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Hundreds of important sites for nature threatened with destruction
By Bahamas National Trust
Nov 25, 2014 - 3:31:31 PM

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Joulter Cays listed as an Important Bird Area in The Bahamas - The Joulter Cays were designated as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) for the Piping Plover and Short-billed Dowitcher in 2012. The IBA supports more than four percent of the global population of the near threatened Piping Plover and was recently discovered as a wintering location for Red Knots, whose population has declined to alarming levels in recent years. (Photo: BNT)

According to a new report by Bird Life International, more than 350 of the planet’s most important bird natural habitats are being threatened and could possibly be lost forever.

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) are places of international significance for the conservation of the world’s birds and other animals and plants, over twelve thousand of these IBAs have been identified worldwide.

IBAs are the largest and most comprehensive global network of important sites for nature conservation and studies have shown that 356 of these IBAs located in 122 countries and territories have become ‘IBAs in Danger’ and are in imminent danger of being lost. About half of these are legally protected, which highlights the importance of improving the management effectiveness of protected areas.

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Piping Plovers at the Joulter Cays (Photo: BNT)

There are 285 IBAs in the Caribbean, documented in a range of regional and national publications. With the BirdLife network as chief advocate, these internationally important sites for bird conservation are being mainstreamed into conservation and development planning, and national legislation by various governments. Of these 285 IBAs in the Caribbean, 42 of them are in The Bahamas.

“Of the 42 identified IBAs, only 9 are protected in our national park system.  These priority sites for bird conservation have been incorporated in the Master Plan for protected areas,” said Lynn Gape, Deputy Executive Director of the Bahamas National Trust and BirdLife Partner in The Bahamas.. “The Joulter Cays IBA, which is a critical wintering habitat for the endangered Piping Plover is proposed as one of 22 new protected areas being considered by our government for inclusion into the national park system.”

The new report - Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas: a global network for conserving nature and benefiting people - details aspects of the work of the IBA programme over the last four decades. IBAs have proven extremely influential, by helping to target conservation effort at priority sites, by stimulating the designation of formal protected areas for many sites and by inspiring similar approaches.

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Harrold and Wilson Ponds National Park is an Important Bird Area in Under Threat - Harrold and Wilson Ponds National Park, an IBA on New Providence is threatened with invasive cattails, which if allowed to continue their expansion will change the dynamics of the wetland ecosystem providing less habitat for the over 101 species of birds that have been recorded at this IBA” said Eric Carey, Executive Director of the BNT. (Photo: BNT)

“Collectively we must work together to mitigate these threats,” said Melanie Heath, BirdLife’s Director of Science, Policy and Information. “We must strengthen the implementation of national and local laws and policies ensuring environmental safeguards are implemented at the earliest stages of development, as well as enhancing  the management of these sites”.

 ‘IBAs in Danger’ overlap with no fewer than 56 Wetlands of International Importance. The main threats to these sites are inappropriate water management, recreation and agriculture. Yet, these areas variously provide free water treatment and flood defences and also support the livelihoods for people living around them.

“Wetlands in The Bahamas are of tremendous importance for migratory birds and ducks, who stopover on their long flights to South America,” noted Eric Carey, Executive Director of the BNT. “These wetlands provide food and shelter and a chance for the birds rest on their long migratory journeys.  However, protection is just not enough.  Harrold and Wilson Ponds National Park, an IBA on New Providence is threatened with invasive cattails, which if allowed to continue their expansion will change the dynamics of the wetland ecosystem providing less habitat for the over 101 species of birds that have been recorded at this IBA”

Since the IBA programme’s inception in the late 1970s, BirdLife International, through its 120 National Partners, has applied this influential approach to site conservation in virtually all of the world’s countries and territories, both on land and at sea. As such, in addition to the programme’s significant direct contribution to bird and wider biodiversity conservation, many hundreds of protected areas have been designated as a direct consequence of their recognition as IBAs. IBAs have also had considerable and, indeed, increasing relevance in developing responses to a number of wider environmental issues, such as habitat loss, ecosystem degradation, sustainable resource use and climate change.

The Bahamas National Trust, as the Birdlife Partner in The Bahamas, continues to work with local and international partners to monitor and record bird life in The Bahamas.  “Working with National Audubon, the Birdlife Partner in the United States, to identify sites important to shorebirds , three new IBA’s were identified and established over the past three years,” said Carey.  “These sites are key priorities for bird conservation but are also key to protecting biodiversity in The Bahamas.”





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