Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs): their impact on conservation policy, advocacy and action

Abstract

SummaryBirdLife International´s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA) Programme has identified, documented and mapped over 13,000 sites of international importance for birds. IBAs have been influential with governments, multilateral agreements, businesses and others in: (1) informing governments’ efforts to expand protected area networks (in particular to meet their commitments through the Convention on Biological Diversity); (2) supporting the identification of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) in the marine realm, (3) identifying Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention; (4) identifying sites of importance for species under the Convention on Migratory Species and its sister agreements; (5) identifying Special Protected Areas under the EU Birds Directive; (6) applying the environmental safeguards of international finance institutions such as the International Finance Corporation; (7) supporting the private sector to manage environmental risk in its operations; and (8) helping donor organisations like the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund (CEPF) to prioritise investment in site-based conservation. The identification of IBAs (and IBAs in Danger: the most threatened of these) has also triggered conservation and management actions at site level, most notably by civil society organisations and local conservation groups. IBA data have therefore been widely used by stakeholders at different levels to help conserve a network of sites essential to maintaining the populations and habitats of birds as well as other biodiversity. The experience of IBA identification and conservation is shaping the design and implementation of the recently launched Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) Partnership and programme, as IBAs form a core part of the KBA network.

Identification of marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas for penguins around the South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands

“…Few attempts, however, have been made to align methodologies across taxa and regions, by having a standardized protocol based on global criteria. The method proposed here was able to identify key at‐sea areas that are a major priority for marine conservation at a global scale (Donald et al., in press). We have shown that the methodology for identifying marine IBAs based on tracking data (Lascelles et al., ) can be easily adapted to meet the specific characteristics of the movement of different taxa, providing a robust framework to identify hotspots for multiple species, a fundamental step in the conservation planning processes (Lascelles, Langham, Ronconi, & Reid, ).…”

“…To date, more than 12,000 IBAs have been documented and delineated worldwide, of which ca. 2,600 have been recognized because of the seabird populations they contain (Donald et al., in press). The delimitation of IBAs was initially focused on terrestrial sites and only began to consider IBAs in marine areas as recently as 2004.…”

“…To qualify as a mIBA, a site must hold the confirmed regular presence of more than a threshold number of globally threatened species or congregations of one or more species (BirdLife International, and ). These criteria have been used successfully for many species and have proved effective and versatile in all environments where they have been applied (Donald et al., in press).…”

Conservation status of the threatened and endemic Rufous-throated DipperCinclus schulziin Argentina

“…We are aware that protected areas may not be the only solution for all the challenges that freshwater rivers and its biodiversity face and that other conservation options may need to be employed. For example, BirdLife International´s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) are a strategy to link policy and local engagement to bird conservation (Waliczky et al 2019). However, at the global scale, IBAs inside protected areas are in better condition, with lower pressures, than those outside protected areas (Butchart et al 2012).…”

“…However, at the global scale, IBAs inside protected areas are in better condition, with lower pressures, than those outside protected areas (Butchart et al 2012). In order to have a successful conservation programme, protected areas are a central pillar, but other considerations should also be taken into account, such as economic, sociocultural, political, and enforcement components (Flores Bedregal et al 2015, Waliczky et al 2019.…”