Case studies (State of the world's birds)

For many species, effective conservation depends on targeting resources at the site scale. This is true for birds and thus sites of particular significance have been identified by BirdLife International as Important Bird Areas (IBAs). Protecting the 10,000 IBAs identified to date would make an enormous contribution towards ensuring the survival of bird species and much other biodiversity besides. It would also help secure the vital ecosystem services that these sites frequently provide to local people.

Using a set of standardised selection criteria based on threat and irreplaceability, more than 10,000 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) have been identified in nearly 200 countries (). So far, these criteria have been applied mainly on land and for freshwater; however, work is underway to identify IBAs in the open oceans (). Wherever possible, the process of IBA identification is led by the national BirdLife Partner. This feeds the best local knowledge into the process as well as building engagement and capacity for conservation and monitoring in the area. By mid-2010, five continental directories and 126 national IBA inventories had been published in a variety of languages ().

Protecting a network of core habitats can be an effective way of conserving species, often capturing a large proportion of the total population at relatively few key sites. For instance, safeguarding the Blue Swallow Hirundo atrocaerulea (classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List) in Africa could be significantly advanced through a network of 34 IBAs which need only cover a small fraction of the species’s overall range (). Establishing networks of IBAs is particularly important for migrants, such as the Blue Swallow, which typically utilise a series of widely separated sites throughout the course of their annual migrations ().

Evidence shows that IBAs also support a wealth of other biodiversity (, , ). For instance, in East Africa, the IBA network captures 97% of the region’s endemic mammals, 90% of its globally threatened mammals, and 92% of its endemic snakes and amphibians (). IBAs consequently provide an effective ‘first cut’ for an overall network of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), the most significant sites for biodiversity conservation worldwide (). Robust measures are needed to maintain biodiversity in the face of climate change. Safeguarding the existing network of IBAs (in conjunction with adaptation measures and the identification of additional sites) will play a key role in mitigating the worst impacts of climate change on birds and other wildlife ().

The conservation of IBAs not only helps biodiversity—many provide a wide range of services that benefit humans locally and globally (). In particular, healthy, biodiverse environments provide resilience against the consequences of climate change, such as drought, crop failure, flooding, sea-level rise, and extreme weather events that are already being felt around the world (, , ). Community engagement and involvement in IBA conservation is vital. This is increasingly being achieved through the actions of Local Conservation Groups (LCGs). Numbering over 2,500 worldwide, LCGs foster local participation in conservation and often focus on the most marginalised community members (). The results of such local involvement can lead to significant conservation benefits (, ).

Data on IBAs are being used to inform environmental impact assessments, through the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT)—a new decision support tool for business, government and conservation ().

IBAs make a crucial contribution to identifying where there are gaps in the existing protected area system. In Europe, BirdLife’s IBA inventory has been adopted as a ‘shadow list’ in creating a network of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) (). In many regions, the inventory has been used to identify potential Ramsar sites (wetlands of international importance) while, worldwide, ‘gap analyses’ comparing the locations of IBAs with those of protected areas have helped countries implement the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas (POWPA) ().

The IBA Protection Index measures the degree to which IBAs are covered by protected areas and provides a useful metric to judge progress in reducing biodiversity loss (). The IBA indices show that sites with formal protection are in better and more stable condition than those without (). Currently, a high proportion of IBAs remain unprotected, including many that hold globally threatened species () and only around 25% of IBAs have full legal protection.

The world’s IBAs are monitored using a standardised and simple framework. Such monitoring, carried out by local groups, volunteers, government staff and BirdLife Partners, generates data for IBA indices that provide powerful tools for quantifying conservation efforts and measuring their impact ().

To access case studies on Important Bird Areas, please click on the following links.

• Birds have huge popular appeal, and the amount of information about them is impressive
• To date, more than 10,000 Important Bird Areas have been identified
• Numbers and types of Important Bird Areas vary between regions
• Important Bird Areas for the marine environment are being identified in many regions
• Important Bird Areas for globally threatened species: Blue Swallow
• Important Bird Areas in biomes: an example from north-central Africa
• Important Bird Areas for congregatory species: Eurasian Spoonbill
• Important Bird Areas including habitat fragments and the surrounding matrix: an example from Kenya
• What are Key Biodiversity Areas?
• Important Bird Areas are also important for other terrestrial vertebrates in East Africa
• Forest IBAs are effective at capturing a large proportion of other forest biodiversity in Uganda
• The IBA network in Uganda is effective at capturing butterflies, dragonflies and some plants
• Important Bird Areas hold internationally important numbers of other animals or plants in Turkey
• A network of critical sites for migratory waterbirds is being identified across Africa and Eurasia
• Agriculture and forestry are key drivers of habitat destruction in Important Bird Areas
• In Argentina, agriculture and settlement are increasingly fragmenting native grasslands
• Agricultural intensification threatens Important Bird Areas in Europe
• Uranium Mining and Important Bird Areas in Namibia: a need for strategic environmental assessment
• When planning for development does not integrate environmental issues, biodiversity suffers
• Large dams and barrages are an increasing threat to wetland-dependent birds
• In current global markets, oil palm plantations are valued more highly than ancient forest
• National biodiversity legislation and planning are failing biodiversity and need strengthening
• What do the National Reports to the Convention for Biological Diversity tell us?
• Many IBAs are recognised under global or regional conventions, but many remain neglected
• Business needs to take biodiversity on board
• Understanding local needs: the role of Important Bird Areas in people’s livelihoods
• The impact of Important Bird Area directories
• Many African IBAs, including those holding threatened birds, have no legal recognition or protection
• The IBA Protection Index tracks trends in the protection of key areas for biodiversity
• In the European Union there has been slow but significant progress in the legal recognition of IBAs
• Maintaining bird populations in Special Protection Areas in the European Union
• In Africa, recognition of the value of IBAs is resulting in the designation of new protected areas
• In Kenya, IBA monitoring shows the value of formal protection for biodiversity conservation
• Identification of Lo Go Xa Mat as an IBA in Vietnam resulted in its being declared a national park
• In Timor-Leste, in 2007, three IBAs were linked and protected as the first National Park
• Protected-area designation may not be the full, or best, solution for conserving African IBAs
• The Berga Floodplain Site Support Group - a local initiative for a globally important site
• Safeguarding Important Bird Areas is key to tackling conservation in the face of climate change
• Community conservation action is showing success on Mount Oku, Cameroon
• IBAT tools for Environmental Impact Assessments
• Monitoring Important Bird Areas in Africa
• Working together to conserve flamingos at a network of sites in the High Andes
• Important Bird Areas can help inform an ecologically representative network of protected areas
• Developing civil society networks to conserve Important Bird Areas in eastern Nepal

Links
10,000 sites to save, Global Important Bird Areas

Compiled 2010

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2010) Spotlight on Important Bird Areas. Presented as part of the BirdLife State of the world's birds website. Available from: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone