The Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology Laboratory (TWEL) hosted Greg Soulliere and Mohammed Al-Saffar from the Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes (UMR&GLR) Joint Venture science office in early April 2018. Greg and Mohammed, along with Drs. Chris Tonra (TWEL) and Robert Gates (TWEL) rolled out the Joint Venture's new waterfowl and waterbird conservation strategies, and discussed the biological foundations of all-bird habitat conservation planning, including the current land bird and shorebird conservation strategies. There was lively discussion about incorporating human dimensions and ecosystem goods and services goals into the biological planning of bird conservation at the landscape scale during an afternoon session held at the 4-H center on the campus of The Ohio State University.
The workshop reconvened at the U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station in Delaware, OH on the morning of April 6. Matt Shumar, coordinator of the Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative was a featured speaker along with Greg Soulliere and Mohammed Al-Saffar. Presentations and discussions focused on "stepping down" (i.e. applying) the Joint Venture's regional bird conservation strategies to Ohio, and informing the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife's (ODW) new tactical plans. The workshop was attended by 33 attendees representing 11 different agencies/NGO's over the 2-day workshop who partner in bird conservation initiatives across Ohio. The workshop was supported and developed with funds provided through an annual agreement between TWEL and ODW. Participants left the workshop better informed about the process of strategic bird habitat conservation planning and with enthusiasm for coordinating their separate efforts to conserve bird populations and habitats across the Ohio landscape.
