The Partners in Flight 2016 Landbird Conservation Plan has been out for about a year this month. With the passing of this anniversary, the PIF network can claim several bold steps forward that deliver the plan for on the ground actions that are good for birds. One of our recent major accomplishments was the launching of this website a few months ago. The site provides quick and easy one-stop shopping for bird conservation resources, news, events, contacts and stories from the field. We now have a way for you to receive news and updates in your mailboxes too; many of you may be seeing this post as one of those updates. Let me know what you think. If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s easy. Sign up in the box at right (on the Conservation News page) with your name and email address.
As the website was in final development stages, the PIF Steering Committee was busy thinking about a new governance system for us. While that may sound a bit boring, the new governance system allows PIF to better deliver the 2016 plan – the PIF Executive and Steering Committees are smaller but have working groups addressing six main focus areas: public lands management, private lands conservation, better integration with Joint Ventures, full annual cycle issues, building a birder constituency and advancing bird conservation science. In addition, regional working groups are active for bird conservation. Through Flyway nongame tech section meetings, PIF is engaging with states and state issues. Thanks to the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies and many other partners, the Avian Conservation Assessment Database (previously known as the PIF species assessment database) has reached a major milestone and has assessment scores available for species across the hemisphere.
Our next major international conference, PIF VI, will be held in Costa Rica October 30 through November 3 this year. The agenda is packed with outstanding conservation discussions, science paper sessions and much more that will move PIF’s vision and objectives forward across the full annual cycle of birds.
The PIF Steering Committee meets September 8 through 10 in Salt Lake City, Utah to ensure these multiple efforts have cohesion and discuss our next best steps forward. If you’re in the area, come by and join us. Anywhere you may be, stop and think about plugging in to our exciting work in PIF – by joining working groups or other means. And, sign in on the website for updates to stay engaged. A lot is happening, I hope you will consider being part of it.