As snows begin and fall comes to a close, I hope you’re all able to take some time and enjoy some of the last warm(?) and sunny days outside before we firmly enter winter. If you’re looking for some places to visit before snow falls in earnest, why not check out our KBA public dashboards to find some amazing places near you for birds or other biodiversity?
For KBA Canada, the work identifying KBAs continues across the country, with a new face joining the team (see below). For our KBA Coordinators, colder weather and the end of most field seasons means more time talking to experts about potential KBAs. If you have some new findings from the summer field season that you think might be relevant to the KBA program, reach out to one of our KBA coordinators. Work in Alberta and Saskatchewan is also quickly picking up steam, and we’re very excited to soon highlight some of the incredible places in these regions.
Stay tuned next month for a special holiday message from our KBA Canada Director, but until then, enjoy the outdoors and find a KBA near you!
Want to join the KBA Canada team? The Université de Sherbrooke group identifying KBAs in Québec is looking for a French-speaking research professional to help with the work there. This is a full-time position for 6 months, with the possibility of extension, application period open until Dec 3rd!
We’re excited to welcome a new member to the team, Jeff Driscoll. Jeff is Birds Canada’s Key Biodiversity Area Technician, and will support the transition of the Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) Program to the KBA Program. Jeff has experience in the non-profit and academic sectors, and he is excited to grow his skills and apply his previous experience to support KBA identification.
The NatureServe EBAR team is expecting to publish the first batch of reviewed maps for the year imminently. So far in 2021, the team has assigned 160 KBA-priority species maps for review, and completed 40 expert reviews. More reviewers are joining the project on a daily basis, and the EBAR team continues to actively seek additional participants.
Our regional coordinators in both British Columbia et Québec recently gave some updates about the work in these regions. Check out their presentations for more about the work going on there.
In case you missed it, October was a month filled with exciting KBA content. WCS Canada’s Dr. Justina Ray gave an inspiring keynote presentation to the Ontario Land Trust Alliance’s Digital Gathering on barriers and opportunities for addressing biodiversity loss, and KBA Canada’s first monthly webinar explored the huge potential for how KBAs can shape conservation.
On Wednesday, Nov 24, 9am-9:45am Pacific / 12:00pm-12:45pm Eastern, KBA Canada enters the classroom! Join as KBA Canada’s own Peter Soroye brings students on a virtual trip to some of the most exciting KBAs being identified across Canada. Watch on Youtube here.
The KBA monthly webinar series continues on Thursday, Nov 25, 9am-10am Pacific / 12pm-1pm Eastern. In part 1 of a two-part mini-series on engaging people in conservation through KBAs, Birds Canada’s Ontario Coordinator and Caretakers from Ontario and BC will explore the successes and lessons learned from the IBA Caretaker program. Find more info and RSVP here.
As mentioned above, work in Alberta and Saskatchewan is picking up steam! Stay tuned for upcoming outreach webinars in both provinces, and send us an email if you’d like to find out more about the work going on here.
The recordings for all past webinars can be found on our website.
Keep an eye on this section for next time, when we take a virtual visit to some of our KBAs in Yukon!
In the meantime, check out the blog section on our KBA Canada website, to see past newsletter features, including spotlights on some of our KBA Canada team members.
We are always looking for more experts to join the growing network of people that inform the KBA process. If you are a species or taxonomic specialist, or if you have a special knowledge of a particular site or region and would like to be a part of an upcoming expert KBA workshop, contact us at KBA Canada.
As always, please get in touch if you have questions or if you want to learn more.
Peter Soroye
Canada Key Biodiversity Areas Assessment and Outreach Coordinator / Coordonnateur de l’évaluation et de la sensibilisation des zones clés pour la biodiversité
