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Fiji IBA book launched
09-06-2006
BirdLife's Pacific Programme yesterday launched its latest publication, Important Bird Areas of Fiji: Conserving Fiji's Natural Heritage, at the residence of the British High Commissioner for Fiji.
Compiled and edited by Vilikesa T. Masibalavu and Guy Dutson, the book describes 14 sites in Fiji which are of global importance for bird conservation. These Important Bird Areas (IBAs) are priorities for conserving the natural heritage of Fiji for future generations.
Fiji’s rich natural heritage includes 11 globally threatened bird species and 27 endemic birds which occur in no other countries. The book updates the status and conservation needs of all these special birds and is aimed at land-use planners, policy-makers, conservationists, forestry managers, researchers, birdwatchers, local land-owners and the general public.
BirdLife's Pacific Programme has established a regional secretariat in Suva, Fiji, which oversees implementation of similar projects in French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Palau. The Fiji book is the first in a series that will soon also cover these countries.
For more details, please contact the project staff at: 11 Ma’afu Street, Suva on (679) 3313492 or email Don Stewart, Pacific Regional Programme Manager, don@birdlifepacific.org.fj
The book is the result of a three years of fieldwork sponsored by the Darwin Initiative of Defra (the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) with co-finance from the European Commission and the Dutch Government, as well as the assistance of the University of the South Pacific, Conservation International, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the World Wildlife Fund, the National Trust of Fiji and Fiji’s Departments of Environment and Forestry.