North America Grants

Wildlife Conservation Network
Location
San Francisco, CA

Goals
The WCN Partner Network is a select cohort of on-the-ground conservationists who operate on the frontlines and have the nimbleness and know-how to make conservation work. WCN offers these conservationists ongoing, in-depth, multi-year support, providing the financial resources, tools, and services they need to effectively protect wildlife. WCN also created Wildlife Funds to invest in a wide breadth of projects aimed at protecting a threatened species beyond a singular country and across its entire range. The Funds focus on collaboration and encourage everyone—from nonprofits, to conservationists, to philanthropists—to work together to save wildlife. Wildlife Funds identify and vet the best ideas from any institution, regardless of their size or stature, that are designed to stop a crisis and recover wildlife populations. 100% of donations to the Wildlife Funds go directly to the field, with zero overhead.

Impact
MCF is a supporter of the four Crisis & Recovery Wildlife Funds that are currently being implemented by the WCN. These include the Elephant Crisis Fund, Lion Recovery Fund, Pangolin Crisis Fund, and Rhino Recovery Fund. Each of these re-granting programs is able to quickly disseminate funds to grantees throughout the range states where these threatened taxa occur. In addition, the funds support organizations that seek to address illegal trade in animal products, and demand reduction campaigns in the countries that are importing these products. The funds employ technical partners that solicit proposals and visit grantee projects, while committees meet to review proposals and identify the most urgent needs in a rapidly evolving conservation landscape. Starting in 2021, MCF also provided salary support for the Pangolin Crisis Fund director to help this newer Wildlife Fund increase capacity to find and support impactful grantees working to address threats to the eight species of Pangolin.

Ornithological Society of the Middle East the Caucasus and Central Asia
Location
United Kingdom

Goals
The Ornithological Society of the Middle East was formed in April 1978 as a successor to the Ornithological Society of Turkey and was expanded in 2001 to cover the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its aims are as follows:

• To collect, collate and publish ornithological data on birds of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia
• To encourage an interest in and conservation of birds of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia
• To assist environmental and conservation organizations and natural history societies in and concerned with ornithological studies and activities in the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia

Impact
MCF has been an annual supporter of the OSME’s Conservation Fund since 2017. In recent years we have provided $20,000 annually, which is enough to partially or fully fund 6-8 proposals annually. During the period 2017-2020 we supported 21 projects in 13 countries. Please see our Impact Reports for the titles of the projects we funded.

African Bird Club
Location
United Kingdom

Goals
The African Bird Club's Conservation Program supports small to medium sized conservation projects in Africa. Since 1996, it has supported a wide variety of projects including training courses, research into threatened species and promotion and awareness of conservation issues in Africa. The Club aims to encourage as wide a range of ideas as possible, and funds approximately 10-15 Conservation Awards each year. Many different types of projects can be considered so long as there is a clear conservation objective. These may include:

• Survey and research into African birds
• Educational projects or training courses
• Production of guides to the common birds of a country in local languages
• Interpretation material for nature reserves

Impact
MCF has been an annual supporter of the African Bird Club’s Conservation Fund for years. In recent years we have provided $20,000 annually, which is enough to partially or fully fund 6-8 proposals annually. During the period 2016-2020 we supported 35 projects in 19 countries. Please see our Impact Reports for the titles of the projects we funded.

Island Conservation
Location
Global, with HQ in Santa Cruz, CA

Goals
Island Conservation works together with local communities, government management agencies, and conservation organizations on islands with the greatest potential for preventing the extinction of globally threatened species. They develop comprehensive and humane plans for the removal of invasive species, implement the removal of invasive species, and conduct research to better understand how invasive species removal changes and benefits island ecosystems to inform future conservation actions.

Impact
MCF has been providing steady unrestricted support to IC to help fund core operating costs of the organization while staff mobilize resources to carry out complex island restoration projects that often include years of scoping, project planning, implementation, and post eradication monitoring. And once island ecosystems have been freed of invasive species, IC often collaborates with partners to aid reintroduction efforts or to deploy social attraction techniques to entice seabirds to recolonize restored islands. IC is also now exploring Island-Marine linkages, since evidence suggests that healthy island ecosystems offer benefits for adjacent marine ecosystems. Since their founding in 1994, IC and their partners have successfully restored 65 islands worldwide, benefiting 1218 populations of 504 species and subspecies.

Sabah Environmental Trust
Location
Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Goals
Sabah Environmental Trust is a Trust Incorporation Organization based in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. SET’s work includes protected area resources management, including activities on education awareness and capacity building, supporting studies related to environment education and scientific research, and conservation projects. The objectives for which the Trust was established are:

• To promote education awareness and capacity building
• To support and conduct studies related to the environment and publish results
• To raise, receive, and administer funds for conservation and environmental related activities in Sabah
• To promote, support, and carry out conservation and environmental related activities, which includes education and scientific research in Sabah

Impact
With the help of our partner organization Global Conservation, MCF funded SET for the first time in 2020 to support the DaMaI Initiative. DaMaI stands for Danum Valley, Maliau Basin, and Imbak Canyon Conservation Areas, collectively called the DaMaI (Danum-Maliau-Imbak) Rainforest Complex, with over one million hectares of tropical forest. DaMaI is one of the last intact forest refuges in Sabah, and one of the most important on the island of Borneo. It holds key populations of the Bornean subspecies of Orangutan, Elephant, and Sun Bear as well as two Important Bird Areas that include 20 endemic and more than 10 globally threatened bird species. The three objectives of the DaMaI Initiative are to establish a DaMaI patrol team that is equipped to conduct field operations, to increase the overall capacity of those rangers, and to pursue DaMaI Rainforest Complex as a World Heritage Site. With our support and the continued support of Global Conservation, rangers are now trained to climb trees and deploy cellular networked camera traps at key hotspots where illegal activities are most common, while ground patrols report their findings through the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART). MCF support in 2020 helped fund ranger salaries, headquarter staff support, new camera traps, and the purchase of six all-terrain vehicles to aid in patrols.

Rainforest Action Network
Location
San Francisco, CA

Goals
RAN works toward a world where the rights and dignity of all communities are respected and where healthy forests, a stable climate and wild biodiversity are protected and celebrated. They are committed to working with indigenous communities and frontline communities directly impacted by profit-driven systems of injustice. They support the leadership of these communities in working on strategic and effective solutions to protect people and the planet. RAN implements campaigns to identify corporations and financial institutions that fund deforestation, and to expose these entities and hold them accountable.

Impact
MCF supported RAN for the first time in 2021 to help their campaign to protect the Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Leuser is one of the last large intact lowland tropical forest landscapes in SE Asia that still supports species like Elephant, Tiger, Sumatran Rhino, and Sumatran Orangutan. It also stores huge amounts of carbon and provides water for millions of people, but is highly threatened by palm oil plantations. RAN is working in Leuser to protect and restore forests, reduce climate pollution, ensure the rights of indigenous communities, and improve transparency, traceability, and accountability of companies working there. Long-term strategies deployed by RAN in the Leuser Ecosystem and supported by our grant include:

• International profiling of on the ground cases where palm oil companies expand into lowland rainforests and peatlands in the Leuser Ecosystem
• Market and finance campaigns which engage the public to drive policy development and implementation through forest-risk commodity supply chains and financing
• Leveraging policies and the enforcement of moratoria intended to protect primary forests and peatlands in Indonesia and halt issuance of new permits for forest conversion
• Driving innovative approaches to accelerate the implementation of policies at scale in priority landscapes and jurisdictions, and advance the widespread adoption of no-deforestation practices in new commodity supply chains
• Communications on the central role of Indigenous Peoples in stewarding and safeguarding the world’s forests and the importance of protecting forests and peatlands to limit climate change

Malaysian Nature Society
Location
Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak

Goals
The Conservation division within MNS is tasked with the effective management of existing protected areas as well as the establishment of new protected areas. Some of the main objectives within the Conservation division at MNS are:

• To secure an integrated and comprehensive Protected Area system in Malaysia
• Build a knowledge base of key habitats and species with the aim to disseminate this information to decision makers
• Identify threats to the survival of habitats and species in the wild

MNS’ efforts in species protection are focused on sites where success can easily translate into meaningful changes to the Malaysian mindset, attitude and commitment toward using natural resources wisely. Projects range from work with marine life, birds, insects, plants, and large mammals.

Impact
MNS is the BirdLife partner in Malaysia. Through BirdLife, MCF supported the MNS for the first time in 2021 with a goal of securing a safe haven for the Helmeted Hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil) at a site in Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo). The Helmeted Hornbill is now Critically Endangered because of poaching for its casque, which unlike other hornbills is solid and can be carved like ivory. Increased demand for casques (mostly from China) has decimated populations of the species across much of its range. Our grant will help the MNS to:

• Conduct stakeholder consultations and discussions with key groups such as the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Sarawak Forestry Department, and local indigenous groups
• Conduct additional Helmeted Hornbill surveys at the site. An initial survey in 2020 set the stage for this project, but additional surveys are needed to establish a population baseline and identify Helmeted Hornbill hotspots
• Interview indigenous communities to gain insight into their level of knowledge of Helmeted Hornbills, and then build capacity and generate awareness among local communities around hornbill conservation, with the Helmeted Hornbill as the focus.
• This foundational activity would lead to the development of indigenous hornbill guardians at the site, a strategy that MNS has implemented with great success in penninsular Malaysia.
• Highlight important hornbill areas so that the Sarawak Forestry Corporation can effectively implement patrolling and enforcement activities in the protected area in collaboration with indigenous hornbill guardians

FLIGHT
Location
Sumatra/Java, Indonesia

Goals
FLIGHT is focused on protecting the birds of Indonesia by investigating and reporting poachers in the forests, documenting illegal trade of birds in markets, and by assisting law enforcement and police to stop smugglers and/or traders of Indonesian birds. In addition, they have established a home library and donate books concerning conservation and biodiversity to raise people’s awareness. They also conduct school visits to educate the next generation about the importance of birds to ecosystems and to Indonesian people.

Impact
Over the last three years, FLIGHT has been involved in rescuing more than 150,000 Sumatran wild birds from poaching and illegal trade that were destined for bird markets on Java. Most wild birds have been trafficked illegaly from Sumatra to other islands (mainly Java) to meet the demand for birds as pets and for bird song competitions. FLIGHT is supporting a joint team of national and regional police to intercept shipments of birds that are often crowded into small cages, with many individuals dying in transport. Their work has helped identify traders, mostly from big cities on Java, that are sourcing birds illegally captured on other islands within Indonesia, since the remaining forests on Java have largely gone silent. In 2021, MCF supported FLIGHT for the first time with the objective of disrupting shipments of wild birds from Sumatra, Kalimantan, Lombok and other islands in eastern Indonesia, and by enhancing the effectiveness of law enforcement.

Burung Indonesia
Location
Java, Indonesia

Goals

• Comprehensive conservation action for species, sites and habitats through working in protected areas, sustainable productive landscape management and ecosystem restoration in production forests
• Policy advocacy at local and national levels, utilizing a multi-stakeholder approach
• Research and monitoring on priority bird species (globally threatened, endemic or species of parrots) in the Wallacea region
• Management of data, information and knowledge to set priorities, support conservation actions and function as a provider of information services to external constituencies
• Public involvement through local conservation groups, membership as well as working with the media, NGOs, individuals, private sector and government agencies
• Promote bird conservation to the public

Impact
Burung is the BirdLife partner in Indonesia. With the help of BirdLife we funded Burung for the first time in 2020 to help support a multi-year campaign to address the unsustainable caged songbird trade on the island of Java specifically, where there is a cultural tradition of bird keeping and bird singing competitions. Since abolishing bird keeping is not realistic, Burung is pushing for ‘zero wild-caught songbirds in trade’ instead. First, they will investigate the extent of wild bird trapping, locations of trapping, trade routes, and the communities that are involved along the supply chain in order to understand the drivers of the trade and increase dialog among stakeholders. This phase of the project will also attempt to register legitimate bird breeders and work with law enforcement to prosecute those that attempt to launder wild-caught birds into the system. With this foundation of knowledge in place, Burung will identify alternative sources of income in and around key habitat, and facilitate community empowerment through biodiversity and natural resource management agreements that provide sustainable livelihood alternatives. This will begin with targeted investments in 10 villages that have been identified as the bird trade sources for markets in five large Javanese cities, and culminate in Village Resource Management Agreements that are based on proven behavior-change models from their projects in Wallacea. Finally, this five-year project will culminate in greater public awareness through campaigns and educational initiatives, such as public events to promote bird and nature conservation, and visits to schools that are aligned with their programs to foster involvement and ownership around the campaign.

Forum Konservasi Leuser
Location
Sumatra, Indonesia

Goals
The Leuser Ecosystem spans the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. This majestic and ancient ecosystem covers more than 2.6 million hectares of lowland rainforests, peat swamps, montane and coastal forests and alpine meadows. Globally recognized as one of the richest expanses of tropical rainforest found anywhere in Southeast Asia, the Leuser Ecosystem is also one of Asia’s largest carbon sinks. FKL works on many fronts to address the threats to the Leuser Ecosystem. These include:

• Wildlife Protection - FKL operates 30 Wildlife Protection Teams across the Leuser Ecosystem, patrolling 15 days every month tasked to protect key wildlife habitats and dismantle snares
• Restoration - Restoration is a key aspect of FKL’s work in the Leuser Ecosystem, with plans to restore crucial areas such as wildlife corridors to ensure habitat connectivity
• Research and Monitoring Station -The Leuser Ecosystem’s rich biodiversity is nature’s gift to the world and is one of the best places to conduct research
• Community - Communities experience the biggest impact from environmental loss and disasters, thus it is crucial to empower them to protect the forest
• Forest Monitoring - Forests near settlements are very prone to illegal logging because of the ease of access, and thus need increased monitoring presence
• Wildlife Conflict - Human-wildlife conflict occurs very often, and mitigating the impact of the incidents will benefit both human and wildlife

Impact
MCF supported FKL in 2019 and 2021 through our partner Global Conservation. In both cases, our funding supported their Wildlife Protection Teams, which serve as the ‘boots on the ground’ to prevent illegal activities that threaten the forests and the wildlife in this massive area. In 2021 in particular, our support helped fund an entirely new Wildlife Protection Team in the Bengkung Trumon Mega-Fauna Sanctuary. This area, located in the SW part of the Leuser Ecosystem, spans over 300,000 hectares and includes important habitat for Critically Endangered ‘Mega-Fauna’ such as the Sumatran Elephant, Rhino, Tiger, and Orangutan as well as the elusive Clouded Leopard. Funds will provide salary support for five rangers, equipment, training and food as well as some salary support for staff at FKL’s Soraya Research Station.

WildAid
Location
San Francisco, CA

Goals
The illegal wildlife trade is a multi-billion dollar global industry largely driven by consumer demand in expanding economies. While most wildlife conservation groups focus on scientific studies and anti-poaching efforts, WildAid works to reduce global consumption of wildlife products and to increase local support for conservation efforts. They also work with governments and partners to protect fragile marine reserves from illegal fishing and shark finning, to enhance public and political will for anti-poaching efforts, and to reduce climate change impacts. WildAid’s high-impact media campaigns feature some of the most influential voices in the world advocating for wildlife conservation on a massive scale thanks to nearly $218 million worth of donated media placement each year. Their video, print and online campaigns have measurably increased awareness about poaching, and prompted changes in attitudes and behavior.

Impact
After providing small amounts of unrestricted support for several years, in 2021 MCF provided support that will allow WildAid to work closely with two partner organizations in Vietnam, the Center of Hands-on Actions and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE), and Save Vietnam’s Wildlife. CHANGE was founded to create sustainable changes in the fields of environment and development through innovative communications, capacity building, and creating opportunities for young people to build local movement. At the same time CHANGE aims to mobilize and connect businesses, communities and governments in devising solutions and appropriate environmental and development policies. Save Vietnam’s Wildlife works to save animals from illegal trade, protect wildlife strongholds, and monitor released animals through six related program areas: wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, site protection, education outreach, conservation breeding, species conservation, and advocacy. Our grant will help WildAid and these two partners reduce the demand for live wildlife trade and urban bushmeat consumption in Vietnam through the following actions:

• Conduct a survey on wild meat consumption and attitudes towards/perceptions towards wild meat in Vinh City. These data will complement those for a survey already conducted in Con Cuông District, both in Nghe An Province, which is known for its bushmeat restaurants
• Film and produce two ‘Public Service Announcements’ featuring influential public leaders to establish trust within the community and set an example for government officers and the public
• Design and distribute 20 billboards and 520 posters throughout public spaces and office buildings and along key roadways asking residents to stop eating illegal wild meat
• Implement a Restaurant Campaign in Con Cuông District to convince restaurant owners to abandon bushmeat sales, and promote those that do through a social media campaign and advertising
• Engage with government agencies to highlight wildlife protection laws, and conduct a law enforecement workshop in Vinh City for 50 key leaders and officials to persuade them to ratify an official document prohibiting all government officials and residents from eating bushmeat or consuming wildlife products

Planet Indonesia
Location
Kalimantan, Indonesia

Goals
Planet Indonesia believes conservation is most effective when local resource-users are defining the rules of engagement and stewardship. They create the enabling conditions for communities to engage in conservation by working to address underlying drivers while simultaneously removing barriers to catalyze cross-sector environmental, social, and economic outcomes.
They provide community-based services to reduce socio-economic inequalities in rural communities through conservation while improving inclusive democratic governance. Their sister organization Wak Gatak is responsible for their ex-situ work that includes their Wak Gatak songbird rescue center, law enforcement and judiciary support, demand reduction through behavior change, and wildlife trade research and analysis.

Impact
MCF has been supporting Planet Indonesia and Wak Gatak since 2018, with much of our support focused on management in and around the Gunung Nyiut Nature Reserve in West Kalimantan, and on efforts to address the caged bird trade. Specifically, our grants have funded:

• Support for the construction and operation of facilities to support the welfare, rehabilitation, and release of confiscated songbirds, and identification of suitable locations for future songbird releases
• Assistance to law enforecement with field activities focused on bird trade monitoring and intelligence gathering, including monitoring of online trade
• Support to the regulatory frameworks team to support and influence the judiciary system around wildlife trafficking cases
• Support for community-based SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) patrols at the Gunung Nyiut Nature Reserve
• Funds for a Conservation Cooperative, a communnal business group developed by Planet Indonesia in which they provide asset-based inputs, trainings, market-access, and a Village Savings and Loans program as incentives for villages to move away from illegal logging, hunting, and over-fishing
• Salary support for the Wildlife Monitoring Unit, which conducts long-term monitoring of songbird and hornbill populations
• Construction of a small research station in the Gunung Nyiut Nature Reserve, a first for this protected area

Oriental Bird Club
Location
United Kingdom

Goals
The Oriental Bird Club supports conservation work in the Oriental region by funding projects that encourage an interest in wild birds and their conservation and support research and conservation of threatened birds. The OBC Conservation Fund gives priority to projects that promote bird conservation and research in the region, particularly those that meet one or more of the following priorities:

• Bird species which are Critically Endangered and Endangered
• Migratory shorebirds
• Birds threatened by trade (especially songbirds)
• Surveys to better understand the status, threats and conservation needs of poorly known threatened bird species
• Research that helps identify causes of bird declines and helps identify actions to reverse those declines
• Projects delivering direct in-situ bird conservation on the ground, especially those that involve local communities
• Supporting discrete components of formally recognized species conservation action plans
• Public engagement in appreciating wild birds and nature, especially in urban areas
• NGOs or individuals from the country where the project takes place

Impact
MCF has been an annual supporter of the Oriental Bird Club’s Conservation Fund for years. In recent years we have provided $20,000 annually, which is enough to partially or fully fund 8-10 proposals annually. During the period 2016-2020 we supported 42 projects in 12 countries. Please see our Impact Reports for the titles of the projects we funded.

Neotropical Bird Club
Location
United Kingdom

Goals
The Neotropical Bird Club aims to promote an interest in Neotropical birds and their conservation, and to help fulfill the conservation objective they administer a Conservation Awards Program. Small grants are awarded mostly to Latin American nationals to support conservation projects directly involving globally threatened bird species or globally important sites within the region. Past beneficiaries have included both professional and amateur ornithologists and ecologists, students, park guards, NGO staff and environmental consultants. Beneficiaries are required to provide reports for publication in Neotropical Birding or articles for the Club’s journal Cotinga. NBC also aims to enhance the appreciation of birds and their conservation among local communities through the program. To achieve this, projects are judged on their consideration of local engagement and conservation outreach. A key aim is to build local and national capacity for conservation; in many cases awards help the beneficiaries to develop skills and experience towards long-term involvement in conservation.

Impact
MCF has been a supporter of the Conservation Awards Program for many years. In recent years we have provided $20,000 annually, which is enough to fund 6-10 proposals/year. During the period 2016-2020 we supported 35 projects in 14 countries. Please see our Impact Reports for the titles of the projects we funded.

Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center
Location
Washington, DC

Goals
Founded in 1991, and located at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., SMBC scientists seek to clarify why migratory bird populations are declining before the situation becomes desperate. Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center programs help raise awareness about migratory birds and the need to protect diverse habitats across the Western Hemisphere. SMBC research focuses on birds throughout their annual cycle, managed lands, citizen science and saving species in decline. SMBC scientists collaborate with researchers from a variety of international organizations to continue the advancement of ornithology. In doing so, research conducted around the country and across the globe has led to on-the-ground efforts to conserve birds in a changing world.

Impact
MCF provided three years of funding to the SMBC, which provided roughly half the cost each year for a campaign to expand the SMBC Bird Friendly® coffee certification. Commonly referred to as shade-grown coffee, this form of agroforestry traditionally retains forest remnant trees while integrating other tree species. SMBC Bird Friendly is the only certification mechanism that requires a combination of foliage cover, tree height, and biodiversity to provide quality habitat for birds and other wildlife in addition to being certified organic. However, coffee consumers face label fatigue in the super market isle, so a new strategy was needed to increase demand for Bird Friendly. The campaign achieved this through the following activities:

• Compile and communicate to hired consultants all research to date on coffee market trends, consumer preferences, voluntary sustainability standards and conservation initiatives
• Additional research by the consultants to hone the brand’s positioning, assets and voice as well as establish brand guidelines
• Creation of marketing collateral (e.g., taglines, in-store display designs and brochures) using the newly established Bird Friendly brand identity
• Implementation of a Bird Friendly sales strategy aimed at select retailers, representation at sales meeetings, and key trade shows
• Promotion of the certification through like-minded partner organizations with large memberships in the US that are well aligned with the goal of conserving habitat for migratory birds
• Develop and implement a media campaign promoting SMBC’s partnerships, expanding Bird Friendly retail availability, and grassroots efforts to spread awareness and protect habitat

Fundación Biodiversa Colombia
Location
Colombia

Goals
Since 2005, Fundación Biodiversa Colombia has been working to conserve both Colombian natural and cultural heritage through scientific research with social involvement, and through sustainable productive projects that contribute to conservation, to social development, and to self-sustainability of local communities. Since 2009, their main focus has been the Barbacoas area, with the goal of preserving the biodiversity of remnant ecosystems in a highly degraded yet biodiverse region of Colombia, the Middle Magdalena Valley.

Impact
With the help of our US partner Rainforest Trust, Fundación Biodiversa Colombia became a new grantee for MCF in 2020. Our first grant helped the organization increase the size of their El Silencio Natural Reserve, which is part of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena biodiversity hotspot in the Middle Magdalena Valley. Our support provided funds for 450 acres of land acquisition and the hiring of one new park guard from the local community. The reserve protects numerous species threatened with extinction, including the Critically Endangered Blue-billed Curassow (Crax alberti), which is also endemic to Colombia.

Picaflor de Arica
Location
Northern Chile

Goals
A grassroots organization, Picaflor de Arica was founded in 2016 with the mission to conserve the Chilean Woodstar (Eulidia yarrellii), a Critically Endangered hummingbird endemic to the country. Picaflor carries out local actions in the limited range of the bird with a strong social ethic. Their work has three primary areas of focus, 1) To protect key nesting and foraging habitat for the species, 2) To educate members of the local community about the status of the bird, and involve them in the process of protecting its habitat, and 3) Compilation and dissemination of data on this declining bird species. Picaflor de Arica is the only organization that is actively working at a local level to address threats to the Chilean Woodstar.

Impact
Picaflor was a LARSI recipient during the period 2017-2020. During that time our grants supported:

• Salary support for the Executive Director
• Design of a new website for the organization
• Develop an education strategy, create presentations on the Woodstar, and design a children’s booklet about the species
• Bookkeeping and contracted accounting service
• Partial salary support for the Environmental Education Coordinator and the Reforestation Technician

Natura Bolivia
Location
Bolivia

Goals
Natura Bolivia, founded in 2003, is active in five Departments that stretch over half of Bolivia: Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Santa Cruz and Tarija. They work to develop land conservation programs with communities, and with local and regional governments. One of its programs, typically the initial program in any area, is to conserve watershed forests that will directly benefit communities through increased water quality and quantity. Natura Bolivia does this through reciprocal watershed conservation agreements. These simple, grassroots consensual accords provide incentives such as bee hives and irrigation systems for land owners in an upper watershed to sustainably manage their forest and water resources to benefit both themselves and downstream water users. This program now covers 15% of Bolivian municipalities and benefits 250,000 people while conserving 450,000 hectares of cloud forests.

Impact
Natura Bolivia is a new LARSI partner starting in 2021. Their first grant included support for:

• Landowner compensation packages for communities that also host important habitat for the Critically Endangered Red-Fronted Macaw (Ara rubrogenys)
• Vehicle rental, food, and lodging costs
• Salary support for a field technician
• Design and implementation of a social marketing campaign to generate increased support for Macaw conservation by the Municipal Government.

Instituto Araguaia
Location
Central Brazil

Goals
The ecosystem of Cantão State Park includes a unique combination of animals and plants from three major biomes: the Cerrado, the Pantanal and – predominantly – the Amazon flooded forest. To protect the biodiversity of the Araguaia River basin and its ecological processes, in particular inside and around Cantão State Park, Instituto Araguaia conducts scientific research and outreach that will contribute to the region's conservation, to develop and to implement a community outreach program that is economically and environmentally sustainable, and to undertake the legal actions necessary to carry on their mission.

Impact
Instituto Araguaia is a new LARSI partner starting in 2021. Their first grant included support for:

• Full salary support for two new park rangers
• Funds for food, fuel, and maintenance of patrol vehicles
• Support to conduct an institutional financial audit

Bahamas National Trust
Location
Bahamas

Goals
BNT is committed to bringing people to parks, safeguarding natural resources, and maintaining special places. Their goal is a world-class national park system that supports the most important Bahamian biodiversity and provides economic sustainability and climate resilience for people. They are committed to making research available to the scientific community, students, teachers, conservation practitioners, resource managers and the general public. With these goals, they help steward 32 national parks covering 2.2 million acres.

Impact
BNT is a new LARSI partner starting in 2021. Their first grant included support for:

• Partial support of the park guard salary for the Blue Holes National Park on Andros Island
• Purchase of a Kawasaki ATV Mule to transport gear, tools, materials, and people over rough terrain in the park
• Purchase of building supplies and materials to complete repairs to existing structure needed for establishing a park office, and new solar panels for the office
• Purchase of a Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) device and equipment for species monitoring and tracking during enforcement and survelliance patrols

Fundación Loma Quita Espuela
Location
Dominican Republic

Goals
FLQE is tasked with conserving the natural resources of the Loma Quita Espuela Scientific Reserve. This involves close collaboration with local communities that are present within the limits of the reserve to both ensure protection of forest resources and to ensure long-term sustainability of the use of natural resources by the communities that depend on locally generated environmental services. These goals are met through a combination of research, forest patrols, ecotourism, community and agricultural education outreach, and assistance with sourcing markets for agricultural and forest products.

Impact
FLQE started as a new LARSI partner in 2020. So far, we have supported:

• Support to conduct an institutional financial audit
• Purchase and installation of an office secutiry system
• Preparation of an organizational annual report
• Salary support to hire and train a new park guard

Fundación para la Conservación de los Andes Tropicales (FCAT)
Location
Ecuador

Goals
Fundación para la Conservación de los Andes Tropicales is an Ecuadorian NGO composed of local residents and scientists, all committed to achieving lasting conservation of biodiversity in the Tropical Andes region. Their core strategy is to empower local residents to obtain, interpret, and make use of reliable information to effectively conserve their rainforests. They combine these capacity building and educational activities with scientific research, land purchase, and sustainable development initiatives to take an integrative approach to conservation in the Chocó biodiversity hotspot in NW Ecuador.

Impact
FCAT was a LARSI recipient in 2020 and 2021. Grants supported:

• Full time research station coordinator salary
• Capacity building training for field staff
• Partial salary support for the Executive Director and President
• Repairs and improvements to the FCAT field station, located in the Chocó bioregion of NW Ecuador

Sociedad Ornitológica de la Hispaniola
Location
Dominican Republic

Goals
SOH is a non-profit organization with the mission to create knowledge, value, respect, and protection for the conservation of biodiversity through research, education, training, and strengthening of protected areas. Their four strategic priorities are 1) To promote awareness of the islands’ endemic and native species and other elements of biodiversity through education and research; 2) To carry out and collaborate in conservation projects on the island of Hispaniola, especially in protected areas; 3) To develop sustainable ecotourism projects; and 4) To help the government strengthen the management of areas important for conservation through projects and through co-management of protected areas.

Impact
SOH was a LARSI recipient for the period 2016-2019. Grants supported:

• Salary support for a development officer
• Salary support for an accountant and to conduct an institutional audit
• Infrastructure improvements and park guard salary for a property acquired adjacent to the Miguel Domingo Fuerte National Monument, as a base to help steward this protected area
• Construction of a three bedroom cabin with kitchen and camping platform on the newly acquired property
• Support for a fundraising event to promote the organization

SAVE Brasil
Location
Brazil

Goals
SAVE Brasil is a non-profit organization whose objective is the conservation of Brazilian birds. It was established in 2004 with the goal of continuing the program of BirdLife International in Brazil, which was started in 2000. The organization is recognized as an environmental association by the Secretary of State of the Environment of São Paulo, conducts its activities in a participatory manner and develops conservation strategies and actions that include organizations, companies, governments and communities, whose purpose is to conserve the natural environment. The focus of SAVE Brasil’s work is identifying the Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas – IBAs in Brazil and protecting those that are critically threatened. SAVE Brasil carries out projects while attempting to strengthen local communities. SAVE Brasil’s projects have made significant contributions to those communities, such as regulation of conservation areas, the training of persons with environmental expertise, the implementation of educational centers, the development of local identity through the adoption of bird species as a symbol of the communities, the greater use of sustainable economic practices, and achieving organic certification for products.

Impact
SAVE Brasil has been a continuous LARSI recipient since 2015. Grants supported:

• Evaluation of the economic potential of agroforestry to support the Pedra D’Anta Reserve (Serra do Urubu) in the NE Atlantic Forest
• Infrastructure maintenance, signage, and salary support for the reserve manager at Pedra d’Anta
• Purchase of an ATV for patrolling the Pedra D’Anta Reserve
• Partial salary support for development officer
• Support to promote the organization at Brazilian birding festivals
• Support to manage their Rolinha-do-plateau Nature Reserve and the adjacent Botumirim State Park, home of the Critically Endangered Blue-eyed Ground Dove (Columbina cyanopis). This included salary support for the field technician, field assistant, and project coordinator, autonomous sound recording devices, transportation and maintenance costs, and environmental education materials

Jamaica Conservation & Development Trust
Location
Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, Jamaica

Goals
Established in 1988, The Jamaica Conservation & Development Trust (JCDT) is a non-governmental organization and charity with a mandate to conserve Jamaica’s natural environment. The activities of the JCDT center on the 41,198 hectares (101, 313 acres) of rain and cloud forest that make up the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park including its core Preservation Zone which covers 26,251 hectares (65,000 acres) and is inscribed as a World Heritage Site. In addition, JCDT's work focuses on the approximately 28,494 hectares of land around the protected area called the Community Buffer Zone. The Trust receives about 30% of its annual budget for park management from the government of Jamaica through the National Resources Conservation Authority and the National Environment and Planning Agency. The JCDT relies on grants, donations and income from the National Park’s recreational areas to finance the full cost of the park management program.

Impact
JCDT has been a continuous recipient of LARSI since 2016. Grants have supported:

• Salary support for a Tourism & Marketing Coordinator
• Partial salary support for the park manager and support for training
• Salary support for an accountant, and training for HR and accounting staff
• Website revision, trail signage, and printing of park maps/brochures
• Infrastructure improvements and equipment for the Hollywell and Portland Gap Recreation Areas and the Hollywell Visitor Center
• Funds to support an institutional assessment and revised 2020-2025 strategic plan

Instituto Uiraçu
Location
Eastern Brazil

Goals
Founded in 2001, the mission of Instituto Uiraçu is to protect the ecosystems of the Atlantic forest according to ecocentric universal ethics. To achieve this goal, they oversee conservation efforts within a consortium of partner entities as the Serra Bonita Reserve Complex, located in the State of Bahia. Here their work is focused on scientific research, environmental education, and the protection and monitoring of the reserve complex where they continue to buy land to increase the area under protection.

Impact
Instituto Uiraçu was a LARSI recipient in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. Grants supported:

• Salary support for the Executive Director, Environmental Education Coordinator, Land Stewardship Coordinator, and Finance Manager
• Support to promote the reserve management plan with local environmental authorities, and promote and integrate Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN) owner participation in management planning
• Support to conduct an institutional financial audit

ECOAN
Location
Peru

Goals
ECOAN (Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos) was founded in 2000 with the mission to conserve endangered flora and fauna and threatened ecosystems through the protection of biological diversity, the sustainable use of natural resources, habitat restoration, and environmental education. They contribute to the conservation of biological diversity by working in direct and close collaboration with communities and authorities at local, regional, and national levels in the implementation of conservation strategies.

Impact
ECOAN has been a continuous recipient of LARSI for the period 2015-2021. During this time grants have supported:

• Ecotourism infrastructure improvements at the Huembo and Abra Patricia Reserves
• Capacity-building support for the executive team
• Salary support for a strategic relations officer and deputy director
• Ecotourism marketing materials and support to attend tourism promotion events
• Travel, training, equipment, and IT management support for a new cloud-based information system to help the organization collect, store, and manage their data
• Emergency salary support for key staff during the COVID-19 crisis

Biodiversitas
Location
Eastern Brazil

Goals
Biodiversitas, founded in 1988, stands out in its execution of interdisciplinary projects focused on the socioenvironmental interactions between the environment and human society. Their work is based on five thematic areas: 1) Biodiversity conservation through identification of threats, and programs for the recovery of threatened species; 2) Environmental planning and public policies; 3) Planning, creation, and management of protected areas and influencing policies for the protection of endangered species and ecosystems; 4) Developing and applying educational tools and materials for environmental education and awareness raising; and 5) Dissemination of information through technical publications, seminars and workshops.

Impact
Biodiversitas has been a LARSI recipient in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. Grants supported:

• A new pickup truck for work at the Canudos Biological Station, which holds the worlds most important breeding site for the Endangered Lear’s Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari)
• Land survey, notary fees, and legal fees to create the Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN) status for the Canudos Reserve
• Legal support to clarify land tenure
• Funding to conduct an institutional financial audit
• Salary support for park guards

Armonía
Location
Bolivia

Goals
Asociación Civil Armonía is the leading non-profit bird conservation NGO of Bolivia, whose mission is to conserve Bolivia’s birds and their habitats, creating a country where wildlife and people can thrive. They are achieving this through direct conservation actions and by establishing protected areas, empowering local and indigenous people, running educational campaigns, promoting sustainable and alternative livelihoods and carrying out scientific research.

Impact
Armonía has been a LARSI recipient for the period 2015-2021. Grants included support for:

• Executive/personnel training in project planning, fundraising, and administration
• Salary support for a director of communications, publicity, and marketing
• Sustained support for the comprehensive development of an eco-friendly cattle ranching model at the Barba Azul Nature Reserve, home to the Critically Endangered Blue-throated Macaw (Ara glaucogularis). This includes support for the management, training, and consulting for a cattle management plan and reserve business plan; salary support for cattle ranching manager and assistant; perimeter fencing, paddock fencing, cattle purchase; purchase of a tractor blade to create fire breaks
  Salary support for the Barba Azul reserve manager
• Barba Azul tourism promotion and marketing, development of a Bolivian bird tourism strategy plan, and salary support for a tourism coordinator
• Printing costs for the Spanish version of the Birds of Bolivia
• In 2017, MCF provided land purchase support (through our partner American Bird Conservancy) to expand Armonía’s Laney Rickman Reserve. Like Barba Azul, Laney Rickman is located in the Beni Savanna, and is home to their successful Blue-throated Macaw nest-box program, which just fledged its 100th chick!

Aquasis
Location
NE Brazil

Goals
Since 1994, Aquasis has been conducting five long-term conservation projects with the most endangered birds and marine mammals in the region, i.e., Antillean Manatee (Trichechus manatus), Guiana Dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), Araripe Manakin (Antilophia bokermanni), Grey-breasted Parakeet (Pyrrhura griseipectus) and Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa), divided into three main programs: Marine Mammal Conservation Program, Bird Conservation Program, and Protected Areas Program. Conservation success is achieved by training and consolidating field teams to conduct conservation actions and priorities organized in a Conservation Plan or National Action Plan.

Impact

• Through our partner American Bird Conservancy, in 2014 we helped support land acquisition to establish the Oasis Araripe Reserve in the State of Cereá, which protects some of the last habitat of the Critically Endangered Araripe Manakin.

Aquasis was a LARSI partner from 2015-2018. During that time, grants supported:

• Salaries of the reserve manager and reserve ranger at Oasis Araripe
• Infrastructure improvement at the reserve
• Salary support for a development officer, and promotion of the organization at the Brazilian Avistar BirdFair
• Ecotourism promotion, and funding to conduct an institutional audit

FUNDAECO
Location
Guatemala

Goals
FUNDAECO (Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación) promotes the establishment of protected areas and their participatory management, supports the legalization of land for communities (as well as sustainable economic development activities including ecotourism, handicrafts, agroforestry and reforestation), and promotes the conservation of biodiversity through biological research and monitoring, environmental education, and political advocacy. Established in 1990, their mission is to protect natural ecosystems and the environmental services they provide, as well as promoting the sustainable development of communities in poverty and vulnerability located in regions of high biodiversity.

Impact
Through our partner Global Conservation we are supporting a comprehensive effort to protect Mirador National Park and surrounding forest concessions that hold the largest remaining intact rainforest in northern Central America, as well as a sprawling metropolis of pre-classic Mayan ruins. Our support has helped fund:

• Mirador Park Authority – salary support for the multi-agency/NGO management team led by Francisco Asturias. This professional ranger force and park management team is providing the first effective patrolling of Mirador in the history of the park.
• SMART (Spatial monitoring and reporting tool) technology, wildlife anti-poaching training, camera traps for road and trail monitoring of wildlife and illegal activities, food rations, equipment, and training/technical support.
• Support for a new ranger station and tourism visitor center, and a SMART system HQ (command center).
• Purchase of an ATV for field patrols.

FUNDAECO has also been a LARSI recipient in 2016-2018 and 2020. Our support helped fund:

• Partial salary support for park guards, a development officer, and the executive team.
• Development of a biocenter (experimental agroforestry plot) to design a financial model for 2-4 agroforestry products to generate a long-term revenue model for agroforestry systems in the Caribbean region.
• Development of an ecotourism marketing strategy and purchase of promotional materials for the Conservation Coast (Caribbean region).
• Implementation of a new strategic model for long-term institutional sustainability.

ProAves
Location
Colombia

Goals
Initially inspired by a group of conservationists that wanted to conserve the last population of the Yellow-eared Parrot, ProAves was established in 2001 to expand its focus to study and conserve other threatened species, especially birds and amphibians, throughout Colombia. Currently ProAves has 28 nature reserves that it stewards through a combination of land acquisition, research, and environmental education.

Impact
ProAves was funded by LARSI in 2015, 2016, and 2019-2021. These grants included:

• Salary support for park guards at several reserves
• Ecotourism infrastructure maintenance and upgrades, and trail maintenance to facilitate reserve access for visitors and researchers
• Salary support for a Communications Director
• Salary support for an Accounting Assistant, accounting software, and support to conduct a institutional audit
• Consultation on property titling, zoning, and taxes

Jocotoco Foundation
Location
Ecuador

Goals
The Jocotoco Foundation was established in 1998 to protect rapidly disappearing habitat for threatened bird species that were not well represented in other nationally protected areas in Ecuador. The motivation to start the foundation came with the exciting discovery of the Jocotoco Antpitta as a species new to science in 1997, with the simultaneous realization that its habitat was rapidly being converted to cattle pasture. The goal of the foundation is to acquire and manage land as biological reserves, and this system now includes 16 reserves totaling 60,540 acres that protect more than 1,000 species of birds, of which 51 are threatened with extinction on a global scale and over 100 are regional endemics or have very limited geographic distributions. The reserves provide conservation benefits to many other taxa, with at least 200 species of reptiles and amphibians and several large mammals.

Impact

• MCF has supported Jocotoco since 2006 with total grants in excess of $1.6 million.
• The Narupa Reserve in the Amazonian foothills of Napo Province was started with support from MCF, and now covers 4454 acres.
• Land purchase support has also helped grow the Chakana, Tapichalaca, and Canandé reserves with the help of our partner organization Rainforest Trust.
• Unrestricted giving has supported numerous staff salaries and administrative costs
• MCF helped Jocotoco start its first camera trapping project. Since then, camera traps have been used at many reserves to monitor charismatic species such as Spectacled Bear.
• LARSI has funded Jocotoco continuously for six years. These grants have supported fundraising training for staff, ecotourism infrastructure, park guard salaries and equipment, environmental education tool kits, development of a volunteer program, purchase of a cloud-based IT network, and development of a phone-based app to improve communication between the reserves and the Quito central office.

American Bird Conservancy
Location
The Plains, VA

Goals
American Bird Conservancy is dedicated to conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. Founded in 1994, ABC has a long track record of supporting Latin American partners, especially those working to protect highly threatened, range-restricted species. In 2015 MCF and ABC established the Latin American Reserve Stewardship Initiative (LARSI) as a re-granting program to support partners in ABC’s Latin American Bird Reserve Network. LARSI is a capacity-building initiative that seeks to measurably improve the ability of non-profit conservation organizations to protect declining native birds and their habitats in perpetuity. Each year, MCF-ABC invite about a dozen applicants within the network to apply for grants up to $50,000. The goal is to help partners improve operating systems and implement standard business practices, to develop financial self-sufficiency through fundraising training and development of diverse income sources, and to manage reserves. All applicants either own and manage private reserves, or help manage protected areas on behalf of government institutions. Some LARSI partners have also received support from MCF for land purchase outside of this initiative.

Impact

• During the period 2015-2021 MCF contributed $2,247,051 to 20 LARSI partners in 13 countries. MCF also provided financial support to ABC to administer this re-granting initiative.
• Our support helped organizations hire finance and accounting staff, buy accounting software and conduct institutional financial audits.
• We funded ecotourism plans, helped hire ecotourism coordinators and implemented tourism marketing plans, and supported infrastructure improvements that are increasing revenue from both national and international visitors.
• Support for development personnel, fundraising plans, attendance at bird fairs and social media outreach helped partners raise money and become more confident approaching donors.
• Cloud-based software allowed organizations to upload files that can now be accessed outside of office headquarters, while custom phone apps allow reserve administrators to quickly disseminate project results.
• Support for an ecofriendly cattle-ranching model and related infrastructure is helping build reserve sustainability.
• Vehicle purchases have enabled organization staff to increase patrols and execute projects in remote parts of their reserves.
• Summit meetings have allowed different partners working in different countries to share ideas, best practices, and network more efficiently.
• Partial salary support for reserve administrators and reserve park guards that both protect natural resources and document wildlife sightings.
• During the Covid pandemic, we helped cover core salary costs to reduce the impact of staff turnover and the related cost of retraining new employees.

Audubon California
Location
San Francisco, CA

Goals
Launched in 1996 as a field program of National Audubon Society, Audubon CA has identified five programs that collectively cover the most important issues for birds in California, and are the means by which Audubon CA will achieve its vision. They are:

• Saving Important Bird Areas (IBAs)
• Putting working lands to work for birds and people
• Sharing our seas and shores
• Shaping a healthy climate and clean energy future
• Creating bird-friendly communities
• These five programs are consistent with the key strategies laid out in the National Audubon Society’s strategic plan, and are each designed to benefit birds in California as well as throughout the Pacific Flyway.

Impact
MCF’s first major investment with Audubon CA was to support shorebird surveys in Humboldt Bay, CA. Humboldt Bay is the largest estuary along the coastal Pacific Flyway between Coos Bay, OR and San Francisco Bay, CA. As such, it is vital for migratory and wintering waterbirds, especially shorebirds. Following on research from spring migration surveys that indicated Humboldt Bay was more important for shorebirds than previously thought, MCF funded follow-up surveys in fall and winter. All three surveys were done in collaboration with researchers at Humboldt State University. Collectively, these data were used to successfully argue for increased recognition of Humboldt Bay as a site of Hemispheric importance under WHSRN, which helped strengthen policy outcomes for Audubon CA and its partners to protect the bay from shellfish farming expansion, and to also lobby for better protections of eelgrass beds, which are very important for waterfowl.

Since 2020, MCF has been supporting the Biological Technician program, based at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary in Marin County. The Center’s primary goals are to protect waterbirds in the 900-acre marine sanctuary and engage the next generation of conservation stewards at their 11- acre education center. To that end, the Biological Technician program was renamed the Richardson Bay Early Career Conservationist Program. By providing salary support for an early career technician position, Audubon CA has been able to continue bird monitoring in Richardson Bay, conduct research and analysis for science-based advocacy to improve eelgrass protections, and oversee restoration and volunteer engagement at the Center including a revamp of the native plant nursery and patrolling of the sanctuary to protect roosting waterbirds on Aramburu Island (see the MCF 2020 Impact Report for more details).

Youth Access to Nature Fund
Location
The San Francisco Foundation

Goals
The Youth Access to Nature Fund is a re-granting initiative at The San Francisco Foundation that expands access to nature by creating outdoor experiences for children of color who deserve access to safe, green spaces, and who otherwise would not easily get outdoors due to the cost of transportation, gear and other expenses. The vision is to provide as many opportunities as possible for children to interact with and develop a lifelong appreciation of nature. The Fund has helped Bay Area children experience the ocean for the first time, visit the awe-inspiring redwoods, plant food, and have the formative experiences in nature that benefit all children. The hope is that these meaningful experiences will help kids, no matter where they live nor what their background, reach their full potential and develop a deep love for nature and even develop careers in outdoor recreation, environmental education, and conservation. Grants seek to achieve inclusiveness, organizational sustainability, systems change, and a shift in public perception on the importance of nature for youth.

Impact
MCF has been supporting the Youth Access to Nature Fund since 2017, one year after inception. From its founding until present, the Fund grew from $925K in grants in 2016 to $1.6 million in 2020, with donors to the fund supporting 35 organizations with over $5 million and an average grant size of $34,000. These funds have supported grassroots organizations in north Bay Area counties including Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo. Over 100,000 youth have been served to date, and many programs integrate parents and other adults to capture the benefits of multi-generational experiences in nature. The Fund was also able to deploy emergency Covid grants to help organizations that were temporarily suffering from lost revenue due to cancelled enrollment. Please see the YAN website for a list of the most current grantees.

Ken Norris Center for Natural History
Location
University of California, Santa Cruz

Goals
The Kenneth S. Norris Center for Natural History supports natural history education and research opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and the greater Santa Cruz community. Following in the spirit of Ken Norris who taught at UCSC and helped establish the UC Natural Reserves System, they are continuing to build a community of people who carry their passion for the natural world into all aspects of their lives. The Norris Center supports natural history learning by curating important natural history collections, teaching field-based classes, supporting hands-on internships, strengthening connections among disciplines (especially art and science), mentoring students to be future environmental leaders and teachers, and building lasting communities and professional networks. The Norris Center has made UCSC the preeminent institution in the UC system for natural history education.

Impact
MCF has been a continuous supporter of the Center since inception. Our grants through the years have helped provide both the materials and the people to make the center thrive. These include:

• Field course, lab and collections supplies and work tables for the Center
• Salary support for student assistants
• Partial salary support for assistant directors Dr. Alex Krohn and Dr. Gizelle Hurtado
• Support for staff training and travel for conferences
• Funding of the endowment for the Center, as well as the Experiential Learning Endowment, which helps fund field-based instruction for courses offered by the UCSC Environmental Studies Department

Climate Ride
Location
Missoula, MT

Goals
Climate Ride, founded in 2008, inspires and empowers people to work toward a sustainable future. Climate Ride unites advocacy and philanthropy by using sport as a means to change lives and build an effective, citizen-based sustainability movement. Climate Ride organizes multi-day bike rides and hikes which serve to engage new stakeholders and strengthen advocacy for the environment. Climate Ride supports participants to reach out to thousands of people and to raise funds. Participants get to select the projects and organizations to support (which can include Climate Ride itself), working on climate change, clean energy, active transportation, sustainable infrastructure, and public health, that will receive grants through the Climate Ride grants program.

Impact
Through participating in multiple ride events, ED Ivan Samuels has raised funds for several organizations working in the realm of active transportation, mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area. These include the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Bike East Bay, Adventure Cycling Association, and Walk SF. In addition, every year MCF contributes to the Climate Ride Annual Fund, which supports scholarships for riders as well as the Community Leader Award. So far, Climate Ride has donated over $6.2 million to their beneficiary network, which includes over 100 organizations.

Bay Nature Institute
Location
Berkeley, CA

Goals
Bay Nature Magazine is the leading publication for all things ‘natural history’ in the San Francisco Bay Area. Articles include tips on how to explore local nature with custom maps, detailed accounts of species and their habitats, conservation stories and controversies, and interviews with influential local scientists, activists, and decision makers. The Bay Nature Institute exists to help support the magazine and its mission to educate the public and promote local environmental heroes.

Impact
Publishing in-print magazines is tough business these days, and traditional advertising does not always meet the need. To help offset these publication costs, MCF has been sponsoring articles, especially those related to birds and bird conservation. Some of the pieces we have sponsored include: The Disappearing Language of Sparrows, Bird Savant, Birding Through 2020, Acorn Woodpeckers in Five Acts, and most recently Raptors Rather Than Rodenticide. MCF has also been supporting the annual Bay Nature Local Hero Awards, which seeks to honor remarkable local conservation and nature leaders and activists.

Point Blue Conservation Science
Location
Petaluma, CA

Goals
Founded in 1965 as the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, Point Blue Conservation Science is a leader in climate-smart conservation. Point Blue is working to ensure that our collaborative climate-smart conservation actions today can lead to ecosystems that sustain healthy wildlife and human communities well into the future. As leaders and innovators in conservation science, they have the vision, scientific rigor, passion, and ability to inspire others to act. At the core of their work is innovative science, studying birds and other environmental indicators to protect nature’s benefits. Beyond their own scientists, they work to advance nature’s health through extensive collaborations on land and at sea with government agencies, private landowners, and other wildlife and habitat managers. Point Blue is an active, trusted science leader in major regional, national, and international conservation initiatives through a combination of science, partnerships, and outreach. Finally, they not only do the science, they bring the science to public and private wildlife and habitat managers, as well as the general public and the next-generation of conservation science leaders.

Impact
MCF has a long history of supporting Point Blue. The core of our giving has been unrestricted support, including matching funds for carbon-free “green teams” during their annual Bird-A-Thon event. We funded several years of migratory connectivity research using geolocator and GPS tags to track the migration routes of several species of songbird. The publications that resulted from that support are summarized in our 2018 Impact Report, and reveal novel insights into avian migratory behavior. Most recently in 2021, we launched a new re-granting initiative through their Migratory Shorebird Project. The MSP is the largest coordinated survey ever of wintering shorebirds on the Pacific Coast of the Americas. It was initiated in 2011 and is a cooperative effort of conservation science organizations and agencies led by Point Blue. The overall goal is to conserve shorebirds and wetlands from Alaska to Chile by connecting communities, standardizing data, and applying science across the Americas. With support from MCF, Point Blue and the MSP will now be able to re-grant funds to Latin American partners to implement conservation actions to conserve shorebirds and their habitats.

Institute for Bird Populations
Location
Petaluma, CA

Goals
The Institute for Bird Populations was founded in 1989 to study the causes of bird population declines. IBP's first major initiative was the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program, a continent-wide collaborative network of bird banding stations. Other flagship programs include the Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal (MoSI) program to study the ecology of Neotropical migrant birds on their wintering grounds, and their regional science and conservation programs conducting avian research, population monitoring, and conservation work in several geographic regions using diverse methods from point counts to emerging wildlife tracking technologies. Their work has spread to other parts of the globe, including Canada, the Neotropics, and Pacific Islands, as well as to non-avian wildlife like insect pollinators. They collaborate locally, nationally, and globally with individuals, government agencies, and NGOs in diverse fields to assess the effects of land management actions, climate change, and other ecological stressors on bird populations, and prescribe practical solutions. They use cutting-edge science, and publish results in peer-reviewed journals.

Impact
Since 2011 MCF has been supporting IBP with unrestricted support as well as targeted funding for a variety of projects. Restricted support includes funding to build a dedicated website on the vital rates of North American land birds, salary support for a development consultant and director of development and communications, migratory connectivity research on Black-headed Grosbeaks, and support for both MoSI fellowships and MoSI microgrants to bring bird-banding supplies to operators in Latin America.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Location
Ithaca, NY

Goals
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology brings together the agility and impact of an on-the-ground nonprofit organization with world-class science and teaching as part of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Their work spans disciplines from science to art, engineering to education. Their global community includes supporters, participants, and partners from all walks of life, united by a love of birds and nature and a commitment to help protect our planet. One of the Lab’s signature projects is the citizen science program called eBird, which allows users around the world to report birds, and now exceeds one billion bird observations.

Impact
Since 2019, MCF has been a major supporter of the Lab’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative. Recognizing the importance of land trusts and conservation easements to land preservation goals in the United States, MCF helped the lab scale up the LTBCI to offer $25,000 grants for projects that actively manage, restore, and/or steward land in a way that enhances habitat and promotes bird conservation, with special emphasis on priority species or those identified in State Wildlife Action Plans. Grants may also include an outreach or demonstration component to share management practices with neighbors and partners, and funding to train staff or volunteers to submit bird detections through eBird. To date we have funded 16 of these grants with accredited land trusts around the country. Land management activities include mechanical fuel reduction and controlled burning, control of invasive-exotic plants, creation of early successional habitats, innovative grazing practices, restoration of native grassland habitats and alteration of mowing practices to protect grassland birds, ecological silviculture to alter canopy structure, and control of herbivory to protect key plant species. To learn more about the specifics of these projects, please visit the LTBCI link above or see our recent MCF Impact Reports.

Nature in the City
Location
San Francisco, CA

Goals
As a grassroots environmental nonprofit, Nature in the City empowers local communities—people of all ages, ethnicities, and socio-economic strata by organizing habitat restoration stewardship projects, leading nature walks & events, and providing tools and educational resources for people to participate in citizen science and lifelong learning. Their open space advocacy work serves diverse San Francisco neighborhoods. Earth Island Institute is Nature in the City’s fiscal sponsor.

Impact
MCF has been supporting Nature in the City for many years with both targeted grants and unrestricted funding. Specific project support includes improved signage and information for the Green Hairstreak butterfly corridor, and development of media to promote connections to nature in the city’s new Market Street re-design plan with a focus on the Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. In recent years we have provided unrestricted funding to support core operations of the organization including local restoration projects, backyard nursery work and wild SF gardening, local nature walks, and an effort to create more equitable access to nature for people of color and for neighborhoods that lack nature and green spaces.

Golden Gate Raptor Observatory
Location
Hawk Hill, Marin County, CA

Goals
For over 30 years, the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO) has been a program of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy in cooperation with the National Park Service.
Their mission is to inspire the preservation of California raptor populations. The GGRO was formed in the early 1980s to track the Golden Gate migration, an annual flight of tens of thousands of hawks, eagles, falcons, and vultures, birds collectively called “raptors.” With the help of over 250 volunteer community scientists annually, they conduct long-term studies of the seasonal movements of birds of prey along the Pacific Coast, particularly over the Marin Headlands, to further the understanding and preservation of raptor populations.

Impact
MCF has been an annual supporter of the GGRO’s Data Analysis & Publication Fund (DAP). The GGRO’s DAP Fund was started in 2004 to turn their observations, banding data, and radio- and satellite-tracking into widely seen scientific results. To date they have published more than 24 scientific articles and given over 100 conference presentations. A list of these publications with links to the articles can be found here. Counting, banding, and tracking raptors year after year have greatly expanded our understanding of these predators. Publications cover a wide range of topics including studies on the effects of mercury and anticoagulant rodenticides, use of stable isotope analyses to track migratory patterns, prey identification through DNA analyses of tissue collected from the beaks and talons of raptors in the hand, and a wealth of information on the distribution and migration patterns of several species.