Bahía Lomas: Ramsar Site (Chile)

Abstract

Designated as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 2004 and Site of Hemispheric Importance by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network in 2009, Bahía Lomas is among the most important wetlands for shorebirds in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located near the end of the Southern Hemisphere, in the island of Tierra del Fuego, in Chile. The bay is known especially as the most important site in South America for the red knot Calidris canutus rufa and the second most important for the Hudsonian godwit Limosa haemastica, with significant numbers of Magellanic Oystercatcher Haematopus leucopodus, white-rumped sandpiper C. fuscicollis, two-banded plover Charadrius falklandicus, least seedsnipe Thinocorus rumicivorus, and Magellanic plover Pluvianellus socialis. The site has its own Management Plan which was developed as part of a process of good governance. This Plan contains the actions, strategies, and programs necessary to achieve the effective conservation of this Ramsar Site. In this context, the Bahía Lomas Center (“Centro Bahía Lomas” in Spanish), is part of the effective conservation of Bahia Lomas, and is one of the strategic objectives of the Management Plan. The main threats for the site are related to activities that could produce oil pollution or other chemicals. Future challenges are being addressed from the “Centro Bahía Lomas” maintaining and strengthening ecological monitoring programs and the implementation of actions from the Management Plan, to ensure the conservation of this Ramsar Site and species associated with this wetland of international importance.