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CANAVOY BEACH
IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
 Download
the entire conservation plan (517 KB
pdf file)
Prince Edward Island is known for its numerous
beaches. Tourism plays a vital role for
many Island communities, and most of the
recreational activities happen along the
Island’s beaches. At the same time,
P.E.I. is also known for the endangered
beach bird, the Piping Plover (Charadrius
melodious). P.E.I. National Park was
created with the purpose of protecting
the species’ habitat for future generations.
As humans and Piping Plovers use beaches,
there is some potential for conflict,
which can result in a serious threat to
Piping Plover numbers. However, this conflict
can be avoided through educational programs,
Piping Plover Guardian Programs, and better
enforcement of laws.
The role
of the Maritime Important Bird Areas Program,
which commenced in 1999, is to provide
interest groups such as the Island Nature
Trust with tools to protect, conserve,
or monitor sites of global or national
importance in the three Maritime provinces.
The main objective of the program is to
provide tools and ideas for protecting
bird species and their habitats. The program
promotes conservation, encourages action,
carries out education, and helps groups
in developing their own approaches to
bird conservation at sites that they are
interested in. IBA conservation plans
are written with and for the group, and
become a tool to be used to describe actions
that can be taken at the site. which are
feasible, realistic, and can be carried
out in a sensible timeframe.
The IBA
program is an international initiative
coordinated be BirdLife International,
a partnership of member-based organizations
in over 100 countries seeking to identify
and conserve sites important to all birds
species worldwide. The Canadian BidLife
co-partners are the Canadian Nature Federation
(CNF) and Bird Studies Canada (BSC). In
Maritime Provinces, the Natural History
Society of Prince Edward Island, the New
Brunswick Federation of Naturalists, and
the Federation of Nova Scotia Naturalists
sponsor the Important Bird Areas Program.
The Canavoy
Area Beaches IBA, Kings County, Prince
Edward Island, has the highest numbers
of Piping Plovers found outside Prince
Edward Island National Park. This is very
significant, as all other plover beaches
outside the park in the province are sacttered
and hold small unumbers of Piping Plovers.
The area has been identified as a nationally
significant Important Bird Area because
of the presence of this endangered bird.
It has received some attention from the
Island Nature Trust over the last four
years, which has kept a monitoring and
protection program running during that
time. The Island Nature Trust is a non-profit
conservation group with a mandate of protecting
and managing natural areas in Prince Edward
Island.
A
lot of work has gone into the recovery of
the Piping Plover all across North America
and successes have been reported from the
US particular and in the Maritimes where
programs have been on-going for a number
of years. The work that has been done has
also shown that the recovery of this species
is possible, when people can agree to share
their space in a non-destructive manner.
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