FEATURE
Flamingos within Doñana
National Park, Spain
Photo Shutterstock
Invasive alien species have been
identified as the leading threat to IBAs
Photo John Anderson / RSPB
The threats shown here are widely
variable, and reflect conditions over
the past 15 years. The exact order
of this list will naturally continue
to change, as global policies and
demands shift over time. China’s
multibillion dollar Belt and Road
initiative is one such example; China
plans to carry out construction
projects in more than 60 countries
to connect Asia, Africa and Europe
through a “belt” of overland
corridors and a maritime “road” of
shipping lanes. An early scoping
assessment of the impact of the six
of the land-based corridors by WWF
showed overlap with the range of 265
threatened species and almost 2,000
IBAs. It is also important not to lose
sight of other threats that may not
feature prominent at a global level,
18
but are of significance at a localised
scale (e.g. renewable energy, mining,
oil and gas drilling), and that may pose
significant challenges into the future.
But thanks to the rigorous monitoring
efforts of BirdLife Partners from around
the world, we have the data we need to
identify these threats as they develop
and sound the early warning alarm.
For more information on IBAs and IBA
monitoring, please visit:
datazone.birdlife.org/site/mapsearch
BIRDLIFE
2017
BIRDLIFE • • DECEMBER
OCT-DEC 2019