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The Greatre Rondeau Area IBA is situated in
southwestern Ontario on the shoreline of Lake Erie in the Municipality of
Chatham-Kent about 35 kilometres southeast of Chatham. The IBA is centred
on Rondeau Provincial Park, including the eight-kilometre peninsula, as
well as Rondoeau Bay. This unusual peninsula, termed a cuspate foreland,
is believed to be one of the best examples of such a feature in the world.
On the lakeside of the IBA the proposed boundary extends two kilometres
offshore to include waters often used by congregating waterfowl in the fall,
winter and spring. Inland from Rondeau Bay the IBA includes a sweep of
mainly privately owned agricultural land, settelments, great Lakes coastal
marsh, and interior wetland.
The IBA is a globally significant for both threatened and congregatory species.
Most of Canada's Prothonotary Warlers breed in Rondeau Provicial Park.
Large expanses of marsh are home for nationally significant numbers of Froster's
Terns and King Rail. Globally significant concentrations of waterfowl and
shorebirds gater within the IBA during spring migration.
Threats to the IBA include:
- changes in vegetation due to stroms and overbrowsing from deer
- copetition and predation of rare species
- non-native flora and fauna
- erosion and sedimetation into the bay
- agricultural pesticides
- hardening of the shoreline and oss of habitat
- disturbance of resting or nesting birds
The Action Plan component of this conservation plan inclues the following
vision and goals.
Vision
The Greater Rondeau Important Bird Area will
promote conservation and stewardship to protect its global and national
significance for breeding, wintering, and migratory birds, as a place where
birds can be monitored, studied, and enjoyed for the ecological, educational,
economic, and recreational benefits of the people of Ontario and beyond.
Goals
- promote resource use and management activity that sustains, enhances,
or does not negatively impact native bird populations or their habitats
- monitor populations of all IBA species (and all Species at Risk) and habitat within the IBA
- develop education and awareness tools and programs in support of bird conservation throughout the IBA and in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent
Introduction
The conditions were perfect to show our colleagues from Europe the landscape of southwestern Ontario. We were flying southwest along an axis that followed the 401 Highway. The land below was a patchwork of cropped fields and back-forty woodlots intersected by grids of roads, the occasional watercourse and sprawling settlements. “Not much forest in Ontario,” they remarked.
“Bread-basket of the province,” I countered. Cropped fields became even more predominant southwest of sprawling London. We picked up the shoreline of Lake Erie, crossing the recently protected Clear Creek valley. This irregular, finger-like green projection points north in defiance of the surrounding landscape towards another fragmented wooded patch known as Skunk’s Misery. “We saved that piece,” I boasted.
The scene below was humbling, though. Almost no forest remained along the shore. I imagined how different the landscape would look if ever the green bits (they really do look small from the air) could ever be reconnected. Moments later we were nearing the Rondeau area. Black soils of vegetable farms below radiated heat, causing thermals that made the aircraft suddenly rise and our stomachs fall. The peninsula itself fanned out in its unique shape to the south and then west, protecting the rounded bay and marshlands. Now that patch of nature was impressive.
"C'est quoi la?"asked
Helene.
"Rondeau, un parc provincial,"I
replied.
"Ronde eau, bien nomme!
Il y a du français
le bas?" Not clear
on the history or culture
of the area, I avoided the
question, and instead noted
the great diversity of birds
attracted by its expanse
and verdant habitats. From
our perspective it was not
hard to see how this remarkable
place was a bird Mecca.
We could easily see across
Lake Erie at this point
and imagine birds migrating
north across the lake fixing
their bearings on the Rondeau
peninsula. From Rondeau
to Windsor, perhaps with
the exception of Pelee,
it looked as if we could
have rolled up all of the
remaining tiny green blobs
together and they would
not have added up to Rondeau
in area. "Can we visit
Rondeau before leaving?"asked
Nils. The plane suddenly
shuddered. "Looks like
we might visit Rondeau sooner
than we thought!"I
said to my white-knuckled
friends.¹
¹ Fictitious story written by Edward Cheskey
This conservation plan will also take you, the reader, into the Rondeau area, without danger, but with time to explore its geography, history, surroundings, and avian inhabitants and to consider what may be required to maintain the majesty of this natural area.
The Greater Rondeau IBA is centred on Rondeau Provincial Park, including the eight-kilometre peninsula, as well as Rondeau Bay. On the side near the lake the IBA extends two kilometres offshore to include waters often used by congregating waterfowl in the fall, winter, and spring. Inland from Rondeau Bay the IBA includes a sweep of adjacent agricultural land, settlements, Great Lakes coastal marsh, and interior wetland.
The Greater Rondeau Area IBA is a globally significant IBA for both threatened and congregatory species. In 1999 50 percent of Canada’s Prothonotary Warblers bred in Rondeau Provincial Park and 5 1 Fictitious story written by Edward Cheskey.
in 2000, 65 percent! Large expanses of marsh are home for nationally significant numbers of Forster’s Terns and King Rail. Globally significant concentrations of waterfowl and shorebirds gather within the IBA during spring migration.
This conservation plan was developed over a series of meetings in Rondeau Provincial Park, the first of which was held in November 1999. An informal steering committee laid the groundwork. The main participants in this process have been Rondeau Provincial Park, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Bird Studies Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service, The Friends of Rondeau, Rondeau Bay Waterfowlers Association, Rondeau Bay Watershed Rehabilitation Project, and Stewardship Kent. Plans reflect the vision and wishes of their creators, and, they are works in progress, open to revision and rethinking. We are hopeful that this plan captures the tremendous ecological value of Rondeau and presents the arguments, goals, and objectives of the steering committee in a way that will serve the community and the birds well. We also hope that it is periodically revisited, revised, and treated as a work in progress.
The layout for this conservation plan is as follows. Chapter 2 describes the IBA program, its goals, and criteria for site selection. Chapter 3 provides a geographical and biophysical context to the IBA. Chapter 4 delves into the lives of the birds, providing readers with an accurate and current summary of each IBA species’ natural history, considering first threatened species, and then congregatory species. Chapter 5 describes the biologically significant features of the IBA beyond the IBA species. Chapters 6 to 8 discuss land ownership, human cultural activity, and the history of the site. Chapters 9 and 10 present opportunities and threats to IBA species. The action plan, a presentation of the steering committee’s vision, goals, objectives, and strategies, is in Chapter 11.
The Vision Statement for the Greater Rondeau IBA is as follows:
The Greater Rondeau Important Bird Area will promote conservation and stewardship to protect its global and national significance for breeding, wintering, and migratory birds, as a place where birds can be monitored, studied and enjoyed for the ecological, educational, economic and recreational benefits of the people of Ontario and beyond.
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