Bonaire’s Cargill Salt Ponds named as area of regional importance
CARGILL SALT Ponds on the island of Bonaire have been named as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) site of Regional Importance.
This is only the second WHSRN site in the Caribbean, following the Cabo Rojo Salt Flats in southwestern Puerto Rico. A release from BirdsCaribbean said that they were happy to collaborate with Cargill Salt Bonaire B.V., owners of the site, on the nomination of the salt ponds for WHSRN status. The process began with surveys during 2015.
The privately owned salt production facility in southern Bonaire consists mainly of artificial wetlands covering 2,700 hectares. These ponds fill up with brine shrimp, while brine flies cover the dikes running between them. For migratory shorebirds stopping over or wintering in the area, this is a delicious menu. The Caribbean is a vital link on the Atlantic Flyway, so the protection of sites such as these is critical.
The WHSRN designates important habitats in the Americas with the aim of protecting and sustaining the region’s shorebirds. Cargill Salt Ponds Bonaire is the 103rd site to join the network and the first site in the Dutch Caribbean. WHSRN sites cover nearly 15 million hectares (38 million acres) in 17 countries. The Bonaire site is also a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance and forms part of an Important Bird Area (IBA).
“This was a fantastic team effort that involved international and local partners,” said Lisa Sorenson, executive director of BirdsCaribbean.
“We are grateful to the staff and volunteers from WILD CONSCIENCE, STINAPA Bonaire, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, who worked so hard gathering data. Environment and Climate Change Canada provided major funding. We are also grateful to the US Forest Service, International Programs and to Manomet for their assistance and support for the nomination.”
GOOD NEWS
This WHSRN designation is especially good news for the endangered Red Knot. This sturdy bird is a long-distance traveller, flying up to 19,000 miles annually from the Arctic to southern Chile and Argentina. Like many of the 70 species of migrating shorebirds worldwide, this bird’s numbers are falling. The rufa subspecies has declined 80 per cent over the last 20 years, while other species such as the Semipalmated Sandpiper have also seen major declines. The coastal estuaries, wetlands, rivers, beaches, and mud flats, where shorebirds stop and feed on their journeys, are disappearing due to development. Other threats to these fragile populations include predators, pollution, hunting, and the global impact of climate change.
BirdsCaribbean surveys revealed that more than 20,000 shorebirds of 17 different