Virtual Panels: Latin American communities’ experts share their wisdom

As part of our efforts to support you and your local organizations, we are conducting virtual panels led by Latin American experts on different subjects. Our goal is to be a bridge between the experts and your interests and creativity; providing ideas, advice, and tips for you and your community. The guest panelists are extraordinary people, passionate about what they do in their communities. In these panels, they share their wisdom, experiences, triumphs, barriers, and above all, valuable advice. The public participating in the panels have the opportunity to ask questions, which the panelists respond to with enthusiasm. These virtual panels are conducted in Spanish. Below you will find the description for each panel, the list of presenters, and links to the video recordings. We hope that the virtual panels are helpful for you, and above all, give you ideas and inspire you!

List of virtual panels and links to their recordings

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    Introducing youth to bird watching, conservation, and care for the environment: In this virtual panel, distinguished educators from diverse Latin American communities, and members of the group “Red America by the Birds,” shared their experiences and wisdom on the subject. During the first part of the panel, presenters told us about their organizations, their work with youth, and why it is so important to teach young people environmental care, bird watching, and conservation. They also shared some of their outstanding achievements and gave advice on how to overcome barriers they have faced working with the youth. During the second part of the panel, the public had a chance to ask questions to the panelists. It was a great experience for everyone! The guest panelists were Cecilia Álvarez from Green Jay Mayan Birding Club (Mexico), Gilberto Ceballos and Ivan Röca from Aves de la Laguna (Mexico), Yasmin Cerrud from the San Mateo Bird Observers Club (Panama), Eugenio García del Observers Club of San Vito (Costa Rica), Barbara MacKinnon and Waldemar Santamaría de Sal to Pajarear Yucatán (Mexico), César Piñones of the Bird Observers Network (Chile), Jacqueline Ramírez and Luis Zúñiga from Ecopil Arte Crea Conciencia AC Mexico). Many thanks to all the panelists and the audience! The panel was held on September 28, 2017. Click here to see the recording! 

 

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    (Photo © Marta del Campo)
    Avi-tourism and Community: In this panel, the panelists talked about the work they do with their communities to integrate the appreciation, observation, and conservation of birds in the context of tourism. They also discussed their achievements, novel ideas to engage their communities in avi-tourism, challenges they face in their work, and how they overcome them. Attendees had the opportunity to ask the panelists questions at the end of the presentations. It was an enlightening experience, which helped to better understand how avi-tourism affects local communities in different corners of the continent. Valuable experiences were shared! The panelists were Percy Reina (Peru), César Guerra (Peru), Zoraya Buitrago (Colombia), Jay Martin (Colombia) and Juan Flores (Mexico). Many thanks to the panelists for sharing their wisdom, and to the audience for their stimulating questions that led to a constructive dialogue. The panel was held on March 30, 2017. Click here to see the recording!