Northern Jaguar Project Inc.

“Form 990 is reviewed in-depth by the board co-presidents and treasurer. Copies are distributed to remaining board members soliciting comments and feedback prior to filing.”

“After disclosure of a financial interest by a member of the board or staff, the interested person shall leave the board or committee meeting while the financial interest is discussed and voted upon. The remaining board or committee members shall decide if a conflict of interest exists. If it does, the chairperson of the board or committee shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. The interested person shall be prohibited from participating in deliberations and decisions about the transaction. Periodic reviews of this policy ensure that njp operates in a manner consistent with its tax-exempt purposes.”

“When determining compensation for management, which includes the staff position of coordinator, the board uses compensation surveys to approve the level of compensation. Compensation for the coordinator was last reviewed in 2020.”

“The organization makes its governing documents and financial statements available to the public upon request. Form 990 is also available via guidestar.”

“Northern jaguar project - statement of program accomplishments october 2019 to september 2020 renowned for their power, strength, beauty, and grace, jaguars are vanishing throughout the americas. Nowhere is this more apparent than the u.s.-mexico borderlands, where the northern jaguar project conducts research and conservation activities intended to safeguard these cats from illegal poaching, retaliatory killings, habitat loss, and other persistent threats. The centerpiece of our work is the 58,000-acre northern jaguar reserve - a remote, rugged, and exceedingly wild landscape where female jaguars can raise their young free from harm. Njp further works with researchers, ranchers, youth, and local communities to engender support for conserving jaguars, their habitat, and other species. Wildlife monitoring and research scientific research is a centerpiece of our programs on and near the northern jaguar reserve, where our team of biologists and technicians maintained an array of 150 motion-triggered cameras. Over the years, our research and monitoring efforts have led to more than 75 distinct jaguars documented on the reserve and neighboring viviendo con felinos ranches, with 1,300 jaguar images to date. In the last year, 12 known jaguars moved across the entire protected area resulting in more than 130 photos. The highlights were new jaguars, long-time residents, a mating pair, and a mother jaguar with her cub. Among other research endeavors, we completed a joint research project with the university of arizona and university of queretaro that analyzed our photo database, providing important insights in research questions such as jaguar habitat preference and habitat quality. We regularly visited the viviendo con felinos ranches to maintain cameras, retrieve photographs, and make sure agreements to not harm wildlife were honored. We placed cameras on one new ranch to explore different locations, and a total of seven jaguars were recorded across nine viviendo con felinos ranches. After five years with no jaguar images, one of the original viviendo con felinos participants had photos of three different jaguars in three consecutive months. Beyond jaguars, our research has identified more than 125 different ocelots to date. Two male ocelots and two females have now been on our cameras for more than nine years. Our field team conducted biannual ranid frog monitoring (lithobates spp.), as well as seasonal repeat photography for long-term vegetation monitoring, and visiting mexican researchers performed inventories of invertebrate populations. While regular work by our field team continued uninterrupted, fish inventories, vegetation studies, and water quality monitoring with visiting researchers were postponed due to covid-19.”

“Community outreach our viviendo con felinos project extended protection for jaguars and other felines on 17 ranches, encompassing more than 115,000 total acres. We provided monetary awards for feline photographs to promote the presence of living wildlife and worked with ranchers to minimize human-wildlife conflicts. We hosted our annual community-wide celebration and photo exhibit to honor the viviendo con felinos ranchers, with more than 200 people in attendance and a large water-storage tank as the grand prize. Youth recited jaguar-themed poetry, displayed entries from their jaguar drawing contest, performed songs to promote conservation, and played educational, wildlife-themed games throughout the town plaza. We met with ranchers one-on-one to discuss concerns about cattle management and find conservation-oriented solutions to help maintain their livelihoods, and we provided outhouses where none previously existed. We helped a rancher file the first successful livestock predation insurance claim for this area after a depredation on his ranch. Planned meetings and restoration workshops with the ranchers were postponed due to covid-19. Our eco-guardian club connected kids with the outdoors through nature walks, river cleanups, birdwatching, and art projects. We creatively worked through the challenges that arose with covid-19, virtually engaging a core group of eco-guardians with at-home activities. Our educational outreach was the aspect of work most impacted by the global pandemic, with youth camera outings, overnight campouts, school workshops, and field trips cancelled. During this time, our field team developed educational materials and updated workshops for when schools reopen.”

“Northern jaguar reserve we continued to negotiate ranch purchases to expand the northern jaguar reserve, and a 2,750-acre ranch was acquired in late 2019 to create an expanded 58,000-acre protected area. Our field team insured the efficient management of the reserve with infrastructure work that included camp maintenance, upgrades to solar power, water system and weather station repairs, gabion construction, and road maintenance to minimize erosion. Fences were repaired, and new fencing was installed to keep trespassing cows out. We focused buffelgrass removal efforts along the road and in select priority areas. Stewardship and long-term management fund we continued to grow our stewardship and long-term management fund to guarantee the reserve's future through sustainable management and restoration. With more than three quarters of our initial $1 million goal in hand, this fund will create a permanent source of annual funding to cover the costs of basic protection and ensure proper guardianship of the reserve in perpetuity. Building our stewardship fund will continue to be a priority for additional funding in the years ahead. Grassroots leadership operating with a binational approach has been a core principle of the northern jaguar project since our inception and a theme that runs deeply throughout our organization. We have and continue to spend time listening and learning to manage cross-border relationships that are uplifting and guided by local residents and community-based partnerships. We have made a long-term commitment to this community where people's hearts are changing, and jaguars and other wild cats are finding safe spaces, room to roam, and time to rebound. With our inclusion on the 2020 top-rated nonprofits list, we received a five-star rating from greatnonprofits for the eleventh year in a row.”