Resources
Prior Workshops
Workshop 1 · 7-8 JULY 2020
This workshop convened 122 virtual attendees from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, representing NGOs, state agencies, U.S. joint ventures, and academic institutions, to garner their expert wisdom on the best approaches available for identifying limiting factors.
Workshop 2 · 1-3 December 2020
This workshop convened over 300 virtual attendees to build a vision for new science on priority species that focuses on identifying linked populations, understanding limiting factors, and pinpointing specific causes of decline.
Workshop 3 · 27-29 July 2021
This workshop brought together a total of 511 participants to explore how social science, communications and co-production can be incorporated into recovery of species on the brink and to reduce the gap between research and conservation action. We developed a process for advancing species towards sustainable population recovery, beginning with Tipping Point Species.
Prior Engagement Sessions
Session 1 · 13 December 2021
Development of the R2R Guidance Document
The R2R Guidance Document developed during this session illustrates the Road to Recovery process—still being refined— to recover declining species by bringing together natural science, social science, communications, and principles of co-production. The phases of the Road to Recovery process included in this document include examples presented during the third workshop in July 2021.
Session 2 · 10 June 2022
R2R Introduction and Listening Session for State Governments
R2R recognizes the fundamental role state agencies and land management entities play in successfully recovering bird populations. Ken Rosenberg, lead author on the Science paper, outlined our continuing R2R growth. Edwin Juarez (Arizona Game and Fish) and Sarah Kendrick (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, previously Missouri Department of Conservation) outlined calls to action specifically designed for states to address rapid species declines and further engage with R2R via research, RAWA, SWAPs, and Southern Wings.
Session 3 · 12 August 2022
Developing the Process of Recovery for North American Birds
This session focused on four pilot species (Lesser Yellowlegs, Evening Grosbeak, Golden-winged Warbler, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo) initially funded by R2R to demonstrate the steps of moving species through the recovery process. Lightning talks by each focal species working group outlined: 1) where their species is in the recovery process, 2) the objectives of their R2R-funded pilot project, and 3) how they anticipate application of the R2R process will advance the recovery of their species.
Mountain Plover photo by Michael Wunder
The road to Recovery
Guidance Document
In 2019 Rosenberg et. al. documented the loss of nearly 3 billion birds from U.S./Canada avifauna. Road to Recovery’s response and vision is to use targeted and actionable science to recover declining bird populations before they become extinct. We take a species-specific approach to mitigate threats and ensure sustained recovery of the most at-risk species. Bird conservation is inextricably linked to human activities and well-being via shared resource concerns, and we therefore embrace fully incorporating human dimensions in the recovery process. We challenge ourselves to continue to learn to effectively integrate the social sciences, co-production, communications, community engagement, and social justice in each step of the recovery process.
Collaborations and Partnerships are Critical to Our Success
Collaborations with diverse conservation initiatives like Partners in Flight (PIF) and the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) are critical to our success. R2R will work closely with established PIF working groups to assess species vulnerability and urgency, understand science gaps, increase social science capacity, and advance the efforts of species working groups. Likewise, R2R will collaborate with NABCI’s sub-committees to strategically meet conservation targets across the full annual cycle, advance human dimensions, and address environmental justice issues as they relate to bird conservation. These collaborative efforts will provide a unified approach to recover Tipping Point Species.
- 3 Billion Birds Gone
- Avian Conservation Assessment Database
- Birds of Conservation Concern
- Central Grasslands Roadmap
- North American Bird Conservation Initiative (U.S.)
- North American Waterfowl Management Plan
- Partners in Flight
- Southern Wings
- State of the Birds
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Species Data Explorer
- U.S. Geological Survey- Species of Greatest Conservation Need
- Waterbird Conservation for the Americas
- Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network
