IBA Caretakers: People Protecting Birds Across Canada - Alberta

In our last post, we heard from Important Bird Area Caretakers in British Columbia. In this post we follow Ted, Nature Canada's manager of bird conservation, to Alberta where he speaks with two Caretakers about the value of the IBA Caretaker Network.

For Judy Boyd, caring for Bearhills Important Bird Area was a good fit with her volunteer work with a young naturalist club in Red Deer, Alberta. Part of what she does as a Caretaker is monitor birds at the IBA – and counting birds is something young naturalists are more than ready to help out with!

In this video Greg Wagner, IBA Caretaker for Frank Lake Important Bird Area, talks about the special features of this IBA, which lies just 50km south of Calgary, Alberta. Greg also explains why he thinks IBA Caretakers can effectively promote bird conservation by talking to local stakeholders.

As IBA Caretakers, Greg and Judy channel their passion for nature and protecting birds by monitoring  birds, assessing habitats, and conducting conservation activities at Important Bird Areas. They are part of a larger network of volunteers that participate in the IBA Caretakers program. Their work promotes effective bird conservation in Canada.

Do you want to protect your local birds and habitat? Consider becoming an Important Bird Area Caretaker!

You can find out more about becoming a Caretaker and explore Important Bird Areas in Canada at ibacanada.ca

Next week, we’ll hear from a Caretaker in Manitoba who has been a passionate birder from a young age. Stay tuned!

Celebrating Charles Labatiuk’s Life and Legacy

Chuck Priestly, Natalia Labatiuk and Bill Labatiuk at Beaverhill Lake IBA

In celebration of National Philanthropy day in Canada, Jodi Joy, Nature Canada’s manager of legacy giving, shares a story about the legacy of the late Charles Labatiuk.

“I still remember the day of his birth,” said Natalia Labatiuk, “Today would have been his 55th birthday.”

Instead his parents, Bill and Natalia, and myself celebrated Charles’ life and spirit by visiting Beaverhill Lake Important Bird Area (IBA), a place that was so dear and close to his heart. 

On our drive to Beaverhill Lake Important Bird Area, located just outside Tofield, Alberta, I laid eyes on the prairie landscape for the first time, being a Northern Ontario girl myself.  I saw widespread rolling hills and grasslands galore.

Bill, Natalia and I met Chuck Priestly, the Executive Director of the Beaverhill Bird Observatory, at the gate.  We passed by cattle that share this space with shorebirds that migrate through and stop over at the site.  Chuck then toured us through the IBA visiting the “Herrier Highway” where we viewed some juvenile harriers in flight.

Walking past the fence, he remarked on the importance of the fence to ensure protection from the local cow herd that was trampling on nest sites and knocking over nestboxes, thus negatively impacting the success of the nesting birds, and thanked Nature Canada for the funds to erect it.  And we passed by the 200 or so songbird boxes that are maintained and repaired each year.  Next we visited the bird banding station where he updated us on recent monitoring trends.  The lab is over twenty years old and this year's Labatiuk Endowment funds helped repair the roof and upgrade facilities and cabins.

Sitting over lunch we reminisced about Charles' many memories and accolades.  His legacy continues on in the great work being achieved by the volunteers at Beaverhill Bird Observatory.  We wondered about Jeff Howard, the first recipient of the scholarship in Charles' name and Annie Buckton, the 9 year old whose exceptional initiative and volunteerism was also recently awarded, and pondered how this recognition will nurture their own dreams. Bill and Natalia reflected that Charles would be happiest to know that this special space and the birds that depend on it will be protected for others to enjoy for years to come.

What a fitting birthday tribute to Charles. We all hope to be remembered so fondly.

Through a generous legacy gift, the Charles Labatiuk Nature Endowment Fund supports bird conservation work at Beaverhill Lake Important Bird Area, provides an entrance scholarship for a young naturalist for their post-secondary studies in the natural sciences and rewards volunteer excellence.
 

Polar Bear Listed As Species of Special Concern

Thanks in large part to letters you sent, the federal government has officially declared the Polar Bear a species of special concern under the Species at Risk Act. 

Nearly 63,000 Nature Canada supporters asked the federal government to take action for polar bears. You asked for these three things:

• List the polar bear in law,
• Complete the required management plan ahead of the three-year legal deadline and
• Take action on climate change to protect polar bear habitat

Today, Nature Canada supports the government’s decision to recognize the perilous condition of Canada’s Polar Bear population by listing it under the Species at Risk Act (SARA).

The listing in law officially recognises the at-risk status which the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has assigned to the polar bear since 1991. This important milestone means that, by law, a plan must be devised within three years to prevent the species from becoming endangered or threatened.

During the public comment period for the proposal to list the Polar Bear as a species of special concern, 99% of the comments received by the government supported the proposal. The vast majority of comments called for official designation under SARA and fast action on climate change.

The message was clear: listing the polar bear, coupled with action on climate change, are necessary to save one of Canada’s most iconic species.

With nearly 15,000 polar bears, Canada accounts for 60 per cent of the world's polar bear population. But dramatic changes, caused by global warming, are taking place in the Arctic that threaten the survival of this spectacular species.

Climate change is causing polar ice caps to melt, robbing the bears of the ice floes they need to hunt prey. If the Arctic ice cap continues to melt sooner and form later, Polar Bears will become too thin to reproduce and many scientists predict they will become extinct by the end of this century.

Thousands of Nature Canada supporters asked the federal government to act now before it’s too late – and  much work still needs to be done to protect the Polar Bear.

Nature Canada urges the federal government to take fast action on climate change to prevent the extinction of this spectacular species, and strongly recommends that a management plan – mandated by law – be completed in advance of the three-year deadline.