BirdLife: The Magazine Oct - Dec 2019 | страница 3

EDITORIAL
P.26
WHAT ARE
WE DOING TO
PROTECT BRAZIL’S
OTHER GREAT
RAINFOREST?
THE NUMBERS GAME
When trying to explain the importance of BirdLife’s Important Birds and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) concept, it’s tempting
to simply play the numbers game. 40+ years. Input from over 100 BirdLife Partners. A staggering 13,000 sites identified and
documented, in over 200 countries and territories (and, increasingly, in the marine environment, too). Impressive stats that
back up the IBA programme’s claim to the world’s largest network of sites identified as being of conservation value. But
then, 13,000 isn’t any better than 1,300, or 130, or even just one, if all we’re doing is listing areas for the sake of listing.
But it’s the underlying numbers that tell us the true value of IBAs. Legally-binding protection facilitated at over 2,000 IBAs.
Over 4,000 Local Conservation Groups monitoring and managing their IBAs. And 645,000 hectares of vital habitat, managed
and protected by the combined might of the BirdLife Partnership. IBAs are the backbone of our work, bringing focus to
efforts at both local and global levels, and ensuring our attention remains on protecting sites of the highest importance. It
is a measure of IBAs impact on conservation that their identification criteria is now forming the foundation of KBAs [p 34],
which are expanding the concept to cover all life on Earth. For just 10 examples of how IBA identification has led to real
change, flip to page 10.
Alex Dale, Editor
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
ZOLTAN WALICZKY
Based in Quito, Ecuador, Zoltan is the coordinator of
BirdLife’s IBA programme, having worked on them in
various national, regional and global capacities since
1991. On page 34 he takes a look at how IBAs are
evolving into Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs): extending
their influence beyond birds to all life.
OCT-DEC 2019 • BIRDLIFE
JAMES LOWEN
Former BirdLife staffer James is the Editor of
Neotropical Birding, published by the Neotropical
Bird Club. With extensive experience of living and
travelling around South America, James was the
natural choice to examine the current situation in
Brazil - his findings are on page 16.
NIGEL COLLAR
One of our most pre-eminent ornithologists,
Nigel has worked for BirdLife for 38 years,
currently as Leventis Fellow in Conservation
Biology. The past two of those 38 has seen Nigel
focus on the plight of an Endangered dove in the
Pacific – read its remarkable story on page 44.
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