Report from Waterbirds Symposium and Round-Table Discussion: “Conserving the Region’s Waterbirds and Wetlands – Challenges, Successes, and Solutions”
SCSCB 16th Regional Meeting, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
Monday, 23 July 2007
Facilitated by Lisa Sorenson and David Wege
Throughout the Caribbean, wetlands – and the birds that rely on them – are in dire need of conservation action. Many of the region’s original wetlands have been lost, and those that remain are subject to destruction for development (e.g., for tourism, industry, housing, agriculture) and degradation (e.g. pollution, cutting of mangroves, invasive species). Waterbird populations are also subject to hunting, human disturbance, egg and chick harvest, and predation by introduced invasive species such as rats, cats and mongoose. These threats are all compounded by lack of protection, poor enforcement of existing protections or insufficient management. Despite this bleak picture, there are a number of promising approaches being applied in the region, and an energy and level of investment which bode well for wetland and waterbird conservation, even if one site at a time!
The SCSCB has had a long-standing interest in waterbirds (including seabirds, wading birds, marshbirds, shorebirds, and waterfowl) and their wetland habitats. Efforts to develop an overarching waterbird conservation framework or plan for the region began in 2001, and all subsequent SCSCB meetings have included sessions to share and expand on approaches to waterbird and wetland conservation. Although the plan has never been formally completed, significant steps have been made in assessing the region’s waterbird and wetland resources and SCSCB, together with our partners, has made marked progress achieving some of the plan’s goals, especially with regards to outreach and education. Identification of the most important waterbird sites has been completed. The West Indian Whistling-Duck (WIWD) and Wetlands Conservation Project has been conducting training workshops and providing educational materials to teachers and natural resource agency staff throughout the region to raise awareness about the functions and values of wetlands. The project has also sponsored WIWD surveys and monitoring, conducted hunter outreach and education, organized and facilitated a workshop on the restoration of Ashton Lagoon in Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and promoted and assisted with the development of Watchable Wildlife Ponds (Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica). Activities relating to advocacy, monitoring, site protection and restoration have also been ongoing on various islands.
Objectives of Symposium and Discussion:
Symposium Messages:
The symposium included six presentations, beginning with a regional-scale perspective, followed by two national overviews, and concluding with three site-specific case studies.
Verónica Anadón-Irizarry summarized the activities of a multi-year project to compile waterbird Important Bird Areas (IBAs) across the region as well as national-scale information on species, threats, and conservation activities. Outputs from this project, undertaken by the BirdLife International partnership on behalf of the Waterbird Conservation for the Americas initiative, will be documented in the IBAs of the Caribbean book (due out in early 2008) and in national reports made available on the Internet. Predensa Moore then described the process of compiling IBA information for the Bahamas, and the use of that information by the Bahamas National Trust to focus and guide site conservation activities. Junior Prosper described the many challenges and threats facing Antigua’s wetlands and efforts to counter these threats through education and community involvement, mangrove restoration, advocacy, and monitoring of West Indian Whistling-Ducks.
The latter presentations were case studies presented by Fred Schaffner, Clive Petrovic and Lisa Sorenson, respectively. The case of Laguna Cartagena, Puerto Rico illustrates how wetland protection must also be accompanied by management if benefits to waterbirds are to be ensured. Laguna Cartagena, once provided important habitat to resident and migrant aquatic birds, but it has failed to recover from severe reduction and degradation (despite being designated as a refuge), as a result of insufficient management, especially of water levels. The case of Josiah’s Bay Pond on Tortola, British Virgin Islands, is an example of the ability of some aquatic bird populations to take immediate advantage of newly-available suitable habitat. Josiah’s Bay Pond underwent an unintentional transformation from seawater-fed salt pond to freshwater wetland, which resulted in the appearance of many species unreported for several decades as well as species previously unknown in the BVI. The case of Ashton Lagoon, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines – in addition to being a cautionary tale about shady development schemes – was presented to underscore the importance of community involvement in site stewardship. The eventual recovery and long-term sustainable use of the lagoon, damaged by an ill-conceived and irresponsible marina “development” project, is dependent on communication and collaboration between key stakeholders, including residents.
Results of Discussion:
Unexpected changes in the meeting schedule allowed for very little time for discussion. Rather, the participants were queried for quick input on the group’s structure, activities, and next steps: