| Toronto, 2/08/1996 – The three North American Environment Ministers today recognized the identification by experts of the first North American Important Bird Areas (IBAs), sites designated for the habitat protection of domestic and migratory birds.
Canadian Environment Minister Sergio Marchi made the announcement during the conclusion of a day-and-a-half meeting with his two counterparts, US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner and Mexican Secretary of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries Julia Carabias. Together, the three officials form the governing body of the Commission for Environment Cooperation (CEC), created by the environmental side accord to NAFTA.
“The identification of designated bird sites is an important step in the conservation of many migratory and endemic species. They will be an important element in the development of domestic and international conservation strategies,” said Minister Marchi.
The NAFTA ministers recognized three sites: Long Point, Ontario, San Pedro Conservation Area in Arizona, and El Carricito del Huichol pine forest in Mexico. Those sites represent the beginning of a North American network of IBAs.
The information gathered at the three designated sites will help environmental officials in the three countries develop domestic and international conservation strategies to ensure that migratory and domestic birds are protected throughout their range. Some 250 species of migratory birds travel between Canada, the United States and Mexico every year.
“For Mexico, biodiversity conservation is a very high priority,” said Secretary Carabias. “We have launched the National Program for Protected Natural Areas, which guarantees the development of projects in areas of special interest for the conservation of birds.”
Today’s bird protection initiative was one of several trinational environmental cooperative actions unveiled today. Minister Marchi, who hosted the meeting between the NAFTA environment ministers, also announced joint action on air quality monitoring and Monarch butterfly protection. They also announced the first recipients of the newly-created North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC), a fund for community-based groups across North America.
The CEC, which is based in Montreal, is funded equally by the three NAFTA partners.
| 
