Press Release/Communiqué
Quill
Lakes Dedicated as Globally Significant Important
Bird Area (IBA)
May 30th, 1998 (Wadena,
Saskatchewan)
Quill
Lakes will receive international recognition today as
a globally significant "Important Bird Area (IBA)"
and will join BirdLife International's global network
of IBA sites. Celebrations include the Wadena Shorebirds
Festival and Nature Saskatchewan's Annual Spring Meet.
The IBA dedication will take place at the Wadena Curling
Rink on Saturday, May 30th between 8:00 – 8:30
pm.
The Quill
Lakes have qualified as a globally significant IBA
under two separate categories — sites that hold
large concentrations of birds during one or more seasons,
and sites that regularly hold significant numbers
of a threatened species. "The Quill Lakes are
a critical shorebird staging area, as many as 7 different
species have been recorded in numbers that exceed
1% of their biogeographical populations" states
Michael Bradstreet, Executive Director of Bird Studies
Canada. The Lakes, Big Quill Lake in particular, also
support an exceptional number of breeding Piping Plovers,
a nationally endangered species. "Over the last
five years there has been an average of 284 plovers
observed in the area, which represents over 25% of
the Canadian northern Great Plains population"
states Caroline Schultz, Director of Conservation
Programs at the Canadian Nature Federation. "In
1996, over 430 Piping Plovers were recorded, the largest
breeding concentration in the world" adds Ms.
Schultz.
The Important
Bird Areas (IBA) program's primary goal is to identify
and conserve habitats critical for the long term survival
of bird populations. The IBA program is a very successful
conservation initiative of BirdLife International
and its partners worldwide. The program's
impact can been seen in Europe, where the number of
IBAs protected has increased from 25 percent to over
50 percent between 1989 and 1995. IBA programs are
currently underway in Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle
East, North, South and Central Americas. The Canadian
IBA Program is spearheaded by the Canadian Nature
Federation and Bird Studies Canada, the BirdLife partners
in Canada.
The Quill
Lakes have long been recognized for their importance
to birds and were previously declared a Ramsar site
in 1982, a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve (WHSRN)
in 1994, and a Saskatchewan Heritage Marsh. The area
was also the first implementation site for the North.
American
Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) in Canada. The IBA
program will add support to these existing initiatives
and help bring Quill Lakes into the international
eye.
The Wadena
Shorebirds Festival and Nature Saskatchewan's Annual
Spring Meet will take place between Friday, May 29th
and Monday, June 1st. Guided tours of the Quill Lakes
area will be given throughout the weekend.
For more
information, please contact:
Leah de
Forest (weekdays)
IBA Conservation Biologist
Canadian Nature Federation
(613) 562-3447 or 1-800-267-4088
or
Caroline
Schultz (weekends)
Director of Conservation Programs
Canadian Nature Federation
(613) 623-8229
