North American Wetlands Conservation Act: Contributions to Bird Conservation in Coastal Areas of the U.S.

The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) was passed in 1989, and has been instrumental in restoring, protecting, and enhancing 3.5 million has of wetland and associated habitats across North America. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which NAWCA projects have addressed the priority habitat needs expressed by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP), Partners in Flight (PIF), and U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan (USSCP) regional plans in coastal regions of the U.S., by comparing the habitat conservation activities described in approved NAWCA proposals with the habitat priorities outlined in the three bird plans. Assessment of 116 approved NAWCA proposals revealed a significant effect of bird initiative and geographic region on project scores, whereas time period (pre-2001, post-2001) had no effect. Several high priority habitat types, such as coastal wetlands (palustrine and estuarine), forest wetlands, flooded agricultural habitat, and diked marsh, were well represented in NAWCA projects. These habitats support a number of waterfowl, shorebird, songbird, and other species. Some habitats, however, were underrepresented by coastal NAWCA projects, including beach/barrier island habitats, tidal wetlands, riparian forest, and pocosins. Continued coordination and cooperation among bird conservation partners should help ensure that NAWCA continue and increase its contributions to wetland associated bird habitat conservation.