Caribbean Songbirds Initiative

The Caribbean Songbirds Initiative is a collaborative effort dedicated to conserving neotropical songbirds in the Southern Caribbean and Guiana Shield. Commerce and trade in songbirds is a major contributor to declines in their populations and local extinctions. Our vision is a region where songbird populations thrive in their native habitats and their cultural significance is celebrated and sustained.

We are addressing how to protect and revive native songbird populations in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, and adjacent countries through collaborative research, coalition building, and behavior-change promotion. We aim to achieve this by conducting songbird health and welfare assessments, synthesizing data on population declines, mapping trade chains, reviewing and recommending legal reforms, and building strong international coalitions that address the geographical and multicultural scope of trade, challenges, and solutions.

The Caribbean Songbirds Initiative officially began in June 2024 with funding from the USFWS Species Conservation Catalyst Fund that enables collaboration with partners such as the Green Heritage Fund Suriname, Wildlife & People Suriname, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare to tackle the complex challenges of songbird conservation.

By leveraging collaborative research and strategic advocacy, the initiative aims to foster sustainable and ethical practices in songbird keeping and conservation. Our efforts are crucial in preserving the rich biodiversity of the region and ensuring that the cultural heritage associated with songbirds is maintained for future generations.