West Virginia Partners in Flight is a partnership of organizations and individuals committed to the conservation of wild birds and their habitats through management, research monitoring, information and education. West Virginia Partners in Flight Working Group is divided into three committees: Research & Monitoring, Management & Conservation and Information & Education. Each committee is made up of individuals representing universities, state and federal government agencies, conservation groups and the business community from around the State. The West Virginia Working Group, organized in 1994, has ambitious plans. Future activities will focus on identifying and mapping areas of significant breeding populations of priority' birds, contacting landowners and developing management plans for these areas. Improved monitoring of priority birds and researching species that are not well understood are also on the agenda.

 

The WV IBA program aims to identify and conserve sites throughout the state that contain significant habitats for breeding, wintering, and migrating birds. Sites are selected as Important Bird Areas, or IBA's using scientifically defensible, standardized criteria. By focusing more attention on the most essential and vulnerable areas the WV IBA program will help to promote proactive habitat conservation, playing an integral part in other national efforts such as Partners in Flight and the North American Bird Conservation Initiative. The information gathered in the process of identifying IBA's will guide land use planning and resource management decisions, so that birds and their habitat needs are taken into account.

 

Critical to the success of the WV IBA program is the participation of many partner organizations, professional ornithologists, birders, students, and volunteers. Only through the building of a strong network of grassroots support, in a participatory process, will the program be successful.

For More Information: http://www.partnersinflight.org/

The West Virginia Partners In Flight Newsletter, Fall 03
(PDF format, 162KB)

The West Virginia Partners In Flight Newsletter, Spring 03
(PDF format, 281KB)

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