The Nature Conservancy's Gulf Wings Project – A Case Study in Conservation Planning for Migratory Birds

Abstract

The Nature Conservancy has adopted a framework for mission success called Conservation by Design. We plan at the ecoregional level to define conservation targets and the portfolio of sites needed to protect them. We consider threats and strategies for abating them at these key sites, and we define measures of success to hold ourselves accountable. Migratory birds stretch our methods, crossing multiple ecoregions and requiring differing habitats temporally. Their viability is hard to assess, and population data are fragmentary at best. The Conservancy's new Gulf Wings initiative is a multi-ecoregion project to protect critically threatened stopover habitat around the Gulf of Mexico. We use it as a case study of how the Conservancy and our partners address the challenges of planning for conservation of migratory birds.

Parent Publication

• Bird Conservation Implementation and Integration in the Americas: Proceedings of the Third International Partners in Flight Conference. 2002 March 20-24; Asilomar, California, Volume 1 and 2

Citation

Duncan, Charles; Abel, Becky; Kwan, Danny; Mehlman, David. 2005. The Nature Conservancy''s Gulf Wings Project – A Case Study in Conservation Planning for Migratory Birds. In: Ralph, C. John; Rich, Terrell D., editors 2005. Bird Conservation Implementation and Integration in the Americas: Proceedings of the Third International Partners in Flight Conference. 2002 March 20-24; Asilomar, California, Volume 1 Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-191. Albany, CA: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: p. 258-265