Important Bird Area Coverage by
Country.
A total of 187 Important Bird Areas
have been proposed or confirmed among 18 of the Pacific Island Countries and
Territories. The area of land that this
covers has not yet been assessed, as precise boundaries for many sites will
depend on discussions with stakeholders
within many of the countries.
The effective protection and
management of this network of globally-important sites is a realistic long-term
goal that will make a significant contribution to conserving many bird species
and populations in the Pacific Islands, as well as many other elements of
biodiversity at the ecosystem, taxon and genome level.
The
following Table summarises the current situation regarding the selection of
IBAs in each of the Pacific countries and territories. Details for each country can be noted by
clicking on the countries name in the Table.
Within each country chapter information is provided on
1
Method used to identify potential IBA sites.
2
A map showing the distribution of each of the sites,
identified by Site Code.
3
A table summarising the name and code of each site, the area
that each site covers (0ha indicates that site boundaries have not yet been
identified), the criteria that indicates why the site has been selected, Key
threats identified about the site and the Protection Status of the site. Clicking on the name of a site will then take
you through to a more detailed sheet providing more information about that
particular site.
4
Where information is available a second map, indicating the
distribution of potential Marine IBA sites around the site is presented.
5
Next is a list of up-to-three Options indicating the Next
Steps for the development of IBA conservation in the given country. The ‘next steps’ uses this figure as the starting point for each of
the suggested options.
6
A table suggesting one way of prioritising the selection of
IBA sites for conservation action within the country is presented. This prioritisation is based on the number of
Globally Threatened (ie CR, EN, VU and NT) species ranked by the extent of
threat. Significant populations of
congregatory species are ranked between the number of VU and the number of NT
species, while the number of Restricted Range species is used when all else is
equal. This prioritisation method
favours terrestrial species over marine, of particular relevance in the
Pacific, and so might be considered inappropriate, at least in some countries
where congregations of breeding sea- and waterbirds comprise the main important
group identifying IBAs. This
prioritisation approach also assumes that there has been no previous
conservation action in the country. If
site A is already undergoing conservation action, then the next priority site
may be the one with the highest number of trigger species NOT benefiting from
action at site A.
Table 1. The total
number of proposed/confirmed Important Bird Areas by Country or Territory, and
the total number of IBAs fulfilling each criterion, as of July 1, 2010.
(For
detailed country information click on name)
|
Countries |
Number of IBAs |
A1 |
A2 |
A4i |
A4ii |
A4iii |
|
20 |
15 |
13 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
|
|
33 |
30 |
24 |
12 |
8 |
3 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
13 |
7 |
2 |
7 |
10 |
6 |
|
|
6 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
|
|
16 |
14 |
15 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
32 |
21 |
25 |
5 |
10 |
4 |
|
|
12 |
12 |
4 |
4 |
10 |
6 |
|
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
11 |
11 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
8 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
4 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
6 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
6 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
7 |
4 |
7 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
7 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Grand Total |
187 |
150 |
135 |
43 |
52 |
36 |
The number of IBAs identified per country/territory
varies from 1 on Niue to 33 in French Polynesia. IBAs have not yet been identified in a number
of other countries/territories, including Cook Islands (a project has just
started), Tuvalu (where a site has been identified but population estimates
for the key seabirds are not yet available), American Samoa, Tokelau, Papua
New Guinea and the US Minor Outlying Islands.
Seven of the countries/territories contain 10 or more IBAs, although
this is likely to rise as further assessments are anticipated for the Solomon
Islands, Vanuatu and New Zealand.