24 Oct
2018
40 years
ago, we set out to identify the most important sites for birds in Europe. This
idea has since spread across the world, informing conservation decisions and
setting the model for wider initiatives to follow suit. We recount our top
successes in that time.
Way back
in 1979, when people had only just stopped wearing flared trousers and
BirdLife was still called the ICBP (The International Council for Bird
Preservation), we launched a bold new idea – one whose influence has gone far
further than we could ever have hoped.
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas had their
origins in the European Union – which at the time was still the European
Economic Community (EEC). In 1979, the EEC adopted the Birds Directive, which
requires all member states to identify and protect areas that are important
habitats for birds. However, it soon became clear that few understood where the
most important sites for birds were. It was time for BirdLife to take the helm.
So we came up with the criteria to identify these sites – and started to put
them into action.
By 1994,
IBAs had started expanding across the world. There are now over 13,000 IBAs,
which cover 6.7% of the earth’s land surface and 4.2% of the oceans.
But what
makes IBAs unique? Firstly, they are identified using the same set of
criteria across the whole world, in all countries and in all ecosystems. And
unlike landscape-scale approaches such as Biodiversity Hotspots, they pinpoint
single sites that can be protected by conservation action to safeguard crucial
habitats for one or more bird species. They also tend to be important for wider
biodiversity, protecting a diverse range of plants and animals.
Here’s
how IBAs have helped to conserve the environment over the past 40 years.
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