The WHSRN Executive Office is delighted to announce that Salvadora Morales has joined the WHSRN team as a Shorebird Conservation Specialist.
Native to Nicaragua, Salvadora has worked in bird conservation for 18 years. She is a founding member of the organization Quetzalli Nicaragua where, through the support of BirdLife International and US Forest Service, and later the WHSRN Executive Office, she coordinated the first shorebird monitoring efforts in the Gulf of Fonseca. These surveys led to the nomination of the Delta del Estero Real as a WHSRN Site. Recently, in coordination with National Audubon Society and the WHSRN Executive Office she completed an assessment of the shrimp aquaculture industry in Central America and its overlap with key areas for shorebirds.
Salvadora Morales with the team of Quetzalli Nicaragua on the mudflats of the Delta del Estero Real. Photo: Salvadora Morales.
Salvadora will be building upon this work in her new role, with a primary focus on exploring opportunities to implement best management practices in shrimp aquaculture and salt production to benefit shorebirds. She will continue to help coordinate the Migratory Shorebird Project in Central America, in addition to the Central American Waterbird Census, and will promote the conservation, protection, and management of habitat for shorebirds in Central America.
Shorebird surveys take place every month at the WHSRN Site Delta del Estero Real. WHSRN’s newest staff member Salvadora Morales introduces the site as the team waits for the tide to come in, bringing the shorebirds close enough to count.
Please join us in welcoming Salvadora to the WHSRN Executive Office team!
Salvadora can be reached at smorales@manomet.org
Cover Photo: Salvadora at a shrimp farm in Nicaragua, with White Pelicans in the background. Photo courtesy of Salvadora Morales.
