New and expanded shorebird conservation partnerships in Chile

WHSRN Executive Office Director Charles Duncan and WHSRN Hemispheric Council member Carol Lively recently traveled to various locales in Chile to build on the growing interest in shorebird conservation there, in part sparked by the recent designation of Bahía Lomas as the country’s first WHSRN Site (Hemispheric Importance). Duncan and Lively, who coordinates the Wings across the Americas program for the U.S. Forest Service–International Programs, were accompanied by Diego Luna Quevedo, advisor to the Sustainable Use of Wetlands program of the Chilean national oil company, ENAP.

Pullao wetland (Castro, Chiloé) is a crucial shorebird “wintering” site./© Diego Luna.

Their trip began in Castro, Chiloé, where they met with Felipe Sánchez, Environmental Manager for the Municipality of Castro, and the Inter-institutional Working Group for the Putemún wetland. The Working Group comprises representatives from CONAMA (Chile’s environmental ministry), the Chilean Navy, local nongovernmental organizations, fisheries interests, and the municipality. Duncan, Lively, and Luna described WHSRN’s voluntary, non-regulatory approach to conservation and the crucial importance of these wetlands for shorebirds. They also encouraged the nomination of the “Eastern Wetlands of Castro” as a WHSRN Site of Hemispheric Importance. At the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Group meeting this March (Sinaloa, Mexico), Brad Andres, Jim Johnson, and colleagues presented data that support this designation level, reporting that more than 50% of the Hudsonian Godwits (Limosa haemastica), as well as approximately 12% of the Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus), that use the Pacific Flyway winter here. Because of this importance, Chiloé is one of five areas on the Pacific Coast where the David and Lucille Packard Foundation intends to fund shorebird conservation. The Municipal government and the Working Group received the presentations warmly and committed to developing the nomination within 60 days. 

Duncan, Lively, and Luna then flew north to Santiago where they met with Sr. Rodrigo Azócar, the new CEO of ENAP. The company was one of the leading proponents of the WHSRN Site designation for Bahía Lomas (in Tierra del Fuego), which is also a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. A summary of their meeting is available in the Shorebird Recovery Project newsroom.

The trio next met with Dr. Miguel Stutzin, Chief, Department of Natural Resources; Alejandra Figueroa, Coordinator of Wetlands Conservation, CONAMA; Dr. Carmen Espoz, University of Santo Tomás; Hernán Dinamarca, ENAP-Magellanes; and Claudia Silvia, Wildlife Conservation Society. Duncan presented information about WHSRN to the group and formally committed US$10,000 to CONAMA for developing a Participatory Management Plan for Bahía Lomas, fulfilling a goal set earlier. He also shared with them the most recent shorebird information about Chiloé, a priority area for CONAMA.

Felipe Sánchez and Jorge Valenzuela (Center for the Studies and Conservation of Natural Heritage, CECPAN) led a site visit to the principle wetlands around Castro. L to R: Carol Lively, Felipe Sánchez, Charles Duncan, Jorge Valenzuela, and Diego Luna./ Courtesy of Diego Luna.

The next step for collaborative shorebird conservation in Patagonia, a focal region of the Shorebird Recovery Project, will be a conservation area planning workshop this October in Rio Gallegos, Argentina. Participants will be from four of the region’s WHSRN sites: Argentina’s San Antonio Bay, Río Gallegos Estuary, and Atlantic Coast Reserve of Tierra del Fuego, and Chile’s Bahía Lomas. Together the participants will identify conservation targets and threats, and develop consensus-based, regional-scale conservation strategies. The meeting’s hosts and funders include the U.S. Forest Service–International Programs, National University of Austral Patagonia, and the WHSRN Executive Office.