Management Plans and Prioritization

Pacific Rim Conservation biologists have written or been involved in the development and writing of various natural resource management plans and exercises for prioritizing conservation actions and selecting among alternatives. We can use this experience to help you determine conservation goals and priorities, develop long-term management plans, and implement short-term work plans.

• Identification of Important Birds Areas (IBAs) in the Hawaiian Islands, in collaboration with the National Audubon Society (see http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/index.html) and BirdLife International (see http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/sites_programme.html). Report 59
  
  
• Eric and Lindsay were contracted by Island Conservation (www.islandconservation.org) to coordinate an assessment and prioritization of sites on Department of Defense lands for predator-proof fencing, including site visits with Xcluder Pest-proof Fencing from New Zealand (http://www.xcluder.co.nz/). Report 62
  
  Assisting the Offshore Islands Restoration Committee with monitoring sea bird populations on Lehua Islet and other offshore islets, and development of management goals (see http://www.hawaiioirc.org/OIRC-ISLETS.htm). Report 47
  

• Selecting the best management strategy for the Po`ouli (Melamprosops phaeosoma) using structured decision analysis. Although this species may now be exctinct, this ranking exercise can serve as a valuable example for other managers faced with difficult decisions involving critically endangered species. Report 39
  
  
• Eric VanderWerf is the leader of the Hawaiian Forest Bird Recovery Team, which recently completed a comprehensive revision of the recovery plan for 20 species of endangered forest birds in the Hawaiian Islands. (http://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/endangered/recovery/HFBRevRP2006.htm) Working groups within the team also produced a series of concise 2-3 page documents to help guide and focus recovery efforts for individual endangered forest bird species.

Project Coordination

Pacific Rim Conservation offers complete coordination services to implement conservation projects. This can include all aspects of project management, including coordination of interested parties, meeting facilitation, subcontracting vendors, assisting with compliance documents, developing management plans and monitoring protocols, and assisting with public outreach.

• Lindsay is currently the coordinator for the Kaena Point Ecosystem Restoration Project, which will be installing the first predator proof fence in the U.S. at Kaena Point on Oahu, Hawaii. This project is a collaboration with the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Xcluder Pest-proof Fencing, and the Wildlife Society Hawaii Chapter. Coordination has involved assisting with completing regulatory and compliance documents, contracting and managing a public outreach campaign, development of a contract for the fencing vendor, assisting with the designing of a predator eradication plan, and designing and implementing pre- and post-eradication biological monitoring, and facilitating regular meetings between all stakeholders.
  
  Fence construction is scheduled to begin in March 2010, with predator eradication to follow.
  Visit the web site at: http://www.restorekaena.org