An article by Julie Hays for CNN.

Thirteen-year-old Rose Matrie lives in a cracked house.

The light that streams through the narrow slit in the concrete wall is an ever-present reminder of the earthquake that struck her home in Haiti in 2010 and devastated the already impoverished country. Still, Rose Matrie has big dreams for her future.

“I want to go to a big school in order to develop my talents,” she says.

Her mother fastened a large chalkboard on the outside of their home to cover up the crack, and every day Rose Matrie does her homework there. Her teacher says she is very bright and excels in literature.

“When I let my imagination go, I think of extraordinary things,” Rose Matrie says.

Her father lost his job after the earthquake, and though her mother works as a seamstress, there is little demand for her skills. Like many families in Haiti, her parents are struggling to pay the school fees to keep her and her five siblings enrolled.

In Haiti, public schools only meet about 20% of the demand for basic education in rural areas, and education costs, particularly for private schools, remain very high in relation to family income, according to the nonprofit Plan International USA.

Plan is working with local governments and schools to provide more children in Haiti with access to a quality education. The organization is building classrooms and school facilities, training educators and providing school supplies, textbooks and uniforms for children in need.

“[This is] so those costs aren’t passed on to families as a barrier to attendance,” explains Ann Wang, a plan communications specialist.

When the relatively high cost of school is decreased or eliminated, more children like Rose Matrie can get an education and develop their talents.

Watch the video for a glimpse into Rose Matrie’s world. You can help her and other girls growing up in Haiti.

Support the campaign behind the film “Girl Rising” and give to the 10×10 Fund for Girls’ Education. Donations will be distributed evenly among the 10×10 nonprofit partners and help fund girls’ education projects around the world.

You can also help advance Plan’s work by donating to its “Because I am a Girl” campaign, which supports projects that help girls and women in the developing world. Through the “Gifts of Hope” program, you can symbolically donate things like school uniforms, vaccinations, school supplies or even girl-friendly latrines.

Plan international USA created resources for students and teachers. These online booklets are designed to help people of all ages understand the challenges that many girls and women face around the world.

For even more ways to make an impact for girls education around the world, check out CNN’s Impact Your World resources or take action with 10×10.

For the original report go to http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/23/world/iyw-rose-matrie-from-haiti/

This charming account of an environmental/history centered cruise around Dominica with Lennox Honychurch as a guide by Dr. Sam Christian appeared in theDominica.net.

I just came back from an amazing boat ride! Wish you were there! My trip was kindly arranged by my former Wesley High School student/Headgirl, Cora Richards and her most efficient friend in Forestry Division, Jacqueline Andre.

I’m rather indebted to them as, for whatever reason, I had not heard about it. Why did it make such an impact on me? Well, if you get a chance next year, you don’t want to miss because you will find out for yourself.

See James Arlington’s book on the Sea birds of Dominica.

I was torn between that and the continuing medical conference at Fort Young hotel today. Turned out to be an excellent choice since the free ride sponsored by Forestry happens only once a year. The experience could be easily priced at $100 at the very least.

For those not too familiar with Dominica, the transition from the calm Caribbean Sea to the very rough the Atlantic Ocean south of the island was most dramatic. What a roller coaster! We all got splashed and that was a lot of fun.

From the capital Roseau, we went on a fabulous Anchorage Hotel catamaran all the way round to Grandbay to the remote, desolate Pointe des Foux, (the point of land of ‘mad people’) where huge numbers of the endemic sea birds nest. (see the map in the PDF attachment).

We passed the narrow Scott’s Head isthmus where June and the boys had experienced the different kinds of waters on our previous visit home. We passed the picturesque Souffriere church; the Champaigne dive sites where the volcanic geothermal underwater vents give snorkelers and divers a unique bubbly experience in the crystal clear aquamarine matrix.

We were entertained by a school (or a pod? we argued that) of playful dolphins and witnessed a number of turtles, none mating though, like they saw on previous trips.

Dr. Lennox Honeychurch gave a historical and geological perspective of different landmarks. Among them he mentioned Solomon, the landslide that killed a magistrate in the1920′s. This of course, gave rise to the iconic carnival song,Solomon roulay; si nou mort nou mort nanay sala!

He pointed out the spot where pre-Columbian Kalinago men threw their unfaithful wives over a cliff (the men themselves could be as unfaithful as they wanted). Needless to say, this sparked an animated debate among the passengers which the captain wisely settled the matter by interjecting, “If there’s any tossing done today, it would have to be by the women!”

Furthermore, the event was characterized by exceptional customer service and professionalism. The environmentalist ethic was at the level imaginable. Besides the strong local turn-out, (129 in all, lots of kids and youth) there were several visitors including a Phd candidate from Indianapolis teaching a semester on biodiversity at the State College.

A young man from the London zoo working on a project to save the crapaud (Dominica’s large edible national ‘Mountain Chicken’ frogs) from extinction and students from the Carolinas (Clemson) doing research on Veo (our edible river snails) at the Springfield consortium of American universities tropical research center which has a relationship with the DAAS, Dominica Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Their biology professor is a limnologist, expert in fresh water lakes and rivers – had never heard the term before; probably our environmentalist Hilo and others have.

Well, like so many of the kids, I got to be captain for a moment; a bearded Lennox stands behind me in the attached photo. The video gives a feel of how seriously windy and choppy it got once we got to the Atlantic side. You know me, I couldn’t resist getting on the intercom and expressing my heartfelt appreciation to Forestry, Lennox and Anchorage for all their good work and reminding all to continue doing their part for the upcoming World Ocean Day on June 8th: theoceanproject.org/worldoceansday

Best of all, an insightful powerpoint presentation was made by my former Dominica Grammar School prefect Arlington James, who was so kind to forward me his presentation within hours of of docking. What a guy! By the way, the link disappears in 30 days so may I suggest downloading it now for future reference. You’ll be blown away by what you will learn.

Even though you may not be into birds, you will definitely come across environmentally-minded nature-lovers who would go ga-ga about this info and be motivated to come pay us a visit. This stuff is priceless and we need all the help we can get. The file is ‘heavy’ and is be best sent via the free YouSendit file delivery service (through the kink below). I’ve attached it anyway in the standard fashion.

For the original report go to http://www.thedominican.net/2013/05/sea-birds-of-dominica.html

In 200 Cartas, a Newyorican man writes 200 letters trying to find the woman of his dreams in the island of Puerto Rico—as doslives.com reports. For the trailer follow the link below.

Raul (Lin Manuel Miranda) is a struggling Nuyorican comic book artist and hopeless romantic who hasn’t had much luck with love, but all that is about to change when he meets María Sánchez, a beautiful Puerto Rican tourist in a NYC night club. A fight breaks out and the would-be new couple lose each other among the chaos. Bewitched by her beauty, Raul can’t stop thinking about Maria and decides to take a trip to Puerto Rico along with his womanizing best friend Juan (Jaime Camil) to find what he believes is his true love. Upon arrival, he discovers that there are 200 Maria Sanchez’s on the island and decides to write a love letter and mails it to all 200. He travels the beautiful island picking up new friends along the way (Dayanara Torres), in search for his “Maria.”

Will Raul find what he was looking for?

Opens JUNE 14TH at: AMC EMPIRE 42nd STREET-NYC and AMC BAYBRIDGE-BRONX

For the original report go to http://doslives.com/2013/05/worldview-200-cartas-trailer-starring-lin-manuel-miranda-dayanara-torres-and-jaime-camil/

The 2-day festival will bring together international industry leaders and local animation companies. [Our thanks to Peter Jordens for sending the information on this post.]

Brimming with talented, tech-savvy youngsters, Jamaica is a hub for innovation. And now, the visual arts have the potential to turn this talent into a meaningful and professional career, thanks to a growing demand for locally sourced animation products.

While currently home to just three “pure play” animation studios, the animation industry in Jamaica has the potential to create thousands of jobs. In the past four years, over 2,500 students received 1 or 2 grades for Visual Arts. In other words, in Jamaica today there are well over 2,000 young people aged 16-21 with the basic skills to become world-class animators.

But how to turn this enormous, untapped potential into a fully-fledged, international industry and show young Jamaicans that a career in animation is well within their grasp?

Enter Kingstoon: a 2-day animation film festival and conference, bringing together international industry leaders, local animation companies as well as government and World Bank officials. The aim: to act as a catalyst for Jamaica’s animation industry and position the country as the next animation hub.

“Young Jamaicans have the talents. Through partnerships with educational institutions and the private sector, we can provide the opportunity to put them at use in a growing creative industry,” explained Fabio Pittaluga, World BankSenior Social Development Specialist and coordinator of the initiative.

With the aim of engaging young Jamaicans, Kingstoon will provide them with a unique opportunity to:

• Explore the animation as a quality professional development career as well as discovering current opportunities in the global animation industry, and
• Interact and network with professionals and entrepreneurs currently operating in the animation industry in Jamaica and abroad.

Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to showcase their talent at the event, submitting their work for consideration in the following categories:

• Best script and storyboard
• Best experimental animation
• Best character
• Best final animation product

The best 5-10 submissions will form part of a grande finale, which will be screened to a jury of international and national industry experts.

Kingstoon runs from June 20-21,2013 in Kingston, Jamaica. Registration for the event is now open and closes on June 1st.

Join the conversation on #kingstoon or on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/kingstoonfest

For the original report go to  http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/05/20/Jamaica-animation-career-youth

FOr more information go to http://www.youthjamaica.com/content/animate-your-creativity-kingstoon-2013

Some background on the growth of the animation production industry in Jamaica:

Animation takes flight in Jamaica (November 2011), http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/animation-takes-flight-in-jamaica_4114803  

Jamaican Film Industry Gets Animated (September 2012), http://www.susumba.com/film-tv/news/jamaican-film-industry-gets-animated

JAMPRO, UTech get into animation (December 2012), http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121223/ent/ent3.html

The three major animation production companies in Jamaica are: Alcyone Animation https://www.facebook.com/alcyoneanimation, Reel Rock GSWhttp://www.gswanimation.com, and SkyRes Studios https://www.facebook.com/SkyresStudios.  

Open-air photography exhibit:

“Identity and Magic: Folk Dances of the Dominican Republic”

City College of New York, Amsterdam Plaza

(Amsterdam Avenue, between West 137th and 138th Streets)

From May 17 to August 17, 2013

The alfresco exhibition “Identity and Magic: Folk Dances of the Dominican Republic” is based on a selection of photographs by Mariano Hernández, from a book with the same title by renowned folklorist Dagoberto Tejeda Ortiz. The book (VICINI, 2012) captures the history and the stories of the Dominican Republic’s folkloric dances through masterly and majestic photographs, engaging and vivid illustrations, and a corresponding commentary. The photo exhibit enables the viewer to follow in detail the historical trajectory and appreciate the richness of the folkloric dances that are part of the cultural heritage of the Dominican people.

Co-sponsored by: VICINI, CUNY Dominican Studies Insititute, The City College of New York, and Semana Dominicana/Dominican Week 2013.

A post by Peter Jordens.

Original article: http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/people/2013/5/9/47570/In-NYC-Identity-and-Magic-Folk-Dances-of-the-Dominican-Republic orhttp://identity-and-magic.eventbrite.com

See related articles http://www.listindiario.com.do/la-republica/2013/5/18/277432/Semana-Dominicana-en-EEUU-concluye-con-exposicion-fotografica orhttp://www.almomento.net/articulo/136759/Semana-Dominicana-en-EEUU-concluye-con-exposicion-fotografica

For more about the bilingual book and the accompanying documentary by Dagoberto Tejeda Ortiz, see http://www.elnacional.com.do/que-pasa/2013/2/16/151125/Ensayode-Dagoberto-Tejeda-analiza-losbailes-RD, http://www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/37251/56/Identidad-y-magia-un-libro-que-destaca-la-danza-folclorica-dominicana.html and  http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias_det.php?id=364284&l=1

The Dominican Republic will host the 10th International Mango Symposium from June 6 to 9, 2013, in Bávaro, Punta Cana (east). The overarching them is “Mango: Opportunities and Challenges in the 21st Century.”

Representatives from 30 countries have already confirmed attendance. The event is expected to draw international attention to Dominican Republic’s mango production, with exports to US$7.5 million, with Europe as the main destination.

This event will gather local, regional, continental, and global participants, all identified with the subject of mango production, so they can share knowledge, technology, trade, etc. There will be lectures, poster presentations, exhibitions, and a field day.

Agriculture minister Luis Ramón Rodríguez announced the activity in a press conference at his offices Friday, adding that this year’s annual Expo Mango is slated for Bani, Peravia Province, staring June 6.

For full article, see http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2013/5/24/47744/Punta-Cana-hosts-10th-annual-International-Mango-Symposium-June-6-9 and http://www.cedaf.org.do/eventos/xmango2013/en/index_en.html

With a wide array of costumes, floats, music, drummers, dancers, gombey groups, the “Passion” soca truck and Bermuda celebrated Heritage Day yesterday, May 24, ending with the famed Heritage Day Parade. Hundreds of spectators lined the streets of Hamilton to catch the annual event.

Bermudians in London will also celebrate Heritage Day, Bermuda-style, in the UK on Monday, May 27. The Fifth annual Bermuda Day in London Celebration will be held in the heart of Camden Market at Lockside and West Yard, from 12:00pm until 2:00am with music, dancing, games and food.

Bermudan artists Ramon Clarke, Amori “Marvo” Browne and Allan “Stagalee” Simons will perform at the event and will fly to London this week. Ms. Cha’Von Clarke of CKC Corporation says, “Bermuda Day in London is a fast growing cultural and heritage event held annually. The successful festival of Bermuda’s talents has grown each year and in 2012, the event was an unbelievable celebration with approximately 2,000 people attending. It also saw the event move from an all indoor event to include an outdoor main stage for Bermudian talent for performing soul R&B, reggae and hip hop.”

She add that “This year [. . .] we’ll be celebrating in true island style with live performances, DJs, puppeteers, children’s and family zone, games, limbo competition, authentic Bermudian cuisine and, of course, Bermuda’s favourite cocktails — Rum Swizzle and Dark ‘N Stormy from the Lockside Lounge rum shack throughout the day and party all night long inside the Lockside Lounge.”

Entry for the event is free and Bermudians in London are encouraged to attend.

For original articles, see http://www.bermudasun.bm/Content/Default/Homepage-Article-Rotator/Article/Bermuda-Day-to-be-celebrated-in-London/-3/1288/66744 and http://www.bermudasun.bm/Content/Default/Homepage-Article-Rotator/Article/Plenty-of-Passion-at-Bermuda-Day-parade/-3/1288/66817

Clelia Coussonnet interviews Jamaican artist Olivia McGilchrist for Uprising News (news on contemporary Caribbean art), underlining the multicultural background and experiences that inform her work. Here are excerpts:

As an introduction, could you briefly present yourself?  Born in Kingston (Jamaica) in 1981 to a French mother and a Jamaican father and educated in France and the U.K., I moved back to Jamaica in 2011 after completing a Photography M.A. at the London College of Communication (2009-2010). Since this sudden return, my current practice has incorporated my body, remapping it within the tropical picturesque through photographic tableaux and multi-layered videos. I have indulged my alter-ego Whitey in her appropriation of this space of utter difference; Jamaica; by exploring trans-location and physical expressions of emotional states in the search for my cultural identity.

The character Whitey is central in your three last series, my dear daddy, Ernestine and me and Sudden White. Why have you created such a masked alter ego of yourself?  Whitey is what they call me, Olivia, on the streets of Kingston. Mainly playing on certain stereotypes of Caribbean people’s perception of ‘whiteness’; I become the ‘uptown girl’, the ‘insider-outsider’, and a confused ‘yardie’, etc. But this is more than just about my skin tone. This character which I have named Whitey, re-appropriates the long lost family home and ‘exotic’ landscapes alongside collaged images of my late father, grand-father and his parents. They hover in the space they once inhabited, as I re-compose my personal archive. [. . .]

How do you deconstruct the stereotypes on race, gender or identity in your artworks? They integrate a lot of your personal narratives, family memories and your own experiences as a white young woman in Jamaica. [. . .] Since returning to live in Jamaica, most of my photographs and videos have been questioning the shifting spaces in which Whitey belongs. Whitey has become my alter-ego, a character created for the project entitled ‘my dear daddy’, as a coping mechanism to portray uncomfortable feelings as a returning female Jamaican resident of white complexion. The performative aspect within the work traverses two strands of personal experience which Whitey embodies with varying degrees of engagement: the female body in a post-modern space and white post-colonial creole identity. [. . .]

You are both of French and Jamaican heritage, and grew up in France and the UK. Since 2011, you have been working in Kingston. Did you feel you needed to go back to Jamaica and/or reconnect with your cultural background there?  The longer I stay in Jamaica, the more I realize how French I am, even though I have always taken issue with the French side of me. France is where I grew up, watched cartoons on TV, went to high-school and became an adult. However I also spent ten very formative years in London, which were instrumental in shaping my creative voice.

Initially, my coming back was related to a family house, and I was rather unaware of the level of questioning that being here would trigger on such a deep level. I had always considered coming back at some point and in 2011 everything fell into place organically, prompting me to discover and define myself as a Jamaican.

For full interview, see http://blog.uprising-art.com/exclusive-interview-olivia-mcgilchrist/?lang=en

Simon Lee reviews St. Lucia’s Jazz in the South; here are excerpts with a link to the full review below:

Under the stars of the first night in May, Rudy John Beach on the outskirts of Laborie, a fishing village of humble wooden houses perched on St Lucia’s south west coast, has momentarily been transformed into an impromptu, interactive Wassoulou dance lesson. From a stage backed by the evening tide and framed by palms, the incandescent Malian vocalist Fatoumata Diawara gives teeth-flashing directions and encouragement to the beach-packed crowd, who by now would happily walk the waves with her all the way back to west Africa, if she only asked. Instead she beckons to the slight form of jazz panman Andy Narell, whose shimmering chromes weave into the crescendo marking her finale, and the crowd’s roar echoing across the bay. This is the first night of Jazz in the South, a small community-based festival with a future which may well be more sustainable than that of much larger and better-funded festivals, like its cousin, the recently rebranded St Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival.

Now in its 16th year, Jazz in the South is just one of the projects initiated by Labowi Promotions, a not-for-profit community organisation established some 20 years ago by a small group of Laborie-based cultural activists, with the objective of enhancing “social togetherness and harmony” and promoting “economic development through cultural events and expression.” The jazz festival has become Labowi’s flagship promotion, with an enviable track record of presenting some of the best Caribbean jazz performers as well as African artistes like Fatoumata, in addition to Lucian musicians.

This year’s Rudy John Beach curtain raiser also featured two groups for children and young people: the Manmay-La Di-Way after-school orchestral project alongside the Laborie Steel Pan Project (which benefited from three weeks of workshops from Andy Narrell, festival patron for the past three years); the local Shomari Maxwell quintet and Vieux Fort’s own reggae band 4th World Ina Irie Blues and Reggae Vibe with acclaimed Lucian guitarist Carl Gustave. The balanced mix of local, regional and international artistes was again in evidence at the second concert, held up north in the Castries Cultural Centre. The programme began with “a conversation about global warming”, a folk-style performance by the Soufriere Action Theatre group, under the creative direction of Lucian poet Kendel Hippolyte.

For visitors to the Caribbean, this provided an entertaining entry point to local Creole culture from the call and response (Tin tin-bwa sec) format of story-telling, Kweyol and Lucian English lyrics, to the drumming and dancing which framed the pertinent ecological statement (“Rivers are drying yet we have floods…Nature will take care of its own, we just want to make money”). Lucian keyboardist Emerson Nurse’s Quartet followed with a mellow set ranging from bossa to beguine, punctuated by the conversation between Ricky Francois’ trap set and Martiniquan percussionist Micky Telephe’s congas.

For Creole jazz aficionados, the final set by the Meddy Gerville Trio, proved a revelation. Gerville hails from La Reunion, a Creole-speaking French department in the Indian Ocean and works the rich rhythms of his island’s traditional maloya and sega genres, in his uniquely evocative and propulsively melodic compositions.  Gifted with a voice which ranges from Bele force to nuanced scat and the lyricism of Tom Jobim, Meddy was a powerhouse, explosively supported by ace bass Martiniquan Michel Alibo and compatriot Emmanuel Felicite on drums. [. . .] From Samba Galactica and the Larry Young inspired Emergence to a take on Marley’s Jammin (watch out Monty Alexander!) and The Other Side (“ a song at the end of a beautiful life”), Velocity were superb, Stanley unleashing pathological organ solos over Segundo’s tightly-coiled beats.

[. . .] With Saturday declared a rest day (Kassav were performing at the Fond D’or heritage park) Jazz in the South concluded on Sunday with an afternoon concert held in the bucolic charm of the Balenbouche Estate. After Lucian community youth choir Justus, Martiniquan Eric Ildefonse set the tone with his melodic take on traditional forms like the damye, ladja and belay. Ildefonse’s delivery, recalling Keith Jarrett’s elegiac style, was hauntingly matched by maestro Luther Francois’ sax particularly on Jour de Peche.

Hearts and feet were seemingly possessed by the Cuban Pedrito Martinez “the hottest conga player in New York”, who combined Santeria and rumba rhythms and chants with everything from salsa and timba to hip hop, funk and reggaeton.  With a Peruvian percussionist playing cowbell a la clave and a truly demented keyboardist whose bleach blond Afro and beard matched his Chucho Valdes influenced improvisations, Pedrito proceeded to mash up the place, challenging Andy Narell to keep pace on pan. At one point in the middle of his anthem Que Palo, so taken with his own power Pedrito levitated off his cajon (which sounds far more interesting than a bass drum) to wine in time with the three congas he polyrhythmed on.

Zouk Queen Tanya St Val, expertly guided the family-picnic style crowd to a mellow sundown finale, her zouk love intonation caressing, evoking and embracing, before her closing number when Andy Narell joined her to wrap up Jazz in the South 2013.

[Photo of Zouk Queen Tanya St Val by Chris Huxley (Caribbean Images).]

For full article, see http://www.guardian.co.tt/entertainment/2013-05-23/jazz-south

American Bird Conservancy, a leading U.S. bird conservation group, and the Sociedad Ornitológica de la Hispaniola (SOH) report that by working with the Ministry of the Environment of the Dominican Republic, they have significantly improved protections for the northern flank of wildlife-rich Sierra de Bahoruco National Park and the Loma Charco Azul Biological Reserve in western Dominican Republic (DR). Home to over 30 endemic bird species and habitat for dozens of migrating bird species, the largely forested area has been a favorite target for illegal tree cutting, squatting, charcoal production, and agricultural expansion.

“ABC and SOH have worked very closely with the Dominican Republic’s Environmental Ministry to improve management of the area. Improved patrols and security have led to a significant decrease in the number of illegal charcoal production operations and documented a number of illegal incursions, which led the Ministry to hire additional park guards for the area,” said Andrew Rothman, Migratory Bird Program Director at ABC.

The Environmental Ministry, with ABC and SOH representatives in attendance, recently dedicated the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park/Loma Charco Azul Welcome and Interpretation Center, along with an improved security post along a main access road, to enhance protection for these reserves. The Center is serving as an important community education center that also provides a greatly improved capacity for the Park Administrator to manage guards for these protected areas.

“The success we’ve experienced here in the northern part of the Sierra has led us to begin exploring means to take similar actions in the south, where the area continues to be impacted by illegal squatters and other threats,” said Dave Younkman, Vice President of Conservation for ABC. He added that these lands serve as critical wintering habitat for the Bicknell’s Thrush, a migratory species of conservation concern in the United States and currently under consideration for listing under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). ABC, SOH and other organizations including Vermont Center for Ecostudies, Grupo Jaragua, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology have already begun discussions with the Ministry of the Environment on how they can assist the Ministry in the protection of the southern flank of Bahoruco National Park.

[. . .] Efforts that have helped secure the northern flank of the Bahoruco Mountain Range have come from ABC and SOH, with funding from FWS via the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies through the Southern Wings program. Those efforts include providing financial support to hire the two new park guards, carry out incident training, and provide needed motorcycles and other equipment for all active park guards in Loma Charco Azul and northern Sierra de Bahoruco.

[. . .] Jorge Brocca, Executive Director of SOH, noted, “The illegal production of charcoal is a significant threat to habitat of several endangered and threatened bird species. With support of Tropigas, we hope to bring an alternative cooking fuel to the entire local community that can reduce the demand for charcoal—and protect bird habitat.” In addition to the rare Bicknell’s Thrush, threatened birds in the area include the endangered Black-capped Petrel, Bay-breasted Cuckoo, La Selle Thrush, and the Hispaniolan Crossbill. Other species of note include Western-Chat Tanager, Hispaniolan Parrot, Prairie Warbler, and Ovenbird.

For full article, see http://www.surfbirds.com/community-blogs/blog/2013/05/16/bird-group-helps-secure-northern-flank-of-wildlife-rich-area-in-dominican-republic/

Photos: Top, Prairie Warbler by Clara Coen; left, Hispaniolan Crossbill by Alfredo Colón; see more of his work at http://alfredocolon.zenfolio.com/