WHSRN Council Meeting Highlights

The WHSRN Hemispheric Council met in Panama City, Panama, during the first week of February 2010 for its annual meeting. In our February newsletter, we included the following special items in our preliminary report about the meeting:

• Approval of four new WHSRN Sites: Manglares de San Pedro de Vice (Mangroves of San Pedro de Vice) in Peru; Humedal del Rio Lluta (Lluta River Wetland) in Chile; Lago de Cuitzeo (Cuitzeo Lake) in Mexico; and Cabo Rojo Salt Flats in Puerto Rico, USA. 

• Thanks to our local hosts and organizers: Panama Audubon Society and Ramsar’s Regional Wetlands Center (Ramsar-CREHO).

• Special thanks to Ms. Bea Roy, member of Manomet’s Board of Trustees, for hosting a reception for the Council at her residence.

• Appreciation to Marshall Jones for his 3 years of service as Council Chair, and to Ian Davidson for agreeing to serve as Interim Chair.

For the full text and photos, please see WHSRNews: 25 February 2010.

Complete minutes from the February meeting have since been compiled and approved by Council. Of the many items of business that the Council covered, we would like to highlight the following few that are of more general interest:

• Periodically, the only shorebird data that partners are able to submit in support of a site’s nomination, particularly in Latin America, are either very limited or do not come from standard or readily verifiable sources. Such “grey data” can make the nomination process more slow and difficult than partners or Council would want, as well as delay recognition and conservation at sites known to be important. The WHSRN Executive Office recently addressed the situation by presenting some proposed key revisions to the nomination form and evaluation process, which the Council discussed and approved at its meeting. The Executive Office will work with the Council’s Technical Committee to bring the changes to fruition and keep the WHSRN community informed of them. 

• Council member Fernando Castillo (Asociación Calidris) gave a presentation to the Council on Colombia’s National Shorebird Conservation Plan, part of the country’s overall National Migratory Species Plan. The Council applauded Colombia’s vision and leadership for this national plan and the team at Asociación Calidris for its significant role in developing it. The Council agreed to send an official letter of appreciation and support to the appropriate agency(ies) on behalf of WHSRN. 

• After a presentation by Charles Duncan (Director, WHSRN Executive Office) on the existing WHSRN Strategic Action Plan, the Council agreed to the need to update it using a new horizon of 2010–2014. Council members discussed a range of issues in the context of what has changed in the world of shorebirds since the last plan, and identified goals and objectives for the updated plan. The Council’s Executive Committee will proceed to incorporate this and other partners’ input into an updated plan.

• The Council voted to select Ian Davidson as the next Council Chair, a role he has filled on an interim basis since January 2010. Ian accepted the position, contingent upon receiving formal approval by the Board of his organization, Nature Canada, to do so.