Council Resolution 96-02
Distribution: General
C/96-00/RES/01/Rev.6
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
Toronto, August 2nd, 1996
Cooperation for the Conservation of the Birds of North America
THE COUNCIL:
CONSIDERING that more than a thousand species of birds are found in North America and that more than 250 species of migratory birds depend upon the different ecosystems in Canada, the United States and Mexico;
AWARE that many of these species and their habitats require action for their conservation;
RECOGNIZING the growing economic importance of activities related to birds such as, bird watching, bird feeding and eco-tourism;
CONSCIOUS that some groups of birds are the subject of bilateral treaties entered into by the Parties to the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), yet increased efforts are necessary to ensure their conservation;
RECOGNIZING the existence of arrangements among the Parties to protect birds, such as the North American Waterfowl Management Plan and the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network Program;
ACKNOWLEDGING and building on the work of various public and private organizations, such as the Trilateral Committee for Conservation and Management of Ecosystems, and Partners in Flight, who have identified, documented and expressed the importance of the conservation of birds and are engaged in initiatives to conserve them;
BUILDING on the Program “Cooperation for the Conservation of the Birds of North America”, developed by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), and on the efforts of the CEC to facilitate the establishment of a North American Network of Important Bird Areas;
STRESSING the need to develop common strategies for the conservation of the birds of North America, in accordance with the laws, programs and economic and social needs of each Party;
HEREBY:
REITERATES its commitment to the conservation of the birds of North America;
RECOGNIZES that Long Point (Ontario, Canada), el Carricito del Huichol (Jalisco, Mexico) and the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area (Arizona, United States of America) have been identified by experts, according to criteria recognized by the CEC, as sites important to the conservation of North American birds;
ENCOURAGES the Parties to the NAAEC to consider these three areas as pilot sites for the development of cooperative efforts to conserve these and other areas critical to conservation of birds in North America;
ESTABLISHES the working group, which will operate according to the terms of reference attached to this resolution and be comprised of two representatives from each Party and one representative of a non-governmental organization from each country, to develop, within a period of 12 months and in collaboration with the Secretariat of the CEC, a recommended strategy and an action plan based on a set of goals, objectives and approaches for the conservation of the birds of North America.
APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL:
(S) Carol M. Browner
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Carol M. Browner
Government of the United States of America
(S) Julia Carabias
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Julia Carabias
Government of the United Mexican States
(S) Sergio Marchi
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Sergio Marchi
Government of Canada
Cooperation for the Conservation of the Birds of North America