Dear Fellow Nature Lovers,

Community Cloud Forest Conservation (CCFC) in central Guatemala has launched a capital campaign to purchase 390 acres on which the center is built.  They intend to establish a wildlife sanctuary with Guatemala’s National Council for Protected Areas and restore the habitat for species of special conservation concern. We have an opportunity to contribute to the capital campaign and invite you to make a donation. We will bundle the donations and forward them to CCFC. If our total contribution reaches $1,000, that will enable CCFC to purchase and reforest one acre. A couple who are members of the Conococheague Audubon Society has offered to match up to $1,000 of your contributions. So, if we collectively donate $1,000, it will become $2,000, thanks to these generous donors.

Through education, reforestation, sustainable development, leadership scholarships, and ecological improvements to agriculture, CCFC focuses on alleviating poverty and protecting forests in the highlands of Guatemala. As stated on their website, “CCFC believes that holistic human / community development through education and capacity building is the key to conservation and development in Guatemala’s central highlands. Education, especially for young women, is key to building peace in this region.”

In 2018, seven CAS members, including my husband Bob and myself, joined a group from Virginia Society of Ornithology on a bird watching trip to CCFC. Rob and Tara Cahill, managers of CCFC, helped us to see 200 different bird species. We stayed at the CCFC facility and witnessed the impact it has on the local culture and economy. We birded with many of the center’s young students who are learning about birds and conservation. We also interacted with a group of 40 teachers participating in an in-service session.

CAS has remained connected with CCFC by annually donating money for one young woman to continue her education beyond sixth grade. Public education in Guatemala is provided for students through sixth grade, but older students must pay for their education, uniforms, and books.

The sanctuary CCFC plans to establish will protect not only 15 endemic bird species but also “our” wintering birds as well, such as Wood Thrush, Olive-sided Flycatcher (near threatened status), Golden-winged Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Worm-eating Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Cerulean Warbler (near threatened status), Blackburnian Warbler, Canada Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Dickcissel.

CCFC plans to reforest the land and manage the sanctuary in perpetuity. Reforested areas will provide habitat and food for the area’s unique wildlife, including 33 bat species that have been seen on CCFC land.

Community Cloud Forest Conservation is a non-governmental, not-for-profit, conservation and human development organization, incorporated in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and registered with the Internal Revenue Service of the United States as a 501(c)3 tax exempt entity. CCFC is governed by a volunteer board of directors.

The Conococheague Audubon Society Board of Directors endorses the CCFC efforts and authorized me to ask you to consider making a special donation to this project. You may write out a check to “Conococheague Audubon Society” and send it to:  Conococheague Audubon, PO Box 20, Fayetteville, PA 17222. Please indicate “CCFC donation” in the memo area of your check. We will accept donations until July 1, 2022.

Thank you for caring for birds and conservation matters, both here in the U.S. and where our birds winter.

Terri Kochert