WHSRN Press Room
July 2010
A comprehensive webpage about our role in Gulf Coast oil spill recovery efforts is also at Manomet.org
Google-Map of important shorebird areas overlaid with oil spill trajectory map (updated regularly)
Developed and maintained by Lisa Schibley of Manomet's Shorebird Recovery Project
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June 2010
Gulf Coast Shorebirds (141 KB, Excel spreadsheet)
Manomet's Shorebird Recovery Team developed a comprehensive spreadsheet that lists all the shorebird species that rely on U.S. Gulf Coast habitats (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida), their season of use, including arrivals times during spring and fall migrations, states in which they occur, which habitat types they prefer, what foraging method they use, and what category of food they eat. This spreadsheet was developed as a conservation tool for our partners in the Gulf to help inform and expedite conservation planning for shorebirds in advance of their arrival this fall and winter.
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May 2010
Scientists Work to Protect Shorebirds from Gulf Coast Oil Spill
Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences’ Shorebird Recovery Project team has been working with partners in the northern Gulf of Mexico for the past several weeks to protect important shorebird areas from the Deepwater Horizon off-shore oil spill. The oil, spewing for a month now, is a serious threat to high-priority migratory shorebird species currently nesting and raising chicks around the Gulf Coast. Of greatest conservation concern are the beach-nesting American Oystercatcher, Wilson’s Plover, and Snowy Plover.
Gulf Coast Oil Spill & Shorebirds!
See Manomet's response and a Google Earth map of the important shorebird areas affected.
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February 2010
Partners at two of the newest WHSRN Sites of Regional Importance distributed press releases locally and nationally about their recent designations. Both are available here (PDFs, in Spanish):
Peru: Los Manglares de San Pedro de Vice
Chile: Humedal del Río Lluta
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January 2010
Alert: International Cooperation for Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa) Conservation in Chile's Bahía Lomas, a WHSRN Site of Hemispheric Importance. (In Spanish)
Summary: Chile's national petroleum company, ENAP (by its Spanish acronym), in partnership with Environment Canada and Manomet's Shorebird Recovery Project and WHSRN Executive Office, helped to facilitate aerial monitoring of the imperiled rufa subspecies of Red Knot (Calidris canutus) by Canadian and Chilean shorebird scientists.
For more information, contact Diego Luna Quevedo (diego.luna@manomet.org), Southern Cone Coordinator, Shorebird Recovery Project, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences.
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December 2009
Update: Shorebirds Have a Haven from Hunting in Barbados!
Read more about BirdLife International's conservation success...
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21 August 2009
Rio Luta Delta, in northern Chile, to be nominated as a WHSRN site
During a meeting in August 2009 of the Operative-Technical Board for the Wetlands of the Rio Luta Delta, the group representing a dozen public and private organizations agreed unanimously to nominate the area as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) site. This would become the second WHSRN site in Chile; Bahia Lomas in Tierra del Fuego was the first, designated in February 2009.
The Rio Luta Delta is the principle coastal site in northern Chile that serves as a refuge to a diversity of shorebird species. These species, such as Sandering and Whimbrel, rely on the delta as a place to rest and feed during their long migrations along the Pacific Coast. The Municipality of Arica has recognized this area as a municipal nature reserve and approved an ordinance for its protection and conservation. The National Environmental Commission of Chile (CONAMA) has recently declared the area a Nature Sanctuary as well.
With the Board’s support, the Municipality of Arica and the Technological University of Chile (INACAP) will work together and with local experts to prepare the site’s nomination as a WHSRN site in the near future.
Press releases (in Spanish):
Joint announcement by Municipality of Arica and WHSRN
La Estrella de Arica news
El Morrocotudo news
Región 15 news
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24 March 2009
Nebraska’s Rainwater Basin Designated as WHSRN Landscape of Hemispheric Importance
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 Photo Credit: Tom Vezo |
