Conserving the grassland IBAs of southern South América: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil.

DI GIACOMO, ADRIÁN S.; KRAPOVICKAS, SANTIAGO F.

Asilomar, California, USA

Conferencia; Third International Partners in Flight Conference – A workshop on bird conservation implementation and integration.; 2002

Partners in Flight

In the southern part of South America, knowledge  about bird species distribution is still not used as a tool  for land use planning and conservation priority-setting. BirdLife International’s Important Bird Areas (IBA)  Program is an appropriate vehicle for analyzing existing information about birds, and to generate new data where necessary. IBA inventories should provide input to urgent regional conservation issues, such as those relating to temperate and subtropical grasslands. There is a rich avifauna of grassland-specialist species in Argentina, of which approximately 25 are threatened or near-threatened at the global level. The grassland biome also serves as wintering grounds for neartic migrants, such as Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) and Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni). The BirdLife network is represented in the region by the Brazil Program Office, Guyra Paraguay, Aves Uruguay and Aves Argentinas/AOP. These organizations are trying to start an international cooperative project focusing on grassland IBA identification and conservation.