1950s
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Mass Audubon's Hatheway School of Science and Education hosts ornithologists from the United Kingdom, Holland, and Germany to do behavioral studies and lecture on bird ecology at Drumlin Farm.
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1969
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Mass Audubon's International Natural History Travel Program is founded, which contributes to global research and conservation efforts.
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1980
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Coastal Waterbird Program (CWP) staff tries to discover the unknown wintering range of the roseate tern believed to be in Guyana and Brazil. (the staff returns in 1992).
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1981
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British Honduras becomes an independent country and changes its name to Belize. With the country's new status, several national parks are created.
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1982
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Christopher Leahy, who currently holds the Gerard A. Bertrand Chair of Natural History and Field Ornithology at Mass Audubon, first visits Mongolia (then known officially as the Mongolian People's Republic and to much of the western world as Outer Mongolia) and is astonished by its spectacular natural wonders.
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1983
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Mass Audubon sponsors its first tour to Mongolia (including Siberia). It was a great adventure, but the Soviet travel system was too restrictive to return.
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1984
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Mass Audubon is asked to provide financial aid to the struggling and all-volunteer Belize Audubon Society, which was charged with managing the country's park system. In November, Mass Audubon made the first of many donations.
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1985-present
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Mass Audubon leads natural history tours to Belize, introducing participants to the marvelous reefs, ruins, tropical forests, and wildlife while supporting the Belizean ecotourism industry.
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1988
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Mass Audubon forms a nonprofit Belizean organization, Programme for Belize (PfB), with the goal of permanently protecting more than 150,000 acres of tropical forest in northwestern Belize. PfB now protects 260,000 acres.
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1989
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First of 3 exchanges takes place with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in the United Kingdom to compare best practices. Founded around the same time as Mass Audubon, the RSPB is one of the largest conservation organizations in the world.
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1990
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Domination of Mongolia by the USSR ends and the country begins a rapid transition to a democratic form of government and a market economy.
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1992
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CWP staff discovers the wintering ground of roseate terns in Suriname, South America.
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1990s
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Mass Audubon supports land protection, carbon sequestration, and sea turtle tagging programs on Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.
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1993
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Chris Leahy returns to Mongolia to help scout potential for ecotourism. The 3-week adventure explores remote forests, steppes, lakes, and deserts that few Western eyes had seen. As a result of this scouting expedition, Mass Audubon and the fledgling company Nomadic Expeditions offers the first broad-based natural history tours to sample the major ecosystems of Mongolia.
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1996
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Programme for Belize participates in one of the first-ever international carbon sequestration projects.
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1998
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Mass Audubon begins to raise endowment funds for Programme for Belize in order to ensure the long-term protection of its wildlife reserve, the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area.
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1999
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Mass Audubon works with the World Land Trust to preserve 17,000 acres of the Patagonian steppe habitat, including coastline, in Argentina.
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2003
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Mass Audubon begins a partnership with the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) to protect land and marine resources in southern Belize.
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2004
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Joppa Flats begins the International Intern Program, in which interns from Latin America and elsewhere come to Newburyport, Massachusetts to learn about North American birds, participate in best-practice models of bird conservation and education, master conversational English, and strengthen Joppa Flats' relationship with international conservation organizations.
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2007
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Joppa Flats launches Certificate Program in Bird Ecology in Belize to educate naturalist guides and teachers about the fundamentals of ornithology, leadership skills (especially for leading birders from North America), and bird conservation.
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2009
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Mass Audubon launches a Mongolian conservation partnership with Nomadic Expeditions, Mongolia's premier tour operator and expedition outfitter. The program focuses on ecotourism, environmental education, interpretive publications, green building design, and earth-friendly operations.
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2009
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Mass Audubon creates the Belize Conservation Fund to support the conservation work in Belize, including the Programme for Belize (PfB) and the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE).
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2010
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CWP partners with the Canadian Wildlife Service at Sable Island, Nova Scotia, to study post-breeding roseate terns.
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2010-present
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The Belize Conservation Fund assists Programme for Belize (PfB) in renovating and expanding its ecotourism facilities in Belize, both at the La Milpa Lodge and the Hill Bank Lodge.
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2013-present
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Previously undisturbed land on the boundaries of the Programme for Belize properties are sold to farmers, clear cut, and burned, threatening PfB's borders.
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