Karen Barry will make a short presentation about the Important Bird Area (IBA) program on Wednesday at a Comox Valley Environmental Council meeting.
The meeting happens at 7 p.m. in the Comox Valley Regional District boardroom at 550B Comox Rd. in Courtenay.
Barry works for Bird Studies Canada (www.birdscanada.org), Canada’s leading non-profit bird research and conservation organization, where she co-ordinates the Coastal Waterbird Survey and the Beached Bird Survey programs, and helps co-ordinate the Important Bird Area program in B.C. with colleagues Peter Davidson (also with Bird Studies Canada), and Anne Murray and Krista Englund with BC Nature (Nature Canada).
Barry holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from University of Waterloo, and a Masters Degree in Biology from University of Victoria.
The Important Bird Area (IBA) program was initiated in the 1980s by BirdLife International, and aims to identify, monitor and protect a global network of sites for the conservation of the world’s birds and biodiversity. Migratory birds depend on Important Bird Areas to rest, feed and breed during their long journeys.
Canada has about 600 sites with 84 in British Columbia (www.ibacanada.ca). Most of B.C.’s sites encompass offshore islands, coastal habitats, freshwater wetlands and grasslands that provide habitat for threatened species and/or congregations of migratory species.
The IBA program brings together local volunteers, organizations and governments to work collaboratively to increase long-term conservation of B.C.’s Important Bird Areas through land protection, stewardship, management, and public education and outreach projects.
The Comox Valley Environmental Council is a 20-year-old not-for-profit society which acts as an umbrella organization for 18 local environmental organizations and local municipal and regional representatives.
CVEC meets about seven times a year, meetings are open to the public, are generally with a small group of people, and often include a short presentation of some local issue.
It especially welcomes attendance by any representatives of environmental organizations which may wish to join CVEC.
— Comox Valley
Environmental Council