Description: This layer represents *generalized* boundaries of Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Canada. IBAs, in Canada and elsewhere, are evaluated and designated on the basis of internationally recognized and standardized criteria. The polygons contained in the dataset meet these criteria and are therefore deemed significant at the national, continental, or global level. In Canada, IBAs are not legally recognized entities and therefore do not have any regulatory status. Nevertheless, they are extremely useful for conservation planning for birds. In 2004, polygon boundaries were digitized on-screen in ArcView GIS 3.2 using NTDB 1:50K or 1:250K digital layers for reference. If NTDB coverage was not available (e.g., far north), the Digital Chart of the World (1:1M) was used. The boundaries of IBAs in this dataset are intentionally generalized to reflect the importance of the surrounding ecosystem on the values present within IBAs. For example, small islands supporting colonies of seabirds might be buffered by 1 or 2 km to form an IBA. The boundaries of terrestrial IBAs were "fuzzed" in a similar manner. Boundaries for a very small minority of IBAs were available in paper form as part of IBA conservation plans that had been developed previously. In such cases, we visually estimated their boundaries against the NTDB or other base layers. Many IBAs are already recognized as other types of protected areas, e.g., National Wildlife Areas, National and Provincial Parks, Migratory Bird Sanctuaries, conservation reserves, and so on. In these cases, we used digital boundaries from other sources (e.g., WWF Canada's Designated Areas Database, Environment Canada's Canadian Conservation Areas Database) as reference points when digitizing IBA boundaries. In 2009, Bird Studies Canada began a process to update the boundaries of some of our IBAs and to correct others that had been incorrectly delineated in 2004. The recent advent of tools such as Google Earth and other similar mapping tools, and the availabitlity of better topographic and other base data (e.g., Environment Canada's CARTS database of protected areas), have made the updating process much easier and more accurate. As of 2015, ArcGIS 10.2 or higher is being used to create/adjust IBA polygon boundaries. Please cite as follows: Bird Studies Canada and Nature Canada. 2004-2016. Important Bird Areas of Canada Database. Port Rowan, Ontario: Bird Studies Canada. To access the Canadian IBA directory: http://www.ibacanada.com
Description: This layer represents *generalized* boundaries of Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Canada. IBAs, in Canada and elsewhere, are evaluated and designated on the basis of internationally recognized and standardized criteria. The polygons contained in the dataset meet these criteria and are therefore deemed significant at the national, continental, or global level. In Canada, IBAs are not legally recognized entities and therefore do not have any regulatory status. Nevertheless, they are extremely useful for conservation planning for birds. In 2004, polygon boundaries were digitized on-screen in ArcView GIS 3.2 using NTDB 1:50K or 1:250K digital layers for reference. If NTDB coverage was not available (e.g., far north), the Digital Chart of the World (1:1M) was used. The boundaries of IBAs in this dataset are intentionally generalized to reflect the importance of the surrounding ecosystem on the values present within IBAs. For example, small islands supporting colonies of seabirds might be buffered by 1 or 2 km to form an IBA. The boundaries of terrestrial IBAs were "fuzzed" in a similar manner. Boundaries for a very small minority of IBAs were available in paper form as part of IBA conservation plans that had been developed previously. In such cases, we visually estimated their boundaries against the NTDB or other base layers. Many IBAs are already recognized as other types of protected areas, e.g., National Wildlife Areas, National and Provincial Parks, Migratory Bird Sanctuaries, conservation reserves, and so on. In these cases, we used digital boundaries from other sources (e.g., WWF Canada's Designated Areas Database, Environment Canada's Canadian Conservation Areas Database) as reference points when digitizing IBA boundaries. In 2009, Bird Studies Canada began a process to update the boundaries of some of our IBAs and to correct others that had been incorrectly delineated in 2004. The recent advent of tools such as Google Earth and other similar mapping tools, and the availabitlity of better topographic and other base data (e.g., Environment Canada's CARTS database of protected areas), have made the updating process much easier and more accurate. As of 2015, ArcGIS 10.2 or higher is being used to create/adjust IBA polygon boundaries. Please cite as follows: Bird Studies Canada and Nature Canada. 2004-2016. Important Bird Areas of Canada Database. Port Rowan, Ontario: Bird Studies Canada. To access the Canadian IBA directory: http://www.ibacanada.com
Description: This layer represents *generalized* boundaries of Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Canada. IBAs, in Canada and elsewhere, are evaluated and designated on the basis of internationally recognized and standardized criteria. The polygons contained in the dataset meet these criteria and are therefore deemed significant at the national, continental, or global level. In Canada, IBAs are not legally recognized entities and therefore do not have any regulatory status. Nevertheless, they are extremely useful for conservation planning for birds. In 2004, polygon boundaries were digitized on-screen in ArcView GIS 3.2 using NTDB 1:50K or 1:250K digital layers for reference. If NTDB coverage was not available (e.g., far north), the Digital Chart of the World (1:1M) was used. The boundaries of IBAs in this dataset are intentionally generalized to reflect the importance of the surrounding ecosystem on the values present within IBAs. For example, small islands supporting colonies of seabirds might be buffered by 1 or 2 km to form an IBA. The boundaries of terrestrial IBAs were "fuzzed" in a similar manner. Boundaries for a very small minority of IBAs were available in paper form as part of IBA conservation plans that had been developed previously. In such cases, we visually estimated their boundaries against the NTDB or other base layers. Many IBAs are already recognized as other types of protected areas, e.g., National Wildlife Areas, National and Provincial Parks, Migratory Bird Sanctuaries, conservation reserves, and so on. In these cases, we used digital boundaries from other sources (e.g., WWF Canada's Designated Areas Database, Environment Canada's Canadian Conservation Areas Database) as reference points when digitizing IBA boundaries. In 2009, Bird Studies Canada began a process to update the boundaries of some of our IBAs and to correct others that had been incorrectly delineated in 2004. The recent advent of tools such as Google Earth and other similar mapping tools, and the availabitlity of better topographic and other base data (e.g., Environment Canada's CARTS database of protected areas), have made the updating process much easier and more accurate. As of 2015, ArcGIS 10.2 or higher is being used to create/adjust IBA polygon boundaries. Please cite as follows: Bird Studies Canada and Nature Canada. 2004-2016. Important Bird Areas of Canada Database. Port Rowan, Ontario: Bird Studies Canada. To access the Canadian IBA directory: http://www.ibacanada.com
Description: This layer represents *generalized* boundaries of Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Canada. IBAs, in Canada and elsewhere, are evaluated and designated on the basis of internationally recognized and standardized criteria. The polygons contained in the dataset meet these criteria and are therefore deemed significant at the national, continental, or global level. In Canada, IBAs are not legally recognized entities and therefore do not have any regulatory status. Nevertheless, they are extremely useful for conservation planning for birds. In 2004, polygon boundaries were digitized on-screen in ArcView GIS 3.2 using NTDB 1:50K or 1:250K digital layers for reference. If NTDB coverage was not available (e.g., far north), the Digital Chart of the World (1:1M) was used. The boundaries of IBAs in this dataset are intentionally generalized to reflect the importance of the surrounding ecosystem on the values present within IBAs. For example, small islands supporting colonies of seabirds might be buffered by 1 or 2 km to form an IBA. The boundaries of terrestrial IBAs were "fuzzed" in a similar manner. Boundaries for a very small minority of IBAs were available in paper form as part of IBA conservation plans that had been developed previously. In such cases, we visually estimated their boundaries against the NTDB or other base layers. Many IBAs are already recognized as other types of protected areas, e.g., National Wildlife Areas, National and Provincial Parks, Migratory Bird Sanctuaries, conservation reserves, and so on. In these cases, we used digital boundaries from other sources (e.g., WWF Canada's Designated Areas Database, Environment Canada's Canadian Conservation Areas Database) as reference points when digitizing IBA boundaries. In 2009, Bird Studies Canada began a process to update the boundaries of some of our IBAs and to correct others that had been incorrectly delineated in 2004. The recent advent of tools such as Google Earth and other similar mapping tools, and the availabitlity of better topographic and other base data (e.g., Environment Canada's CARTS database of protected areas), have made the updating process much easier and more accurate. As of 2015, ArcGIS 10.2 or higher is being used to create/adjust IBA polygon boundaries. Please cite as follows: Bird Studies Canada and Nature Canada. 2004-2016. Important Bird Areas of Canada Database. Port Rowan, Ontario: Bird Studies Canada. To access the Canadian IBA directory: http://www.ibacanada.com