Almost like stepping stones in a stream, national parks play a key role in protecting migratory species as they move back and forth between the United States and Central and South America. They are in many ways both resting areas and protected areas where species can recharge as they migrate.

To help further the protection and conservation of migratory species such as birds, sea turtles and even bats and butterflies, the Rainforest Alliance has launched the bilingual Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Initiative Forum (www.eco-index.org/whmsiforum) to provide government agencies responsible for migratory species management, conservation organizations, and researchers with a platform to collaborate and cooperate across geographic and language barriers.

WHMSI facilitates collaboration among government officials and non-governmental organizations that are working to conserve migratory wildlife and their habitats. It also aims to strengthen political commitment, cooperation and public-private partnerships at regional, national and local levels.

"The WHMSI partners are very excited about this new opportunity to share timely and relevant information about topics of interest to migratory species conservation,” said Herb Raffaele, chair of the WHMSI Interim Steering Committee. “This promises to be a very useful tool for communication and coordination among practitioners and others interested in a field where dialog and collaboration are critical to success."

Stakeholders are invited to use the WHMSI Forum to post and comment on topics of interest, upload and share documents, and discuss issues related to the development of WHMSI. Users can post within the following categories: capacity building; conservation planning; information, awareness and engagement; threat mitigation; and news/event information.

The WHMSI Forum is a feature of the WHMSI Pathway, a website managed by the Rainforest Alliance that matches the identified conservation needs of migratory species with the resources available to address them. The WHMSI Pathway and WHMSI Forum are supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Without Borders program for Latin America and the Caribbean.