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This
Community Conservation Plan
for Govenlock, Nashlyn and
Battle Creek community pastures
was prepared as part of Saskatchewan's
Important Bird Area (IBA)
Program. In this program,
special areas are awarded
an Important Bird Area designation
for conservation purposes
if the areas are used by large
concentrations of birds, if
birds present are at risk,
if the sites represent intact
biomes, or if the area's natural
bird inhabitants have restricted
ranges.
The Govenlock, Nashlyn and
Battle Creek pastures represent
a nationally significant IBA,
satisfying the threatened
species criteria. IBA birds
include the Burrowing Owl
- nationally endangered, Ferruginous
Hawk - nationally vulnerable,
Long-billed Curlew - nationally
vulnerable, Sage Grouse -
nationally endangered, and
Sage Thrasher - nationally
endangered. Other significant
birds include Baird's Sparrow,
Brewer's Sparrow, Bullock's
Oriole, Chestnut-collared
Longspur, Golden Eagle, McCown's
Longspur, Prairie Falcon,
Rock Wren, Sprague's Pipit
and Violet Green Swallows.
The Govenlock, Nashlyn and
Battle Creek pastures lie
north of the Saskatchewan-Montana
border, on the Wild Horse
Plain within the Mixed Grassland
Ecoregion. The sage grasslands
here are part of the northern
limit of sage dominated grasslands
in the northern Great Plains.
The grasslands are managed
by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation
Administration for summer
grazing by cattle from local
patrons. Under this management
regime, the pastures and the
grasslands are protected in
perpetuity. Minor-moderate
threats to birds and the grassland
ecosystem arise from oil and
gas development, from accidents
and possibly from global or
regional effects such as climate
change.
In view of the relative security
of the sites and the range
management that is practiced
there, many local people feel
that conservation of the grasslands
and its sustainable use is
well in hand and that this
serves the best interests
of the birds. Many local people
feel, therefore, that there
is little need for additional
intervention. On the other
hand, biodiversity protection
is a national responsibility
widely endorsed by people
in Canada and around the world.
Given the rich bird resources
in the area and the large
size of the apparently intact
grassland ecosystem, conservationists
"from outside" are keen to
monitor trends and help protect
the grasslands and their sustainable
use into the future.
The purpose of this plan is
to describe the land's ecosystems
of which the birds are a part,
outline conservation opportunities
and challenges and list potential
stakeholders and contact people.
Specific conservation goals
suggested in this plan include:
-
maintenance of the PFRA
pastures in perpetuity,
-
expanding range monitoring
to allow adaptive responses
to future pressures including
a potential change in
climate,
-
assembling group of people
who meet periodically
to discuss conservation
opportunities and threats,
-
increasing awareness among
local people of the biodiversity
in the region and the
value of big space grasslands
-- an area with few like
it in the world,
-
continuing/expanding the
monitoring of bird and
biodiversity trends, and
-
considering ideas and
options to halt a general
decline in the health
of sage grasslands.
The
IBA Program was launched initially
by BirdLife International
in the UK. Today there are
BirdLife Partners in over
100 countries. In Canada the
national partners are the
Nature Canada
and Bird Studies Canada. In
Saskatchewan, the conservation
component of this program
is being delivered by Nature
Saskatchewan. Funding partners
of the Community Conservation
Plan for Chaplin, Old Wives
and Reed lakes include Canadian
Adaptation and Rural Development
Saskatchewan (CARDS), the
University of Saskatchewan,
Saskatchewan Environment and
Resource Management (SERM)
and the Canadian Millennium
Partnership Program.
INTRODUCTION
Bird
conservation is not 'just
for the birds'. In a widely
acknowledged and visionary
treatment of the causes, human
uses and the state of decline
of diverse life forms on Earth,
E.O. Wilson (1992) suggests
that certain species will
and should receive special
attention. Wilson points out
that individual species which
may be large and colourful
or otherwise charismatic,
often are conservation favorites
even though they represent
a small fraction of living
things. Such species, Wilson
claims, can motivate conservation
at many levels, from individual
to government. Since no species
exists in isolation from other
species or its environment,
such conservation efforts
already in the first instance
serve to protect elements
of a functioning life support
ecosystem. If human economic,
cultural and social values
are adapted in addition to
species and systems concerns,
the conservation efforts will
come 'full circle' and have
gone well beyond the birds.
It is hoped that this report
may provide a significant
impetus for further conservation
by:
- explaining
why Govenlock, Nashlyn
and Battle Creek community
pastures are "important",
- describing
the pastures' ecosystems
of which the birds are
a part,
- reviewing
appropriate literature,
considering what is known
but also
speculating as to the
potential impact of what
is not known, and
anticipating opportunities
and concerns across as
many elements of the natural
system as possible.
- anticipating
opportunities and concerns
across as many elements
of the natural system
as possible, and
- outlining
opportunities and challenges
for conservation and listing
potential stakeholders
and contact people
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