Shorebird Recovery Project Workshops Held in Patagonia

During a six-day period in October, the City of Rio Gallegos in Argentina hosted two shorebird workshops that brought together diverse experts, researchers, managers, and officials from Patagonia. The first workshop, entitled “Climate Change Adaptations for the Conservation of Shorebirds in the Southern Cone,” was convened by WWF-Central America and Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences’ Climate Change Initiative with generous funding from the Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Initiative. The objective of the workshop was to strengthen participants’ capacity to evaluate vulnerabilities to climate change as well as the adaptation-oriented actions needed in coastal areas to conserve migratory shorebirds. The second workshop, “Creating the Shorebird Recovery Project in Patagonia,” was convened by Manomet’s Shorebird Recovery Project and the National University of Austral Patagonia with generous funding from the U.S. Forest Service-International Program. For Nearctic-breeding migratory shorebirds as well as species endemic to Patagonia, participants from the six southernmost current or potential WHSRN sites in Argentina and Chile identified conservation objectives, evaluated the state of and threats to shorebirds and habitats, and determined the most effective conservation and management strategies for the region.

In addition, Sr. Héctor Roquel, the Mayor of Rio Gallegos, and Dr. Alejandro Súnico, the Dean of the Rio Gallegos Academic Unit of the National University of Southern Patagonia, participated in the opening ceremony for the workshops. Together with Charles Duncan, the Director of WHSRN Executive Office, they affirmed their commitment to the conservation of shorebirds in the Rio Gallegos Estuary, designated as a WHSRN Site of International Importance in 2005.

The important results of the conservation planning exercise in Patagonia were used to develop a shorebird conservation project proposal. Just days after the workshops ended, this proposal was submitted to the U.S. Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grants program by Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences on behalf of the many partners involved. Additionally, as part of the week’s activities in Rio Gallegos, the Argentine National WHSRN Council had a tremendously fruitful meeting. During the work session, members carried out a joint evaluation of management accomplishments to date at the country’s WHSRN sites, established priorities, and agreed upon an agenda that will guide their actions from now to May 2010.

For more information, contact Diego Luna Quevedo (diego.luna@manomet.org) or Xico Vega (xicovega@manomet.org).