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Congress Moves to Protect Migratory Birds

Bill Passed to Continue Critical Bird Conservation Program

WASHINGTON, DC—October 3rd, 2006—Congress today passed a revised Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) to continue long-term conservation of migratory birds and their habitats across the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.

“This bill is a critical key to ensuring the survival of migratory birds,” said David Mehlman, (Director, Migratory Bird Program, The Nature Conservancy). “NMBCA is the only funding source from the United States that supports conservation projects across these birds’ total ranges - both summer and winter homes as well as places to rest during migration.”

NMBCA provides a competitive, matching grants program to support public-private partnerships for migratory bird conservation. The Act aims to maintain healthy populations of Neotropical migratory birds as well as provide financial resources and foster international cooperation for bird conservation initiatives. Total funding for NMBCA in FY 2007 is expected to be $4 million.

“Without conservation action, including funding such as NMBCA, many of our favorite birds, like the Baltimore oriole, facing increasing risks to their long-term survival,” said Mehlman.

While we enjoy the company of our backyard birds during the summer, more than 80 percent of birds in some North American forests spend up to nine months a year away from their breeding grounds, migrating south to live in warmer wintering grounds in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. Populations of some migratory bird species have declined dramatically over the past 30 years, mostly due to habitat loss on the birds’ breeding and wintering grounds, as well as of the stopover sites birds rely on to rest and refuel along their migration routes.

NMBCA is an important tool in conserving critical habitat to help ensure that migratory birds are protected during the entire year. The Nature Conservancy is working to protect these habitats through on-the-ground conservation activities in many countries as well as the Conservancy’s Migratory Bird Program. The Conservancy uses NMBCA funds in many states and countries, matching each federal dollar with at least three dollars in private funds.

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