Enewsletter

Nature Canada Executive Director Ian Davidson has been named interim Chair of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN), a 24-year old international initiative to conserve shorebirds and their habitats across the Americas.

Shorebirds are among nature's most ambitious, long-distance migrants. But many species have experienced serious declines and may even become extinct within our lifetime. Protecting these birds requires coordinated efforts within each of the countries they fly through during their vast, pole-to-pole migrations.

"This Network is one of the few initiatives to bring conservation to the ground in places where it's needed most," said Davidson. "WHSRN's focus on specific sites of high importance to shorebirds is key to the long-term survival of migratory bird species."

Shorebirds are particularly dependent on specific coastal sites as staging areas, where they feed and rest in preparation for their long migrations. In Canada, for example, millions of Semipalmated Sandpipers, up to three quarters of the world population, congregate at the Bay of Fundy and the southern tip of James Bay to get ready for their 3,000 km journey to South America.

WHSRN next meets February 1-5 in Panama, where Nature Canada and the Panama Audubon Society worked for seven years on a CIDA-supported initiative to conserve bird habitat in and around the Upper Bay of Panama. Panama Bay is a globally significant Important Bird Area and WHSRN site that hosts most of the world's population of Western Sandpipers, a species that breeds across Canada and the U.S. Arctic.

In joining the Network's efforts, Davidson hopes to send a signal that protecting shorebirds is an important conservation priority for Nature Canada.

"International, site-based collaboration is one of the most effective approaches to migratory shorebird conservation," said Davidson, "and we're committed to being a proactive partner in that collective effort."