Press Release/Communiqué
Port Colborne
Joins International Network of Important Bird Areas
July
29, 2000
For Immediate Release
Port
Colborne, ON— Port Colborne received international
recognition today as a globally significant Important
Bird Area (IBA), joining BirdLife International's
global network of IBA sites.
Incredible
numbers of nesting Common Terns use the Port Colborne
area each year to breed. "Common Terns can be
found nesting on the eastern leg of the breakwater
system, a structure created during the construction
of the St. Lawrence Seaway System in the early 1900s"
states Leah de Forest, IBA Conservation Biologist
at the Canadian Nature Federation. "The long-term
average is approximately 1,000 Common Tern pairs,
which represents 2 percent of the estimated North
American breeding population ". Recent counts
in May of 1998 and 2000 indicate that Common Tern
numbers are currently at 540 and 555 pairs respectively.
"By
identifying sites of national importance to Canadian
bird populations, the Canadian Nature Federation,
through the Important Bird Areas program, is engaging
communities to protect birds and their habitats for
the new millennium," said John Maloney, MP for
Erie-Lincoln on behalf of the Honourable Herb Gray,
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible for
the Government of Canada's millennium initiative.
This
program is part of Natural Legacy 2000, which the
Government of Canada is supporting with a partial
financial contribution of $10 million nationally through
the Canada Millennium Partnership Program (CMPP).
It funds up to one third of eligible costs of projects
that meet its criteria, while other organizations
and the private sector provide the remaining two thirds.
Out of this amount, the Canadian Nature Federation,
which is responsible for the IBA program, receives
$1,250,000.
For
the past two decades, Dr. Ralph Morris and his students
at Brock University in St. Catharines have been conducting
research studies on the colonial seabirds nesting
at the breakwall site. "Thanks to effective management
activities, the tern colony has been sustained on
the breakwater for many years" says Dr. Morris,
professor emeritus at Brock University. As the research
program at Brock University winds down, a new group
of dedicated local volunteers will continue to manage
the tern population at Port Colbourne. "We look
forward to this opportunity, and are committed to
protecting this important tern population for future
generations to study and enjoy" says Mike Hili
of the Port Colborne Conservation Club.
Ted
Cheskey, Important Bird Areas Community Conservation
Planner for the Federation of Ontario Naturalists,
is working with local communities to develop conservation
plans for a number of Important Bird Areas throughout
Ontario, including Port Colborne. Cheskey says that
the local IBA committee's vision is clear at Port
Colborne " to maintain, enhance, and work to
increase the population of breeding Common Terns,
and as a place where birds can be observed, monitored,
studied and enjoyed for the ecological and educational
benefits to the people of Ontario and beyond".
The
Important Bird Areas Program is being delivered in
Canada by the Canadian Nature Federation and Bird
Studies Canada, and in Ontario by the Federation of
Ontario Naturalists. These three organizations will
continue to work with the surrounding communities
to develop appropriate action strategies to ensure
that bird populations remain healthy into the next
millennium.
For
more information on Natural Legacy 2000 or on the
Government of Canada's Millennium Partnership Program,
visit the Canada and the Millennium web site at www.millennium.gc.ca
or call 1-800-O-Canada.
-30-
For more information,
please contact:
Ron Bodner, Port
Colborne City Councilor, (905) 835-1554
Mike Hili, Port Colborne Conservation Club (905) 835-6239
Ted Cheskey, IBA Community Conservation Planner, (519)
826-2036
Christie Chute, Canadian Nature Federation (613) 562-8208
ext. 245
Marcel Gaumond, Millennium Bureau of Canada (613)
943-3239
