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The Patagonian Sea is home to globally important populations of Black-browed Albatross.
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Conserving Patagonia’s marine riches
03-12-2008
A team of international collaborators have launched a book to help conserve one of the richest marine areas on earth. It identifies the main problems facing the conservation and sustainable use of the Patagonian Sea. "This book is truly a landmark contribution", said Dr John Croxall - Chairman of BirdLife's Global Seabird Programme.
The Patagonian Sea covers over 3 million km2 and is home to a great diversity of marine species, with a special wealth of top predators including globally important populations of Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys (Endangered) and Southern Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes chrysocome (Vulnerable). It extends from the south of Brazil to Tierra del Fuego, in the Atlantic, passing Cape Horn and along the Fuegian channels and fjords of the south of Chile.
The Patagonian Sea is exposed to many human threats such as pollution and over-fishing. The new book is the first comprehensive summary of the main issues relating to its conservation and management. Entitled 'Synthesis of the Status of Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and Areas of Influence' it includes 50 chapters and was compiled by 80 leading experts.
“This book is truly a landmark contribution” —Dr John Croxall, Chairman of BirdLife’s Global Seabird Programme
"BirdLife has been associated with the book from inception to publication, and has taken particular responsibility for the section on environmental indicators", commented Dr Croxall. "Indicators provide an important baseline against which the efforts of all stakeholders - especially those charged with the responsibility to improve the health of the Patagonian Sea - can be measured."
The review is the first major output of the 'Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and Areas of Influence' - an international team of collaborators of which BirdLife was a founding member, representing its Partners and programmes throughout the region . Over the last decade the Forum has been an indispensable meeting place for organisations with shared concerns about the conservation and management of the Patagonian Sea.
"It is a global priority to protect this marine ecosystem, and BirdLife is committed to supporting the goals of the Forum, especially through its Global Seabird Programme", said Dr Croxall.
The forum envisages an ecologically healthy and diverse Patagonian Sea
The vision of the forum is an ecologically healthy and diverse Patagonian Sea, meeting the needs, wishes and aspirations of people whilst maintaining one of the world's greatest wildlife spectacles and most productive marine ecosystems. "We have sought to find a common voice for a representative part of civil society dedicated to contributing to sustainability, and we have certainly discovered it", said Claudio Campagna, Chairman of the Forum.
Many of the world's seabird populations are rapidly declining and are threatened with extinction. They face a wide range of threats, both on land and at sea, the most widespread of which is the threat of being killed in longline fisheries. Seabirds often travel vast distances across the oceans, including the high seas, so their protection cannot be tackled effectively by national measures alone.
BirdLife's Global Seabird Programme promotes international collaborative action that is vital to arrest seabird declines. It also advocates the conservation of seabirds at national, regional and global levels, and works directly with fishermen and other stakeholders to reduce threats to seabird populations.
The new 'Patagonian Sea' review will be available at the Forum's website - www.patagoniansea.org. Among the active organisations belonging to the Forum are: BirdLife International, Conservation International, WWF, Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Fundación Aquamarina, Fundación Ecocentro, Fundación Patagonia Natural, Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, Wildlife Conservation Society and Wildlife Trust. The publication of the was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Lighthouse Foundation, Pew Institute for Ocean Science, WCS, Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation and FPN funded by the United Nations Development Programme and Global Environment Facility.
This news is brought to you by BirdLife's Global Seabird Programme.