You are invited to our monthly From the Field Webinar series on Thursdays. Click here to view the library of past webinars.
To learn more about sponsoring a webinar, please contact Kate Fitzwilliams at 608-617-6002.
Save the date for our upcoming webinars!
Celebrating 50 Years and Our Partnership With Endangered Wildlife Trust
On June 15 at 12 p.m. Central Time, our President and CEO Rich Beilfuss will join the CEO of the Endangered Wildlife Trust Yolan Friedmann to celebrate our organizations’ joint 50th anniversaries. We will share the history of our partnership and the creation of the joint African Crane Conservation Program, past successes and our plans for the future.
Yolan and Rich will be joined by our Vice President – Africa Program Kerryn Morrison, East Africa Regional Manager Adalbert Aine-omucunguzi and Southern African Floodplains Regional Manager Mwape Sichilongo.
Co-Sponsored by Maggie and Bob Honig and Tom and Karen Scheidt, longtime supporters of the International Crane Foundation, who have seen every From the Field Webinar.
On July 13 at 7 p.m. Central Time, our Breeding and Stopover Area Program Manager Zhang Qi will present, Conservation of the Western White-naped Crane Population in China.
The Western White-naped Crane Population has significantly declined over the last decade from 3,000 to less than 1,000 individuals. The species’ main breeding sites in Mongolia and wintering sites at Poyang Lake, China, are relatively well protected. However, protecting stopover sites like Bohai Bay in eastern China is also very important. Due to coastal development and climate change, the Bohai Bay wetlands have been seriously degraded, reducing the available habitats for cranes and other migratory birds.
In 2013, the International Crane Foundation, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Wildlife Sciences and Conservation Center of Mongolia, and Center for East Asian-Australasian Flyway Studies (CEAAF) jointly launched the White-naped Crane Satellite Tracking Project. Through this research, we found for the first time that the Shandian River Basin in Northeastern China is the most critical stopover area for the Western White-naped Crane population. More than 80 percent of cranes in the study stopped in this area.
In August 2022, we also discovered that the most extensive breeding area for the Western White-naped Crane population is the westernmost breeding location for Red-crowned Cranes in Xilin Gol, Inner Mongolia, China. However, there are no official protected areas in this region. As a result, the local protection base needs to be stronger, and there needs to be more understanding of the area’s White-naped Crane population and habitat utilization.
Sponsored by Diane Crookham-Johnson.