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Convention Conservation Projects

CONVENTION CONSERVATION PROJECTS

2003: Oregon IBA Project

In association with each of its annual conventions, the ABA awards a grant to support a bird conservation project in the area hosting the meeting-a thank-you to the birds we enjoy and the people who host us. Past projects we've partnered with have ranged from biological studies (like the use of carbon isotopes to assess the importance of Saguaro cactus to Sonoran Desert birds, in 1999) to efforts to acquire and preserve important bird habitat (like Houston Audubon's push to expand and protect Bolivar Flats in 2001). Some grants have focused on individual species (like the Snowy Plover in 1996 and the Altamira Oriole in 1998); others on the bird life of entire ecosystems or watersheds (Pawnee Prairie Partners, 2000, and St. Louis River Estuary, 2002). But what all these projects have in common is immediate relevance to the protection of birds we all enjoy.

For the June 2003 Annual Convention, to be held in Eugene, Oregon, we are fortunate to be able to assist a project that is aligned especially closely with many of the ABA's fundamental principles and goals: a state-wide effort by Audubon Society of Portland (ASoP), a chapter of National Audubon, to designate more than two hundred Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Oregon. (Visit the project on the web at <www.oregoniba.org>.) ABA support can give this important project a huge boost, and the ABA grant may double in value if ASoP receives a matching-funds challenge grant it has applied for, according to Sybil Ackerman, ASoP's conservation director.

Like the worldwide search for Global IBAs coordinated by BirdLife International, ASoP's Oregon IBA initiative represents a fusion of public input and hard science. Nominated sites are rigorously evaluated by a team of technical reviewers. Because it is based on such authoritative footing, the Oregon IBA designation is a valuable tool for assigning conservation priorities and mobilizing public and political efforts to protect crucial bird habitat. Sixty sites have already received IBA status; a second round of nominations is under way, and ASoP plans to publish information on the sites both in printed form and on the web.

With state checklist of roughly 480 species, Oregon features an astonishing range of birds, habitat types, and important staging areas. Hundreds of thousands of transient shorebirds refuel along the coast each migration, while prodigious numbers of waterfowl pass through the state's interior wetlands. The state hosts many hemispherically or even globally important bird populations, like the 9,900 pairs of Caspian Terns at East Sand Island (the largest breeding colony of this species in the world, representing a quarter of the North American population), or the endemic subspecies of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch found in eastern Oregon's Wallawa Mountains. The state IBA project, by identifying and monitoring the sites of greatest ecological importance, will play a key role in protecting these avian resources.

One reason the ABA is especially pleased to help with this project is that birders figure prominently throughout the Oregon IBA process. "It is the birding world that will make the difference", says Ms. Ackerman; more than half of the nominations so far have come from recreational birders, according to Matt Hunter, IBA project coordinator. Archives of bird records are a valuable source of data for assessing nominated sites, especially for establishing maximum numbers of birds. And since "many sites don't have consistent surveys being done right now," Hunter says, birders represent a vital talent pool for monitoring IBA sites once they are designated.

As in past years, ABA support for the Convention Conservation Project will come from several sources. A portion of corporate sponsorship fees for the meeting will be devoted to this purpose, as will a percentage of each individual Convention registration fee. But the key to maximizing the impact of this grant will be contributions by individual ABA members, both those attending the meeting and those unable to be there. Convention attendees will find a description of the IBA project and a form for submitting donations in their confirmation packet; or you can simply send a check, made out to ABA and indicating that it's for the Oregon IBA project, to 4945 N 30th St, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80919.

from May 2003 Winging It