The Southern Wings Program

Conserving State Priority Birds on their Wintering Grounds in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC)

In September 2005, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' Bird Conservation Committee ( BCC ) discussed the concept of conserving migratory bird species throughout their entire migration cycle. This concept forms the heart of the Flyway System—migratory waterfowl are a continental resource. While international partners are vital to migratory waterfowl conservation, they are also vital for other migratory bird species. The BCC asked a group of its members to start discussions with the States and their partners on how mechanism could be developed to facilitate international bird conservation partnerships in Latin America ( Mexico , Central America, and South America) and the Caribbean. The partnerships would help conserve the states' priority migratory bird species during the eight months of the year when they have flown south for the winter to Latin America and the Caribbean.

The state fish and wildlife agencies spend millions of dollars conserving migratory birds each year. The economic significance of migratory birds is well known. The 2001 National Survey stated that over 53 billion dollars was spent on wildlife watching and hunting in the United States . Expenditure for wildlife viewing in Arizona during 2001 was $821 million dollars. In Massachusetts during the same year $469 million dollars was spent on wildlife viewing. The State Wildlife Grants Program has provided new sources of funding, brought partners to the table in each State, and required the States to meet goals and objectives for many migratory species beyond waterfowl. To protect millions of dollars worth of state's investment in migratory birds and to maintain and increase the millions of dollars in revenue that flow into the States from bird watching, States should consider engaging in partnerships that conserve migratory bird species on their wintering grounds.

Partnerships might include working through Joint Venture on conservation of songbirds in Mexico. Groups of states with common species interests could collaborate with non-governmental organizations, such as, the American Bird Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, The National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, who have experience and have demonstrated success in international partnership. Also, as is skillfully done by Ducks Unlimited for work in Canada , partner funds might be leveraged through the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act to quadruple state funds before it goes to work on bird conservation on the wintering ground in Latin America and the Caribbean.

A presentation was given to the Directors of each State Regional Association in the summer of 2006 to begin the discussion of how to develop a flexible, transparent mechanism that would make it easy for States to engage in conservation of migratory birds throughout Latin America and the Caribbean and also to leverage State money with other partner's resources and potentially the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act. The Directors expressed support for moving forward with the development of a mechanism to make this a reality.

Developing the Mechanism

To facilitate the initial stage of this process, The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, American Bird Conservancy, and the National Audubon Society have prepared a number of proposals that address the conservation of State priority migrant bird species. Each project title below is hot linked to a proposal. States are asked to contact and work directly with the contact designated in each proposal. Since these projects are partnerships any contribution would be off value to project. We are also encouraging the States to work in concert with neighboring states that have similar neotropical migratory bird species and/or conservation objectives. The projects included much of the work already being done by the NGOs in which the States could participate.

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and its Migratory Bird Coordinator, Deb Hahn, worked with the states to facilitate their participation in the initial projects and to begin developing a mechanism that can be in place to facilitate many of these partnerships in the future. An update on progress was presented to the Bird Conservation Committee in September 2007. They Bird Conservation Committee ask the PIF/Shorebird/Waterbird Working Group to put together a task force. The Task Force was given the specific charge to “ to create a funding mechanism that provides an easy and flexible avenue for states willing to participate in conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean by contributing funds annually through a US-based third party that will handle the funds and coordinate the distribution of funds.” The Task Force was asked to submit its findings and recommendations to the Bird Conservation Committee through the Partners in Flight/Shorebird/Waterbird Working Group at the March 2008 North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. Task Force members were selected to obtain a cross section of state representation along with partners that would likely be involved in the implementation of any funding mechanism developed (see Table 1).

For States that want a power point presentation on the program that they can tailor to their needs, please click on these links southern wings.ppt and southern wings 2.ppt.

Making the Connection with NABCI Trinational Projects

Another effort to fund conservation projects for migratory birds that breed in the United States and Canada on their wintering grounds in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America (Mexico, Central and South America) and the Caribbean arose from the NABCI Tri-national Committee in the form of the Continentally Important Proposals. The proposals are to be rooted in key areas identified in Mexico and linked to areas in the US and Canada on the basis of shared birds.

The Southern Wings Program was create d to provide opportunities for state fish and wildlife agencies to partner in projects that benefit wintering habitat in Latin America and the Caribbean for priority birds that breed in their State. It is anticipated that Non Governmental Organizations will organize funds from state agencies and other sources to implement the projects. Projects can vary in scale from those that are relatively modest to others of significantly greater scope and cost.

The geographic scope of the two efforts differs somewhat, with NABCI linking projects within North America with an initial focus on Mexico and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies on all of Latin America and the Caribbean, including Mexico . The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies effort is currently focused on increasing State participation and developing a program to help facilitate State participation in partnerships over the long term. The NABCI effort is focused on funding the Continentally Important Proposals and acquiring new and innovative funding sources for bird conservation. Both are based on connections driven from high priority migratory birds and both are focused on multiple funding sources. Even with differing origins and somewhat different objectives, the two projects are sufficiently complementary that each should increase the effectiveness and success of the other. In the future, proposed projects from the two approaches will no longer be presented separately, but rather will be merged into a single menu.

For more information about All-Bird Conservation, contact Deb Hahn at 202/624-7890 or dhahn@fishwildlife.org.