Nomination Process
How to Nominate Your Site
If your site is eligible to become a WHSRN site, you are ready to begin the Nomination Process.
Prepare
- Contact the WHSRN Executive Office before you start completing the nomination form to ensure good communication and support throughout the process.
- Engage with stakeholders, collect letters of commitment or support, and complete the nomination form.
Letters should be addressed to:
Rob Clay, Director of WHSRN Executive Office
Manomet, Inc.
P.O. Box 1770
Manomet, Massachusetts 02345 USA
rclay@manomet.org
For sample letters or assistance with species population estimates, please write to whsrn@manomet.org.
- Confirm you have compiled all required materials and information by reviewing the nomination form and the nomination checklist.
Submit
- Submit all documents to the WHSRN Executive Office at whsrn@manomet.org. For potential sites in the United States see the information below.
- WHSRN Executive Office staff will review the nomination, including the shorebird data, to verify completeness and accuracy and to ensure that the biological and responsible entity criteria have been met.
Review
- The WHSRN Executive Office will then send the nomination for review by independent experts knowledgeable about the region and the shorebird species involved. These experts will provide a recommendation within 45 days regarding the nomination.*
- If questions arise during the review process, additional information may be requested from the nominators.
- The completed nomination package (technical form, commitment letters and independent reviews) are submitted by the Executive Office to the WHSRN Hemispheric Council for final consideration for designation. This may be done electronically or at the time of a meeting of the Hemispheric Council.
* For sites nominated in countries with national WHSRN Councils or Committees, the independent review process will be closely coordinated with those bodies, as outlined in the tabs below.
If your site is in the United States:
All nominations are simultaneously sent to the WHSRN Executive Office and the chair of the WHSRN-USA Committee. The WHSRN-USA Committee responds to the nominator with acknowledgment or receipt. The review is to be completed in no more than 60 days.
The Chair distributes the nomination to reviewers for recommendations. If questions about the nomination arise, the Chair will work with the WHSRN Executive Office to get additional information or, if needed, technical support. The review team will vary depending on the site location, but each nomination will be reviewed by three of the five following individuals:
- A WHSRN-USA committee member
- The National Coordinator of the Shorebird Plan
- The regional shorebird plan coordinator or other regional shorebird biologist
- Audubon’s State, or National, Important Bird Areas Coordinator, and
- A shorebird population biologist to help evaluate the numerical criteria
If all three reviewers are concordant in their opinions about a site, then the site nomination moves forward. If reviewers are not concordant in their reviews, then two additional reviews are undertaken. The Chair compiles reviews and forwards an acceptance recommendation to the WHSRN Executive Office which sends the nomination recommendation to the Hemispheric Council for final action.
Review of nominations for WHSRN sites in Canada
Approved by the Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Shorebird Technical Committee on 17 October 2017
- WHSRN Executive Office receives a nomination, and after internal review, forwards the package (including any WHSRN staff notes) to the Canadian National Shorebird Conservation Coordinator ( Benoit Laliberte, Environment and Climate Change Canada).
- Canadian National Shorebird Conservation Coordinator reviews the nomination and finds (in consultation with the ECCC Shorebird Technical Committee) two additional reviewers who are familiar with the site. Reviewers can be internal or external to ECCC. Members of the ECCC Shorebird Technical Committee who wish to provide comments will have five weeks to also provide comments on the nomination. The Canadian WHSRN Hemispheric Council Representative (Natalie Savoie) will be copied on these requests.
- Peer reviewers will be given three weeks to review the nomination package. If any issues are raised by the peer reviewers the National Coordinator will inform the ECCC Shorebird Technical Committee.
- If no issues arise during the peer review (and the review by the Shorebird Technical Committee), the Canadian rep to the WHSRN Hemispheric Council will transmit the nomination package to the WHSRN Executive Office.
- If issues arise during the peer review the National Coordinator will arrange discussions with the ECCC Shorebird committee and the proponents. Once the issues have been addressed, the Canadian representative to the WHSRN Hemispheric Council will transmit the nomination package to the WHSRN Executive Office.
- WHSRN Executive Office will present the results of the reviews to the ECCC Shorebird Technical Committee
Timeline
Generally it takes approximately three months to complete the nomination process, from the date of submission to the final decision by the Hemispheric Council, if the nomination form is complete and if appropriate commitment letters are provided.
If there is urgent need to complete the process sooner, please explain the situation in a detailed cover letter.
Nomination Checklist
Use this checklist to make sure you have everything you need to complete the Nomination Process:
- Species-specific data (using the provided table in nomination form) that meets criteria.
- Map (image) that clearly shows the proposed boundaries of the site.
- GIS or Google Earth files with boundaries
- Information prepared on the threats, habitat types, nearby communities, natural resource use, monitoring, and engagement activities.
- Letters of commitment from responsible entities
For Landscape nominations, letter from nominating entity must include description of:
- Adequate public notification and opportunity for comment; and
- How the requested landscape recognition from WHSRN will advance the cause of conservation generally, and for the target shorebirds in particular.
Cover Photo: Hudsonian Godwits in flight. Photo: Monica Iglecia.
Page photo: Diego Luna Quevedo.
