INTRODUCTION

For millennia, ducks, geese and swans have migrated across our landscapes in an annual ritual that evokes a sense of wonder at the forces, mysterious yet consistent, that send millions of birds the length of continents and back again. Yet, among conservationists, the mystery of bird migration is accompanied by the certain knowledge that these species are dependent upon a complex and increasingly vulnerable chain of habitats extending across international borders. Underlying the spectacle of migration is a challenge of unprecedented proportions – the conservation of a migratory resource at national, multinational and intercontinental scales.

The conservation of these migratory birds is dependent on a wide range of initiatives, ones that transcend international borders, sectors of the economy, academic disciplines, environmental funding traditions and management of landscapes.

Birds have historically fascinated people not only as a food source, which has sometimes been easy to harvest (e.g. in the case of flightless or colonial birds) but also for cultural, religious and decorative reasons. However, during recent decades there has been a significant shift in the relationships between people and wildlife, and birds in particular.

In this chapter, we look at some national and many international conservation programmes and policies that reflect a global concern for the sustainable use or protection of bird biodiversity.

THE NEED FOR A CONSERVATION FOCUS

Conservation policies concerning birds have, in the past, been characterised by a focus on protection of a single species or use with little regard to the systematic conservation of birds and their habitat.