Antarctic Treaty Nations Recognize the Continent's Important Bird Areas

June 22, 2015 

In 1959, 12 countries with scientists active in and around Antarctica signed the Antarctic Treaty, which committed all signatories to respecting the continent as a place of peace and science. Today, 52 nations are party to the treaty, and from June 1 to 10 they gathered in Sofia, Bulgaria, for the annual Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) to discuss issues vital to Antarctic land conservation.

Members of Pew’s global penguin conservation campaign were in attendance, along with representatives from the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, an international network of nongovernmental organizations committed to the conservation of the continent and its surrounding waters.

Each year at the ATCM, various issues related to Antarctica’s future are discussed, including the effects of tourism, ongoing scientific research, and climate change. But at this year’s meeting, a meaningful new action was taken: Treaty members formally recognized BirdLife International’s newly released Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Antarctica.

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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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Nairobi Convention COP 7 adopts a decision to conserve birds

The Seventh Conference of Parties (COP 7) of the Nairobi Convention ended on 14th December with a COP Decision to designate Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the territories of the Contracting Parties as a tool for conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems, and to use information on birds as indicators of ecosystem health.

The decision also requested the Secretariat of the Nairobi Convention, in collaboration with the Contracting Parties, to review the Convention’sProtocol Concerning Protected Areas and Wild Fauna and Flora in the East Africa Region.

Formal recognition of marine IBAs in the Convention region and review of the protocol were two of the recommendations documented in the regional synthesis report on the status of birds and their habitats in the Western Indian Ocean developed through a project led by BirdLife Africa Partnership in collaboration with the Nairobi Convention Secretariat. The synthesis report and BirdLife presentation at the COP created much needed awareness on bird conservation as indicator of the wider ecosystems health, especially now that oil and gas is gaining momentum in national and regional development agenda.

Continued:  http://www.birdlife.org/community/2012/12/nairobi-convention-cop-7-adopts-a-decision-to-conserve-birds/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nairobi-convention-cop-7-adopts-a-decision-to-conserve-birds