Abstract

This book provides a concise summary of the 2345 Important Bird Areas in the Americas. The inventory represents a participative consensus on the most important sites for bird and biodiversity conservation in the hemisphere, in what is probably the most comprehensive assessment of its kind to be published. Since the beginning of the IBA program in North America in 1995, sites have now been identified in all 57 countries or territories in the region, totalling more than 3,250,000 kmý. Thousands of people were involved in the creation of this book; from the Caribbean, North, Central and South America, and at least 150 governmental and non-governmental organizations. The book is at once a high level awareness-raising publication; a decision-making toolfor national and hemispheric biodiversity management and planning; and a portfolio of funding opportunities for potential donors