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NABCI
News
Continent's Environmental Secretaries and Minister
Sign
Declaration of Intent
On May 17,
2005, Interior Secretary Gale Norton commemorated the 12th International
Migratory Bird Day by signing a declaration of intent with Canada and
Mexico
to strengthen cooperation on bird conservation. Alberto Cardenas-Jimenez,
Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources, United Mexican States,
signed the Declaration on May 31st and Stéphane Dion, Minister
of the Department of the Environment of Canada, signed the Declaration
on June 22nd.
To see a copy of the DOI, click here.
To download a Q&A about the DOI, click here.
Norton
signed the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) Declaration
of Intent "to conserve North American birds throughout their ranges
and habitats, and ultimately to collaborate with all participant nations
regarding bird cooperation." This important document now serves as
a public expression of support for trinational cooperation to deliver
comprehensive bird conservation in North America. In May she also announced
$3.9 million in Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grants to
conserve birds throughout the Americas and the Caribbean.
   
Many of the
continent's more than 1,100 bird species require immediate conservation
attention as their populations continue to decline, some moderately, some
precipitously, and their habitats continue to be degraded or lost. Partnerships
among state, provincial, federal, and private organizations and individuals
are working at all levels to protect, restore, and enhance habitats and
broad landscapes for birds, but they need the help of additional partners
and financial resources to succeed. The DOI is a means of increasing the
profile and recognition of these partnerships so that they can garner
additional resources to turn the tide for the many species that are losing
ground in North America.
The Declaration
formalizes the process for undertaking NABCI, a coalition of bird conservation
organizations and initiatives striving to increase resources for regionally
based, biologically driven, landscape-oriented partnerships and make them
more effective by fostering integrated bird conservation, which is based
on sound science, effective management, and efficient use of resources.
To read more
about the signing, visit http://www.fws.gov/
or http://news.fws.gov/NewsReleases/showNews.cfm?newsId=EC290B7D-65BF-03E7-2B9C3BCD1A41E504
to directly access the press release.
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