**Waterbird Conservation Council**

**Annual Meeting**

**January 11-13, 2006; San Jose, COSTA RICA**

**Chronological Summary**

**[ATTENDEES]{.underline}**

*Includes coordinators, Council members, Committee members/guests:*
Ghisselle Alvarado, Veronica Anadon, Paul Baicich, Humberto Berlanga,
Stephen Brown, Rob Clay, Ian Davidson, Garry Donaldson, George Finney,
Guy Foulks, Debbie Hahn, Paul Kluckner, Carol Lively, Eric Mellink,
Rosabel Miro, Cristina Morales, Lourdes Mugica, Kathy Parsons, Don Paul,
Paul Schmidt, Lisa Sorenson, Xico Vega, Jennifer Wheeler.

See the Annual Meeting Participants Contact List.

**[VENUE]{.underline}**

The meeting was held at the Bougainvillea Hotel, Santo Domigo de
Heredia, near San Jose, Costa Rica. Ghisselle Alvarado, with the Museo
Nacional de Costa Rica, arranged for administrative support, equipment
and social activities. All but Rob Clay remained in Costa Rica for a
post-meeting field trip to the Guanacaste province (Hacienda Pacifica
and Palo Verde).

**[MEETING SESSIONS AND DISCUSSIONS]{.underline}**

See the transcript of discussions.

**[Wednesday, January 11]{.underline}**

**Full Council Convenes**.

-   Attendees were greeted by Eric Mellink, Chair of the Waterbird
    Conservation Council.

-   The support by the participants' organizations, and especially those
    organizations that supported additional members (U.S. Forest
    Service, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, U.S. Fish and
    Wildlife Services, and NABCI Canada) was gratefully acknowledged.

-   Each attendee introduced himself/herself.

**State of the Council -- Report and Discussion**

Jennifer Wheeler presented on the State of the Council, briefly
reviewing the Council's vision, history, functions, and form. See the
State of the Council report (Powerpoint Presentation). Subsequent
discussion on expectations by the full group revealed diverse views on
the role of the Council. A synthesis of this discussion was:

-   The progress of the Council has met the expectations of most
    members, but there are concerns about the pace at which critical
    issues are being addressed.

-   The Waterbird Conservation Council is young and its membership and
    operations will continue evolving.

-   The Council's current activities range from "hands-on" projects to
    influencing broader policy. The Council will continue to operate at
    multiple levels in the short term.

-   The role of the Council and the activities of its members will vary
    depending on the nature of the conservation needs and the degree to
    which there is existing institutional capacity to address these
    needs.

**Strategies for Council Membership and Representation -- Report and
Discussion**

A report from the Membership Committee, including a draft strategy for
membership, was provided by Kathy Parsons, departing Chair. There was
subsequent discussion during the session, and in a break-out by members
of the Committee the following morning. This largely focused on the
challenges of developing a very large, but engaged, membership, as well
as the need for flexibility and speed in inviting new members.

See the report from the Membership Committee (Powerpoint Presentation)

See the transcript of discussions.

**See Summary of 2006 Annual Meeting Decisions (January 13 Wrap-up) --
Tasks of the Membership Committee**

*(Original Agenda modified: switched "Technical/Science Guidance to
Waterbird Community" session with "Leveraging Waterbird Interests
Through Integration" session)*

**Technical/Science Guidance to Waterbird Community**

A report from the Technical Services Committee, covering monitoring
Framework, marshbird (non-colonial species) status assessment, and
hemispheric-scale status assessment, was provided by Kathy Parsons,
member of the Committee. There was subsequent discussion during the
session, and in a break-out by members of the Committee that afternoon.
This largely focused on issues of status assessment, the importance of
the monitoring framework, and how the Committee, lacking a Chair, might
move forward.

See the report from Technical Services Committee (Powerpoint
Presentation)

See the transcript of discussions.

**See Summary of 2006 Annual Meeting Decisions (January 13 Wrap-up) --
Tasks of the Technical Services Committee**

**Evening Caucus of U.S. participants**

The U.S. members gathered to identify a replacement U.S. representative
to the Executive (left vacant by Jack Capp). Paul Schmidt volunteered
and was accepted, on the understanding that Don Paul was willing to
co-chair the Regional Planning and Implementation Committee (with the
assistance of a co-chair strongly linked with Latin American partners).

**[Thursday, January 12]{.underline}**

**Planning and implementation of waterbird conservation at the
sub-continental scale**

Reports on sub-continental scale planning and projects were facilitated
by Paul Schmidt, Chair of the Regional Planning and Implementation
Committee. Rob Clay presented on work in South America, Central America
and the Caribbean under the "Advancing Range-wide Waterbird Conservation
in the Western Hemisphere;" Veronica Anadon, Lourdes Mugica, and Lisa
Sorenson presented on waterbird-related work in the Caribbean; Garry
Donaldson and Jennifer Wheeler gave verbal reports on regional-scale
conservation in Canada and the U.S., respectively; and Humberto Berlanga
presented on activities under NABCI Mexico. Discussion followed each
report, and focused on the role of the Council to support regional-scale
conservation approaches and the responsibilities of the Regional
Planning and Implementation Committee to ensure support.

See the regional overview (Powerpoint Presentation)

See the report on "Advancing Range-wide Waterbird Conservation..."
(Powerpoint Presentation)

See the report on waterbird-related activities in the Caribbean
(Powerpoint Presentation)

See the report on waterbird-related activities under NABCI Mexico
(Powerpoint Presentation)

See the transcript of discussions (including verbal presentations)

**See Summary of 2006 Annual Meeting Decisions (January 13 Wrap-up) --
Tasks of the Regional Planning and Implementation Committee**

**Leveraging Waterbird Interests Through Integration**

First, Ian Davidson reported on the original vision of International
Committee to facilitate the conservation of waterbirds internationally
and its objectives (document state of current information on activities
that impact waterbirds, determine status of waterbirds throughout
Neotropics, resource plan implementation.) With considerable progress
made towards meeting the above objectives, he turned the discussion
towards the objective of "*Assure coordination of the Plan with other
international bird conservation programs and initiatives."* Participants
engaged in break-out discussions to identify key initiatives for
engagement, their importance, current collaborations with the Council,
and priorities and strategies for continued engagement. Following the
break-outs, each group reported on its findings, and the whole group
deliberated on how the Council would approach next steps. The 2005
decision to merge the International Committee's tasks associated with
supporting Latin America and the Caribbean into those of the Regional
Planning and Implementation Committee was re-affirmed. Since the tasks
of integration were viewed as a very high priority, but do not
necessarily warrant a standing committee, the Executive Committee took
responsibility for developing a strategy for these tasks. These
decisions in effect disbanded the standing International Committee.

See the report on International Committee and Integration Discussion
(Powerpoint Presentation)

See the transcript of discussions

**See Summary of 2006 Annual Meeting Decisions (January 13 Wrap-up) --
Tasks of the Executive Committee**

**Sharing our Vision and Work**

A report on the Communications Committee, covering Council Talking
Points, use of the Council communications networks, the website, and the
Committee's role in producing the "Communications Piece" for Version 2,
was provided by Paul Baicich, Chair. Jennifer Wheeler provided
additional information on the progress regarding the Communications
Piece. Subsequent discussion included requests for clarification,
suggested additional tasks, and reiteration of Paul Baicich's request
that Council members make use of the WaterbirdCouncil and
WaterbirdsNetwork listservs.

See the report on the "Version 2" Communications Piece (Powerpoint
Presentation)

See transcript of discussions, including verbal presentations.

**See Summary of 2006 Annual Meeting Decisions (January 13 Wrap-up) --
Tasks of the Communications Committee**

**Evening Reception at Museo Nacional de Costa Rica**

The event included

-   Group meal

-   Welcome by Francisco Corrales, Museum Director and Cecilia Pineda,
    Chief of the Natural History Department

-   Presentation of gifts by Eric Mellink on behalf of the Council
    (Scope and several binoculars, large collections of journals needed
    by the Museum library, \$150 cash towards special aquatic birds
    issue of Brenesia publication)

-   Presentation of the Museum's new Waterbird Conservation Program by
    Ghisselle Alvarado

-   Tours of the exhibits and the Ornithology Collection.

**[Friday, January 13]{.underline}**

**Restoring Inactive Committees**

A group discussion was facilitated by Eric Mellink and Jennifer Wheeler,
drawing on the discussions of the previous days.

[Resources Committee]{.underline}

Participants differed in their opinions regarding the need for a
Resources Committee of the Council; some felt that raising resources was
a responsibility of all members of the Council while others felt that a
group focused on identifying sources and needs, and facilitating the
acquisition of support was a high priority for the Council.

As an interim measure to assist the Council in obtaining resources, Ian
Davidson volunteered to lead a task group to assemble a suite of
significant funding opportunities for waterbird and wetland conservation
work in the Americas, [and recommends that Council and committee members
act as advisors to other]{.mark} Council members pursuing funding for
specific projects. Ian Davidson also indicated that he might be able to
tap the development staff at BirdLife if the Council did take the route
of developing a large project to underpin some key conservation need
(e.g., an international initiative addressing offshore threats).

**See Summary of 2006 Annual Meeting Decisions (January 13 Wrap-up) --
Tasks of the Executive Committee**

[Conservation Action Committee]{.underline}

Committee name was changed to ***Policy and Critical Issues Committee***
to better clarify its role. After discussion, the group concluded that
the work of such a committee is extremely important and urgent.

Paul Kluckner offered to facilitate a conference call with currently
indicated members of the Conservation Committee to resolve direction
(that is, a few priorities for the Council to pursue over the short and
long term (e.g. seabird issues)), address capacity issues, and explore
strategy development.

**See Summary of 2006 Annual Meeting Decisions (January 13 Wrap-up) --
Tasks of the Policy and Critical Issues Committee**

[Resolution of Integration Tasks Next Steps]{.underline}

At the Executive Committee meeting held over lunch, Ian Davidson offered
to work with Paul Kluckner and Paul Schmidt to take the first cut at
identifying and pursuing top integration/interface needs for the
Council.

**See Summary of 2006 Annual Meeting Decisions (January 13 Wrap-up) --
Tasks of the Executive Committee**

**Request by Latin Americans**

On behalf of all the Latin American participants, Humberto Berlanga
presented a number of suggestions to improve Council operations:

-   Observed that structure is too complex, thus hard to understand and
    hard to get involved.

-   Suggested that agenda be better tailored to everyone's needs (e.g.,
    more discussion around Latin American issues.)

-   Encouraged more tangible, specific discussions on specific projects,
    because long-term objectives are met project by project.

-   Requested improved communications to native Spanish speakers. Need
    better translation: perhaps a professional, or at a minimum, a
    commitment by members to Spanish-language discussions, explanations
    or calls for input.

-   Recognized that improvements will take time; but stressed that the
    time investment is necessary.

**Presentation of 2006 Workplans for the Council**

The chairs of each of the Council committees and working groups
presented on purpose, progress, and upcoming plans, in order to seek
input and approval by the full Council.

**See Summary of 2006 Annual Meeting Decisions (January 13 Wrap-up).**

**Concluding Remarks by Chair and Coordinator**

Participants were thanked, and input on the Annual Meeting's structure
and operations was solicited.

**Arrangements for Annual Meeting 2007**

Participants were in favor of an offer by Ian Davidson, on behalf of
Birdlife, to meet in Quito, Ecuador. Another offer, made last year by
Xico Vega, to meet in Playa Ceuta, Sinaloa, Mexico was re-visited. Based
on relative transportation costs, and more significantly, the planned
WHRSN dedication for Playa Ceuta, it was decided to defer using that
location another year.

**Adjourn**