10 February 2015, BBC world news
Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela signed a bill on Monday aimed at protecting the wetlands outside the capital, Panama City, from a construction boom.
Under the new law, construction is banned in a 85,000-hectare-stretch (210,000 acres) of the Bay of Panama. The wetlands are a key stopover and wintering area for migratory shorebirds in the Western Hemisphere. Mr Varela's predecessor had encouraged construction projects in the area. The new law, which came into effect on Monday, also bans logging, the removal of soil and any other activity which may affect the mangrove swamps.
In recent years, the area around Panama City has seen fast growth with the construction of major residential, tourism and industrial complexes. Environmentalists accused President Ricardo Martinelli of tacitly encouraging unrestrained growth during his time in office from 2009 to 2014 by lowering the fines for cutting down mangrove trees. They say the move sped up the destruction of Panama's mangrove forests, 55% of which were lost between 1969 and 2007, according to United Nations figures. About a million shorebirds migrate to the Bay of Panama every year. The area is also home to anteaters, Central American tapirs and loggerhead turtles.
Posted by Silke Nebel on 12 February 2015
10 February 2015, BBC world news Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela signed a bill on Monday aimed at protecting the wetlands outside the capital, Panama City, from a construction boom.
First posted in the
Center for Conservation Biology e-Newsletter, January 14, 2015
The journey begins in darkness in Virginia with an early morning flight departing from the Norfolk International Airport in late May. The air is humid, and the days have been hot along the mid-Atlantic Coast. The first leg of the trip is to Toronto, Canada.
Subsequent flights take me through the Prairie Provinces (with an overnight stay), and finally on to Yellowknife, Canada. Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, is where much of the logistical planning for the field season ahead takes place. The main focus of this collaboration between the Canadian Wildlife Service and The Center for Conservation Biology is the satellite tracking of whimbrels throughout their life cycle. The important task of rigging the satellite transmitters for deployment in the field takes place here in Yellowknife. The transmitters are placed in the carry-on luggage as they are irreplaceable if lost. The trip to Yellowknife has taken two days and nearly 3,000 miles are behind me at this point.
Go to the
full story to read more.
Posted by Silke Nebel on 18 January 2015
First posted in the Center for Conservation Biology e-Newsletter, January 14, 2015 The journey begins in darkness in Virginia with an early morning flight departing from the Norfolk International Airport in late May. The air is humid, and the days have been hot along the mid-Atlantic Coast. The first leg of the trip is to Toronto, Canada.
The 2015 IWSG Conference will be held in Keflavík, Iceland, during 1-5 October. Arrive on the 1st, excursions on the 2nd, main conference on the 3rd and 4th, and workshop on the 5th. More details on the website soon.
Posted by Simon Gillings on 12 January 2015
The 2015 IWSG Conference will be held in Keflavík, Iceland, during 1-5 October. Arrive on the 1st, excursions on the 2nd, main conference on the 3rd and 4th, and workshop on the 5th. More details on the website soon.
'Moonbird', the famous Red Knot that has covered more miles in its 21-year long life than it takes to get to the moon, is now featured in the international newspaper the Guardian Weekly.
The numbers of the rufa Red Knot subspecies have plummeted dramatically in the past several decades, and now they just became the first bird ever
listed under the Endangered Species Act with climate change cited as a “primary threat”.
Chris Mooney's
article was originally written for the Washington Post.
Posted by Silke Nebel on 12 January 2015
'Moonbird', the famous Red Knot that has covered more miles in its 21-year long life than it takes to get to the moon, is now featured in the international newspaper the Guardian Weekly.
An interesting program about threats to migratory stopovers, featuring shorebirds in the Yellow Sea. The documentary relates how migrating birds need to rest, feed and refresh en route. Some journeys are thousands of miles and rich feeding habitat
is disappearing for development. Wetlands, estuaries and coastlines are often the focus of industrial expansion, tourism and new housing, yet they are also the places most needed by migrating waders. Featuring the Chair of our Group as the international spokesperson for shorebirds, their habitats and their migrations.
Listen at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vdy2q; 28 mins.
Posted by Yvonne Verkuil on 1 January 2015
An interesting program about threats to migratory stopovers, featuring shorebirds in the Yellow Sea. The documentary relates how migrating birds need to rest, feed and refresh en route. Some journeys are thousands of miles and rich feeding habitat is disappearing for development. Wetlands, estuaries and coastlines are often the focus of industrial expansion, tourism and new housing, yet they are also the places most needed by migrating waders. Featuring the Chair of our Group as the
In July 2014, this species has been uplisted to Near Threatened owing to evidence that it is undergoing a moderately rapid population decline, driven by on-going habitat loss and degradation, disturbance and hunting pressure. This assessment may prove to be conservative, however, and further data may require that the species be uplisted again in the near future. Comprehensive monitoring is therefore needed to better quantify the species's global population trend.
https://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22693289
Posted by Silke Nebel on 23 December 2014
In July 2014, this species has been uplisted to Near Threatened owing to evidence that it is undergoing a moderately rapid population decline, driven by on-going habitat loss and degradation, disturbance and hunting pressure. This assessment may prove to be conservative, however, and further data may require that the species be uplisted again in the near future. Comprehensive monitoring is therefore needed to better quantify the species's global population trend.
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) are places of international significance for the conservation of the world’s birds and nature. Since the 1970s, more than 12,000 IBAs have been identified worldwide, comprising the largest and most comprehensive global network of important sites for nature conservation.
BirdLife International recently identified 356 IBAs in danger of being lost, however. The list is based on data from BirdLife partners about pressures at their most threatened sites, such as urban or agricultural development, inappropriate water management, climate change, human disturbance, and pollution. In their report, entitled
“IBAs in Danger,” approximately half of the sites are legally protected, underscoring the importance of improving management effectiveness of protected areas.
Six of the IBAs in the report are also WHSRN sites, with overall threat categories of “high” or “very high,” from the following pressures:
Bahía de Samborombón, Argentina: agriculture/aquaculture, human disturbance.
Laguna Mar Chiquita, Argentina: human disturbance, water management.
Fraser River Estuary, Canada: residential & commercial development, pollution, transport & service corridors.
Upper Bay of Panama, Panama: water management, residential & commercial development, pollution, climate change.
Bahía de Asunción, Paraguay: human disturbance, pollution.
Salton Sea, USA (California): agriculture/aquaculture, human disturbance, pollution, climate change.
To date, through participatory Site Assessment Tool (
SAT) workshops, the WHSRN Executive Office has helped partners to better understand the overall health of their site for shorebirds and prioritize threats and conservation actions needed at four of these six sites. Completing the SAT at the remaining two sites (Bahía Samborombón and Salton Sea) will be a high priority.
Only one IBA in the Western Hemisphere was among the several case studies highlighted in the report: the
Upper Bay of Panama. The repeated conservation challenges that this federally protected WHSRN Site of Hemispheric Importance has experienced, and thwarted, over the years have been dire (
see WHSRNews February 2014 and June 2014). As the
case study points out, the Upper Bay of Panama IBA hosts up to 2 million migratory shorebirds each year. Attempts to weaken the protected area were successfully defeated by Panama Audubon Society (BirdLife partner in Panama) and its partners. The challenge now is to develop a sustainable land-use plan for the protected area and improve its management.
“We must work together collectively to mitigate threats, and to strengthen the implementation of national and local laws and policies to ensure that environmental safeguards are implemented in the early stages of development,” said
Melanie Heath, BirdLife International’s Director for Science, Policy, and Information. She added that the ‘IBAs in Danger’ report provides governments, development agencies, international environmental organizations, businesses, and society with a meaningful approach towards preventing further damage or loss to IBAs.
This article is based on one posted by Martin Fowlie for BirdLife International, November 2014 and also appeared in the WHSRNews: 22 December 2014.
Posted by Silke Nebel on 23 December 2014
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) are places of international significance for the conservation of the world’s birds and nature. Since the 1970s, more than 12,000 IBAs have been identified worldwide, comprising the largest and most comprehensive global network of important sites for nature conservation.
On Dec 9, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced federal protection for the rufa subspecies of the red knot, designating it as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
A “threatened” designation means a species is at risk of becoming endangered throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
“The red knot is a remarkable and resilient bird known to migrate thousands of miles a year from the Canadian Arctic to the southern tip of South America,” said Service Director Dan Ashe. “Unfortunately, this hearty shorebird is no match for the widespread effects of emerging challenges like climate change and coastal development, coupled with the historic impacts of horseshoe crab overharvesting, which have sharply reduced its population in recent decades.”
Since the 1980s, the knot’s population has fallen by about 75 percent in some key areas, largely due to declines in one of its primary food resources – horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay, an important migratory stopover site. Although this threat is now being addressed by extensive state and federal management actions, other threats, including sea-level rise, some shoreline projects and coastal development, continue to shrink the shorebird’s wintering and migratory habitat.
Changing climate conditions are also altering the bird’s breeding habitat in the Arctic and affecting its food supply across its range, in particular through climate-driven mismatches in migration timing that affect the peak periods of food availability. The bird must arrive at Delaware Bay at exactly the time when horseshoe crabs are laying their eggs.
“Although historic threats in the Delaware Bay area have been ameliorated thanks to the actions of federal and state partners, our changing climate is posing new and complex challenges to the red knot’s habitat and food supply,” Ashe said. “It has never been more critical that we take positive action to save this bird.”
One of the longest distance migrants in the animal kingdom, some rufa red knots fly more than 18,000 miles each year between breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic and wintering grounds along the Gulf Coast, southeast United States and South America. One bird, banded by biologists in 1995 in Argentina, has been nicknamed Moonbird because he has flown the equivalent of a trip to the moon and at least halfway back in his 21 or more years of migrations.
Along its epic migration, the red knot, which can be identified by its rufous breast, belly and flanks during breeding season, can be found across 27 countries and 40 U.S. states in flocks ranging from a few individuals to several thousand. Although rufa red knots mainly occur along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, small groups regularly use some interior areas of the United States during migration. The largest concentration of rufa red knots is found in May in Delaware Bay, where the birds stop to gorge themselves on the eggs of spawning horseshoe crabs; a spectacle drawing thousands of birdwatchers to the area. In just a few days, the birds nearly double their weight to prepare for the final leg of their long journey to the Arctic.
International, state and local governments, the conservation community, beachgoers and land managers are helping ensure red knots have safe areas to winter, rest and feed during their long migrations. These partners help knots in a variety of ways, including managing the harvest of horseshoe crabs (which are caught for use as bait in conch and eel pots), managing disturbance in key habitats, improving management of hunting outside the United States, and collecting data to better understand these birds.
In making its decision, the Service analyzed the best available data in more than 1,700 scientific documents, and considered issues raised in more than 17,400 comments provided during 130 days of public comment periods and three public hearings. Protections under the ESA will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
As required by the ESA, the Service is also reviewing the U.S. range of the rufa red knot to identify areas that are essential for its conservation, known as critical habitat. The Service expects to propose critical habitat for the rufa red knot for public review and comment in 2015 after completing the required review of economic considerations.
Visit
https://www.fws.gov/northeast/redknot/ to read the final rule and response to comments; view and download video, photos and maps; and explore more resources, such as an interactive timeline and infographic. The rule will be available at
www.regulations.gov on December 11, 2014, under docket number FWS-R5-ES-2013-0097.
Posted by Silke Nebel on 10 December 2014
On Dec 9, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced federal protection for the rufa subspecies of the red knot, designating it as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
The new “Great Wall of China” - the recently built seawall that encloses vast areas of coastal wetlands in China - now exceeds the ancient Great Wall in length, and has drastic implications for wetland biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. In a recent article in Science (21 Nov, 2014, Vol 346 issue 6212), Zhijun Ma, David S. Melville, Jianguo Liu, Ying Chen, Hongyan Yang, Wenwei Ren, Zhengwang Zhang, Theunis Piersma & Bo Li draw analogies between the ancient Great Wall of China and the much more recent seawall that encloses vast areas of coastal wetlands. This new “Great Wall” exceeds the ancient one in length and is now covering 60% of the total length of coastline along mainland China. The authors discuss the resulting dramatic decline in internationally shared biodiversity and associated ecosystem services and propose measures for effective wetland management.
Ma2014Science
Posted by Silke Nebel on 6 December 2014
The new “Great Wall of China” - the recently built seawall that encloses vast areas of coastal wetlands in China - now exceeds the ancient Great Wall in length, and has drastic implications for wetland biodiversity and associated ecosystem services.
You can now see a preview of the content of Issue 2 of Wader Study Group Bulletin volume 121
here
Posted by Simon Gillings on 23 November 2014
You can now see a preview of the content of Issue 2 of Wader Study Group Bulletin volume 121 here
