|
The Community Conservation
Plan for Sandoff Lake 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
the birds present are at risk,
or if the sites represent
intact biomes and their natural
bird inhabitants with restricted
ranges.
Sandoff Lake is a roughly
100 ha (200 acre) salt lake,
which lies on the sparsely
populated Lake Alma Upland
within the Missouri Coteau
in west-central Saskatchewan.
The upland plateau and moraine
landscape surrounding it provides
important fresh - and salt
water ponds that support shorebirds
and waterfowl. Roughly two
third of the land in this
arid portion of the brown
soil zone is cultivated for
the production of wheat primarily.
In addition to shorebirds
which use the lake on migration,
the primary importance of
the site is for endangered
Piping Plover. Since 20 -
30 plovers use this lake when
water allows it, careful management
of the site for Piping Plovers
is warranted. There are no
major threats apparent at
this time. An opportunity
exists to manage the cattle
grazing pattern. This promises
to avoid impact on the saline
shores that are detrimental
to the birds and to improve
pasture productivity.
The objectives of this plan
are to draw attention to the
importance of Sandoff Lake
for the Plovers, but also
for other migrant shorebirds,
to avoid any future disruption
of the ecosystem that might
threaten the birds. This plan
should also bring stakeholders
togather to chart a future
course to achieve these goals.
Specific recommendations involve:
-
maintain or enhance native
grassland or other permanent
cover in the immediate
vicinity of the lake
-
manage cattle through
fencing and water supply
in such a way that trampling
of plover eggs or young
is minimized
-
assist schools and other
local organizations to
explain the value of the
lake
-
continue or increase monitoring
of bird numbers and reprodcution,
and related ecosystem
parameters
-
conduct research in those
specific areas that satisfy
information needs or relate
to future management and
potential threats, such
as documenting the type
of invertebrate food used
by birds
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 Canadian
Nature Federation and Bird
Studies Canada. In Saskatchewan,
the conservation component
of this program is being delivered
by Nature Saskatchewan. Funding
partners include Canadian
Adaptation and Rural Development
Saskatchewan (CARDS), the
University of Saskatchewan,
Saskatchewan Environment and
Resource Management (SERM),
and the Canadian Millennium
Partnership Program.
VISION
Our vision is to practice
land stewardship for the
combined benefit of birds
and people.
INTRODUCTION
Bird conservation is not 'just
for the birds'. In a widely
acknowledged and visionary
treatment of the causes, human
uses and state of decline
of diverse life forms on Earth,
E.O. Wilson (1992) suggests
that certain species will
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 fuctioning life support
system. If human economics,
cutural 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:
- explain
why Sandoff Lake is 'important',
- describing
the lake's 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,
- 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
|
