ABC and The Alliance for Zero Extinction

Pale-headed Brush-finch. Photo: Fundacion Jocotoco

Across the Americas, large numbers of bird species are facing extinction, and more than one hundred of these are now restricted to a single remaining site. It is time for practical, immediate steps to halt this crisis-this is why ABC is dedicating a major effort to the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE), a global initiative of biodiversity conservation organizations, which aims to prevent extinctions by identifying and safeguarding key sites where species are in imminent danger of disappearing. The goal of the Alliance is to create a front line of defense against extinction by eliminating threats and restoring habitat to allow species populations to rebound.

Not only will this initiative help birds, but many other species, along with key watersheds and unique habitats, will also be protected as a result.

In 2001, biodiversity conservation scientists came together over a common concern: that landscape-based conservation approaches alone could not conserve all species, and that many extinctions would occur imminently if key sites were not identified and protected. These concerns led to the formation of AZE, which set about creating a global plan to avoid site-based species extinctions. The Alliance aims to prevent extinctions by identifying and safeguarding key sites, each one of which is the last remaining refuge of one or more Endangered or Critically Endangered species.To date, AZE has identified 595 sites that each represent the last refuges of 794 of the world's most highly threatened species.

From the start, ABC has been a leading member of AZE, identifying key bird sites in the Americas, and helping to coordinate AZE's work. We are also actively involved in conservation at a number of AZE sites.

Dusky Starfrontlet.

In 2004, ABC received a grant of $2.37 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to protect a network of key sites in southern Ecuador and northern Peru, including three AZE sites. The project is being implemented in collaboration with Fundación Jocotoco in Ecuador, and Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos in Peru. ABC has also helped partner groups in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru purchase more than 20,000 acres to create five new private bird reserves, and expand five others for AZE species. These include the Dusky Starfrontlet, Colorful Puffleg, Blue-billed Curassow, Long-whiskered Owlet, Jocotoco Antpitta, and Pale-headed Brush-Finch. One of the Colombian reserves also has the dual benefit of protecting an important wintering population of the declining Cerulean Warbler.

Even when not triggered by a bird species, important bird conservation objectives can be achieved by conserving AZE sites. For example, Mississippi's Pascagoula River, the AZE site for the Yellow-blotched map turtle, is also an ABC Globally Important Bird Area; and Mexico's El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, selected for the salamander Chiropterotriton cracens, is a key site for the globally threatened military macaw.

ABC is currently directly supporting partners throughout the Americas working on bird conservation projects at 19 AZE sites, and we are advancing plans for many more. For information on these and other projects, visit ABC's International Programs

To learn more about AZE visit www.zeroextinction.org