 Boundary Bay-Roberts Bank-Sturgeon Bank - Fraser River Estuary IBA  Enormous efforts are required to conserve Boundary Bay and the Fraser River Delta, where over 300 species of migrating, breeding and wintering birds are threatened by land and sea.
Each spring, millions of migrant waterfowl and shorebirds, from Brant to Black-bellied Plovers, descend upon the Fraser River Delta’s mudflats, marshes, and flooded farm fields. Summer brings songbirds, woodpeckers, and raptors to the upland forests and shrubby hedgerows. Fall sees tens of thousands of migrating American Wigeons and Northern Pintails. Winter remains busy, with Gray-bellied Brant among the waterfowl, and large numbers of Glaucous-winged Gulls.
While portions of the Delta and Bay are protected areas, most of the site is threatened by development, agricultural encroachment, pollution, and misuse by the large human population that lives behind its dykes. An invasive seaweed threatens to alter the Bay’s ecology, and shipping traffic, urbanization, and industrial growth gradually erode the natural habitat. To counter these threats, we support the Birds on the Bay Festival, through which volunteers and 40 partner organizations raise the IBA’s profile and restore its wetlands and shorelines. Nationally, we’re opposing unsound site developments, promoting habitat protection, and working to link our local site support group with an IBA partner in the Upper Bay of Panama—another critical migratory stopover of the Western Sandpiper.
Download more fact sheets about Canada’s IBAs or call 1-800-267-4088 ext. 241 to request one.
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