Nature Canada

IBA Caretakers: A Social Network

A.Murray, Boundary Bay
Anne Murray, Boundary Bay-Roberts Bank-Sturgeon Bank IBA

Last week we heard from Gaston Déry, an IBA Caretaker for Iles-aux-pommes IBA, Quebec. In this post, we return to British Columbia to speak with Anne Murray, IBA Caretaker for the Fraser River Estuary: Boundary Bay-Roberts Bank-Sturgeon Bank IBA.After speaking with Anne, I was struck by the similarities between the IBA Caretaker Network and the online social networks that are increasingly a part of our everyday lives. The concept of spreading a message through a social network is quite simple. Engage one person with influence and you inform and engage their entire network of friends.The Important Bird Area Caretakers Network works in much the same way. An IBA Caretaker is someone with ties to the people in their community who care about nature and have an interest in protecting it. Through the Caretaker Network, they connect their community with communities across Canada that care for and protect birds and their habitat.

“It’s like any social network in an organization. We can reach more people that way.” said Anne Murray, past president of BC Nature, “Caretakers are the local people at an IBA who can regularly be in contact with regional and national coordinators of the Important Bird Area program. They’re also the people who spread awareness about the IBA in their community.”

Canada’s IBA Program is a cornerstone in science-based, site-specific conservation for birds and biodiversity. Co-delivered by Nature Canada and Bird Studies Canada, the program has been in place since 1996. Acting with regional conservation partners, Nature Canada has built an exhaustive IBA database, finalized almost 100 site conservation plans and helped communities implement more than 150 local projects.

In 2006, after successfully launching the IBA program in British Columbia with financial assistance from Nature Canada’s Communities in Action Fund, BC Nature took the lead in pushing the program even further. Anne Murray, who was on the Board of BC Nature at the time, helped launch the IBA Caretaker Network in British Columbia.

“We wanted to ensure that the Important Bird Areas program was sustainable in the long term and one of the ways I could see of doing that was to set up a network of volunteers who knew the sites and were close to the sites,” said Anne, “The idea was that BC Nature and the other partners would provide Caretakers with information, advice and guidelines on how to monitor, promote and protect an IBA – then we’d let them run with it.”

Nearly six years later, there are close to 200 IBA Caretakers across Canada. This year, with the addition of Caretakers in Ontario and Quebec, there are now Caretakers in every province in Canada. The network’s expansion has been possible with the support of the IBA Caretaker Network’s national sponsor, TransCanada Corporation, who in 2009 committed $1 million over five years.

boundary bay DNCB
Anne (third from right) goes birding with the Casual Birding group of the Delta Naturalists Society. Photo: Delta Naturalists Society

Over the years, the network’s success in effectively protecting birds and their habitat comes from the collective efforts of Caretakers across the country.

“People already involved in their site are given help and capacity to do more. That’s what’s been really good about the program,” said Anne, “The regional and national partners of the IBA program provide support, organize meetings with government and get other people involved – that really helps to build the capacity of the program. Being a part of that is very valuable. You’re much more effective when you are part of something bigger than if you’re on your own.”

For Anne, joining the Caretaker Network was a natural next step in her conservation work – she was already actively advocating for the protection of the Fraser River Estuary when the network launched.  As one of the Caretakers for Boundary Bay-Roberts Bank-Sturgeon Bank Important Bird Area, Anne is involved in everything from conducting bird surveys to giving public presentations on IBAs. Her public outreach includes publishing books on the ecology of the Lower Mainland and writing columns on timely conservation issues affecting the Fraser River Estuary in the Georgia Straight, a widely circulated local paper.

Not surprisingly, the proximity of the Boundary Bay-Roberts Bank-Sturgeon Bank IBA to the city of Vancouver presents a unique set of conservation issues. Urban and industrial expansion and recreational pressures threaten to degrade the ecosystems that are arguably one of the most important habitats for migrating and wintering waterbirds in Canada. Western Sandpiper, Black-bellied Plover, Dunlin, Northern Pintail, and many other species of bird and fish need the mudflats and intertidal marshes of the IBA to survive. IBA Caretakers like Anne have brought greater awareness of the challenges facing urban Important Bird Areas and the unique value they hold for wildlife.

dunlins Brunswich point & Reifel DNCB
Dunlin in flight at Reifel, part of the Boundary Bay IBA. Photo: Delta Naturalists Society

“In the past 20 years, public awareness of the environmental value of Important Bird Areas like Boundary Bay-Roberts Bank-Sturgeon Bank IBA, has slowly increased,” said Anne, “That’s due to the many caring people who advocate for their protection. I hope that my work as an IBA Caretaker helps to contribute to that awareness.”

Are you a member of a naturalist club in your community? If you are actively involved in conserving and protecting natural spaces in your area, joining the IBA Caretaker Network could give you the support and guidance to do more! You can find out more about becoming a Caretaker and explore Important Bird Areas in Canada at ibacanada.ca

Next week, we’ll hear from Josie Osborne, Caretaker for Tofino Mudflats IBA on Vancouver Island. Stay tuned!

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