Transportation and Natural Resources
Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Program
BCP Designated as Global Important Bird Area
On Wednesday, February 18, at 10:00 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, members from the National Audubon Society and BirdLife International will announce the designation of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserves (BCP) as a Global Important Bird Area (GIBA) to the Balcones Coordinating Committee. Local partners include; The City of Austin, Travis County, Lower Colorado River Authority, Travis Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy.
The BCP is of global significance because it is the nesting site for two endangered birds, the Golden Cheeked Warbler and the Black Capped Vireo. The Golden Cheeked Warbler nests only in Texas and the BCP contains vital nesting areas along the Balcones Escarpment. The Black Capped Vireo also nests in the BCP but not in the numbers of the Warbler. The Important Bird Areas (IBA) is a global effort to identify and conserve areas that are vital to birds and other biodiversity. In the United States only 332 IBA's have the Global IBA designation 18 of which are in Texas. Each IBA must have extensive documentation and provide habitat for a globally threatened or endangered species.
The purpose of the IBA program is to identify and protect a network of sites to help maintain naturally occurring bird populations for which a site-based approach is appropriate. IBA’s are places of significance for the conservation of birds across multiple landscape scales, and they are chosen using standardized, credible criteria based on biological common sense. IBA’s include sites for species during the breeding and non-breeding seasons.
The BCP is a system of preserves that exists as a multi-agency conservation effort operating under a permit issued under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The permit was issued jointly to the BCP's two managing partners, the City of Austin and Travis County, in 1996. Ultimately, the goal is to set aside 30,428 acres in western Travis County as habitat for eight endangered species two neotropical migratory songbirds, six karst invertebrates and 27 species of concern.
For more information contact:
Kevin Buchman, Public Affairs Office
City of Austin Water Utility
(512) 972-0151; pager 802-8959
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 7:36 AM
