Palau publishes IBA directory

The Palau Conservation Society (PCS, BirdLife in Palau) has recently published the book Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Palau. The Republic of Palau is a small island nation in the tropical western Pacific, and the westernmost island group in the sub-region known as Micronesia.

The book, which describes the eight IBAs that have been identified by PCS and partners, will be distributed to decision-makers, traditional leaders, communities, land-owners and visitors. The identification of IBAs is expected to contribute to the on-going identification and management of protected areas in Palau.

“The eight IBAs identified in the new book cover about 47% of Palau’s total land area. Two of these sites, the remote southwest islands of Fana and Helen, are significant for their congregations of seabirds, especially Great Crested Terns Sterna bergii and Black Noddies Anous minutus”, said Dr Elizabeth Matthews, PCS Chief Program Officer.

“Three of the other sites are on Babeldaob, Palau’s largest island. These sites are important habitats for endemic forest birds”, noted Dr Matthews. Ngeriungs, an island in the Kayangel atoll, has Palau’s largest known population of Endangered Micronesian Megapodes Megapodius laperouse. The Rock Islands, Palau’s primary diving and recreation destination, was identified as an IBA for the presence of Micronesian Megapodes, as well as restricted-range, endemic forest birds.

Ngeruktabel, one of the largest of the Rock Islands and Peleliu (another IBA) were the only two places in Palau where all of the country’s nine endemic species were found. This included Near-Threatened Palau Ground-dove Gallicolumba canifrons, Palau Fruit-dove Ptilinopus pelewensis, Palau Scops-owl Otus podarginus, Palau Swiftlet Collocalia pelewensis, Palau Fantail Rhipidura lepida, Palau Bush-warbler Cettia annae, Near-Threatened Giant White-eye Megazosterops palauensis, Dusky White-eye Zosterops finschii and Morningbird Colluricincla tenebrosa.

“The publication of Important Bird Areas in Palau is a milestone in protecting Palau’s unique biodiversity” —Dr Lincoln Fishpool, BirdLife’s Global IBA Coordinator

The efforts that led up to the publication of this book began in 2003 when the Palau Conservation Society launched the Palau IBAs Programme. “The publication of Important Bird Areas in Palau is a milestone in protecting Palau’s unique biodiversity”, said Dr Lincoln Fishpool, BirdLife’s Global IBA Coordinator.

The IBAs Programme in Palau was initiated in collaboration with the BirdLife International Partnership, and through financial assistance from the European Commission for the implementation of a regional project to test the Important Bird Area approach in islands in the Pacific. Other islands that initiated similar projects include Fiji, New Caledonia, and French Polynesia. Important Bird Areas in Palau was published by the Palau Conservation Society, with support from BirdLife International, the European Commission, the Darwin Initiative and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.