Bur Sergio, what do YOU exactly do there?

Well, it is time for me to explain what the hell I do in this remote corner of the Caribbean, and what the fuck the NMBCA Project is...

Basically, I came here to be the manager of the NMBCA Project. The NMBCA (Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act) is a policy text of the USA aimed to protect (surprise surprise!) migratory birds, concretely those that breed in North America during the summer and overwinter in Central and South America. Under this Act, grants are awarded to organizations that work in the same direction, and here is where Ya'axché enters the scene.

Birding in Nim-Li Punit (mayan ruins).

So we find a situation in which the US Fish and Wildlife Service gives as a grant to protect migratory birds. And what we do with it? A thousand things. For instance, we work in Agroforestry systems with the local farmers. These are farms in which certain crops (in our case cacao, and in other parts of the world also coffee) are grown under the shade of trees, generally those from the local forests. This has the advantage that the converted land is not cleared, remaining a good habitat for birds. Also, this kind of farming is sustainable, organic and long-term oriented, as the shade trees may and generally are timber trees, which can be eventually extracted, and grown beside the main crop. Moreover, we work directly in community development, and Community Development Plans occupy a big piece of our agendas and meetings lately.

One of our rangers, the ones who patrol a monitor.

We do Biodiversity Monitoring (a.k.a.: what and who is where, when, how and how many of them) which helps to the correct management of our protected areas. Outreach activities also have an important role to play in this project, and these ones range from field trips to Bladen Natural Reserve with the kids from the schools...

School trip to BNR.

Related with this two last things (monitoring and outreach) comes a thing that, even though not the biggest in the project, is probably the one that takes much time from me, and sure makes me work many weekends. Those are the Bird Clubs and the Farmers-Birds Alliance. The formers are groups made mainly by young people from the villages that meet to go birding and learn about birds and the environment. The later are groups of farmers that we are training to do bird monitoring in their farms, getting paid for that and helping us a lot (eventually, we have to wait for the data).

Birding trip to Crooked Tree.

And last, but not least, being the PM means that you are kind of a "one fits all": you are involved in a little of everything, may be required to fill many gaps and do many tasks other people cannot, as well as the regular PM tasks as managing the budget and ensuring that the objectives are on their way to be achieved.

Monitoring birds with the farmers.

Seems a lot? It seemed to me in the beginning. A hundred small things to keep in mind at a time... but it is very varied, and I am learning a lot about it. I love my job!