[mou] Worldwide Waterbird Decline

[MARTELL, Mark]

Alarming report released yesterday on the decline of waterbird species =
worldwide.  Note the 37% decline in North America

Greenwire -- Tuesday, January 23, 2007
BIRDS: Worldwide water species are in decline, survey finds
Nearly half of waterbird species worldwide are in decline due to a loss =
of wetlands in many regions from either economic or agricultural =
development or rising temperatures that cause severe droughts and rising =
sea levels, according to the fourth Waterbird Population Estimate survey =
released today.
The survey found that 44 percent of the 900 waterbird species globally =
have fallen in the past five years, 34 percent are stable and 17 percent =
are seeing a rise in population figures.
In 2002, 41 percent of waterbird population were found to be decreasing =
in the survey.
The worst decreases since then occurred in Asia where 62 percent of the =
waterbird populations declined or become extinct. Africa came second =
with a 48 percent decline, Oceania saw a 45 percent decline, South =
America saw 42 percent, 41 percent in Europe and 37 percent in North =
America.
Wetlands International waterbird conservation officer Simon Delany =
coordinated the survey, which was done over 50,000 hours of field work =
in 100 countries. "The most frequent known cause of population decrease =
is habitat destruction, often caused by unsustainable human activity," =
Delany said. "The frantic pace of economic development is clearly having =
adverse impacts on the environment, including numbers and population =
trends of waterbirds. Human impacts such as urban sprawl, reclamation of =
wetlands, increase of pollution and hunting pressure can develop rapidly =
and conservation considerations are often not taken into account" =
(Michael Casey, AP/San Francisco Chronicle online =
<http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=3D/n/a/2007/01/23/international/=
i014653S70.DTL>, Jan. 23). -- RJD
Want more stories like this every day? Sign up for a free trial and get =
the best environmental and energy policy coverage available. Go to =
<http://www.eenews.net/trial/>


Mark Martell
Director of Bird Conservation
Audubon Minnesota
2357 Ventura Drive #106
St. Paul, MN 55125
651-739-9332
651-731-1330 (FAX)
http://mn.audubon.org

To donate to Audubon Minnesota online, visit our secure site at =
<http://mn.audubon.org/support_ways.html>