Contributions to nature conservation

Through our publications (most of them under the umbrella of PROEVAL RAXMU Bird Monitoring Program), we have been providing data on the local bird diversity as basis for conservation and aid projects. Data were used for several conservation projects of PROEVAL RAXMU and other institutions, and also for the identification of Important Bird Areas throughout the country.

In collaboration with Stiftung Artenschutz and NABU Regionalverband Erzgebirge (both from Germany), PROEVAL RAXMU, and Unión para Proteger el Bosque Nuboso, we supported the expansion of the network of private nature reserves in the Yalijux Important Bird Area (IBA GT010).

We have been teaching numerous local assistants about their local avifauna during our ornithological field research in Guatemala since the 1990ies, and numerous people learned about Guatemalan birds during citizen science events we have been organizing. Some of the people we influenced became ambassadors for nature conservation in their villages and some were able to make a career as field assistants and birding guides.