ABC’s William Belton Grants Program

The William Belton Conservation Grants Program is the oldest continuously running bird conservation grant program in the Western Hemisphere. It is named after the noted ornithologist and Brazilian bird expert, who is also a past ABC Board member and continued ABC friend. Among its many recent conservation successes are the rediscovery of the Yellow-eared Parrot, Stresemann’s Bristlefront, Colorful Puffleg, and Fuertes’s Parrot.

The program helps local conservation groups and scientists by providing funds that make emerging conservation efforts, such as fieldwork and travel, possible, and by assisting with the development of conservation plans. Grants often involve local communities in implementing conservation and developing solutions.

The grants focus on helping the rarest and most threatened birds, particularly at Alliance for Zero Extinction sites.

Perhaps most significantly, the William Belton Conservation Grants Program has acted as a springboard for longer-term partnerships between ABC and Latin American organizations.