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In launching this year's Festival, Andrew Dobson [4], President of the SCSCB, described the focus of the Festival as "the hard reality of conservation work." Dobson emphasized that the conservation of birds will always require cooperation, because wild animals, unlike people, do not recognize political and cultural boundaries. Dobson noted that unless representative habitats, not just in some countries, but across the region were systematically conserved, the conservation of many migratory species would fail. "If the historical resting, feeding, and breeding grounds for migratory birds are destroyed by this generation, we are leaving other generations to see species only in our published records," Dobson said. According to Dobson the time was overdue for greater collaboration and exchange between both government and non-government agencies (both regionally and internationally) to improve environmental education and safeguard habitats for species, especially given the additional and growing threat of global climate change.

The purpose of the month-long Festival over its 6-year history has been to increase public awareness of the region’s exceptionally rich and threatened bird life, using the Caribbean's celebrated endemic birds as flagships of conservation [5]. Festival activities include a diverse array of public events including bird-watching excursions, lectures, seminars, photographic exhibitions, school-based art and costume competitions, church services, media campaigns, and theatrical productions all in recognition of the region's rich bird life, natural heritage, and interconnectedness of regional habitats to global events. After a humble beginning, the festival has grown to consistently include in excess of 30,000 participants in recent years. The Festival has been described as an unprecedented initiative of regional unification for heightening environmental education and awareness by leading international conservation organizations [6].

Maurice Anselme, Director of the Regional Activity Centre of the SPAW Protocol [7], the only region-wide environmental treaty that protects critical marine and coastal ecosystems, remarked that, in keeping with the theme, it was vital that our discussions about conserving Caribbean species underscore the importance of how interdependent people are to the region’s natural habitats and its wildlife including its birds. “It’s all about our natural resources and how they are working for us in watershed and shoreline protection, waste recycling, and maintaining the beauty of the islands,” Anselme noted. “We have to internalize and get the message out that working for birds is about dollars, sense, and maintaining our way of life as Caribbean people. Until we all understand that, we are going to have environmental problems,” Anselme remarked.

In support of Festival activities, the SCSCB will again provide small grants for Festival activities based on a competitive evaluation of proposals. Previous grants have been used to launch public awareness drives, plant native trees, and to publish posters and booklets, to name but a few of the winning projects.

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For more information, and to arrange an interview, please contact:

Sheylda N. Díaz-Méndez, Coordinadora, Festival de aves endémicas del Caribe (Regional Coordinator, Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival), Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds, Tel: (787) 458-5406, Email: otoarina77@yahoo.com.
or
Leo Douglas, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027 USA. Email: lrd2107@columbia.edu. Tel: 917-569-0820.

NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. The Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) is the largest single regional organization devoted to wildlife conservation in the Caribbean. It is a non-profit organization whose goals are to promote the scientific study and conservation of Caribbean birds and their habitats, and to promote greater public awareness of the bird life of the region. For more details, see: http://www.scscb.org. To learn more about the festival, click on “Programs” and “Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival.”

2. Earth Day was first celebrated in the USA in 1970 and takes place annually on April 22nd. The theme for Earth Day 2008 (37th anniversary of Earth Day) is “A Call for Climate.”

3. International Biodiversity Day is held on May 22nd, the date when the United Nations General Assembly formally adopted the resolution on the Convention on Biological Diversity.

4. Andrew Dobson is also Past-President of the Bermuda Audubon Society. He is the author of 'The Birdwatching Guide to Bermuda' published by Arlequin Press in 2002. He is a member of the Bermuda Zoological Society's Honorary Council, and has been a core committee member involved in the Bermuda Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan.

5. BirdLife International data show that 56 species of birds found in the Caribbean are at risk of global extinction, 11 of them are in danger of imminent extinction. More information, including background information on all of the Caribbean's threatened bird species, can be found at: www.birdlife.org/datazone/search/species_search.html

6. Caribbean nations that took part in the 2007 festival were: Anguilla, Antigua, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Saint Andre (Columbia), St Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Martin, Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago. The initiative is supported across the region by a variety of organizations including schools, churches, environmental NGOs, government conservation departments, private sector organizations, universities, and concerned groups and individuals.

7. The SPAW Protocol (Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife) is a regional agreement for biodiversity management and conservation. The SPAW Programme provides support to the Caribbean Environment Programme, helping countries in areas like sustainable tourism, protection and management of critical ecosystems and species, and conservation education. For more information on the protocol and its activities, visit: http://www.cep.unep.org/.