About - History
In June of 1999, government leaders from Canada, the United States and Mexico approved a strategy to encourage international cooperation to conserve the continent’s bird species, thereby launching the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI).
The Landbird Habitat Program was established in 2004 by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Wildlife Habitat Canada/Wetland Habitat Fund, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Canada when ground-breaking analysis of bird research revealed that urgent action was needed to help conserve populations of several species of landbirds.
This program was modeled after and is complementary to the existing wetland focused conservation and stewardship programs of the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture in Ontario (OEHJV). As such OEHJV partners expanded their activities to protect more than just wetland dependent bird species, incorporating the vision and goals of the the existing wetland focused conservation and stewardship programs of NABCI.
In Ontario, the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture (EHJV) program had been traditionally aimed at the conservation of wetland habitats and associated birds, but an equivalent program for landbirds and their habitats was lacking. The partners of the Landbird Habitat Program are interested in conserving all bird groups in all habitats and so the desire to create a program to fill this gap was born.
Partners determined a focus for landbird project efforts in and around selected areas of significant bird habitat within Bird Conservation Region (BCR) 13 (Lower Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Plain), particularly Carolinian Canada. Identification of target regions included private lands closely associated with Important Bird Areas, provincially significant wetlands, critical habitats for species at risk, National Wildlife Areas and provincial wildlife management areas, national and provincial parks, and nature reserves and protected areas owned by conservation agencies. Landbird priorities and recommended actions for this conservation work were also identified through the Partners in Flight planning initiative for BCR 13 (Lower Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Plain).
