The Dominican Republic is participating in the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival that runs from 22 April (Earth Day) until 22 May (International Biodiversity Day). The event is coordinated by the Society for the Study and Conservation of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) and BirdLife International. In the Dominican Republic, Grupo Jaragua, which focuses on the environmental heritage of the southwest, is organizing the activities. The festival aims to raise awareness and consciousness of all Caribbean birds, as well as to discuss their environments and how to preserve them.
An important part of the program is its integration into the Plan Lea, the Listin Diario newspaper?s educational program. Last year the program supplied materials to teach an estimated 180,000 students in public and private schools of the importance of the avian species. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the birds of the Caribbean are more threatened today than ever before.
During the festival, local bird watchers are focusing on two new species of birds found in mountain areas. These are the Pitangua, a night bird that nests in the ground among the dry leaves, and the Crossed Beak that lives exclusively in the pine groves of high mountains such as Bahoruco and Cordillera Central. For more information, contact the Grupo Jaragua at jaragua@tricom.net or Tel. 809 472-1036 or the Luz Maria Lopez, secretary of the Hispaniola Ornithologic Society (SoH) at 809 757-1017
Also see http://www.geocities.com/sociedad_ornitologica_hispaniola/
and http://www.birdlife.net/news/news/2004/04/caribbean_festival.html