Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) are sites of global bird conservation importance and BirdLife Australia has identified and documented almost all of the Australian IBAs. IBAs are priority areas for bird conservation and we aim to monitor birds at our IBAs, advocate their importance to government, and work with land-holders and other local people to conserve them.
In 2016 BirdLife Australia is starting the Easter Health-check for ‘Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas’ (IBAs). It takes an annual snapshot of the threat and conservation actions of the areas that matter most to birds and wildlife for national and international comparisons. The data gathered are extremely valuable. Where bird surveys indicate a species decline the Health-check gives us the 'smoking gun' we need to target our conservation work.
The Health-check is conducted every Easter and covers the preceding 1 year. It should take the IBA Guardians between 1- 3 hrs to complete.
What will these hard won data do for birds?
The IBA Easter Health-check will inform BirdLife Australia’s Conservation team about:
* Which current and emerging threats are most widespread and most need our attention
* Opportunities for conservation successes
* Potential collaborations
* How Australia performs in bird conservation compared to 12,000 other IBAs globally
* Baseline data to bring about formal protection for all Key Biodiversity Areas in Australia
The finding will also be summarised for the Guardians and visitors to the BirdLife website in the annual ‘IBA Whitsuntidings’ report.