The RSPB is the UK partner of BirdLife International. One of the greatest contributions that the partnership continues to make to global efforts to conserve birds is the identification of the most important places for them. We have a 'just what it says on the tin' name for them - Important Bird Areas (IBAs). News has just been released by the BirdLife Partner is Australia, Birds Australia, of the publication of a new volume 'Australia's Important Bird Areas'. The list of 314 sites covers a mere 44 million hectares, which is 21x the size of Wales or, alternatively, around 55 million football pitches. Here's some more information.
The next challenge for conservationists in Australia, which is shared around the world, is ensuring the IBA network receives effective formal protection. Almost half of this massive network is currently unprotected. In the UK, despite having a thirty-year run up since the Birds Directive came into force, there is still a long way to go to convert knowledge of where the best places are into effective designations. There has been some welcome progress in Scotland but there is a long way to go before the network is fit for purpose both on land and, especially, at sea. Lets hope the Australian authorities have a sense of urgency to match the scale of their special places.