|
IMPORTANT BIRDS AREAS PROGRAMME
What is Birdlife's IBA programme?
Although protected
areas may be found in countries throughout the world, few attempts have
ever been made to assess, on a global scale, whether or not these areas
are sufficient to conserve global biodiversity. In many cases,
protected areas have been identified for reasons other than
biodiversity conservation (e.g., large mammal populations, scenic
beauty, protection of watersheds or timber resources). The aim of
BirdLife International’s Important Bird Areas (IBA) Programme is to
identify and protect a global network of sites that are critical for
the long-term survival of all bird species and their habitats.
But why birds? In short, birds are well-known, well-studied, widespread
and popular. Birds are prone to endemism and they are excellent
indicators of biodiversity in general. If an area holds rare or endemic
birds or a particularly diverse range of birds, it is likely to hold a
comparable array of other organisms. So, birds provide the scientific
baseline data but the underlying aim is the conservation of all living
things.
Of course, birds are not faultless surrogates for biodiversity in
general. Some sites with, for example, rare plants, endemic amphibians
or unusual bacteria will not be identified by the process. (The need to
collect information on a range of little-known organisms remains
pressing.) Conversely, a few sites may be important only for their rare
birds, and not for other wildlife. However, no other group of organisms
lends itself to the process in the same way and the identification and
protection of sites that are important for birds is undoubtedly a giant
step in the right direction for biodiversity conservation. Throughout
the world, IBAs have been selected using 4 categories of
internationally agreed, objective ornithological criteria:
- Globally threatened species (22 species in
Zambia)
- Restricted-range species (8 species in Zambia)
- Biome-restricted Assemblages (138 species in
Zambia)
- Globally important congregations (12 qualifying
sites in Zambia)
What are we doing in Zambia?
Zambia's IBA
programme was officially launched in August 2005. See Projects for more information on the work we
are doing in our IBAs.
Map Important Bird Areas
 |
