Tag Archives: SCSCB

Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) Lifetime Achievement Award

Conservation, , , , , ,
SCSCB's Howard Nelson, Holly Robertson, and Lisa Sorenson with Ted Eubanks' Lifetime Achievement Award
SCSCB’s Howard Nelson, Holly Robertson, and Lisa Sorenson with Ted Eubanks’ Lifetime Achievement Award

There are few regular meetings that I am not willing to miss. The biannual SCSCB conference is one that I try to make come hell or high water. Conservationists and educators from around the Caribbean meet every two years to discuss Caribbean birds and what needs to be done to ensure their futures.

Due to my wife’s surgery, however, I had to cancel my trip to Grenada to take part in this year’s gathering. However, this morning I received an email from Lisa Sorenson, SCSCB Executive Director, letting me know that the organization had awarded me a lifetime achievement award in absentia. What a pleasant (and timely) surprise! Thanks to Howard Nelson, Lisa Sorenson, Holly Robertson, and the SCSCB family for this amazing honor. You will never know how much this means to me and my family.

Here is the award citation given by Lisa Sorenson at the meeting.

We are honoring Ted Eubanks for his tireless work in helping the Society develop the Caribbean Birding Trail Project. Ted has spent much of his career studying and promoting experiential tourism and outdoor recreation as sustainable approaches to community revitalization and conservation. Ted is also a certified interpretive planner and trainer through the National Association for Interpretation. His expertise in the field of environmental interpretation has been particularly instrumental in advancing the Caribbean Birding Trail’s goal of telling the story of the Caribbean’s vast natural and cultural resources.

Ted has attended 3 SCSCB regional meetings, giving plenary talks and workshops on bird and nature tourism at each one, including a workshop to develop the CBT at our last meeting in Freeport, Grand Bahama. Over the past 12 months he traveled with Holly Robertson and myself to three Caribbean countries to launch the CBT at seven sites. From this he has provided us with an interpretive strategy for the sites and for the entire region, plus many other valuable tools that we will need moving forward. This includes taking thousands of photos that capture the essence of the Caribbean, writing numerous articles for the CBT blog, and getting us established with social media and the website.

Ted has donated countless hours and days of his time helping us achieve the level of success that we have today, and for that we want to honor him.

Ted Lee Eubanks
9 August 2013

Retrospective

Fermata, , , , , , , , , ,

Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you…Satchel Paige

Looking back is a luxury that we can rarely afford. Fermata is a consultancy; we live from contract to contract. The good news is that we stay busy. The bad news is that we rarely get the opportunity to look back over our accomplishments.

Monument Rocks, Kansas, by Ted Lee Eubanks
With the year’s end approaching, perhaps we should take the time to consider our work. For example, I am currently helping Kansas develop an ecotourism strategy. Governor Brownback and Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KWPT) Secretary Robin Jennison brought me into the project to facilitate the development of the strategy. This coincides with our work on interpretive plans for the 11 Kansas byways, as well as the writing of an interpretive plan for the state byways as a whole.

This is not our first project where we have worked directly with the governor. Several years ago we developed the Maine ecotourism strategy for then-Governor Baldacci. In Pennsylvania we worked with Governor Tom Ridge, then continued with Governor Ed Rendell. The results of that decade-long collaboration were the Pennsylvania Wilds and another 4 Conservation Landscape Initiatives (CLIs). We began the birding trail craze in Texas with Governor Ann Richards.

Jamaican tody (Todus todus), Windsor Research Centre, Jamaica, by Ted Lee Eubanks
We are also completing the final draft of an interpretive plan for the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway in Nebraska. Our work in Nebraska dates back to the 1990s when we looked at socio-economic benefits of the Platte River for the EPA. Even then I spent time in the Sandhills, one of the iconic American landscapes.

Our interpretive work for the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) has extended across the Caribbean as well. Recently I completed an interpretive strategy for Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Grenada. Last week I worked in Jamaica with the Windsor Research Centre, conducting a workshop on sustainable recreation and tourism as a development alternative. We hope to continue our work on the Caribbean Bird Trail this next year, extending its reach throughout the Basin.

Aguas Blancas, Dominican Republic, by Ted Lee Eubanks
We have also continued our work with URS on the San Antonio River. In the next few months we will look at the value of the lower river as a wildlife corridor that connects the Texas Hill Country with the Gulf of Mexico. The San Antonio River Authority (SARA) is the client, and we are excited to be able to continue our work in this fascinating and little-known region of Texas.

When I started Fermata in 1992 I thought that I would focus on birds and nature. Little did I know where the trail would lead. Now we work in cultural and historical landscapes as much as with nature. Our services now span the interpretive range from planning to products. Yet one trait ties all of these disparate parts together. We are still driven by curiosity, by a simple need to reveal “beautiful truths.”

Ted Lee Eubanks
Founder & President

The Caribbean Birding Trail

Birds, Byways, Nature, , , , , , , , ,

Red-billed Streamertail, the national bird of Jamaica, by Ted Lee Eubanks
The Caribbean Birding Trail is a project of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) and its partner organizations. The Trail is being developed to help residents as well as travelers connect to the rich cultural and natural history of the Caribbean islands through birds. The Trail will aid visitors in enjoying the Caribbean birds, nature, history, and people along the entire expanse from Bermuda to Trinidad and Tobago.

Fermata is writing interpretive plans for the first two countries on the Trail, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Ted Eubanks, along with Lisa Sorenson and Holly Robertson of the SCSCB, spent nearly a month in the two countries this summer. Our visits focused on five Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in these two countries: Sierra Bahoruco Oriental, Sierra Bahoruco, and Parque Nactional Valle Nuevo in the DR, and the Cockpit and Portland Bight regions of Jamaica. In October the team will travel to Grenada to complete this summer’s field work.

SCSCB Conference in the Bahamas

Fermata, Sustainability, Travel, ,
SCSCB Opening Session

The Society for the Study and Conservation of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) conference in Freeport, Bahamas is underway. Ted presented in the opening session, providing information about the new Caribbean Birding Trail. The conference continues through the 25th. On Sunday (the 24th) Ted will conduct a workshop on the CBT for the partners and supporters.