Symposium Participants

David Pashley

American Bird Conservancy
P.O. Box 249
The Plains, VA 20198 USA
phone: 540.253.5780
fax: 540.253.5782

International Cooperation in the Conservation of Migratory Birds - The North American Bird Conservation Initiative Experience

INTRODUCTION

The conservation needs of austral migrants are poorly known, but it is clear that if concerted action becomes necessary to increase the health of key populations throughout their annual cycles, international cooperation will be required. This paper explores the early history of a cooperative and successful trinational bird conservation effort in North America in hope that some of the lessons learned there may be useful if and when a similar effort gets under way in South America.

The North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) began in 1997 as an effort to increase cooperation and communication regarding bird conservation among Canada, the United States, and Mexico. From the onset, there was recognition that there were huge differences among the countries in terms of language, land tenure and other legal structures, the level of governmental commitment to conservation, the levels of public interest in birds, public and private funding opportunities, the Mexican emphasis on biological diversity conservation rather than species groups, and the influence on public policy by non-governmental organizations and other institutions. Therefore, effective cooperation appeared to be an unlikely outcome. This was aggravated by a lack of trust based on history and a concern that participants from the northern countries were merely interested in wintering conditions for boreal birds rather than the higher priority bird conservation issues in Mexico.

These obstacles were overcome through three steps. First, participants from all three countries worked together to produce a document that itemized all of the things upon which everyone could agree. Second, over time, issues that could be effectively approached from a trinational basis were identified and working relationships developed to achieve mutually defined goals. And third, formation of personal relationships among conservationists from the three countries has been critical in overcoming lack of trust.

COMMONLY HELD BELIEFS

Once the obstacles to cooperation were noted, participants from the three countries began to itemize principles of bird conservation upon which all three could agree. For over a year, a group consisting of three individuals from each of the three countries, each group including some mixture of representatives of the federal governments, state or provincial governments, academia, and non-governmental conservation organizations, worked together to produce a document reflecting areas of agreement.

They first agreed that a general goal could state that to ensure the long-term health of populations of native North American birds, it would be necessary to increase the effectiveness of existing and new initiatives, enhance coordination, and foster greater cooperation among the nations and peoples of the continent.

Premises upon which the remaining issues were based included some biological observations, such as that many bird species occupy broad geographic ranges, an individual species may require diverse habitat types to complete its annual cycle, and that annual cycles often extend across international boundaries. Other premises were that social and political conditions in the three countries vary, affecting the nature of conservation efforts, that an integrated initiative encourages coordinated bird conservation actions, that existing efforts are important and should not be compromised, and that effective continental bird conservation requires additional resources.

This was followed by development of a series of statements of shared principles of conservation philosophy that shaped the creation of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative:

Note that a key principle is that the initiative will address the needs of all native species, not just migrants or birds that are shared by two or three of the countries. This was absolutely imperative to winning Mexican trust, in that their highest bird conservation priorities revolve around the needs of species with small distributions, many of them endemics, facing serious local threats, many of which are sedentary or short-distance (elevational) migrants. An initiative that just focused on the wintering needs of boreal breeders would not have been acceptable. Resolution of this issue had the unintended but positive consequence of expanding the mind-set of many conservationists in the United States and Canada. As cooperation on austral migrants increases, it will be important to consider it within the context of multi-national commitment to the comprehensive bird conservation needs of all involved nations.

STRATEGIES

Based upon the above premises and principles, participants in the creation of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative then created a set of strategies that not only demonstrated further areas of agreement, but also served as a comprehensive assessment of bird conservation program needs. Strategies are broken into sections on Development, Application, Monitoring and Research, and Support.

DEVELOPMENT

INFRASTRUCTURE AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT. Existing initiatives, agencies, and organizations already make significant contributions to bird conservation, but the ambitious objectives of this Initiative require a new synergy among them to ensure success. Currently, there is no forum through which such synergy can develop, and therefore this Initiative must create an infrastructure of capable individuals, institutional commitment, and dedicated resources to advance its objectives.

BIRD CONSERVATION REGIONS. A common spatial language in which ecological phenomena play a stronger role than political boundaries will facilitate communication for bird conservation. There is currently an abundance of mapping systems for conservation purposes, among which efforts to reconcile differences have been minimal. Communication across international borders within ecoregions is particularly insufficient.

PRIORITY SPECIES. An important first step in a conservation program is in differentiating those organisms or phenomena for which conservation action is most warranted from those for which it is least warranted. Yet this step and the reasoning behind it often are not adequately addressed or are applied inconsistently across space and time. Three distinct factors must be considered and integrated during the complex process of determining priorities among bird species: 1) extinction of species (or subspecies or distinct populations) must be prevented and, to the best of our ability, the evolutionary future of genetic units should be protected; 2) common birds should remain common in order to provide ecological, economic, and aesthetic values; 3) populations of many wild birds that provide direct benefits to people as sport or food species or as part of traditional practices should remain sufficiently robust to support sustainable use.

HABITAT NEEDS AND PRIORITIES. Factors that warrant conservation action, and the actions to ameliorate them, must be understood. Although past studies provide considerable insight into the biology of many birds, the causes and cures for poor population health are often not well known. However, while we seek to improve understanding, we must also recommend actions based on current knowledge. This requires assimilation and interpretation of information, identifying assumptions behind recommendations, and applying resources toward solutions.

POPULATION OBJECTIVES AND HABITAT STRATEGIES. Current efforts are often ad hoc, poorly focused, and opportunity-driven. Objectives often are set for single species, species groups, or habitat conditions independent of the overall context of the planning unit. No matter how much we do, we are unable to assess our efforts if the components of success are undefined or very local. Opportunities to achieve broader conservation goals will increase if we have well-developed objectives.

APPLICATION

CONTEXT: LANDSCAPES AND ECOSYSTEMS. Bird population objectives and habitat strategies must be formulated within the context of, and be a component of, visions and actions for landscapes and ecosystems. Environmental and land management mandates increasingly focus on biological diversity. Furthermore, land managers and agencies must conduct management practices for a wider focus than birds. Birds, however, can be appropriate tools for consideration of larger biodiversity issues. They occur in virtually all habitats, are, as a group of species, general in use of those habitats, and more is known about their ecological needs than of those of many other organisms.

CONSERVATION ACTIONS. Conservation actions are needed wherever objectives exceed actual conditions. Even where conditions meet or exceed objectives, conservation action will generally be necessary to maintain those conditions. A tremendous amount of conservation action and management of habitat for wildlife has occurred in North America. However, this activity has not been sufficient to guarantee the long-term health of the continent's avifauna.

MONITORING AND RESEARCH

BROAD-SCALE MONITORING. Knowledge of range, movements, habitat associations, and population status of birds is central to all aspects of conservation planning. Effective monitoring across the entire range of each species, which may cross international boundaries, is required to assess status and to set priorities.

EVALUATION OF CONSERVATION ACTIONS. In geographically comprehensive species conservation programs, evaluation operates at two levels: one prior to determining the appropriate conservation action, and the other in conjunction with the following conservation action. At the first level, unusual population change (especially decline) detected by broad-scale monitoring programs may require evaluation through research, to ascertain the likely cause(s) of the change (habitat fragmentation or degradation, widespread use of certain toxic chemicals, etc.).

Conservation actions can and should be structured in such a way that they serve as scientific experiments, testing the validity of the hypothesized cause(s) of population change. Hence the second level of evaluation: monitoring response of the target population to prescribed management actions.

SUPPORT

EDUCATION AND INFORMATION. The conservation of birds and bird habitats depends, to some extent, on political processes, public opinion, and the commitment and skills of individuals. Education and information dissemination are important, but, with limited resources, will only be effective if crafted to reach and affect targeted audiences that presumably can increase the likelihood of achievement of bird conservation objectives.

In the long run, increased general environmental awareness in the populace at large will help bird conservation. All relevant elements of society should therefore be educated about bird conservation. In a more immediate sense, reaching small audiences of decision-makers and land managers is a more pressing information and education need.

POLICY. Bird habitat can be maintained or improved and bird mortality decreased if appropriate and sensitive policies and procedures are employed. Such policies and procedures potentially exist at all political levels, from international to very local. Governmental efforts related to such issues as agriculture, transportation, and water can dramatically affect landscapes and the conservation of birds. However, bird conservation issues are rarely considered in the development and implementation of domestic and international policies of governments and organizations. Furthermore, some of the policies that explicitly deal with bird conservation fail to address the most critical issues or the breadth of conservation needs.

FINANCING. Implementation of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative will depend upon investment by all of the governments, agencies, organizations, and individuals committed to bird conservation. It is clear that currently available funding is insufficient, and that delayed response to conservation needs will only increase costs. Creative leadership is needed to capture the imagination of the public and to use that power to assure that birds and other components of natural ecosystems are conserved.

Subsequent Events

Over the course of the five years since the above Principles and Strategies document was developed, a great amount of progress has occurred in many key areas. The broad conservation communities in all three countries have become aware of and comfortable with the principles of NABCI. Infrastructure has been established through three very effective and influential national NABCI Committees. A common spatial language of Bird Conservation Regions has been created for the continent, and is in widespread use for planning and application, particularly in the United States and Canada. Agreement among the nations has grown as to how to assess the biological status of birds in order to establish initial conservation priorities. A great deal of money has been spent on bird conservation projects, informed as best as possible by the type of careful considerations outlined in the Strategies. Financing remains insufficient, but the momentum of the initiative continues to gain. And perhaps of greatest importance, the level of trust among participants from the three nations has been exceptional, and distrust has been replaced with friendships.

International Scale Issues

One of the infrastructural advances in NABCI has been creation and maintenance of a Trinational Committee with representation from mixed sectors from each of the countries. That Committee has been careful to include within its mandate only issues that can be dealt with effectively at an international scale, leaving the vast bulk of bird conservation work to national or more local scales.

There are four general areas that cover most of the issues relevant at an international scale:

Conclusion

It is hoped that much of the above experience will be useful, not only for development of coordinated, cooperative approaches to the conservation of austral migrants, but also for all of the countries of the Western Hemisphere as they explore means of working together for the benefit of our entire avifauna.

Austral Bird Migration Research Project

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