REDUCTION OF THREATS OF PRIORITY NEOTROPICAL MIGRATORY BIRDS, ALTIPLANO POTOSINO III

The Grassland Priority Conservation Area (GPCA) 'El Tokio', San Luis Potos, is critical for grassland birds wintering in their habitats, whose original vegetative cover has declined by more than 90% over the last 30-years.

The project focuses on: (1) improving the habitat in 15,008 hectares through regenerative grassland management systems and best soil and water conservation practices, including training producers, improving livestock infrastructure, soil conservation works and the implementation of community projects; (2) protecting and managing habitat in 15,185 hectares through a mixture of legal tools such as Private Conservation Contracts for 15-years, Conservation and Management Units for 20-years that are approved and registered by the Federal Government and Ecological Reserves through Territorial Planning, registered with the National Agrarian Registry; (3) a research program to monitor grassland species through automated radio-telemetry and to evaluate the ecology of grassland birds (abundance, density, habitat use and preference, occupancy, local movements, parasitism, health condition, etc) throughout their wintering range.