# Presentation: 408870

## Advancing a Range-wide Approach to Waterbird Conservation at Priority Sites throughout the Neotropics

## Background

- _Background_
- Project initiated in late 2004 with funds from NMBCA. Coordinated by BirdLife International and Guyra Paraguay on behalf of the Waterbird Conservation Council

## Goal

- _Goal_
- To develop a strategic approach to advance understanding and address specific issues related to waterbird conservation throughout the Neotropics

## Approach

- _Approach_
- Regional strategies developed from the outputs of a suite of activities at the national and regional level, which include data compilation and synthesis, priority-setting, information dissemination, and communication with key stakeholders.

## Geographic Scope

- _Geographic Scope_
- All countries of Central America, the Caribbean and South America
- _Taxonomic Scope_
- Waterbirds = Seabirds, coastal waterbirds, wading birds and marshbirds. But also waterfowl (ducks, geese and swans) and shorebirds

## Are these waterbirds?

## Implementation

- _Implementation_
**  **Seven person coordination team (Paraguay, Ecuador, El Salvador and Puerto Rico)
-   Partner organizations hired in all countries in Central and South America to develop national reports
-   Caribbean national diagnoses developed through                               Caribbean coordinator
-   Site maps produced by Sociedad Ornitologíca de Puerto Rico, SalvaNATURA and Guyra Paraguay

## Lessons Learnt

- Despite repeated attempts, it’s very hard to get people to follow guidelines and to keep to deadlines
- It’s important to have a bigger stick than a “concerned message” from Ian!

## Objectives

- _Objectives_
- Determine the status of all waterbird species and their habitats in the Neotropics.
- Raise awareness and support for waterbird conservation issues throughout the Americas.
- Develop local capacity to monitor and inventory waterbirds in poorly known areas of Central America and the Caribbean.
- Develop strategies for five high priority site conservation projects in MesoAmerica and the Caribbean.

## Status of Waterbird species in the Neotropics

- No. species recorded: 427 (with 36 additional vagrants)
- Caribbean: 172
- Central America: 214
- South America: 410
- No. species with population estimates: 232 (55%)
- No. species with population trends: 119 (28%)

## 214 Species Recorded in Central America

|  | No. Species |
| --- | --- |
| Breeding Species | 80 |
| Wintering Species | 54 |
| Migrants | 25 |
| Vagrants | 54 |
| Extinct | 1 |

## Slide 12

## Conservation Status of Waterbird species in the Neotropics

- No. globally threatened species: 66 (14.6%)
- CR: 8
- EN: 20
- VU: 38
- NT: 31
- (3 EX, 4 DD)
- Uneven taxonomic distribution:
- 35 threatened species are seabirds (53%) but only 19% of waterbirds are seabirds

**21.5% of Waterbirds in Neotropics of Global Conservation Concern**

## Population Estimates

| Wilson’s Plover (Charadrius wilsonia) |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | Breeding |  | Wintering |  |
|  | Min. | Max. | Min. | Max. |
| Belize |  |  | 250 | 500 |
| Costa Rica |  |  | 25,000 | 100,000 |
| El Salvador | 30 | 100 | 251 | 1,000 |
| Guatemala |  |  | 25 | 50 |
| Honduras |  |  | 500 | 5,000 |
| Nicaragua |  |  | 25 | 50 |
| Panama |  |  | DD | DD |
|   REGION | 30 | 100 | 26,051 | 106,600 |

## Population Estimates

| Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum) |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | Breeding |  | Wintering |  |
|  | Min. | Max. | Min. | Max. |
| Belize | 100 | 250 |  |  |
| Costa Rica | 5,000 | 10,000 |  |  |
| El Salvador | 50 | 250 |  |  |
| Guatemala | 1,000 | 10,000 |  |  |
| Honduras | 10,000 | 25,000 |  |  |
| Nicaragua | 500 | 1000 |  |  |
| Panama | 500 | 1000 |  |  |
|   REGION | 17,153 | 47,500 |  |  |

## Summary of Population Estimates

|  | Estimate (millions) |
| --- | --- |
| 80 Breeding Species | 1.4 – 9.1 |
| 54 Wintering Species | 1.25 – 4.0 |
| Combined | 2.65 – 13.1 |

## Minimum Populations per country

| Country | Breeding (1.4 million) | Wintering (1.25 million) | Total        (2.75 million) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Belize | 46,750 | 25,550 | 72,300 |
| Costa Rica | 329,250 | 264,850 | 594,100 |
| El Salvador | 97,600 | 80,400 | 178,000 |
| Guatemala | 45,500 | 35,000 | 80,500 |
| Honduras | 650,000 | 360,000 | 1,010,000 |
| Nicaragua | 104,200 | 49,100 | 153,300 |
| Panama | 87,000 | 433,900 | 520,900 |

## Minimum Densities (birds/km2) 

| Country | Breeding | Wintering | Total |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Belize | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Costa Rica | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| El Salvador | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Guatemala | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Honduras | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| Nicaragua | 1 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Panama | 1 | 6 | 7 |

## Most Abundant Species

|  | Min. | Max. |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) | 317,000 | 455,000 |
| Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) | 268,000 | 2,185,000 |
| Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) | 262,000 | 2,110,000 |
| Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) | 230,000 | 1,370,000 |
| Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) | 153,000 | 1,107,000 |
| Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) | 136,000 | 1,080,000 |
| Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) | 112,000 | 1,032,000 |

## Regional Watchlists: Criteria

- <10,000 individuals (in the region)
- Population in decline (over large part of its range)
- Extent of Occurrence (EoO) <20,000 km2 (in the region)
- Area of Occupancy (AoO) <2,000 km2

## Central America: Species <10,000 individuals

|  | Min. | Max. |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 18 Species (Black Noddy, Anous minutus) | 0 | 50 |
| 8 Species (Masked Booby, Sula dactylatra) | 25 | 250 |
| 6 Species (Jabiru, Jabiru mycteria) | 100 | 500 |
| 6 Species (Masked Duck, Nomonyx dominicus) | 250 | 750 |
| 10 Species (Sunbittern, Eurypyga helias) | 500 | 2,000 |
| 20 Species (American Oystercatcher, Haematopus palliatus) | 1,000 | 10,000 |

## Central America: Declining Species

## South America: Declining Species

## Threats

## Key Sites

**1). All sites identified as important for waterbirds/waterbird conservation at a national level.**
**2). Sites identified as priorities at a national level (by national stakeholders) – generally IBAs**
**3). Sites identified as regional priorities - primarily based on globally threatened species (representation of all species)**

## All Sites:Over 800 on the map to dateExcel file with site dataSite data incorporated into WBDB and DU Map SiteAlso available as Google Earth file

## Slide 27

## Slide 28

## Priority Sites: Central America

## Crooked Tree, Belize

## Boven, Sint Eustatius, Netherland Antilles 

## Conventions

## National and Regional Legislation

## National Initiatives

## Raising Awareness

## More Awareness and meetings

## Building Capacity

- Develop local capacity to monitor and inventory waterbirds in poorly known areas of Central America and the Caribbean.
- Provide training internships for up to five individuals per year in Central America and the Caribbean
- Provide follow-up support in each of fifteen countries to carry-out waterbird inventories.

## Site Conservation

- Develop strategies for five high priority site conservation projects in MesoAmerica and the Caribbean:
- Bahía de Asunción, Yacaré Sur lagoons and Pantanal, Paraguay
- Ecuasal and Pacoa lagoons, Ecuador
- Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta, Guajira wetlands and Cienaga Bañó, Colombia
- Bahía de Panamá, Panama
- Tisma, Nicaragua

## Slide 39

## Regional Initiatives

- Seabirds in Central America
- Migrants at priority sites in the Guianas, incl. Impact of hunting on waterbirds
- Monitoring of priority sites in Caribbean and facilitating access to information
- Americas-wide strategy for conservation of phalaropes *Phalaropus* spp.

## Range-wide Waterbirds in Ecuador

## Recommendations and Next Steps

## Species Recommendations

**Single Internet portal for access to species information.**
**Species action plans for globally threatened species (priority to CR and EN).**
**Feed population and trend data directly into Red List assessments.**
**Consolidate and expand existing monitoring programs.**
**Targeted research to fill data gaps concerning waterbird distributions, population sizes and trends.**
**Determine thresholds for population trends such that assessments of trend significance can guide management actions.**
**Conduct management-oriented research on waterbirds, as determined by specific management questions**
- Importance of hunting as a source of mortality to waterbirds
- Role of commercial fisheries in seabird mortality
- Impacts of invasive species

## Site Recommendations

- Through a single Internet portal provide access to:
- Centralized list of key waterbird sites for the Americas;
- Portfolio of projects and examples of site conservation success stories.
- Identify key networks of sites and develop plans to manage them within a flyway model.
- Promote the development of partnerships between sites (North-South, South-South, North-North, etc.).
- Develop conservation and management plans for priority sites.
- Connect local communities through a network of sites.

## Habitat Recommendations

- Develop a simple landscape-level protocol for monitoring the status of priority waterbird habitats.
- Identify, develop and promote incentives that encourage appropriate management of key waterbird habitats, especially those adjacent to priority sites.

## Advocacy Recommendations

**Promote the development and implementation of international and national legislation which promotes and fosters waterbird conservation:**
- Formal recognition of threatened waterbird species and key waterbird sites within national legislation and/or national conservation agendas (e.g. NBSAPs).
- Promote the recognition of key waterbird sites as Ramsar sites.
- Promote the inclusion of threatened waterbirds on Appendices I and II of CMS.
**Ensure that information on the conservation of waterbirds is widely available to key decision makers in government, management authorities, regional institutions, etc.**
**Evaluate the feasibility of a regional waterbird agreement for the conservation of migratory species, modelled on the CMS Afro-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement.**

## Capacity-building and Awareness

- Build upon and expand existing skill-based training programs for wetland managers.
- Improve accessibility of science-based information that enhances wetland and waterbird management.
- Use existing festivals such as the World Bird Festival, World Wetlands Day, International Migratory Bird Day and World Migratory Bird Day to raise awareness at many levels.
- Develop, adapt and implement models to raise awareness in school-age individuals.
- Ensure easy access to conservation materials and education programs (e.g. Shorebird Sister Schools Program, World Wetland Day).

## Working Together

- Draw together all interested parties within an “Americas Waterbird Conservation Alliance” to develop, coordinate and maintain conservation efforts for waterbirds and their habitats in the Americas.
- Collaborate and coordinate fund-raising efforts.
- Support the fulfilment of national commitments to international agreements (e.g. Ramsar, CMS).
- Promote greater participation of local and national NGOs in national and international waterbird conservation agendas.

## Next steps...

## Some ideas...

- “Data mining” the reports
- Refinement of the population estimates and thresholds
- Refinement of distribution maps
- Internet portal with centralized access to species and site information
- “Critical Site Network” tool
-  Ramsar “Shadow list” publication
- “Status of waterbirds and waterbird conservation in the Neotropics”
- = “Neotropical Waterbird Coordinator”

## More thoughts...

- Expansion of existing monitoring initiatives (NWC, waterfowl surveys, ISS, Neotropical/Austral PRISM etc.)
- Status of seabirds and threats in Central American waters
- Work with national governments to include species on CMS Appendices and designate sites as Ramsar sites

## And finally...

- Development of an Americas Flyway Initiative
- Task force to evaluate development of an initiative?
- And a parting thought:
- Podicipedidae: 11 species, 2 EX, 1 CR, 1 EN, 1 NT