Joint Venture Bird Conservation Plan Partnership NABCI Bird Partnership Workshop Tuesday 20 January 2015

North American Waterfowl Management Plan People Conserving Waterfowl and Wetlands JV, BCPP, NABCI Workshop South Padres Is., TX January 20-23, 2015

 Twenty-eight years ago, the waterfowl management community began implementing a visionary initiative to conserve continental waterfowl populations and habitat – the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP or Plan).  This scientific approach to waterfowl habitat restoration and protection created a new, partnership based model for conservation that has been broadly acclaimed and widely emulated.  NAWMP partners have invested $4 Billion to conserve and restore 15.7 million acres of wetlands, grasslands and other key habitats for ducks, geese and swans shared by Canada, the United States and Mexico.  Many waterfowl populations are now substantially larger than they were 28 years ago.

“A North American Waterfowl Management Plan Committee should be established to: Monitor and update the Plan Coordinate current work and review new proposals and joint ventures Federal, state, provincial and territorial wildlife agencies should provide representation to this Committee Committee would suggest recommendations for actions within the scope of the Plan. It will not have regulatory authority nor alter the functions of flyway councils in the United States” 1986 NAWMP – Plan Committee

PC Working GroupMembership Leadership/Communications/Funding Work Group Gray Anderson [lead], Dean Smith, David Gordon Intetrim Integration CommitteeDale Humburg [lead] and others Public Engagement TeamGray Anderson [lead] and others Science Work GroupMike Anderson [lead], Paul Padding, Jorge Coppen Policy Work GroupR. Milton [lead], Dean Smith NAWMP Awards CommitteeJorge Coppen [lead], Rachel Levin, Elizabeth Roberts (CWS), Bob Ellis Communications and Outreach TeamRachel Levin, Roxanne Bogart, Nathalie L’Ecuyer (CWS)

 “Joint ventures of private and governmental organizations should be considered as an approach to financing high priority research and management projects of international concern that can only be addressed through a pooling of resources.” “Joint ventures should be encouraged as a means for governments and private organizations to cooperate in the planning, funding and implementation of projects to preserve or enhance waterfowl habitat.” “Specific authorization and appropriation of funds by the respective legislative bodies would be required.” Joint venture projects should be implemented through facilitating agreements negotiated and agreed to by all those wishing to participate. A joint venture action group should be established for each joint venture NAWMP – Joint Ventures

 NSST established in late-1999 to serve as the science arm of the NAWMP   A continental technical body that advises the Plan Committee and provides links to other technical groups working on waterfowl conservation  A NAWMP Coordinator position was established to administer the initiative

 A hallmark of NAWMP has been the continual improvement of waterfowl management programs - An ongoing quest for a better way of doing business  For example, the 2007 NAWMP Assessment reviewed Joint Venture conservation programs and offered numerous, specific recommendations for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of Plan activities.  The Joint Ventures rose to this challenge and in many respects adjusted their programs as recommended. The advent of formal decision support models and related monitoring programs has greatly enhanced the ways in which management decisions are made.

NSST

Guidance and leadership to NAWMP JVs and the NSST  NAWMP Updates:  1994: Expanding the commitment ◦ Mexico added as signatory  1998: Expanding the vision ◦ Moving toward landscape conservation ◦ Broadening partnerships  2004: Strengthening the biological foundation  First NAWMP Assessment in 2007  2012: Integrating harvest, habitat, and people

 The PC should ensure development of a clearer and more robust accountability framework for the achievement of NAWMP biological objectives involving all organizational levels in the Plan Community.  Greater integration is required among ecologically linked JVs, the species JVs and their related habitat JVs, and at continental and regional scales…  The NSST should be revitalized to tackle several follow- on assignments from this assessment and from the parallel JTG report on NAWMP population objectives. ◦ The NSST also needs greater human and financial resources to advance its work. Plan partners collectively must accomplish this. NAWMP Continental Progress Assessment 2007

 Increasing engagement in public policy will require development of new funding sources, new expertise, new measures of accomplishment, and new approaches to evaluation.  Policy initiatives should be subjected to the same sort of evaluation rigor as is necessary for traditional wildlife programs.  (Responsibility = JVs with NSST support, PC, national partners, NABCI partners). NAWMP Continental Progress Assessment 2007

 A desire to expand the NAWMP partnership base to meet demands of the future and to secure NAWMP’s relevance in a changing world resulted in the “NAWMP Value Proposition.” NAWMP Value Proposition

Triple-Loop Learning, Adapted from Pahl-Wostl (2009)

Waterfowl management integration: Harvest Habitat & People Objectives for waterfowl populations, waterfowl habitat, and engagement of waterfowl supporters are inseparably linked. Ducks Habitat People “ Re-visioning” of NAWMP

Conceptual model of linking adaptive management cycles among spatial scales. Adaptive cycles should work most rapidly at smaller spatial scales where responses should be detectable relatively quickly (from Humburg and Anderson 2015).

 Develop, Revise or Reaffirm NAWMP Objectives  Integrate Waterfowl Management  Increase Adaptive Capacity  Build Support for Waterfowl Conservation  Establish a Human Dimensions Working Group  Focus Resources on Important Landscapes  Adapt Harvest Management Strategies Recommendations

NAWMP Co-Chairs Members – U.S. Members – Canada Members - Mexico Chair Science and Adaptation Chair (PC member) NSST Chair HMWG Coordinator LFC Chair PET Coordinator HDWG Coordinator NFC Chair/Rep Atlantic Flyway Mississippi Flyway Central Flyway Pacific Flyway PET Coordinator HD Coordinator Joint Ventures

 Mission:  To help strengthen the biological foundations of the NAWMP and facilitate continuous improvement of Plan conservation programs.  Objectives:  1)To foster continuous improvement in the effectiveness of NAWMP actions through the establishment of iterative cycles of planning, implementing and evaluating conservation programs at both continental and JV levels.  2)To conduct large-scale studies of landscape variation and waterfowl demography.  3)To report annually to the NAWMP Committee and Plan partners generally on the status of the biological foundations of the Plan, evaluation results and implications for future conservation activities. NSST Charter

 1)Provide technical input and recommendations to the NAWMP Committee on NAWMP implementation.  2)Facilitate the identification of methods for biological planning and for evaluating Plan performance at continental and regional scales.  3)Act as a forum for discussions and integration of biological planning and evaluation at multiple scales.  4)Facilitate technical information exchange and reporting among JVs and the NAWMP Committee.  5)Help identify and communicate data, monitoring, assessment, and research needs to USGS-BRD, academia, FWS, and other Plan partners.  6)Facilitate technical integration with the Flyway system and other bird initiatives on issues of common interest. NSST Roles

 JV representation on NSST ◦ Priority multi-JV waterfowl science initiatives  JV Implementation Plan Review Committee ◦ Desired characteristics of NAWMP-sanctioned JVs ◦ Recommendations to Plan Committee on endorsement of JVs  NAWMP Science Support Team 5-Year Work Plan A forum for cross-JV science initiatives

 Waterfowl-focused  Transcend the boundaries of individual joint ventures (JV)  multi-regional  Flyway  national or  international ◦ This will continue to be the standard by which we will identify future priorities. The threads that tie NSST priority science and technology needs together is that they are…

Relationships Among Priority Technical Contributions to the 2012 NAWMP 2. Implement recommendations of the NSST Alternative Performance Metrics Committee - methods for setting demographic population objectives at BCR/JV-scales for focal species. Facilitate rolling- up to continental objectives 3. Evaluate the extent to which Daily Ration Models reliably reflect functional carrying capacity of habitats and landscapes for migrating and wintering waterfowl 4. Develop estimates of waterfowl residency times (in spring and fall) and factors affecting them 7. Develop approaches for generating regional waterfowl habitat conservation objectives that account for spatio-temporal variation in environmental and habitat conditions 8. Establish comparable approaches to estimating K in the main breeding areas of North America 9. Develop methods to aggregate BCR/JV-scale estimates of K into an assessment of net NAWMP continental progress 5. Develop migration models parameterized for focal species, groups of species, and migration corridors to support regional habitat conservation decision- making. Integrate with estimates from tasks 3 & Contribute to the development or updating of spatial data by USGS and Environment Canada by organizing a network of on-the-ground observers and an on-line data- logging system

 JVs are THE delivery arm of the NAWMP  Collective contributions meet Plan population and habitat objectives  Quadrennial JV Progress Reports to the PC ◦ Progress toward accomplishment of JV biological goals ◦ Progress with adaptive management and testing key JV planning assumptions ◦ Progress in cooperating and sharing ideas across JV boundaries ◦ The state of the JV partnership Regional partnerships in waterfowl conservation

 General updates of JV planning and implementation  Updates to specific issues raised in the first round of JV progress reports  Specific key issues where the JVs desire PC assistance to enhance progress  Report on actions in relation to recommendations of the NAWMP Action Plan where progress has been made JV Progress reports - next 5 years

 Contribute to multi-JV or larger scale NAWMP science initiatives  Contribute to developing decision support tools ◦ Net landscape change assessment tools/techniques ◦ Conservation mapping tools linking elements of integration ◦ Develop methods for setting demographic population objectives (i.e., vital rates) at BCR/JV-scales ◦ Design and evaluate alternative monitoring programs to assess migratory bird distribution, movement and residency times during migration and winter ◦ Develop methods to aggregate regional-scale (i.e., JV/BCR) estimates of K across multiple species into an assessment of net progress toward meeting NAWMP objectives Multi-regional partnerships in science - NSST