by Rhonda Poe, Director of Development, Audubon Pennsylvania

On May 20, Audubon Pennsylvania Executive Director Dr. Timothy D. Schaeffer announced that the Pennsylvania Biological Survey’s Ornithological Technical Committee voted unanimously to name Fairmount Park, in its entirety, an Audubon Pennsylvania Important Bird Area .

Fairmount Park, in urban Philadelphia, becomes the 82nd such designation in Pennsylvania and now becomes eligible for protection and conservation activity because of its importance as a 9,200-acre forested and riparian oasis for birds and other wildlife. Philadelphia ornithologist, Keith Russell, Assistant to the National Audubon Society’s Important Bird Area Program, made a passionate presentation to the OTC for his hometown nomination.

Dr. Schaeffer noted, “This designation is especially important to the National Audubon Society because it acknowledges that even in the middle of the nation’s fifth largest city, there are habitats that are critical to the worldwide protection of birds and open space that is significant for the clean air and water supply for Philadelphia.”

The cornerstone of National Audubon Society’s conservation activities is the Important Bird Area Program. As the first and most visible indicators of environmental health and well being, birds serve as sentinels to where targeted conservation efforts should take place for the preservation of entire ecosystems.

BirdLife International, a global coalition of partner organizations in over 100 countries, started the IBA program in Europe in the 1980s. BirdLife International designated the National Audubon Society as its official partner in administering the IBA program within the United States. Audubon Pennsylvania established the first IBA program in the nation and continues to lead other states in technical sophistication, conservation remediation and public education activities.

Pennsylvania’s Important Bird Area (IBA) Program focuses attention on the most essential and vulnerable areas, promoting proactive habitat conservation to benefit birds and all biodiversity. Pennsylvania IBAs are prioritized in two ways: 1) sites that are under the greatest threat and contain birds with the highest need for protection; and 2) sites that offer the best opportunities to educate and engage citizens.

IBAs meet at least one of several objective criteria determined by the OTC, a scientific committee comprised of Pennsylvania’s top bird experts. Once Audubon identifies an IBA, volunteer monitoring efforts are initiated to focus on tracking threats to the land and the numbers and variety of bird populations breeding, over-wintering, or stopping over during migration in particular habitats.

The Pennsylvania IBA program combines community involvement with science and technology to effectively promote habitat conservation. Professional and citizen scientists work together to monitor, collect data and aid research about habitats and species while developing a powerful grassroots network of citizens to influence the protection of these critical wild areas close to their homes.

Specifically, Audubon Pennsylvania works with private landowners and public land managers, enlists scientists and Audubon Chapter volunteers to monitor each site, and maintains a detailed GIS online mapping system and data that is contributed to the global biodiversity watch. The GIS mapping of each IBA and volunteer monitoring efforts have helped Audubon Pennsylvania track threats to the land and bird population activity.

Fairmount Park is actually a system of individual parks distributed throughout the city of Philadelphia, encompassing more than 9,200 acres of diverse habitat of mature deciduous woodlands, streams, lakes, marshes, open field, scrub and wet meadow. During migration and winter periods, waterfowl numbers regularly exceed 2,000 at any given time, including some of the largest flocks of migrating and wintering Canvasback (ducks) currently known to occur in Pennsylvania.

Approximately 200 species of birds are recorded annually throughout the year, with significant numbers using the parks as stopover habitat during migration. Fairmount Park’s considerable impact on biodiversity and habitat led the OTC to approve it as the state’s 82nd Important Bird Area unanimously.

Fairmount Park is an extremely important area for birds and is an ideal site for conducting citizen education, science and policy activities. Numerous threats exist to the many parks making up this system. The greatest threat is the continued loss of habitat due to infrastructure development, recreational development, commercial development, and the sale of parcels.

Residential development threatens the edges of some park areas, and non-native plants and animals cause unknown levels of damage to the habitat and to bird populations directly. Land management activities, such as tree planting or vine removal, are conducted without consideration to the associated impact on bird populations.

Partnerships to be developed in conjunction with these sites will include: City of Philadelphia, Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, Fairmount Park Commission, Heritage Conservancy, Natural Lands Trust, PA Game Commission Wildlife Diversity Program, Schuylkill River Greenway Association, Valley Forge Audubon Society, Wildlands Conservancy, Wyncote Audubon Society, and other local conservation, education and community organizations.

Reprinted with permission from Audubon Pennsylvania’s Summer 2005 newsletter. Photo by Rhonda Poe.

7/29/2005