BirdLife Pacific Work

Caroline Blanzillain The survival of the Polynesian Ground-dove depends on keeping rats away from the islets where it remains. Zoom In

The Pacific Regional Programme 2009-2012 adopted by the Partnership at BirdLife International’s Partnership Meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September 2008, aims to bring together national efforts towards bird conservation in a focused and strategic manner. It is used by the Partnership to build their own national work plans, and is revised at the regular regional Partnership meetings.

Underlying themes in the Regional Programme include education, awareness-raising and capacity-building – vital components for all conservation projects, particularly in developing Pacific Islands states. Cross-cutting topics include climate change, seabird conservation and flyways, which are mainstreamed across the programme.

In adopting the four main themes of BirdLife International – Species, Sites, Habitats, People – Pacific Regional Partners have identified in the Programme the following priorities as the most crucial:

Species

• Take immediate conservation action on the nine most threatened Critically Endangered bird species in the Pacific - preventing new extinctions
• Search for Pacific species that are currently ‘lost’ (i.e. have no known population) 
• Protect Pacific seabirds: carry out surveys and research, and address alien invasive species problems where they are most urgent

Sites

• Complete the terrestrial Important Bird Areas (IBA) inventories for all Pacific Island Countries and Territories and identify Marine IBAs in the tropical Pacific and New Zealand waters
• Establish networks of Site Support Groups (Local Conservation Groups) that are actively managing a significant proportion of IBAs in Partner countries 

Habitats

• Seek opportunities to develop landscape-scale conservation programmes including sustainable forestry and catchment management, supported by information on wider ecosystem values

People

• Support at least 3,500 people across the Pacific, including traditional land-owning communities, to sustainably manage their natural resources
• Enthuse at least 20,000 people to experience birds and biodiversity in the Pacific 
• Expand the BirdLife Pacific Partnership with at least two new priority countries in the Pacific
  

These priorities, while not covering every issue that needs to be addressed, are nevertheless seen as the most critical and urgent. They represent vital measures that can and should be taken - in line with the region’s limited resources over the next four years to ensure that an effective start is made on coordinated, regional efforts to ensure the future of the far-flung region’s unique bird species.

Please download the Pacific Regional Programme 2009-2012 summary document in English here and in French here.

Tony Palliser The New Zealand Storm-petrel was rediscovered in 2003 Zoom In

The Future

Most small-island nations have very small populations and resources and, so far, only a handful of committed and knowledgeable conservationists. The greatest need and challenge for the Pacific region is to convince people that they should be doing something to help save the region’s birds and biodiversity and to help them do this by developing their conservation knowledge and ability to plan and take effective action.

The Pacific Regional Programme, while recognising these realities, provides its members with a real opportunity to make significant, community-based progress in the vital task of conserving birds and biodiversity.

The Partnership aims to raise GBP 20 million in the next four years to implement the Regional Programme, to work together for birds and people in the Pacific, and to maximise the sustainability of the BirdLife Partners in the region.

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