Seabird Conservation in Northern Patagonia

WCS began working in coastal Patagonia in 1964. Since then, joint efforts with local people have led to the protection of the spectacular colonies of the region’s marine mammals and seabirds, such as the charismatic Magellanic penguins at Punta Tombo. In the 1980s, WCS expanded its efforts to help protect other sites and seabird species, including cormorants, gulls, and terns. Activities include basic and applied research, wildlife monitoring, training locals, and influencing policy. WCS has developed conservation and management recommendations to establish several new coastal protected areas and minimize the effects of human disturbance, pollution, and fisheries on seabird populations.

The Human Aspect
Due to their demographic characteristics and colonial habits, seabirds are highly vulnerable to human activities such as oil extraction and transport, fishing, and other disturbances. Fishing is one of the most important economic activities along the Patagonian coast—over a million tons of fish are harvested annually. Tourism and recreation activities are also growing along the coast. WCS has been working closely with the Argentine provincial governments of Chubut and Río Negro as well as local institutions to undertake conservation research and implement seabird management and protection.

Threats
Current threats to seabird populations include pollution, fisheries, human disturbance, guano harvesting, and the introduction of alien species. Little is known about the way natural and human-related factors affect breeding seabird populations, either directly or indirectly. Despite the importance of seabird populations for marine systems and human economies, a national action plan for seabird conservation is still lacking.  In addition, information on seabird breeding habitat priorities on a regional scale is still insufficient to adequately implement conservation and management tools, such as marine protected areas and integrated coastal management.  

WCS Activities
Changes in the distribution and abundance of seabird species can be of great significance both for coastal and marine ecosystems and for the regional economies that depend on marine resources. Therefore, we are monitoring key species at major breeding locations, particularly within coastal protected areas, and analyzing some of the natural and human-related factors that may affect seabird distribution and abundance. Our research and conservation actions complement WCS projects at other key areas in the Southern Cone (Golfo San Jorge, Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego, and Jason Islands). Increased understanding of factors determining the distribution and size of colonies is helping us design management and conservation strategies for breeding seabirds. WCS also supports and promotes the local participation of Argentine graduate and undergraduate students in project field work, including training in field ecology, wildlife monitoring, and conservation.  

Important Next Steps

• Increase the understanding of seabird breeding distribution and abundance patterns in northern Patagonia (Buenos Aires, Río Negro, and Chubut provinces), and of factors affecting these patterns.
• Continue to provide support to provincial agencies for monitoring key seabird species at important locations in northern Patagonia, particularly coastal protected areas and areas subject to human activities.
• Continue to develop guidelines to ensure conservation and management of these seabird populations and their breeding sites.
• Coordinate actions with other researchers and conservation efforts in Argentina to develop a national action plan to conserve seabird populations.
• Supervise additional Argentine graduate and undergraduate students’ conservation-oriented seabird research projects.