For 36 years the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP; the Plan) has stood as a paragon of waterfowl conservation and as a beacon of success for wildlife conservation practitioners and enthusiasts worldwide. Through innovative partnerships combining science, boots-on-the-ground conservation delivery, and public and policy engagement, the Plan has demonstrated to the world how continental-scale conservation can be achieved. Critical to the success of the Plan is a legacy of successful international collaboration underpinned by dedicated service from federal, state, provincial, and non-governmental organizations in Canada, the United States, and México working toward common goals and objectives. This Plan is focused on waterfowl, their habitats, and the people who value them.
Since its inception in 1986, the Plan has embraced an adaptive cycle of reviews and updates in response to lessons learned through the application of science and conservation delivery experience. Previous updates expanded the scope and habitat objectives of the original Plan with the inclusion of Mexico in 1994, broadened the vision to recognize ancillary conservation benefits in 1998, and focused on strengthening the biological foundation of the Plan in 2004. In 2012, a major re-Visioning of NAWMP was undertaken, the first since 1986, based on wide-ranging consultations within the continental waterfowl management community. The result took far-reaching and visionary steps to adapt the Plan to address current and future conservation challenges.
The 2018 Update (released January 2019) helped advance the legacy of previous Updates and highlight achievements the waterfowl management community has made, over a few short years, in progressing toward the goals, objectives and recommendations of the 2012 Revision.
Major accomplishments and sources of input guiding the 2018 Update include:
- An assessment of waterfowl management institutions (measuring progress on each of the seven 2012 Recommendations)
- A survey of waterfowl and wetland professionals
- Input from the Future of Waterfowl Workshop held in September 2017
- Surveys of Hunters, Birdwatchers, and the general public in the U.S. and Canada
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