPCA.

Field work by partners has shown that there are sites with sightings of more than 1000 individuals of Mountain Plover (MOPL) in the region of Ascensin, outside of Natural Protected Areas, making its protection urgent.

This proposal is designed to reverse the negative curve in the population trend of MOPL by focusing on protection and conservation activities of wintering habitat with particular interest in the community-owned land of the Ascension Region and the Laguna de las Hormigas, located within priority grassland zones in the State of Chihuahua.

Activities include: (1) protection: secure through a legal Ejido Agreement of 21,200 hectares within Ejido Constitucin, to guarantee the long-term conservation (ten years) of this site; (2) restoration and enhancement of habitat quality: soil restoration works and installation of infrastructure that allows maintaining primary productive activities in harmony with the environmental conservation of the site; (3) research and monitoring: biannual monitoring program of grassland birds in the project sites to evaluate the presence of populations, habitat use parameters; availability and quality of food, during the winter season; (4) climate change mitigation by developing a model to identify environmentally sensitive areas to desertification that will establish actions to reduce the impact of climate change effects; and (5) outreach.

Technical support will be provided to ejidatarios and producers on the best management practices of pastures, as well as the involvement of local inhabitants in the development of habitat management and restoration activities, which will strengthen their knowledge and awareness of the area they share with migratory birds.