Important Bird Areas in Antarctica

This project has its origins in an initiative taken more than ten years ago by BirdLife International and the Bird Biology Sub-committee of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) to identify sites within the
Antarctic region that meet the criteria defined by BirdLife for internationally Important Bird Areas (IBAs). This initiative consulted widely within the Antarctic scientific community and held several workshops, resulting in an initial list of sites meeting the criteria. A number of gaps remained in the analysis, for example because data were not available at the time for several species, and after a hiatus the project was re-initiated by BirdLife with a view to completing the list for the Antarctic.