Take pride in Beidler's recognitionSunday, June 1, 2008
On Friday at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., one of South Carolina's natural jewels, the Francis Beidler Forest, was added to the Ramsar list of Wetlands of International Importance. All of us in South Carolina should be proud to see this vital piece of our natural heritage recognized around the globe. We should also be mindful that without the dedicated commitment of public and private conservationists, we would not be celebrating this achievement. Adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands provides a framework for international cooperation for conservation of wetlands. There are more than 1,700 Ramsar sites worldwide, including Everglades National Park and Botswana's Okavango Delta in south central Africa. The Francis Beidler Forest Sanctuary is the 23rd site in the United States, the first ever in South Carolina and thus far the only one designated in 2008. The largest remaining virgin forest of bald cypress and tupelo gum trees in the world lies within its boundaries, including 1,500 year-old trees long vanished in the rest of North America. Its importance as habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals increases every year as forest habitat disappears in South Carolina and worldwide under the pressures of agriculture and development. Several years ago, Beidler Forest was recognized as a National Natural Landmark and an Important Bird Area (IBA). The IBA program, originated by U.K.-based BirdLife International is a worldwide effort to identify and then protect critical bird habitat. It is a central focus in the conservation work of Audubon, BirdLife's U.S. partner. Beidler Forest's 140 species of birds include the pronthonotary warbler and many other migratory species. As true global citizens, migratory birds are eloquent ambassadors for the importance of wetlands and for the importance of their conservation. Many of the species that nest or make migratory stops in the forest are found on Audubon's list of Common Birds in Decline. These wetlands are also home to rare plants. Dwarf trillium is one of the rarest flowers in South Carolina, and it is only found in Four Holes Swamp at Beidler Forest Plants, birds and other wildlife are not the only beneficiaries of wetlands. Beidler's 430,000-acre watershed represents a third of the total watershed of the Edisto, the longest, free-flowing black water river in the U.S. Ensuring its protection helps guarantee the quantity, quality and delivery of water downstream to places such as the ACE Basin National Estuarine Reserve and Wildlife Refuge. More than 12,000 people from South Carolina and around the world visited the Audubon Center at Beidler Forest this past year. It is likely that each of them had a sense of being suspended in time — perhaps lulled by the rhythm of a canoe paddling through still water, punctuated by the hoot of a barred owl. But the clock is still ticking on wetlands. Farming has replaced forest over much of the adjacent upland area. Droughts during the past several decades have triggered interest in damming tributary swales to serve as emergency sources of irrigation. Introduced feral hogs threaten native plants and animals. Other threats to the vulnerable ecosystem include logging and mining, runoff from surrounding farms, urban development and other incompatible land uses. We are right to be proud of Beidler Forest's recognition by the Ramsar Convention, but it should also remind us to do our part. We can all help protect our environment, from relatively simple actions like making our backyards healthy places for birds and our families, to learning about environmental policy issues that will affect Beidler Forest and other important habitat. The important thing is to get involved. DANIEL LEE TUFFORD, Ph.D |
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