Andrew Apurdam

The BirdLife Pacific project identified IBAs in four countries including Palau – home to the Sooty Tern.
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BirdLife Pacific gets top marks from European Commission

06-02-2009

The European Commission (EC) recently awarded a BirdLife Pacific Partnership project the highest marks among all the work it funds in the region. EC Reviewers praised the completed BirdLife project which used Important Bird Areas (IBAs) to highlight biodiversity hotspots.

At a post-review briefing session held in Suva (Fiji), the reviewers called on the Commission to: “support the efforts of BirdLife and its Partners in disseminating and strengthening the IBA approach in the Pacific.” Don Stewart - BirdLife’s Regional Director for the Pacific – said: “This shows what can be achieved by a small team of dedicated people working together towards conservation and sustainability of natural resources”.

The objective of the 4 ½-year, €1.3 million ($1.7 million) project was to increase the number of sites of global biodiversity importance that are sustainably managed to conserve terrestrial biodiversity in the Pacific. It identified IBAs for conservation in four countries - namely Fiji, Palau, New Caledonia and French Polynesia - and built capacity and a regional network to support their conservation. In addition, desk-based studies and IBA inventories were compiled for a further 13 Pacific Island countries and territories.

“The BirdLife programme has been a great success” —European Commission, Reviewers

An EC review team visited Fiji, New Caledonia and French Polynesia in October 2008, as part of a wider review of projects implemented by a number of agencies in the region, to assess their relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. In all assessed categories, BirdLife received A's and B's, the best results in the region.

Among the comments made by the reviewers in their report were the following:

Fiji: “The BirdLife programme has been a great success in terms of generating information, awareness and capacity towards building an adapted agenda for conservation at local and national level in Fiji”.
French Polynesia: “The success of the project in French Polynesia is the result of a combination of excellent conditions: a particularly flexible methodology (IBA), a local organisation that is very well connected (with both territorial and local institutes), a pragmatic approach, and a good sense for social work based on local conditions and the cultural value factors of their national heritage”.
New Caledonia: “The project permitted, for the first time, coordinated discussions about the protection of terrestrial biodiversity …. (it) filled the gaps in conservation policy and has therefore been particularly timely”.

The reviewers also praised local BirdLife staff, and found that: “regional project management was conducted efficiently by BirdLife International through its Pacific Partnership Secretariat office in Suva, which delivered timely and appreciated technical and administrative support to the Partner organizations in other countries”.

“We wish to thank the European Commission for its funding and ongoing advice and support” —Don Stewart, BirdLife’s Regional Director for the Pacific

Speaking after meeting with the reviewers, BirdLife’s Regional Director for the Pacific, Don Stewart, paid tribute to BirdLife Partners responsible for implementation of the project in French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Palau and to staff of the Pacific Partnership Secretariat who implemented it in Fiji. “The challenges now are to work effectively with local communities to ensure the permanent and sustainable management of the sites identified as globally important while at the same time encouraging similar initiatives across the region based on BirdLife’s IBA approach,” said Don Stewart. “We wish to thank the European Commission for its funding and ongoing advice and support during the life of the project,” he added.

The project entitled ‘Sustainable Management of Sites Globally Important for Biodiversity in the Pacific’ was managed by the BirdLife Pacific Partnership Secretariat while national activities were implemented by the BirdLife Partners Société Calédonienne d’Ornithologie (SCO) in New Caledonia, Société d'Ornithologie de Polynésie (SOP MANU) in French Polynesia, Palau Conservation Society (PCS) in Palau and by the BirdLife International Fiji Programme in Fiji. To see a description of BirdLife’s work in the Pacific, please click here.

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Credits: BirdLife Pacific Partnership