International Action Plan for the Northern Bald Ibis

The International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Northern Bald Ibis was originally approved by the 3rd Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (MOP3) in 2005, and will guide conservation work on the species until 2025.

The goal of the action plan is to restore the Northern Bald Ibis to a favourable conservation status. It is aimed to downlist the species from the globally threatened categories on the IUCN Red List and from Column A, category 1 of AEWA Table 1

The main focus under the Action Plan is increase the population size and breeding range of the species. To meet this goal, the following four objectives (to be achieved by 2025) are set out in the plan:

• Increase reproductive success
• Reduce adult/juvenile morality
• Establish new colonies
• Fill key knowledge gaps

For each objective the action plan sets out specific indicators, means of verification, priority and timescale in addition to specific activities needed to achieve the desired results.

Agreed principles guiding the implementation include the establishment of the AEWA Northern Bald Ibis International Working Group, which regularly assesses the efficiency of conservation measures. Each range state is urged to consider supporting on-the-ground conservation measures for the species along the Nothern bald ibis flyways that traverse its territory.

The Action Plan is to be updated every five years with the next update planned for 2020. The updating process will be lead by the International Working Group. The overall coordination of the international implementation of the Action Plan is being led by the Northern bald ibis Coordinator currently based at the The RSPB.