Plunging pelicans, soaring terns and majestic frigatebirds put on a dazzling show outside the dining terrace, as we ate delicious French cuisine. Impromptu discussions sprang up over coffee and drinks. Bright T-shirts, bird paintings and merchandise were on sale; members’ posters sparked intense learning sessions; and brilliant keynote speakers kept us on the edge of our seats.
It happens every two years, and it just keeps getting better. This year, BirdsCaribbean held its 22nd International conference in Le Gosier, on the French West Indies island of Guadeloupe. 250 delegates from 34 countries gathered for discussions, lectures, workshops – and perhaps most importantly, to connect with each other – under the theme, Keeping Caribbean Birds Aloft.
The conference took place at the lovely seaside Karibea Hotel from July 25 – 29, 2019. BirdsCaribbean partnered with the Parc National de la Guadeloupe for an exciting week of learning, sharing, and discovery.
While #BirdsCarib2019 is now behind us, the memories and friendships made will keep us aloft as we collectively continue to move our science and conservation work forwards. For those who were not able to attend this year and for delegates feeling wistful for woodpeckers and croissant, here is a recap of some of the highlights and activities that made this event so special.
All About Birds – and People
The first day of the conference started with some rock n’ roll, literally, as our delegates were shaken awake by a 4.7 earthquake! On arrival, registration buzzed with the laughter and excitement of a family reunion – was it really 2 years ago that we saw each other last?
Our delegates quickly got to work birding across the island. Who was the first to see the endemic Guadeloupe Woodpecker? An incredible 422 checklists were entered into eBird Caribbean by our delegates and more than 95 bird species were detected. We couldn’t have done this without the help of our local guides. BirdsCaribbean conferences are great opportunities for local guides to showcase their islands, their natural beauty, and best spots for seeing wildlife.
And once again, the Guadeloupe conference highlighted the Caribbean’s amazing diversity—its birdlife, peoples, and cultures. A critical discussion during the conference was the need to expand and develop bird tourism in the region through BirdsCaribbean’s Caribbean Birding Trail (CBT). Everyone was excited that the CBT Project recently launched a new and much improved website.
Always a highlight of our conferences, delegates packed the main room each morning to hear our passionate keynote speakers celebrate the diversity of thought, culture, knowledge and work within our community. On the first day, dedicated BirdsCaribbean member, Anthony Levesque, opened our traditional session to celebrate our host country – Guadeloupe Day – and shared his personal journey of how Guadeloupe, its nature, and its birds have shaped his life. His excitement was infectious as we applauded his own phenomenal efforts and felt his hope about the future for his island’s capacity for science and conservation.
We also welcomed Ambassador Dessima Williams to the island, an Elected Partner of the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute and former Ambassador to the United Nations, who inspired us to engage with the UN’s sustainable development goals to enable bird conservation. Other keynote presentations on each morning of the conference inspired delegates on topics as diverse as the evolution of beauty, relationships between birds and plants, landscape management, avian olfaction, and restoration of a damaged wetland.
Challenges, Solutions, Optimism
The Guadeloupe conference saw the launch of an exciting new Mentorship program* where younger BirdsCaribbean members paired with mentors that have more experience in their specific areas of interest, including scientific writing, data analysis, research techniques, conservation strategies, education, bird guiding, career development, and more. The launch culminated in an energizing mentee-mentor dinner, with pairs spilling out across the venue long into the evening, to share knowledge, inspire, support and learn from each other.
Conference workshops offered practical opportunities to learn new skills and share important knowledge, including grappling with data analysis in R, being the solution to plastic pollution, addressing shorebird harvesting, and becoming a media maestro.
Other topics addressed included the challenges to the survival of the region’s birds and habitats, including illegal wildlife trafficking, invasive species, and the threat of development. Several speakers and sessions emphasized the need for stronger advocacy, involving communities, and education to fight the greed that is the root cause of many of our environmental problems.
We heard inspiring stories about engaging young people through education and diverse audiences via social media, and explored visual art and dubstep music as conservation tools. We heard about valuable contributions to our scientific understanding of avian ecology, and learned how to address the challenges of hurricane recovery, caged birds and illegal wildlife trade. And we took the time to acknowledge and celebrate our successes, including invasive species eradication, endangered species recovery, and successful restorations of habitats believed too-far gone to ever be brought back.
The passion continues to flow
The heart of BirdsCaribbean and our conferences is the passion of our members to support conservation of regional endemic and endangered birds as well as migratory species that visit our islands. Most importantly, our conferences give us an opportunity to share and celebrate the new and continued work of our members. Much of what made this conference special is symbolic of all biennial BirdsCaribbean conferences and we encourage you all to look out for details about our next conference in 2021!
The momentum continues amidst the growing comradery and passion that the conference helped fuel. We will be sharing a series of posts over the next few weeks that highlight the work our partners have done, and provide more details on some of the presentations and conference content. If you have a suggestion for an article, please email us at info@birdscaribbean.org. Thank you for reading, and please subscribe and consider donating to help us “Keep Caribbean Birds Aloft”.
Special thanks are due to our major sponsor, Parc National de la Guadeloupe, as well as the Karibea Beach Hotel, Environment Canada, the U.S. Forest Service International Programs, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Para la Naturaleza, The David Webster Charitable Trust, Benjamin Olewine IV, American Bird Conservancy, Caribaea Initiative, Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Wildside Nature Tours, Optics for the Tropics, Inc., Holbrook Travel, Environment for the Americas, NuStar, the Bermuda Audubon Society, Vermont Center for Ecostudies, Vortex Optics, Carefree Birding, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Levesque Birding Enterprise, Amazona, The Friendship Association, and Hideaways of Ti Heights.
*If you would like to be a mentor or want to be connected with one, don’t hesitate to reach out to us! Email Mentorship Program leaders Adrianne Tossas (agtossas@gmail.com) and Ancilleno Davis (ancillenodavis@gmail.com).
Hover over each photo to see the caption; click on a photo to view as a gallery. See lots more conference photos and videos on our BirdsCaribbean Flickr page, BirdsCaribbean Facebook page and conference website. Also search social media for #BirdsCarib2019 and #HumansofBirdsCaribbean.
Very interesting, Jus, The photos and texts during the conference is is an indicator that many care for our feathered companions. This bodes well for all of us on our old globe.
POPS