Carol Beidleman, Partners in Flight Awards Committee Chair, and Jesús Franco, Rio Grande Joint Venture
Through the Partners in Flight (PIF) Awards, PIF has recognized outstanding individuals and groups across the Americas for their exceptional contributions to the field of landbird conservation since 1996. We were pleased to have seven 2022 PIF Award winners, three from Latin America and four from the U.S. While awardees were recognized at the March North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in St. Louis and the April Partners in Flight Western Working Group Spring Meeting in Las Vegas, there was still one more 2022 PIF Award ceremony surprise in store!
A vital aspect of the PIF Awards is making them accessible to nominees across the Western Hemisphere. Once award winners are selected, there is always the challenge of how to get the physical awards to our esteemed colleagues in Latin America or the Caribbean. We’re always looking for couriers who can hand-carry an award to the recipient, either in that awardee’s home country or another country where the recipient may be attending a conference or workshop.
Museo de las Aves de México Museum Director Sofia Strozzi left of Jesus Franco left of Museum Founder Mr. Aldegundo Garza de Leon, with PIF Award and Board of Directors, June 3, 2023
One of those couriers for a 2022 PIF Award was Jesús Franco with the American Bird Conservancy, the Assistant Coordinator for the binational Rio Grande Joint Venture based in McAllen, Texas. Carol Beidleman, Chair of the PIF Awards Committee, had reached out to Humberto Berlanga with CONABIO in México about needing a courier for the 2022 PIF Public Awareness Award for Museo de las Aves de México (MUSAVE) in Saltillo, Coahuila. Humberto recommended Jesús, who has close ties and physical proximity to Saltillo. Jesús had graduated from Antonio Narro Agricultural University in Saltillo before completing his M.S. in Range and Wildlife Management at Texas A&M University. Thus, these were his old stomping grounds. Ever the generous-hearted PIF’er, Jesús jumped at the opportunity to provide this important service to bring the award to Saltillo and help honor his Mexican colleagues.
Jesús communicated his offer to the MUSAVE staff, who then decided it would be a great opportunity to hold an award ceremony at the museum. On June 3, 2023, Jesús Franco presented, on behalf of Partners in Flight, the 2022 Partners in Flight Public Awareness Award to the Museo de las Aves de Mexico in the City of Saltillo.
The Public Awareness Award category honors an individual or group that contributes significantly to increasing the public’s awareness and appreciation for birds, their habitats, or the need for conservation. MUSAVE was selected to receive this Group Public Awareness award for its successful non-formal environmental education program for the conservation of Mexico’s national avifauna. Founded in 1993, the museum’s main objective is to Know to Value, and Preserve since nobody loves what they do not know. Its dioramas and exhibitions, which portray the natural history of Mexican avifauna in the country’s major ecosystems, are of incalculable value for Mexican society because no other museum exhibits the incredible wealth of bird species present in Mexico. Its collections have benefited many other fields of science and humanities, used by authors of field guides, artists, law enforcement agencies, planners, and ecologists. As an institution outside the federal government, MUSAVE is also involved in conservation of biodiversity by providing awareness and protection of sites of high biological importance, including the museum’s nature reserves, La India and El Taray, which protect endangered endemics. One of those endangered endemics is the Worthen’s Sparrow, the species carved and painted on this PIF Award.
Museo de las Aves de México Founder, Mr. Aldegundo Garza de Leon, with PIF Award and Youth Volunteer Guides, June 3, 2023
The award ceremony started with welcoming words from the museum’s director and science staff. A video detailing the history of the museum’s foundation, its impact on bird science, outreach, and education, and its importance to Mexican society was projected next. Jesús gave a brief presentation about PIF, its mission and partners, and conservation and education work in the Americas, as well as information on the history of the PIF awards. All 2022 award winners from the U.S. and Latin America were acknowledged during the presentation. The ceremony then culminated with the actual presentation of the 2022 Public Awareness Award to MUSAVE. The pleasantly surprised and moved Museum founder, Aldegundo Garza de León, received the award only to immediately turn around and recognize the museum staff and board of directors for this award. By the end of the event, staff, board of directors, volunteers, and Mr. Garza de León were beaming with pride and expressed their gratitude to PIF for this award.
The ceremony was followed by a tour of the museum’s exhibition areas guided by an army of very knowledgeable youth volunteer guides, as well as by Mr. Garza de León himself, who delighted the audience with amazing stories of the adventures he encountered through his many years in the field collecting samples of the unique avifauna of the country in some of the most remote areas of Mexico.
We congratulate the Museo de las Aves de México on this PIF Award and thank Jesús for making this memorable celebration possible.
Please visit the Partners in Flight website to read about the important contributions to bird conservation made by the other 2022 awardees, with gratitude to the U.S. Forest Service for their ongoing sponsorship of the PIF Awards.