The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 11BACKGROUND OF THE IBA PROGRAMThe Important Bird Areas Program is part of a global effort to conserve bird populations byidentifying, preserving, and properly managing their habitats. The first IBA program was implemented inEurope in 1985 by ornithologists from an organization known now as Birdlife International. Focusing onwetlands, this initial effort designated 2444 sites in 32 European countries +(Grimmett and Jones 1989).Next to be published was Important Bird Areas in the Middle East +(Evans 1994), which identified 391sites in 14 Middle Eastern countries. Following these inventories, the IBA Program was brought to theNew World by the American Bird Conservancy and the National Audubon Society. Audubon-basedprograms in New York and Pennsylvania completed their initial inventories in 1998, identifying 127 and73 IBAs, respectively +(Wells 1998, Crossley [1998]). Subsequent statewide efforts identified 52 IBAs inIdaho +(Ritter 2000), 46 in Colorado +(Cafaro 2000), 53 in Washington +(Cullinan 2001), and 208 inCalifornia +(Cooper 2001). Currently, over 100 countries and 39 states have IBA programs underway.In 1997 and 1998, Audubon ornithologists attempted an IBA program in Florida, but sufficientfunding was not available at the time. Florida's IBA Program began formally in March 1999, whenmembers of the fledgling Advisory Committee (later renamed the Executive Committee) met for the firsttime at Archbold Biological Station. The following month, an IBA workshop was presented to membersof the Florida Ornithological Society. In October 1999, the Program Coordinator was hired, based out ofAudubon's sanctuary office in Tampa. The following month, the Florida Audubon Society and the stateoffices of the National Audubon Society merged to form Audubon of Florida. A twelve-memberExecutive Committee finalized the site-selection criteria in January 2000.As modified for the Florida program, an Important Bird Area is a site that is documented tosupport significant populations of one or more species of native birds, or a significant diversity ofspecies. It is important to point out that the IBA Program carries no regulatory powers; therefore,IBA designation places no restrictions on a site. On the other hand, IBA designation often implies goodsite management, and frequently results in publicity beneficial to land owners. The Florida Programexcluded as IBAs those sites that have been heavily disturbed (e.g., phosphate mines or agriculturallands), even though these sites may support large numbers of birds during one or more seasons. On theother hand, a few artificial dredged-material (i.e., “spoil”) islands that support significant wading bird orlarid colonies were accepted as IBAs. Also designated as IBAs were former agricultural lands now inpublic ownership and being restored to wetlands (e.g., at Emeralda Marsh, Lake Apopka, and theNorthern Everglades).The primary goal of Florida’s IBA Program is to help ensure the persistence of the state’snative avifauna, which is under extreme pressure from habitat destruction, human disturbance, fireexclusion, and other factors. About 25% of the state’s land area has been developed, mostly since 1950(Florida Department of Environmental Protection website; +),while another quarter is composed of conservation lands held in public ownership or under perpetualconservation easements +(Jue et al. 2001). The remaining half of the state is—or eventually will be—upfor sale to the highest bidder, with conservationists competing with developers to determine the final fateof Florida's privately owned lands and waters. Consider the following fact: in Brevard County, it took tenyears for the County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands Program to purchase and protect 13,000 acres(5200 ha) of land. During a five-month period from late 1999 to early 2000, an equal amount of landelsewhere in the county was permitted for development (R. Hinkle pers. comm., April 2000). Continuinghabitat destruction on such a massive scale will continue to exert intense pressure on Florida’s birdcommunities, and it is essential that the IBA Program plays an integral role in conserving bird populationsand habitats throughout the state. This role includes protecting the habitats of rare species, as well as“keeping common birds common.”It also seems important to point out that this book is not meant to encourage widespreadvisitation to IBAs—specific directions to the sites are not included. As the data contained within thisbook clearly demonstrate, increased human use of most of Florida's coastal IBAs will further endangersome of the state's most critically imperiled species. Rather, the primary intent of this book is to