The success of North American bird conservation plans will be completely dependent upon their implementation.
No matter how good the local and regional plans may be, if they aren’t used, they cannot succeed. But to get the plans to be used, a massive effort in outreach and education will be necessary.
The audience for implementation is huge. Land managers must be convinced that the plans are carefully developed and will result in on-the-ground bird conservation. Development agencies must be convinced that the plans will create a stronger, not weaker, economy. And the public must support bird conservation, either through an appreciation of birds, or because of a realization that conserving bird populations ultimately will result in conservation of biodiversity in general.
Developing support for plan implementation is therefore a vast undertaking. In fact, the job is probably harder than writing the plans. The four papers in this section provide a start toward thinking about what must be done.
The first paper, “A Bird in the Hand is Best” by Katy Duffy, offers some ideas for getting the public excited about birds.
The goals of her article are: (1) To inspire readers to share their love and concern for birds; and (2) To convince readers that involving the public in birds through interpretive programs will advance migratory bird conservation. “An awareness of birds provides a doorway into the natural world, a door that all of us have walked through,” she writes.“ Let’s help others through that door. It will enhance the quality of their lives. It will build a constituency for migratory birds.
We protect only what we know and love. To spread our concern and love for birds, try a bird in the hand!”
Another way to reach people is through the classroom, where they are essentially a captive audience. However, this approach requires developing materials that teachers will want to integrate into their already overcrowded schedules.
The second paper, “One Bird-Two Habitats: A Model Process for Developing an Education Program on Neotropical Migratory Birds,” by Susan C. Gilchrist and Darrel F. Covell, addresses this issue. It describes the process by which a three- to six-week, interdisciplinary environmental education unit for 6-8th grade classes was developed that addresses the need for Neotropical migratory bird conservation. Both the contents of the curriculum and the process of its development reflect a model marriage between research and education. The program was begun to educate people about an important issue identified by researchers, uses background information and activities based on research, and was piloted and evaluated for its effectiveness through research.
However, in addition to educating the public and developing widespread interest in birds, people who determine how land will be used must be convinced of the value of bird conservation. This is the focus of the other two papers in this section.
In “Economics of Open Space Conservation,” Paul Kerlinger explains that to date, strategies used to protect habitat have relied primarily on biological arguments such as protection of biodiversity, wetlands, watersheds, and endangered and threatened species, as well as aesthetic arguments relating to preservation of beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, many people are unmoved by these types of arguments. An emerging strategy for protecting habitat and wildlife is the use of economic information. This paper describes the economic value of open space to communities, and explains how this value is greater than commonly believed.
In the final paper, “The Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail:
A Tool for Avitourism,” Madge Lindsay shows how the state of Texas has used the economic impact of birdwatching to conserve habitat. Recognizing the economic importance of avitourism, and knowing that the Texas Gulf Coast is a major destination for many birdwatchers and avitourists, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), Texas
Department of Transportation(TXDOT), other government agencies, communities, and tourism industry leaders are assisting the development of Texas Gulf Coast avitourism.
Their goal is to promote sustainable economic development while conserving habitat for Texas birds. Projects currently under development, including the Great Texas Coastal
Birding Trail, are designed to bring a portion of the $238 billion spent on ecotourism each year, worldwide, into Texas coastal communities. Through conservation management, nature tourism development, and marketing, coastal communities can gain economically while protecting some of the habitat necessary to sustain the rich array of birds found in
Texas. Such an approach obviously could be used in other areas.
In: Bonney, Rick; Pashley, David N.; Cooper, Robert J.; Niles, Larry, eds. 2000. Strategies for bird conservation: The Partners in Flight planning process; Proceedings of the 3rd Partners in Flight Workshop; 1995
October 1-5; Cape May, NJ. Proceedings RMRS-P-16. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research
Station.
Rick Bonney and Ron Rohrbaugh, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology,
159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-16. 2000 251