Conservation Action Plan

Photo Credit: Greg Homel

A Collaborative Approach to Saving Grenada's National Bird

The need for coordinated Grenada Dove conservation has been recognized for decades. A Draft Recovery Plan developed in 1998 was updated in 2008 as the Recovery and Action Plan for the Grenada Dove, prepared by a working group representing government (Forestry and National Parks Department), international NGOs (BirdLife International, American Bird Conservancy), and academic researchers (University of Wisconsin, Ornithological Council). These plans established urgent goals focused on preventing population decline through habitat protection on both private and Crown lands, and long-term goals aimed at enabling population increase through habitat restoration and active management.

The 2008 plan specifically identified critical threats - including the proposed development at Mt. Hartman Estate - and outlined strategies ranging from land purchase and conservation covenants to translocation and population supplementation. A 2010 Conservation and Management Plan for the Perseverance-Beausejour Area provided site-specific guidance developed through stakeholder consultation with surrounding communities.

Despite these well-conceived plans and significant scientific and community input, implementation has been limited by fragmented efforts, competing land-use priorities, insufficient sustained funding, and institutional capacity constraints. The challenge has not been lack of knowledge about what needs to be done, but rather coordination and resources to do it.

October 2025 marked a turning point.

Over two days in October 2025, more than 40 participants gathered in person at the Caribbean House in Grenada, with an additional 25 joining online, for the most comprehensive collaborative planning process in the species' history. Government agencies, conservation organizations, university researchers, community representatives, and landowners came together to develop a new Conservation Action Plan (CAP) - building on the foundation of previous plans while creating a fundamentally different approach to implementation.

Photo Credit: Reginald Joseph

What Makes This Different

The 2025 CAP builds on decades of recovery planning but represents a fundamental shift in approach:

Broad stakeholder participation from day one – Rather than a plan developed by a small working group and then shared, the CAP emerged from collaborative workshops with government, NGOs, researchers, landowners, and communities all at the table from the start.
Systems thinking about threats – Participants used collaborative mapping to understand how multiple pressures interact within a complex system, building on but extending beyond the threat assessments in previous plans.
Clear thematic structure with distributed ownership – Seven interconnected working areas address the full spectrum of conservation needs, with working groups established to coordinate implementation so responsibility doesn't fall to just one or two entities.
Shared ownership across sectors – Partners identify which objectives they're positioned to lead or support based on their mandates and capacities, rather than waiting for top-down direction or single-agency implementation.
Commitment to adaptive management – The plan includes monitoring benchmarks and regular feedback loops so strategies can be adjusted based on what's actually working in the field.
Transparent and accessible – The full CAP will be publicly available for review in approximately two months, inviting broader input and accountability beyond the technical community.

Most importantly, this CAP comes with coordinated commitment to implementation. Working groups will actively meet, partners are identifying lead roles for specific objectives, and a collaborative infrastructure (the Grenada Dove Collaborative) has been established to sustain coordination beyond the initial planning phase.

Video Credit: Arthur Daniel

Understanding Threats: A Systems Approach

A key element of the CAP development process was collaborative threat assessment. Workshop participants used participatory mapping to understand how multiple pressures interact within a complex system – not just listing threats in isolation.

What emerged: Nine interconnected threat categories, ranging from direct impacts (habitat loss, invasive predators, climate events) to enabling factors (policy weaknesses, institutional limitations, water scarcity). The mapping revealed that threats cascade and amplify each other: weak enforcement enables development, habitat loss increases water stress, concentrated birds face higher predation risk.

This systems-level understanding shaped the CAP's structure – coordinated action across multiple fronts rather than isolated projects targeting single threats.

Beyond listing threats: Workshop participants mapped how challenges facing the Grenada Dove interact and compound each other. This network diagram shows the complex web they uncovered -- where weak policy enforcement enables development, habitat loss concentrates birds at limited water sources, and multiple pressures amplify extinction risk. Understanding these connections shaped the CAP's coordinated, multi-theme approach.

A Shared Vision and Clear Objectives

Through collaborative discussion and iterative feedback, workshop participants agreed on:

One overarching conservation goal for the Grenada Dove
Seven strategic objectives that define what success looks like

Each objective is linked to one or more of the seven thematic working areas, ensuring clear responsibility and coordination. The objectives were refined based on participant input throughout the workshop and in follow-up consultations, reflecting collective expertise from decades of field experience, research, and conservation practice.

The full goal statement and detailed objectives will be available when the CAP is publicly released in approximately two months.

Wayne Finlay, Senior Technical Officer, Ministry of Mobilisation, Implementation, and Transformation, sharing perspectives.

Photo Credit: Nick Charles, PR Unit, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Marine Resources and Cooperatives

Timeline & Next Steps

Following the October 2025 workshop, a draft CAP is being prepared and will be shared with workshop participants for review in November 2025. After the review period, participants will meet to discuss feedback, and the CAP will be revised accordingly. The revised CAP will be publicly released in December 2025. Once finalized in early 2026, it will guide conservation priorities and resource allocation across partners.

Working groups have been established for each thematic area and will coordinate implementation moving forward.

Partners in Conservation

The CAP reflects collaboration among diverse partners, each bringing essential expertise and capacity. Government agencies include the Forestry and National Parks Department within the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Climate Resilience, the Environment and Renewable Energy, and the Physical Planning Unit. Conservation organizations participating include Gaea Conservation Network (serving as CAP Facilitation Team Lead), Grenada Fund for Conservation, BirdsCaribbean, American Bird Conservancy, and Re:wild.

Academic and research institutions include St. George's University's Biology, Ecology and Conservation Department (which hosted the workshop), Fellows in Caribbean Academic Leadership, and research partnerships with the University of Chester, University of Edinburgh, and University of Cambridge. Community partners from Mt. Hartman Estate, Perseverance, Woodford, Beausejour, and surrounding areas bring essential local knowledge and on-the-ground stewardship.

This collaborative approach builds on partnerships established through previous recovery planning efforts while significantly expanding the circle of active participants and implementers.

Looking Ahead

The Grenada Dove has survived hurricanes, habitat loss, and decades of fragmented conservation efforts. Previous recovery plans charted the right direction but lacked the coordination and sustained resources needed for

implementation. With the collaborative, science-based approach outlined in this Conservation Action Plan - and the committed infrastructure to sustain coordination through the Grenada Dove Collaborative - we can ensure that Grenada's national bird remains a living symbol of the island's natural heritage for generations to come.

The CAP charts the path. Now comes the work of walking it together.

Questions about the CAP? Contact: info@gaeaconservation.org