The Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow (Melozone cabanisi) is one of the seven endemic species of Costa Rica and occurs in a restricted distribution range that mostly encompasses the Central Valley, the largest human settlement in the country. Its natural habitats are scrublands and secondary growth patches, and it also utilizes agroecosystems such as coffee, sugarcane, and chayote.

The destruction, degradation, fragmentation and isolation of natural habitats are its greatest threats. The widespread cultural devaluation and lack of protection of scrublands, as well as the increasing replacement of coffee plantations, undermine the availability of habitat for this ground-sparrow. Furthermore, scientific knowledge of this species is limited.

In mid-2017, the Proyecto Cabanisi was launched, a citizen science initiative to address the problems facing this species and propose management and conservation actions.