Protecting the rainforests of Mesoamerica so we can keep watching migratory birds in Central Park

"Being in Seattle, Washington, I can't conserve the birds I see and love just by taking action here, says Anna Lello-Smith, a researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), in a video call. We think of birds as being ours, as North American, because they nest here. But in many cases, they spend most of the year in Central and South America. And that's the beauty of it: that birds connect us across hemispheres, she adds,"

"Although less well-known than their giant neighbor the Amazon rainforest, the Maya Forest (which covers parts of Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala), the Moskitia (in Honduras and Nicaragua), the Indio Maiz-Tortuguero conservation area (in Nicaragua and Costa Rica), the Amistad International Park (in Costa Rica and Panama), and the Darien (in Panama and northern Colombia) are remnants of the region's remaining rainforests and act as a protective corridor for numerous animal species."

The Five Great Forests of Mesoamerica support between 10% and 46% of global populations of 40 migratory bird species that nest in North America but spend most of the year farther south. Those forests include the Maya Forest (parts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala), the Moskitia (Honduras, Nicaragua), the Indio Maiz–Tortuguero area (Nicaragua, Costa Rica), Amistad International Park (Costa Rica, Panama), and the Darién (Panama, northern Colombia). These remnants of the region's rainforests function as protective corridors and provide wintering and stopover habitat. More than a third of Kentucky warblers and about a quarter of wood thrushes and golden-winged warblers concentrate in these forests during the non-breeding season. Conservation of migratory bird populations requires protection across both breeding and non-breeding ranges.

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