The World Outdoors: Important bird areas worth care

When I’m out birding, I sometimes happen upon signs identifying an “Important Bird Area.”

Important Bird Areas, also known as IBAs, are areas that are globally significant habitats for the conservation of particular bird populations.

BirdLife International has established scientific, worldwide standards. This is a co-ordinated global partnership of 120 birding and conservation organizations and it has become the leading authority on the status of birds and their habitats.

The Canadian partners are Birds Studies Canada and Nature Canada.

The organized approach means that focussed local IBA efforts are strategic from a global perspective. In fact, BirdLife International describes their organization’s actions as finding lasting global solutions by addressing local conservation challenges.

“This program provides vital information that informs management decisions and conservation actions, and also helps governments, the private sector, and funders to direct conservation dollars to the highest-­priority areas,” said George Finney, president of Bird Studies Canada.

“Advancing the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of wild birds and their habitats is the core of Bird Studies Canada’s mission and also represents a perfect fit with the IBA program,” he said.

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