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Published in Fall 2005
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Conservation plans unveiled for six wildlife species
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The first North American Conservation Action Plans (NACAPs) are hot off the press. Published in November, the plans are the first of their kind: a model for trinational conservation as formulated by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States in cooperation with scientists, academics and environmental groups.
The selection of the leatherback turtle, humpback whale, pink-footed shearwater, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk and black-tailed prairie dog was based on a variety of factors, including a common understanding of the threats faced by each species, their geographic location, profile and feasibility of success.
“Individual species put a face to common conservation problems—issues that may otherwise go unnoticed—helping to garner the support needed for conservation.” says Hans Herrmann, head of the CEC’s Conservation of Biodiversity program. “Completing these international action plans is a major achievement, as they prioritize critical habitats and threats common to each species and the conservation actions than can succeed anywhere in Canada, Mexico and the United States.”
The goal of a NACAP is to facilitate a long-term cooperative agenda for the conservation of these species throughout their ranges in North America. The implementation of these actions, however, is incumbent on the diverse players within each country.
Each NACAP is presented in a short book form that can be downloaded from <http://www.cec.org/NACAP>. A limited number of copies are available upon request.
Burrowing Owl
Athene cunicularia
Burrowing owls are easy to spot because they are often active in daylight and possess a prominent white chin stripe. They can be found in the grasslands region of North America, from southern Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada to central Mexico.
Intensified land use, primarily the conversion of grasslands for agricultural purposes and urban development, has resulted in widespread loss and fragmentation of nesting habitat. Eradication programs for the prairie dog and ground squirrel, pesticide use and food availability are also contributing factors to the population decline.
Today, there are fewer than 1,000 pairs breeding in prairie Canada and numbers have declined by an average of 22 percent per year over the past decade.
The NACAP proposes to identify and prioritize the most valuable habitats for conservation activity, promote the conservation of burrowing mammals, reduce the use of pesticides that affect the owl’s food supply, establish cooperative research programs to determine why the owls are declining, familiarize farmers and ranchers with owl conservation issues and promote sustainable rangeland practices.
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Black-tailed Prairie Dog
Cynomys ludovicianus
This heavy-bodied squirrel is considered a keystone species since many animals (such as burrowing owls, ferruginous hawks, rattlesnakes and swift foxes) are dependant upon its survival.
Unfortunately, the long-term survival of the black-tailed prairie dog is threatened by disease, small mammal control programs and recreational shooting. Ongoing eradication programs have significantly impacted this species, despite research showing that competition between prairie dogs and cattle is low. Even public lands in the United States, including national parks, have been subject to prairie dog control programs.
Moreover, it has been estimated that about a third of the land area in regions used by prairie dogs has been covered by water developments, urban expansion, cropland, and improved pasture. Scientists calculate that prairie dogs occupy only two percent of their historic range.
The NACAP aims to specifically share mapping and monitoring protocols, create an information bank of education and outreach materials, encourage regulation of intentional killing, define the density of the population and priority habitat areas, and educate decision-makers about the importance of the species to grassland biodiversity.
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Humpback Whale
Megaptera novæangliæ
These highly migratory whales swim between their calving grounds in the tropics and the nutrient rich temperate and sub-arctic waters to feed. They can be found both inshore and offshore, but they tend to follow the coastlines.
Pacific commercial whalers are thought to have killed some 28,000 humpbacks during the 20th century. By the mid-1960s, only 1,200 humpback whales were thought to have existed in these waters. Today, populations are thought to be limited but relatively stable.
While commercial whaling has long been curbed, several other factors impede the recovery of this species. Fishing gear entanglements and ship collisions, for instance, cause much mortality, and there are new fears regarding food availability and noise pollution.
Potential areas for NACAP action include promoting fishing gear modifications and disentanglement best practices, producing information for ship masters and their companies on how to avoid striking whales, and encouraging cruise ships to retain a qualified naturalist on their vessels.
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Ferruginous Hawk
Buteo regalis
The ferruginous hawk population—once widespread throughout North America—has declined significantly since the early 1900s, but appears to be stabilizing at roughly one-quarter its original size (between 5,842 and 11,330 individuals).
Concerns for the ferruginous hawk include the loss of suitable breeding and wintering habitat. In Canada, habitat availability has shrunk by an estimated 50 percent and dramatically affected the species’ nest sites. Other threats include eradication programs for the prairie dog and ground squirrel, succession of northern grassland habitats to forests, collisions with power lines, road construction, contaminants, disease, as well as hunting.
The NACAP encourages the creation of markets for certified range-friendly products, such as grass-fed beef, that support native grassland conservation, the development of an information package for resource managers and landowners, and a training program for field staff to identify key breeding and wintering habitats throughout the range.
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Pink-footed Shearwater
Puffinus creatopus
From Chile to Alaska in the eastern Pacific, the shearwater can be found primarily on shelf waters within a few hundred meters of the coastline, in shrublands, lowland tropical rainforests, and offshore in the Gulf of Alaska.
In contrast to this vast range, however, the seabird has a very small breeding range. Robinson Crusoe and Santa Clara in the Juan Fernandez Islands, as well as the Chilean Isla Mocha are the only areas in which the species nests.
Rats are thought to feed on chick eggs on the breeding islands, and on Robinson Crusoe the species is further imperiled by predation by feral cats and dogs as well as soil erosion from goats and rabbits. Development and human harvesting of chicks at Isla Mocha also puts the species at risk. Additionally, the shearwater is vulnerable to oil spills, pollution and food availability.
The NACAP recommends an evaluation of the potential impacts from contaminants along the entire range of the species, an examination of the gut contents of salvaged birds from bycatch to determine the level of plastics ingested, assess the interactions between the fishing industry and the species, and petition the governments of Mexico and the United States to assess/re-assess the status of the pink-footed shearwater in each country.
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Leatherback Turtle
Dermochelys coriacea
Leatherbacks are the world’s largest living reptile—adults weigh from 200 to 700 kg. Unlike the other sea turtle species, leatherbacks forage in cold waters and venture into the warm tropics, where other sea turtle species reside, only to nest.
Considered the leatherback’s major stronghold, in the Pacific, populations have shown a dramatic decline. In Mexico, the population has been in serious danger of collapse despite more than a decade of protection efforts. Nesting female leatherback turtles declined from 70,000 in 1980 to approximately 60 in 2002.
Adults and sub-adults are routinely killed as bycatch by longliners and other fishing activity. Beachfront development, pollution, poaching and ship collisions have also contributed to the mortality of leatherbacks.
As such, the NACAP recommends nest protection and predator control, the implementation of gear modification and mitigation measures on longliners, the elimination of at-sea dumping of debris that may affect sea turtles and the creation of a trinational trust fund or similar mechanism to support international, national and local conservation initiatives.
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