Galloway and Miry Bays Important Bird Area
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COMMUNITY CONSERVATION PLAN for the Galloway and Miry Bays Important Bird Area November 2000 prepared by Josef K. Schmutz Community Conservation Planner Important Bird Areas Program Nature Saskatchewan c/o Centre for Studies in Agriculture, Law and the Environment (CSALE) 51 Campus Drive University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A8 Tel. 306-966-2410 FAX 306-966-8894 E-mail: [email protected] Table of Contents 4.2.1 Great Blue Heron....... 23 4.2.2 Burrowing Owl......... 24 4.2.3 Bald Eagles............. 25 Executive Summary................... 1 5 Other elements of high conservation 1 Introduction......................... 2 value................ 26 1.1 Why protect birds............ 4 1.2 Possible approaches to bird 6 Land ownership and use........... 26 protection...................... 4 6.1 Historical Land use........... 26 2 The IBA program................... 5 6.2 Current land use.............. 28 2.1 IBA Saskatchewan............ 5 7 Conservation management achieved at the IBA site.......... 29 3 IBA Site Information............... 6 7.1 Regulation of hunting........ 29 3.1 Existing conservation 7.2 Outfitting...................... 30 measures....................... 8 7.3 Research and monitoring.... 31 3.1.1 Federal and provincial acts.......................... 8 8 IBA stakeholder group............. 32 3.1.2 Canadian Biodiversity Strategy..................... 9 9 Opportunities....................... 32 3.1.3 North American Bird Conservation Initiative.... 9 9.1 Birds in the landscape and in 3.1.4 North American Waterfowl rural life........................ 32 Management 9.2 Hunting/Outfitting............ 32 Plan......................... 11 9.3 Bird watching and nature 3.1.5 Saskatchewan's tours............................ 33 Representative Areas Network.................... 11 10 Threats............................. 33 4 IBA species information........... 13 10.1 Disturbance by people...... 34 10.2 Disease....................... 34 4.1 Natural History of IBA species.......................... 14 4.1.1 Greater White-fronted 11 Conservation goals and Goose....................... 14 objectives.......................... 35 4.1.1.1 Greater White-fronted Goose population 11.1 Management Goals.......... 35 counts...... 17 11.2 Infrastructure Goals........ 35 4.1.2 Canada Goose.......... 18 11.3 Educational Goals........... 35 4.1.3 Lesser Snow Goose.... 19 4.1.4 Ross' Goose............ 20 12 Evaluating success................ 36 4.1.5 Sandhill Crane.......... 21 13 Acknowledgments................. 36 4.2 Other species.................. 22 Appendices Appendix 2: Information on the lead organizations of the IBA Program......... 40 Appendix 1. Names, affiliation, contact information and general interests of Appendix 3. IBA Saskatchewan............ 41 individuals in connection with the Galloway and Miry bays IBA.............. 39 Appendix 4. Code of conduct for nature viewing and hunting......................... 42 List of Figures Figure 4. Estimates of Greater White- fronted Geese based on aerial and ground Figure 1. Location of the Galloway and surveys at Galloway and Miry bays in Miry bays Important Bird Area in Saskatchewan, from Warner and Nieman southwestern Saskatchewan. Rare (1999)......................................... 18 species sightings recorded by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre Figure 5. Land cover and land use in the are also shown. 3 vicinity of Galloway and Miry bays. Grid lines represent townships and 1 mile Figure 2. A schematic diagram to show the sections. Dots indicate that a particular relationships among bird conservation quarter section is Crown owned and may plans and strategies.......................... 9 be leased. The abrupt changes in land Figure 3. Distribution of Greater White- cover categories merely reflect different fronted Geese on the Canadian prairies, interpretations of satellite data.............. 27 from Warner and Nieman (1999).......... 17 List of Tables Table 2. Percent of acreage in various crops, and livestock held in Census Table 1. Birds prominent at Galloway and District 3-BN, including Galloway and Miry bays, and the season of main use.. 13 Miry bays................................... 28 1 Executive Summary purposes if the areas are used by large concentrations of birds, if birds present are at risk, Galloway and Miry bays and surrounding or if the sites represent intact biomes and their area are used each fall by nearly a million Greater bird inhabitants. Galloway and Miry bays satisfy White-fronted Geese, as they migrate through the the IBA 'congregatory' criteria, and are considered Great Plains from their Arctic nesting grounds to 'globally significant.' the southern United States and Mexico. Also, up Conservation goals and objectives include: to 162,000 Sandhill Cranes use the bays and a 55 • the continued monitoring of goose numbers km stretch of the river during fall migration. and distribution These bays are part of the South Saskatchewan • hunting, boating and other restrictions to River in southwestern Saskatchewan. The bays avoid excessive disturbance are a recent phenomenon as they are the result of • the development of facilities to enhance river water held in the west end of Diefenbaker nature related tourism Lake by two dams. • maintaining local awareness of the importance The objectives in this plan draw attention of the site for the IBA birds to the importance of a relatively small area for 60- The IBA Program was launched initially 80% of the North American mid-continent by BirdLife International in the UK. Today there population of Greater White-fronted Geese. The are BirdLife Partners in over 100 countries. In plan identifies the primary stakeholders involved, Canada the national partners are the Canadian and summarizes ecosystem features including Nature Federation and Bird Studies Canada. In pertinent conservation opportunities and threats to Saskatchewan, the conservation component of this birds and their ecosystem. No pressing program is being delivered by Nature conservation concerns have been identified at this Saskatchewan. Funding partners include time, but vigilance is needed with regard to Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development disease, crop depredation and disturbance. Saskatchewan (CARDS), the University of Management strategies should maintain existing Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Environment and land use, and discourage excessive disturbance Resource Management (SERM) and the Canadian potentially arising from hunters, bird watchers Millennium Partnership Program. and other sources. This Community Conservation Plan for Galloway and Miry bays was prepared as part of Saskatchewan's Important Bird Area (IBA) Program. In this program, special areas are awarded an IBA designation for conservation 2 Vision To highlight the significance of Galloway and Miry bays as an Important Bird Area, and to encourage a use that will respect the birds and the interests of local people and visitors. 1. Introduction The purpose of this report is to add Bird conservation is not 'just for the birds.' impetus for continued conservation. Toward this In a widely acknowledged and visionary treatment end, this report tries to: of the causes, human uses, and the state of decline i) explain why the Galloway and Miry bays of diverse life forms on Earth, E.O. Wilson (1992) (Fig. 1) have been chosen as an Important suggests that certain species will and should Bird Area, receive special attention. Wilson points out that ii) describe the bays' ecosystems, individual species which may be large and iii) outline opportunities and challenges for colourful or otherwise charismatic, often are conservation, conservation favorites even though they represent iv) list potential stakeholders and contact people a small fraction of living things. Such species, (Appendix 1), Wilson claims, can motivate conservation at many v) provide a conceptual backdrop (biological, levels, from individual to government. Since no social and economic) in which species exists in isolation from other species or its conservation efforts may operate, environment, such conservation efforts already in vi) briefly review appropriate literature and thus the first instance serve to protect elements of a suggest other resources, functioning life support system. If human vii) consider what is known, but also speculate economic, cultural and social values are adapted as to the potential impact of the unknown, in addition to species and ecosystem concerns, the and conservation efforts will come 'full circle' and have gone well beyond the birds. 3 viii) anticipate opportunities and concerns across as many sectors in society as possible. 4 Fig. 1 5 do things) and production (how we make a 1.1 Why protect birds living). Effective prescriptions for conservation Surveys of human values and economic should include all elements, and in particular the impacts have shown that birds have attracted the human elements. A participatory, community- attention of many people in Saskatchewan and based research and management system might be around the World. In a 1991 survey, 83.3% of adopted. Kramer's (1986) model of community- Canadians reported that "maintaining abundant based research and action outlines several stages wildlife is very or fairly important" (Filion et al. that cannot be skipped: need -> interest -> 1993). Globally, 62% of people surveyed in 1990 involvement -> ownership -> commitment -> in 42 countries reported "strong approval" for the collaboration. An important characteristic in this ecology movement