Shorebird Recovery Project Launches Action Plan For Patagonia

Manomet's Shorebird Recovery Project (SRP) recently launched an action plan to support conservation efforts in the South American region of Patagonia.

Since September 2007, Patagonia has been one of three focal regions for SRP researchers.

Patagonia contains an expanse of habitats that serve as key wintering grounds for many species of migratory Arctic-breeding shorebirds as well as endemic birds. In both cases, many of the species are threatened.

Various sites throughout Patagonia share species considered to be high priorities for conservation on a global scale, such as the rufa subspecies of Red Knot. Recognizing the vital importance of this southernmost part of the Americas, the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network's Hemispheric Council has in recent years designated five sites here, three in Argentina and two in Chile. In total, they cover an area greater than 159,000 hectares of shorebird habitat.

Implementing the plan will bring about many benefits:

• Maintain or improve the health of shorebird habitats (key conservation targets).
• Prevent, reduce, or eliminate threats that are significantly degrading the health of these habitats and, in turn, the shorebird populations using them.
• Strengthen the capacity of key actors and stakeholders to respond to conservation needs and opportunities.

Shorebird Recovery Plan for Patagonia
(PDF of entire plan, 2 MB; in Spanish, with English summary)

Patagonia Action Plan 2012–2015 (PDF of section, 78 KB)

For more information, please contact Diego Luna Quevedo (diego.luna@manomet.org), Southern Cone Program Coordinator,  Shorebird Recovery Project, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences; Santiago, Chile.

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