BirdLife The Magazine June 2016

JUNE 2016 

PACIFIC 

The voyage 

to discover 

Beck’s Petrel 

breeding grounds 

CAMBODIA 

New wildlife 

sanctuary 

in Siem Pang 

GOOD PRACTICE 

The drink that 

can save forest 

in Paraguay 

ONCE UPON 

A TIME 

Can Africa’s vultures be saved from extinction? 

Economics vs Ethics: to protect nature should 

we give it a monetary value or a moral one?

EDITORIAL1 

Together we are BirdLife International 

Partnership for nature and people 

TIME TO MOULT 

World Birdwatch is growing, it’s 

moulting. Bigger, stronger and more 

colourful feathers will enable this bird to 

reach the rapidly increasing number of 

BirdLife’s supporters. A make-over has 

been on the cards for a while. 

Whether it is the biologist in the dinghy 

in the Pacific, the ranger patrolling the 

savannah against poachers, the instructor 

working with fishermen to save seabirds 

despite sea-sickness, the 16 year old 

girl that spots and films with her mobile 

one of the rarest birds in the world, 

the former hunter who now monitors 

wildlife in Cambodia, the policy officer 

wearing out his/her soles and patience 

chasing policymakers in the corridors of 

power, this incredible community, the 

BirdLife family, deserves to see their story 

told, their culture reflected, their effort 

recognised, in a place (BirdLife The 

Magazine) that is as good as their 

extraordinary work. 

You who subscribe to receive our 

news, and through that support 

our work, deserve a product that speaks 

to you better. Now it’s here, and while 

the final plumage has not yet set, the 

colours and array of these new feathers 

are showing the way and demonstrating 

how strong BirdLife can be. 

I hope you enjoy the new magazine 

and that this helps us grow closer and 

stronger. The change in the look and 

feel is part of a plan to make BirdLife’s 

work more visible and more accessible, 

so that we can continue to have your 

support, but also gain more fans and 

through that enable the work of the 

BirdLife Partners to be sustainable, with 

long lasting results around the world. 

With the magazine, a new website, new 

products for our initiatives and more 

active social media, we hope to break 

for good the notion of BirdLife being 

the best kept secret. We hope these 

efforts help us to be closer and to 

make many new friends for birds, 

nature and people. 

Time to take flight. 

Patricia Zurita 

Chief Executive 

BirdLife International 

DUST OF SNOW 

www.birdlife.org 

BirdLife International is the world’s largest nature conservation partnership. 

Through our unique local-to-global approach, we deliver high impact 

and long-term conservation for the benefit of nature and people 

The way a crow 

Shook down on me 

The dust of snow 

From a hemlock tree 

Has given my heart 

A change of mood 

And saved some part 

Of a day I had rued. 

Robert Frost 

JUNE 2016 • BIRDLIFE 

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EDITORIAL2 

Dear reader, 

After much debating we’re still not entirely sure 

of what we want this magazine to become. 

However, we know who we are and what we do 

around the world. We’ll start from there. 

We also know that we need to explain better why 

bird-issues are vital for nature and people, we 

need to explain the links. And we need to leave 

our comfort zone: another birding magazine 

just won’t do it in the context of the collapse of 

nature and the catastrophic change in climate. 

The average age of birders tells us that we 

struggle to reach the younger generation. Despite 

notable exceptions, in the environmental arena 

it’s not us winning hearts and minds of young 

BMXers, surfers, Snap-chatters, video gamers 

and tattooed hipsters. Is it the lack of sense of 

adventure? (Tell the guys on page 24, on a kayak, 

in the Pacific, trying to catch an elusive Petrel). 

However, despite the infinite number of bands 

with ‘birdy’ names or writing masters like Jonathan 

Franzen, and despite the heartening feeling 

that there is a new generation of birding enthusiasts, 

the problem does stand. We’ll need to investigate 

why birds are not ‘edgy’ enough. 

We know we want to be difficult. This will be 

a ‘complex’ magazine, because complexity is 

clearly the main victim of our time. Ours is the era 

of black and white arguments, of TV screamers 

and raging preachers. We (you) know life isn’t that 

simple and, actually, ecosystems are incredibly 

complex, most of their interdependence and links 

still largely unknown. We worship complexity. 

That is what we will search: not the easy answers. 

At times... not even an answer, but simply a deeper 

understanding of an unresolved issue. 

Not much of an editorial plan? Well at least, 

borrowing from a great poet, we know what we do 

NOT want this to be. BirdLife’s magazine will not 

be a polished marketing instrument. Not the place 

where we embellish our conservation projects. 

Not a parade of NGOs looking for donors. 


BACON 

OR MACAW? 

WHY DO WE KEEP 

LOSING NATURE? 

BECAUSE IT HAS NO 

PRICE, HENCE NO 

VALUE, OR BECAUSE 

WE LACK VALUES? 

Luca Bonaccorsi 

Chief Editor 


Yes, we will tell you about our work, and yes, we 

will appeal for your help at times. But hopefully 

we’ll be honest enough to tell the whole story: 

failures included. And the first one is probably 

the very reason why we are here, working at 

a new publication: because we’re losing. We 

lose biodiversity every day. And birders know 

that biodiversity is not an ‘aspect’ of life, ...it IS 

life. Every species counts, every thread of life 

matters. Which is why we have dedicated most 

of the magazine to amazing creatures that risk 

extinction. 

Why are we losing nature? Is it because we do 

not care? Or because many natural resources 

have no price, hence no value in our economic 

system? Why are we failing, how can we win? 

This is the first BIG question in conservation that 

we will ‘attack’ in this issue. Two of our brightest 

minds, Tris Allinson and Pepe Clarke, and VIP 

environmentalist Tony Juniper will tell us what 

they think and what our strategy should be to 

make things better. Economists or idealists? Find 

out at pages 12-17. 

Birds depend on their habitats, which in 

turn depend on the way we treat our natural 

resources. And that has a lot to do with the way 

we live, the food we consume, the policies our 

governments enact. Sometimes the link might 

not be so obvious (from the bacon on our plate, 

to the soy that fed the piglet, to the forest that 

was cleared to farm the soy, to the bird, that went 

extinct because it lost its forest home). And when 

you look at the links again the question does 

arise: did we eat bacon or a macaw this morning? 

We need to make these links. 

But, whilst we analyse what is going wrong, 

what we do NOT need is... to lose the magic, the 

peace, pleasure and infinite poetry of the relationship 

with nature. 

Quite a challenge. Ready? 

Happy reading. 

5

CONTENTS 

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3 EDITORIAL1 

Time to moult 

Patricia Zurita 

5 EDITORIAL2 

Bacon or macaw? 


HEADINGS 

8 ONE TO WATCH 

Rustic Bunting 

at risk? 

10 FLIGHT OF FANCY 

Common Pheasant 

John Fanshawe 

10 

14 

38 IRREPLACEABLE 

Huge protected forest 

jigsaw completed 

s.h. 

42 GOOD PRACTICE 

Fancy a mate? 

Only if shade grown 

Louise Gardner 

46 PORTFOLIO 

Turkey’s changing 

landscape 

48 NATUREALERT 

Defending nature 

laws in Europe: 

the fight continues 

Christopher Sands 

Name .................... 

Email .................... 

Home address .................... 

Postcode .................... 

Phone number .................... 


Sierra de Bahoruco 

PREVENTING EXTINCTIONS 

50 MEET THE PARTNER 

100 years 

of Aves Argentinas 

Hernán Casañas 

My preferred contact methods are: Email Telephone Post Mail 

JUNE 2016 

NUMBER 2 

VOLUME 38 

ISSN 0144-4476 

CHIEF EDITOR Luca Bonaccorsi 

The views expressed are those of the contributors 

and not necessarily those of BirdLife International. 

GRAPHIC DESIGN Andrea Canfora 

Printed by On Demand Print Services Ltd 

Printed on processed chlorine-free paper made from at least 80% 

post-consumer waste recycled fibre. 

To advertise in BIRDLIFE please contact Ian Lycett, 

Solo Publishing Ltd, B403A The Chocolate Factory, 

5 Clarendon Road, London N22 6XJ, UK 

Tel. +44 (0)20 8881 0550 

Fax +44 (0)20 8881 0990 

Email advertising@birdlife.co.uk 

To subscribe to BIRDLIFE please email membership@birdlife.org 

BIRDLIFE is available by subscription from BirdLife International 

at the above address and from some Partner organisations. 

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE 

Ian Burfield, Hernán Casañas, Pepe Clarke, Steve Cranwell, John Fanshawe, Louise Gardner, Shaun Hurrell, Ade Long, Irene Lorenzo, James Lowen, 

Ali North, Judith Rumgay, Roger Safford, Christopher Sands, Claire Thompson, Obako Torto, Mike Unwin, Zoltan Waliczky, Hannah Wheatley 

SCIENCE EDITOR 

Tris Allinson 

FRONT COVER White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis © Kevin Penhallow/Shutterstock 

BACK COVER Bee-eater Merops apiaster © Jan Veber 

OFFICERS OF BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL 

President Emeritus Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan 

Honorary President Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado of Japan 

Honorary Vice-Presidents Baroness Young of Old Scone (UK), Gerard A Bertrand (USA), A. P. Leventis (UK), Ben Olewine IV and Peter Johan Schei 

Chief Executive Patricia Zurita 

Chairman Khaled Anis Irani 

Treasurer Nick Prentice 

COUNCIL OF BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL 

Africa Achilles Byaruhanga (Uganda) and Idrissa Zeba (Burkina Faso) 

Asia Sarath Wimalabandara Kotagama (Sri Lanka) and Shawn Lum (Singapore) 

Americas Peg Olsen (USA), Jaqueline Goerck (Brazil) and Yvonne A. Arias (Dominican Republic) 

Europe Luís Costa (Portugal), Nada Tosheva-Illieva (Bulgaria), Fred Wouters (Netherlands) and Mike Clarke (UK) 

Middle East Imad Atrash (Palestine) and Assad Adel Serhal (Lebanon) 

Pacific Philippe Raust (French Polynesia) and Paul Sullivan (Australia) 

BIRDLIFE is published quarterly by BirdLife International, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Strert, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK 

Tel. +44 (0)1223 277318 Fax +44 (0)1223 277200 

Email birdlife@birdlife.org, UK registered charity n. 1042125 

BirdLife International is a worldwide partnership of conservation organisations working to protect the world’s birds and their habitats. 

12 THE DEBATE 

Value vs $value 

Tris Allinson, Pepe Clarke 

14 THE INTERVIEW 

TONY JUNIPER 

It’s time 

to change strategy 

l.b. 

18 Two steps towards death; 

one towards life 

Shaun Hurrell 

24 What the Beck’s...? 

Steve Cranwell 

27 Extremely rare Macaw 

reappears in Brazil 

s.h. 

28 A lifeline 

for ancient mariners 

Mike Unwin 

32 “Species X” 

rediscovered in Brazil 

after 75-year disappearance 

34 

38 

46 

BIRDFAIR SPECIAL 

54 YOU CANNOT MISS 

From Rutland 

to the world 

James Lowen 

56 ACTION REPORT 

Fighting 

the killing 

Claire Thompson 

58 YOUNG 

CONSERVATIONIST AWARDS 

Protecting 

the future 

s.h. 


Conserving Madagascar’s 

Forest of Hope 

Roger Safford 

64 AFRICAN IBAs IN DANGER 

In need of urgent help 

s.h. 

The production of BIRDLIFE is generously 

supported by the A. G. Leventis Foundation. 

34 I AM NOT A BIRD 

Digging deep 

to save Rock Iguana 

Ali North 

60 

6 

BIRDLIFE • JUNE 2016 


7

ONE TO WATCH 

Rustic Bunting at risk? 

The striking Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica breeds in 

damp coniferous forests across northern Eurasia, from 

Norway to eastern Siberia, and winters in eastern China, 

Korea and Japan. It has always been considered secure, 

but a new paper in BirdLife’s journal Bird Conservation 

International (http://bit.ly/283NUsD) suggests it may 

have declined by 80% since the 1980s, and by more than 

30% over the last decade. Pending a global status review 

(http://bit.ly/24jcUHE), the species’ threat level could 

soon be upgraded by BirdLife International on the IUCN 

Red List. The decline of the Rustic Bunting appears to 

mirror that of the threatened Yellow-breasted Bunting 

Emberiza aureola, which has suffered from unsustainable 

trapping for food on its wintering grounds and 

agricultural intensification. The Rustic Bunting might 

also be affected by these factors, but further research 

is vital to improve our understanding and help conserve 

this and other bunting species. 

PHOTO BY AARON MAIZLISH

FLIGHT OF FANCY 

Common Pheasant 

Villa of the Aviary, Carthage, Tunisia 

John Fanshawe 

Birds are a constant interwoven presence throughout 

human culture, not least for food, for warmth, as companions, 

and inspiration. 

From rock art depictions, through a roll-call of painters 

and sculptors, such as Vincent van Gogh’s Wheat Field with 

Crows, and Constantin Brancusi’s carvings and bronzes 

inspired by flight; the sights, sounds, lives and migrations of 

birds are celebrated by artists. 

Throughout the Mediterranean fringe, birds appear in 

Roman mosaics, and this image of Common Pheasant 

Phasianus colchicus, photographed by David Tipling for Birds 

and People, is from the Villa of the Aviary in Carthage, Tunisia. 

It is the first image of a new series that will reveal how artists 

have taken birds, and used them figuratively, and in the 

abstract, to delight and shock audiences from pole to pole. 

Whether it is Tlingit shamanic bone carvings of eagles from 

Alaska and British Columbia, or the influence of form and 

feathers on the extraordinary fashion of the late Alexander 

McQueen, we intend to explore visual arts practice from 

painting to performance and build a sense of how traditional 

and contemporary societies respond to the birds that 

surround them. 

PHOTO BY DAVID TIPLING 

10 BIRDLIFE • JUNE 2016 


11

PREVENTING EXTINCTIONS THE DEBATE 

VALUE 

$VALUE 

MORALITY, NOT ECONOMICS, SHOULD BE THE BASIS FOR CONSERVATION 

IN DEFENCE OF ECONOMIC VALUATION 

The interactions of a myriad living organisms 

make our planet habitable, but it’s money that 

makes the world go round. At least, that seems 

to be the driving ethos in conservation these 

days. Economics would appear to offer an 

objective, evidential justification for conservation. 

By contrast, conscience-based arguments 

seem idiosyncratic, emotive and idealistic. Put 

simply, morality seems of the heart, economics 

of the head. 

Most conservationists come from a scientific 

background, they regard themselves as dispassionate 

purveyors of fact and reason. For them 

the very worst allegation that can be levelled is 

one of emotional attachment and sentimentality. 

If you want to get under the skin on a conservation 

biologist call them a tree hugger. Conservationists 

are naturally more comfortable with the 

empirical assumptions of economics than with 

matters of conscience. 

All of this is fine if we are really prepared to treat 

conservation as strictly business. However, if, as 

I suspect, there lurks a secret tree hugger within 

many of us in the conservation community, then 

we might find that economics throws up solutions 

that sit uneasily with our collective conscience. 

For instance, one way to help save Black Rhino 

would be to allow some to be killed by those 

wealthy trophy hunters willing to pay top dollar 

for the privilege. This would provide a monetary 

incentive to sustainably manage the population. 

From a purely economic viewpoint such a 

strategy makes good sense, however, I suspect 

many conservationists will feel a pang of unease 

emanating from their inner tree hugger at such 

a suggestion. Deep down many of us find the 

thought of killing a rhino for sport morally objectionable. 

Suppressing this ethical consideration 

is disingenuous and doesn’t make us better 

conservation biologists. As Michael J. Sandel 

argues in his excellent book What money 

can’t buy, market reasoning is incomplete 

without moral reasoning. 

In reality, moral arguments of conservation 

are every bit as robust and 

universal as economic ones. Yes, 

there are plenty of people who are 

morally untroubled by the hunting of 

Black Rhino (there are equally many 

Tris Allinson 

Global Science Officer 


people unconvinced by free-market economics), 

this doesn’t detract from the fact that there 

remains a large and expanding body of society 

who share a common conservation ethic. 

The BirdLife Partnership is the embodiment of 

this—119 national organisations, encompassing 

13 million members and supporters from all parts 

of the world and every strata of society, united, 

not by a shared sense of economic pragmatism 

or a common belief in the primacy of the 

markets, but through a mutual love and concern 

for the natural world. 

The great social movements of history, those 

that radically and permanently shifted the moral 

centre of humanity for the better, succeeded 

by galvanising hearts and minds around unambiguous 

moral causes. Such movements have 

benefited us economically. Yet economic expedience 

was never their driving motivation, nor 

their key achievement. Nobody would 

seriously argue that the core legacy of 

abolitionism is that it transformed 

disincentivised slaves into motivated 

employees and willing 

consumers, ultimately benefiting 

GDP. The conservation agenda 

needs greater prominence in 

every quarter of society. It is 

vital that we utilise a plurality 

of arguments and approaches. We 

absolutely should develop robust economic 

arguments for conservation. We absolutely 

should ensure that nature’s value is properly 

recognised within global economic systems. But 

we should not undermine the moral foundations 

of our movement by allowing economics to 

become the defining philosophy underpinning 

our conservation action. 

Just as conservationists have had to learn the 

principles and terminology of economics, 

so they must now educate themselves in 

the fundamentals of moral reasoning. In 

short, they need to free their inner tree 

huggers. Only by effectively articulating 

the moral case for conservation 

will we build a movement 

capable of transcending the biodiversity 

crisis. 

ABOLITIONISM 

WAS NOT ABOUT 

BENEFITING 

GDP, TURNING 

DISINCENTIVISED 

SLAVES INTO 

MOTIVATED 

EMPLOYEES 

AND WILLING 

CONSUMERS 

ECONOMIC 

VALUATION HELPS 

US UNDERSTAND 

THE CONTRIBUTION 

NATURE MAKES TO 

HUMAN WELLBEING, 

STRENGTHENING 

THE CASE 

FOR NATURE 

CONSERVATION 

In this crowded and complex world, we cannot 

ignore a very simple fact: prospects for the 

conservation of nature rest on our ability to 

inform and influence the decisions of consumers, 

producers, policy makers and the broader public. 

From the supermarket aisle to the halls of Parliament, 

financial considerations loom large in our 

decision making calculus. 

Critics claim that ‘placing a dollar value 

on nature’ is inherently unethical and ultimately 

self-defeating, as it reduces nature to 

a commodity and reinforces 

a dominant 

political narrative 

that seeks to transform 

every facet of 

life to a series of economic 

transactions. These criticisms are not without 

merit, but they tend to over-simplify the debate 

in a number of important respects. By helping us 

to better understand the contribution that nature 

makes to human wellbeing, economic valuation 

strengthens the case for nature conservation. 

In 1997, the cost of preserving upstream watersheds 

for New York City was estimated at US$1.5 

billion, a fraction of the US$8-10 billion price 

tag for a water treatment plant large enough 

to meet the city’s needs. Since then, the city 

has implemented an ambitious and successful 

programme to protect the city’s water catchments, 

delivering benefits for residents, landholders 

and wildlife. 

Used wisely, economic valuation can help 

to prevent perverse decisions, with negative 

impacts on both nature and people, and presents 

opportunities for exposing the often inequitable 

impacts of environmental degradation. In Thailand, 

researchers found that the economic benefits 

to local fishing communities from an intact 

mangrove forest were ten times higher than 

the private benefits accrued from conversion 

to shrimp farms. In coming decades, 

our changing climate will force us to make 

difficult choices: from coastal protection 

and flood control to water 

supply and food production, we will 

face new dilemmas that will demand 

new thinking, new analytical tools. 

Pepe Clarke 

Global Head of Policy 


Understanding the social and economic value 

of ‘nature-based solutions’, and the costs of 

environmental harm, has the potential to tip the 

balance of decision-making in nature’s favour. In 

developing countries, policy makers and local 

communities face stark choices: in the face of 

grinding poverty, prioritising nature conservation 

without consideration of social costs presents 

very real ethical issues. 

Economic analysis can help us to understand 

the costs and benefits of conservation and 

more fully appreciate the role of healthy natural 

systems in supporting the livelihoods of the 

poor households. 

Research into the value of natural ecosystems 

is pushing the boundaries of economic theory 

and practice. Traditional economic models have 

systematically undervalued nature, treating environmental 

harm as an externality and the natural 

world as an inexhaustible source of resources. 

Economic models and methods that better 

account for the diverse values of nature provide 

an opportunity to address these limitations. 

Historically, environmental advocacy based on 

an intellectual, emotional or spiritual response to 

the beauty, grandeur and endless fascination of 

nature has achieved remarkable results. Millions 

of hectares worldwide have been successfully 

safeguarded in national parks, with little recourse 

to economic analysis. However, as our conservation 

aims become more ambitious and human 

pressures on nature more intense and widespread, 

our efforts to safeguard nature increasingly 

place us in direct conflict with plans for 

social and economic development. Refining 

our ability to make the economic case for 

the conservation of nature – and to present a 

robust critique of misleading claims by industry 

– strengthens our hand in the contest of ideas 

that will determine the fate of nature in the 

twenty-first century. 

Ultimately, dry economic analysis will 

not replace the sheer love of nature, 

but we must recognise its value as a 

tool to more fully understand our 

reliance on nature and to make the 

case for living in harmony with the 

natural world. 

12 BIRDLIFE • JUNE 2016 JUNE 2016 • BIRDLIFE 

13

PREVENTING EXTINCTIONS THE INTERVIEW 

IT’S TIME 

TO CHANGE 

STRATEGY 

WE MUST WIN 

THE ECONOMIC ARGUMENT 

Conservationist and author Tony Juniper on the value vs $value debate. 

We must understand the way politics, business and the public discourse work 


C 

onservationist (with a severe passion for 

Spix’s Macaw), passionate campaigner, 

writer and sustainability expert Tony Juniper is 

one of the most prominent environmentalists 

in Britain (and beyond). We met him in his very 

“biodiverse” house in Cambridge, after the presentation 

of his new book What’s really happening 

to our planet? (a true encyclopaedia of infographics 

on threats and solutions for Earth’s 

problems that would make a great text book for 

secondary schools). Convinced advocate for 

ecosystem services – notably in his book What 

has nature ever done for us?, we have dragged 

him into our dispute: value or $value? 

So, Mr. Juniper, can we, or should we, give a 

dollar value to nature? 

Yes, we must try to understand the economic 

value of nature. Sometimes we can see it clearly, 

sometimes it’s more difficult, sometimes impossible. 

It’s about spotting when it’s the best tool, 

and exploiting it to the best we can. For example: 

working with water companies has allowed us 

to show very clearly the value of conserving 

and restoring blanket bogs to have clean water, 

reducing costs in chemicals and engineering for 

water treatment. Winning the economic argument 

in that case allowed us to restore habitats 

for Golden Plovers, rare insects and plants with 

the support of the water company. Because it 

made economic sense to them. 

Not always that easy. 

There are cases where it’s very hard to see 

an economic value, saving the rare Blueeyed 

Ground-dove (see page 32) might be an 

example. In these cases I would rather go for 

the moral, intrinsic, scientific argument we’re 

very familiar with. 

Are you suggesting all conservationists must 

become economists? 

Environmentalists must understand the way politics 

and the public discourse work. We have not 

lost the argument of nature being beautiful, or 

important. We have lost, time and time again, 

the argument of the ‘choice’ between economic 

growth and the protection of nature. If we don’t 

win ‘that’ narrative we will continue to lose. We 

have to locate economics inside ecology in order 

to win the big battle that lies ahead. 

Isn’t it dangerous to even just “concede” to the 

argument that either the “rare bird” has a clear 

economic value or it is not even worth considering? 

By accepting this framework are we not 

drawn into the logic that is causing the problem 

in the first place? 

No. We must be pragmatic: if you don’t have a 

clear economic argument then don’t make it. The 

arguments we have been using until now (beauty, 

WE HAVE LOST 

THE ARGUMENT 

OF THE CHOICE 

BETWEEN GROWTH 

AND NATURE 

WHEN YOU DO NOT 

HAVE A STRONG 

ECONOMIC CASE 

DON’T MAKE IT 

ULTIMATELY, OUR 

BELOVED BIRD WILL 

SURVIVE THERE: 

IN A FOREST WE 

HAVE SAVED USING 

AN ECONOMIC 

ARGUMENT 

4 Tony Juniper. 

Photo www.tonyjuniper.com 

intrinsic value, irreplaceability, etc.) sometimes 

are just not enough. I’ve just returned from a trip 

to the Ivory Coast for a project on cocoa farming. 

The farmers are the main drivers for forest loss in 

that region, but now we have a new argument: 

water. In the past we have been saying: the forest 

is great, with its White-necked Picathartes, the 

elephants and chimpanzees, but it hasn’t worked. 

Now policy makers have finally realised that rain, 

from which their export cash-crops depend, is 

affected severely by deforestation. Saving the 

forest has become the twin argument of saving 

the countries’ crops, we have a much stronger 

argument and things are changing. We are not 

abandoning our previous values, we are just 

“adding” tools to achieve our conservation goal. 

Some of us are sceptical about this, they see it as 

“either/or”. It is not like that at all. 

Hence your passion for ecosystem services? 

Pricing the oxygen produced by a tree? 

Absolutely: carbon capture, water purification, soil 

nutrients recycling, flood protection, pollination; 

they all have clear values that deliver benefit to 

the economy. For decades politicians have been 

blind to this. They have seen the destruction of 

nature like the inevitable price for progress. That’s 

why we’ve continued to lose even when we had 

very strong scientific information. 

So science is not the answer? 

We keep losing nature. Not because we do not 

have strong scientific evidence or because we 

have not won the moral argument, but because 

we have failed to win the economic one. 

BirdLife’s Tris Allinson (see page 12), argues that 

the big advances in civilisation were achieved in 

the name of values, not economic convenience, 

like the abolition of slavery. 

It is one reading of history. Ten years ago I was 

running a campaign for Friends of the Earth in 

the UK on setting national carbon targets to 

fight climate change. In Parliament, the stronger 

argument was that limiting carbon would have 

produced innovation, new technologies, jobs, 

a competitive advantage for our economic 

system. This was used together and successfully 

with, for example, the moral argument of our 

“legacy”. Also in the Abolitionist fight economics 

played a big role. For one slave owners had to 

be compensated, and secondly the abolition 

was great because instead of slaves we had 

motivated workers, part of a wage economy, 

who contributed hugely to economic growth 

and progress. The parallel with climate change 

works: the slave owners used to say “if we lose 

our slaves we will be less competitive” just like 

those who now refuse de-carbonisation at 

home. If you do not win the economic argument 

you simply… lose. 



15

PREVENTING EXTINCTIONS THE INTERVIEW 

You are saying that people respond more to the 

economic argument rather than the value one? 

This is based on clear evidence. 

And children in factories? Did economics play 

a role too? 

Probably. There had to be an economic alternative 

to child labour or it would not have happened. At 

the time we had mechanisation, new technology, 

labour being replaced by machinery: the system 

could afford it. In Ivory Coast I spoke to one of 

the companies that buys cocoa. They are very 

concerned with child labour because, on top of 

feeling it’s wrong, they have a business argument: 

without the next generation of farmers properly 

trained and educated, they will not have secured 

cocoa supply in the future. Children in school, 

future farmers able to read and write and understand 

technology makes economic sense to them. 

Do you really not see a risk from this “supremacy 

of economics”? 

Of course I do. There are risks with every strategy 

we pursue. But I see the isolation of ecology 

from economics a far bigger risk. It is foolish to 

put ourselves out of “the question”, ignoring the 

economic dimension of choices, whether it’s 

about nature, health care, education, housing. 

Furthermore, in this era of rising population and 

booming demand, “human progress” will always 

trump conservation unless we link them. 

0 White-necked Picathartes 

Picathartes gymnocephalus. 

Photo Guy Shorrock/RSPB 

NATURAL CAPITAL 

IS A POWERFUL IDEA 

IN A CAPITALIST 

ECONOMY. 

A FOREST IS 

CLEARLY AN ‘ASSET’ 

WE HAVE DONE 

GREAT SCIENCE 

AND ADVOCACY 

AND STILL WE ARE 

ON THE BRINK OF 

A MASS EXTINCTION 

AND CATASTROPHIC 

CLIMATE CHANGE. 

WHY? THE PROBLEM 

IS THE ECONOMY, 

AND ECONOMICS 

You make it sound very reasonable. Why the 

opposition then? Is it a “chip on the shoulder”, a 

sense of moral superiority, ideology in the environmental 

camp, or can we save something of 

the argument in favour of the “rare bird”? 

Of course I will fight for the conservation of that 

bird. But I will also insist on the economic arguments 

for forests, bogs, soil. And I think that it 

is more likely that we save the forest if we win 

the economic argument for forests. And that, ultimately, 

our beloved bird will live there: in a forest 

we have saved using an economic argument. 

Could it be a language issue? Calling trees, 

macaws and rivers “capital” doesn’t make you 

uncomfortable? 

No. “Natural capital” is a very powerful idea in 

a capitalist economy. Capital generates returns 

and the same goes for a tropical forest. You have 

an asset – the forest – that you can either cut 

down into timber (liquidation of the capital) or 

enjoy the dividends this produces: fresh water, 

oxygen, soil, carbon storage, biodiversity. These 

are the precious flows of incomes coming from 

an intact capital. It is a very neat parallel: if we 

can locate natural assets into economic strategies 

we can show that an ecosystem has more 

value when intact, rather than when destroyed 

for the production of goods. Our scientific 

arguments for biodiversity must be reflected in 

how the economic system works. It is not the 

case now. 

So you’re an environmentalist that decided to 

use, mimic, the language of economics only to 

better convey ecology, not because you “buy 

into” the logic. 

Exactly: it’s a “utilitarian” strategy, one that 

works. I saw it when speaking in Ivory Coast 

to ministers, farmers, multinationals. Forest 

protection, if linked economically to rain, 

hence dams and hydroelectric and crops was 

suddenly a powerful argument, more than rare 

White-necked Picathartes. We must make this 

argument to economists, who must include it 

in their models and strategies, that are currently 

deficient because they are missing the fundamental 

underpinning of it all. 

Contemporary economics is clearly not 

equipped for that. Lord Stern’s report on climate 

change, severely criticised in the Academia is a 

good evidence of that. 

Ours must be a long term strategy. It took 

some 40 years to the people who invented the 

free market myth and the neo-liberal ideology 

to become mainstream. The job of locating 

economics inside ecology is not going to happen 

with one book or one lecture, it will take decades 

of hard work to convince the right people that 

our economy is very vulnerable and ultimately 

unsustainable, because it’s destroying the very 

things that keep it going: fresh water, soil, climate 

air, ecosystems. 

So you would use instrumentally the “economic 

consequences” of the collapse of our ecosystems 

as an argument to save those ecosystems. 

But what if it was theoretically possible 

to have a world with only 3 species of animals, 

say chickens, pigs and cows, and yet have a 

thriving economy… what would happen to the 

“economic argument”? 

The fight to win the economic argument does 

not diminish one bit the argument we have 

been making until now for biodiversity. I do not 

understand why it is so hard to see for some 

conservationists. I think that ideology is not 

only an issue among those policy makers who 

destroy nature, but also among ourselves. We 

must step back, take a cold look at what tools 

and opportunities we have, and use them all. 

Instead we are trapped in a mind-set that sees 

that as “selling out”, going in dangerous territory. 

We have done great science and advocacy 

and we’re still going down very fast. We are on 

the brink of a mass extinction and catastrophic 

climate change: carrying on doing what we’ve 

been doing for the last 40 years does not seem 

like a good strategy to me. And if we do change, 

what do we do? For me the problem is the 

economy, and economics. 

Economics and the “demographic bomb”: in 

your new book you show the clear relationship 

between a girl’s education and the number of 

children she will have. Isn’t putting a little girl 

into school in a developing country the best 

“conservation measure” there is then? 

Who would disagree that young girls need an 

education? Why is it happening now? It is the 

example of the Ivory Coast again: if governments 

and corporates see the economic rationale of an 

educated workforce they will oppose child labour 

and send children to school. Which of course 

would produce smaller families in the future. 

Women’s (and little girls’) rights depending 

from economics alone? And patriarchy, culture, 

misogynist values? 

Economics and values go together. Some economies 

are doing well compared to those were 

half the workforce is excluded, where women 

have to wear impossible gears, cannot drive a car, 

must sit indoor, etc. I cherish cultural differences 

but by doing so they are hampering their country’s 

success by excluding or limiting the ability of 

half the people to contribute. 

We must come to “some” conclusion: value or 

dollar value to achieve nature conservation? 

I am not being elusive: I am increasingly convinced 

CHILD LABOUR? 

CORPORATES NOW 

SEE THE VALUE 

OF AN EDUCATED 

WORKFORCE 

AND OPPOSE IT 

WE MUST LOCATE 

ECONOMICS INSIDE 

ECOLOGY. IT WILL 

NOT BE DONE 

WITH ONE BOOK. 

IT MUST BE OUR 

LONG TERM GOAL 

THE CONSERVATION 

COMMUNITY 

IS STILL SPLIT IN 

COMPETING NICHES 

that there is no “one” conservation strategy. It’s a 

very complex world and we must win the argument 

at very different levels simultaneously. Use 

all tools. This might require organisations having 

multiple competences. Or, maybe, for them to 

specialise, one in ecosystem services/economic 

arguments, one in the “moral” argument, etc. 

Well actually the large NGOs are somewhat 

“specialised”: Greenpeace has a younger, 

adventurous narrative, WWF has the “positive”, 

politically measured, business friendly one, 

BirdLife is very science and civil society based, 

Friends of the Earth more grass-root and somewhat 

anti-capitalist, and so on. 

True, we have all looked for a niche in the 

marketplace, but we are still missing a combined 

strategy towards the “big outcome”. We are still 

working too much in isolation, in competition. 

The conservation community has yet to develop 

a strategic view that embraces the whole movement. 

Ideally we all agree on what the “big jobs” 

are and who is going to do them: educate the 

public, change investments, get multinationals 

to see the business case for conservation. Who’s 

best placed amongst us to do it? Which arguments 

need to be technical, which moral, or 

emotional? We have not worked that out as a 

community. 

A review of the state of the planet and the way in which 

our unchecked human activity could change the 

world forever, with a perspective on what we can do 

to reverse the damage. Wide ranging, heart-stopping 

research is distilled into one reliable and eye-opening 

book that charts the dramatic explosion of human 

population and consumption and its impact on climate 

change and our planet. 



17


TWO STEPS TOWARDS 

DEATH 

ONE TOWARDS 

LIFE 

In the last 30 years, seven of Africa’s 11 vulture species have declined 

by over 80% and now face extinction. After a public mobilisation 

African governments promise action at UN meeting in Nairobi 

Shaun Hurrell 

8 Dec 09:29. Adult Gyps africanus, White-backed Vulture 9805. 12 lb 7 oz. 

Died last night… likely fed on lion carcass. Under nearby tree I found a regurgitated 300g parcel of meat. 

Insects, flies and sarcophagous beetles are actually dying from eating the vulture. I buried it. 

T 

his extract from African raptor expert 

Simon Thomsett’s diary describes a 

poisoning incident in Kenya in December 2015. 

The deaths of three lions from the Marsh Pride 

in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve, made 

famous by BBC television series, Big Cat Diary, 

caught the world’s attention. But there is a 

related, often overlooked, story. 

White-backed Vulture 9805 flew in from a nearby 

breeding colony to feed opportunistically on a 

lion carcass. But this Marsh Pride lion had fed on a 

cow carcass that had been maliciously laced with 

suspected carbamate-based pesticide – lions are 

increasingly persecuted for attacking livestock in 

the Masai Mara. Poisoned, Vulture 9805 stumbled 

under the shelter of a tree, regurgitated some 

meat, collapsed and died. A total of 11 Critically 

Endangered White-backed Vultures died that day, 

some slumped where they landed in trees. 

Unfortunately the use of readily available poison 

fuels African wildlife crime. From conflict incidents 

like this, to lucrative poaching, agro-chemicals 

easily available from shops and markets are 

being used for the purpose of killing wildlife. One 

COMMISSIONER 

OF AFRICAN UNION: 

“IT IS ABUNDANTLY 

CLEAR THAT IF WE 

DO NOTHING NOW, 

THE HEALTH OF OUR 

PEOPLE IN AFRICA 

COULD BE AT RISK” 

4 White-Headed Vulture 

Trigonoceps occipitalis. 

Photo Kevin Penhallow/ 

Shutterstock 

is nicknamed “two-step” because a creature takes 

two steps before dying. Between 2012 and 2014, 

11 known poaching-related incidents involving 

vulture poisoning were recorded in seven, mostly 

southern, African countries: 155 elephants and 

2,044 vultures were killed. In one incident in 

Namibia in 2013, 500 vultures died after feeding 

on the poisoned carcass of a single poached 

elephant. Worryingly, there is evidence that the 

use of poisons to kill elephants and rhinoceros in 

sub-Saharan Africa is actually increasing, threatening 

not only large mammals, but also Africa’s 

endangered vultures. 

Africa has intensified its fight against wildlife 

crime and illegal wildlife trade, and a hugely 

symbolic ivory burning took place in Kenya earlier 

this year. Mounting pressure (predominantly 

regarding elephant and rhinoceros trade) has led 

to a recent commitment by African governments 

to take more action. 

The media paid scant attention to the numbers 

of vultures killed in the Mara incident. But things 

changed after the aggressive awareness raising 

campaign run by BirdLife (see box on page 21). 


19

THE COLLAPSE OF AFRICAN VULTURES 

(RED LIST INDEX) 


1.0 

LEGEND 

0.9 

0.8 

ALL BIRDS GLOBALLY 

0.7 

AFRICA’S VULTURES 

0.6 

1.0 LEAST CONCERN 

0.5 

0.4 

0.3 

0.2 

7 OF 11 

Africa’s 

vulture 

species 

are on the 

edge of 

extinction 

0.0 EXTINCT 

YEAR 

0.1 

0.0 

1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 ???? 

› 

› 

› 

› 

POISONING 

Poisoning as a result 

of human-wildlife 

conflict where vultures 

are incidental victims. 

Intentional poisoning by 

ivory poachers not wanting 

to be found by rangers. 

WHAT THREATENS AFRICA’S VULTURES? 

61% 9% 

29% 1% 

PERSECUTION 

For body parts used in traditional medicine. 

Also involves the use of poison. 

Percentages are only representative reasons for recorded deaths. 

Other important threats, as yet hard to quantify, such as habitat reduction, 

disturbance at nesting sites and reduced food availability are not illustrated. 

ELECTROCUTION 

& COLLISION 

With poorly-planned 

powerlines, 

windfarms and roads. 

Increasing threat 

with investment 

in development. 

OTHER RECORDED KILLING 

People are potentially 

eating poisoned vultures. 

‹ 

‹ 

‹ 

“Since our campaign which started at the end of 

last year, we are being really effective in advancing 

the vulture conservation agenda,” says Richard 

Grimmett, Director for Conservation at BirdLife 

International. Nevertheless, combating this deeprooted 

threat requires the commitment of governments 

and civil society across Africa. Moreover, the 

perception of vultures as “disgusting undertakers” 

must change to harness public sympathy. 

BirdLife has been working hard to highlight the 

plight of vultures and its implications for Africa. 

Awareness is certainly rising amongst governments, 

but international policy has yet to fully 

recognise basic facts such as that one poisoned 

elephant can kill hundreds of Critically Endangered 

vultures. 

The situation is still dramatic: in the last 30 years, 

seven of Africa’s 11 vulture species have declined 

by over 80% and now face extinction. Poisoning 

accounts for 61% of the recorded deaths. Persecution 

for their body parts for use in traditional medicine 

accounts for 29%, also involving poisoning 

and thus also threatening human health. There is 

an undeniable moral and social imperative to save 

them. BirdLife has called on African governments 

to act, not only for the vultures themselves, but 

for the benefit of human health and the African 

economy. Vultures are nature’s clean-up crew. In 

their unique niche in the ecosystem, they clear 

away germ-laden carcasses, thus reducing the 

spread of many diseases fatal to humans. A single 

vulture has been estimated to be worth over US$ 

11,000 just for its cleaning services. But they are 

worth even more to governments both in saved 

health service costs and tourism. 


0 Poisoned Marsh Pride Lion 

and White-backed Vulture 

Gyps africanus. Masai Mara 

National Reserve, Kenya. 

Photo L. Sankai 

IN BOTSWANA, 

KENYA AND 

ZIMBABWE, 

BIRDLIFE PARTNERS 

ARE WORKING 

TO REDUCE 

THE ILLEGAL USE 

OF AGROCHEMICALS 

AND OTHER TOXIC 

COMPOUNDS 

KNOWN TO POISON 

VULTURES 

GUDKA: “WE STILL 

HAVE A LONG ROAD 

AHEAD TO SAVE 

AFRICAN VULTURES” 

Only a few days after his colleagues helped 

bury and sample the poisoned Masai Mara lions 

and vultures, Paul Gacheru from Nature Kenya 

(BirdLife Kenya) got straight to work on developing 

a Kenyan poisoning protocol, aided by 

funding from Fondation Segré. “Whilst we are 

working towards the long-term goal of ending 

wildlife poisoning completely, in the meantime we 

can save the lives of hundreds of vultures in Kenya 

if poisoning incidents that occur are handled 

Media reach of the 

Love Vultures campaign 

› BirdLife’s press release on African vulture declines 

reached 800+ media websites, reaching 40+ countries, 

with a potential viewership 4,251,510,563. 

› BBC national TV news, World Service interview, Focus 

Africa radio, news & website. 

› Field visit by Associated Press journalist leading to large 

circulation of articles, published in more than 250 news 

publications worldwide, including New York Times, 

with a readership of tens of millions. 

› BirdLife’s ‘I am misunderstood’ vulture video reached 

more than 1.1 million, with 375,000 views (mostly on 

Facebook). 

› On Twitter, our campaign ran end-October-early 

December 2015, reaching 43.3 million people, 

including BirdLife’s largest ever day for Twitter impressions 

(180,000). 

› #LoveVultures hashtag has been used 9,300 times 

since October 2015. 

› Ghana Wildlife Society (BirdLife Partner) had a six-minute 

feature on national TV news in April 2016 on saving the 

Hooded Vulture, and other Partners are soon to follow suit. 

21

AFRICA’S VULTURES COLLAPSE 

VULTURES CLEAN UP CARCASSES 


BirdLife International for the IUCN Red List; Ogada et al 2015. Last 30 years 

1 

RÜPPELL’S VULTURE 

Gyps rueppellii 

WHITE-HEADED VULTURE 

Trigonoceps occipitalis 

WHITE-BACKED VULTURE 

Gyps africanus 

HOODED VULTURE 

Necrosyrtes monachus 

EGYPTIAN VULTURE 

Neophron percnopterus 

CAPE VULTURE 

Gyps coprotheres 

LAPPET-FACED VULTURE 

Torgos tracheliotos 

BEARDED VULTURE 

Gypaetus barbatus 

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED 


NEAR THREATENED 

IUCN RED LIST SCALE 

ENDANGERED 

ENDANGERED 

ENDANGERED 

2 NEAR THREATENED CRITICALLY ENDANGERED 5 

3 

LEAST CONCERN 

VULNERABLE 



ENDANGERED 

EXTINCT 

70% 

83% 

80% 

90% 

97% 

96% 

92% 

92% 

4 

6 

WITH VULTURES › ONE HOUR 

They clean carcasses bare 

before disease spores can form 

WITHOUT VULTURES › A FEW DAYS 

They reduce the spread of diseases like Anthrax, 

Rabies, Tuberculosis, Botulism, Brucellosis 

VULTURES ARE WORTH MILLIONS 

A single vulture is worth over US $ 11,000 

dollars just for its cleaning services. 

By halting the spread of disease, they are worth 

much, much more to governments in saved 

health service costs, not to mention tourism, etc. 

POISONING 

1 Poisoned elephant carcass = 

up to 500 dead vultures per incident 

better. We are working with many different organisations 

to develop a simple way of responding 

to poisoning incidents, including carnivore 

researchers, the Peregrine Fund, the Kenya Wildlife 

Service, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture 

and Technology. We aim to hold training sessions 

at Masai Mara where we’ll introduce the protocol 

to the local stakeholders and ways this can be 

applied on the ground.” 

In Botswana, Kenya and Zimbabwe, BirdLife Partners 

are also working to reduce the illegal use of 

agro-chemicals and other toxics poisonous to 

vultures through law, policy and awareness. 

ONE STEP TOWARDS LIFE: THE UNEA MEETING 

In May, a BirdLife team held a special event in Nairobi 

at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), entitled 

Healthy Vultures, Healthy People. UNEA represents 

the world’s highest-level decision-making body on 

the environment, which culminates in resolutions 

and a global call to action to address the critical 

environmental challenges facing the world today. 

Moved by the plight of their continent’s endangered 

vultures and its wider implications, African 

Ministers gave their support to BirdLife’s vulture 

campaign. Moreover, they approved a new resolution 

on wildlife crime and trade empowering 

African governments to take action to prevent the 

poisoning of vultures and other wildlife. 

“It is abundantly clear that if we do nothing now, 

the health of our people in Africa could be at great 

risk,” said H.E. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner 

for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the 

African Union. Her words capture African governments’ 

renewed desire to honour regional and 

global commitments on illegal wildlife trade. She 

added: “The African Union Commission will remain 

committed to supporting member states and other 

stakeholders in addressing illegal wildlife trade 

including addressing the plight of our vultures.” 

“We are excited to announce some good news 

for vultures”, says Ken Mwathe, Policy & Advocacy 

Coordinator, BirdLife International. “Governments 

have now agreed to implement an Action Plan for 

the African Strategy on Combating Illegal Exploitation 

and Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora in 

Africa. This means African governments can now 

take action to prevent the poisoning of vultures, 

by applying available poisoning guidelines.” 

Good news indeed. The road to save Africa’s 

vultures, however, is still a long one. 

Our African Vulture Campaign has been financed 

by appeal donations from numerous individuals, 

and supporters of the BirdLife Gala Dinners in 

Tokyo and Osaka (Japan), Fondation Segré, Tasso 

Leventis Foundation, Tolkien Trust and British Birds 

Charitable Trust. Please continue to support our 

work at www.birdlife.org/savevultures. 


VULTURE WOMAN 

MASUMI GUDKA 

Unlike the terrible chain of events leading to Vulture 9805’s death, 

a positive chain that started in October 2015 led to this success at 

UNEA. What happened at the BirdLife Africa Partnership Meeting in 

Ghana would profoundly influence the future of Africa’s vultures. 

West African participants were particularly animated as experimental 

evidence, anecdotes, details of threats, species ranges and possible 

solutions emerged. One thing was sure: threats from poisoning, 

persecution, energy infrastructure and other killing necessitated at 

least 10 years planned work. A coordinator was needed urgently. 

Masumi Gudka, BirdLife’s new Vulture Conservation Manager, was 

appointed in November 2015. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, she is already 

proving effective in stimulating and coordinating conservation actions 

throughout the Birdlife Africa Partnership. She has worked on poisoning 

issues affecting carnivores and vultures before, and her family used to 

call her ‘Vultureous’, so she has earned the nickname ‘Vulture Woman’! 

“I quite like that, it makes me feel like a comic-book super hero”, 

Masumi says. “After six months in this position, I do feel like I would be 

better off possessing a superpower to overcome the immense challenges, 

but the thought of saving vultures is totally worth the effort. It 

would be a tragedy losing our vultures, something I could not abide.” 

“When I started at BirdLife I was particularly amazed at how quickly 

everyone rallies around a cause, seamlessly works as a team to get 

results, all for the love of vultures. Everyone is desperately trying to 

ensure a better world for all and that is so refreshingly evident in all 

the long hours and hard work BirdLife staff have dedicated to seeing 

the organisation’s vision come to life.” 

BirdLife went on to meet with West African ambassadors setting 

out a vulture conservation plan: raising public awareness and 

building political support; creating chunks of safe habitat; combating 

poisoning; and testing and better understanding the science of 

vulture conservation. Ambassadors were persuaded by the evidence 

and pledged to support efforts to raise awareness and change attitudes 

in their countries. “I know it might sound strange to many but 

I think vultures are remarkable and absolutely adorably cute, lovable, 

creatures. The more you get to know them, the more you appreciate 

their character. Trust me on this!” Masumi’s enthusiasm for 

vultures is infectious. “Every person we convince of the high value 

and importance that vultures are to our survival, the closer we come 

to achieving our goal. Changing the negative perception of vultures 

commonly held by people will help garner the support duly owed to 

these magnificent creatures.” 

Enthusiasm, backed with evidence, translated into successful highlevel 

political support at UNEA. Masumi celebrated the success: “It 

is not every day that you will hear anyone, let alone the Minister of 

Environment for Nigeria, professing their love for vultures, 

but that is exactly what happened.” 

Hon. Amina Mohammed, Minister of Environment 

for Nigeria, committed unhesitatingly: “The plight 

facing vultures in Nigeria has been effectively highlighted. 

My government will work with the Nigerian 

Conservation Foundation (BirdLife Partner) 

on a strategy and take decisive action.” 

23


WHAT THE 

BECK’S...? 

This small, dark seabird with a white underbelly faces 

an uncertain future unless its nesting grounds are found. 

It is with this sense of urgency that an intrepid BirdLife International 

team set off on an eight day voyage of discovery 

Steve Cranwell 

0 Lining up a Beck’s Petrel. 

Photo Chris Gaskin 

W 

ith over 200 kgs of chum (a frozen soup 

of “fishy bits”) specially designed to lure 

the Critically Endangered Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria 

becki, a couple of gas operated net 

canons for harmless capture and a keen crew of 

four from BirdLife International and the Wildlife 

Conservation Society, the PNG Explorer motored 

out of Kavieng, bound for Cape St George at the 

southern end of remote New Ireland in Papua 

New Guinea. Even without “spontaneous chumming” 

thanks to calm seas, curious Red-footed 

Boobies Sula sula, Black Noddies Anous minutus 

and other pantropical seabirds were soon 

escorting the ship on its 400 km trek south. 

The first Beck’s Petrels were soon sighted. 

Quietly, but with excitement and nervous anticipation, 

the team set a chum slick, but a few casual 

swoops and a shake of a tail feather later, the birds’ 

inspection of this marine buffet was done. Nevertheless, 

fears that the strong El Niño conditions 

affecting the Pacific may have caused the petrels 

to move elsewhere were allayed; and with greater 

numbers known to be in the vicinity of the Cape, 

this subdued start was merely a teaser. 

Dawn on day two revealed Cape St George, 

perched on the edge of the 9,000 m deep 

New Britain Trench. With the rich upwellings 

and currents associated with these marine 

mountains, it was perhaps no surprise to find 

seabirds concentrated there. While some, such 

as Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna pacifica 

and Streaked Shearwaters Calonectris leucomelas, 

were passing through on their annual 

migrations, noddies, boobies, terns and frigatebirds 

were frequently seen working the “boil 

ups”. Scattered among them were a few Beck’s 

Petrels: hours were spent trying to coax them to 

the free banquet of chum. Over the next couple 

of days, all manner of techniques were used in 

attempting to get them to settle on the surface, 

but to no avail. Night time chumming and spotlighting 

attracted the attention of only several 

large sharks along with swiftlets which amassed 

in the ship’s lights “like a snowstorm with dark 

flakes swirling about” as they hawked on insects. 

It soon became clear that catching a single 

Beck’s Petrel – let alone several – was going to 

be no easy task. However, the team had one card 

left to play. Fifty kilometres up the eastern coast, 

the 2012 BirdLife survey had sighted many Beck’s: 

Silur Bay now offered the best hope of success. 

After several hours of searching the 20 km long 

bay, it was with immense relief that Jez Bird and 

the team were able to confirm that previous 

observation. Not only were Beck’s Petrels present 

in number, but they were bobbing about on the 


25



an emergency trip to Curaçá to locate the bird. 

“The local people were euphoric,” said Develey. 

“They set up a WhatsApp group to coordinate and 

maximise the search for the bird, and ensured no 

potential dealers could enter the area.” 

surface! With the tender launched and chum 

deployed, the hunt was finally on. Yet, despite 

carefully quiet, slow and stealthy approaches, 

the birds casually flew off whenever the team 

got within 100 m. Over the remaining four days 

this act of cat and mouse played out repeatedly. 

Alternative catching strategies evolved, including 

switching to a kayak that allowed team member 

Chris Gaskin to get much closer with the net gun. 

“Sitting in the kayak keeping as low a profile as 

possible I felt a bit like a polar hunter sneaking 

up on prey – except the sea temperature, full 

tropical sun and lurking sharks was a far cry from 

polar ice flows!” said Chris. 

BOOM! Another near miss. While there were few 

opportunities for deploying the net and even less 

with a good probability of capture, Chris recalls, 

“I connected with one as it banked across in front 

of me, but as the petrel and net dropped to the 

water it tumbled out and flew away before I could 

reach it. On another occasion, a bird exhibited its 

acrobatic prowess, flying through a 50 cm gap 

beneath the net and sea surface.” 

In the end, no capture was made during this expedition, 

yet a tremendous amount was learned. 

“Silur Bay has the greatest concentration of Beck’s 

Petrel we know of and seemingly with some level 

of consistency”, noted Jez. Moreover: “While 

Beck’s Petrels are extremely wary, the expedition 

has allowed us to test what we knew about netting 

seabirds at sea and advance this technique”, said 

0 The expedition team. 

Photo Chris Gaskin 

A BIRD EXHIBITED 

ITS ACROBATIC 

PROWESS, FLYING 

THROUGH A 50 CM 

GAP BENEATH 

THE NET AND 

SEA SURFACE 

BY ATTACHING 

SATELLITE 

TRANSMITTERS 

WE CAN DISCOVER 

WHERE BECK’S 

PETREL BREEDS 

IN A PROTRACTED 

GAME OF CAT AND 

MOUSE, BECK’S 

PETREL OUTWITS 

THE RESEARCH 

TEAM EVERY TIME 

Chris. “The main difference being rather than 

netting birds on the surface they’re going to have 

to be caught in the air. Toward the end it became 

apparent that birds would fly low and slowly 

upwind towards the chum and if we were positioned 

along this path it would put them within 

reach of the net. The two almost caught were 

on this trajectory. ”With a few refinements to the 

project design, including to the catching equipment 

and support vessels, the team are confident 

that Beck’s Petrel will be captured during the 

expedition scheduled for 2017. Then, by attaching 

satellite transmitters, there will then be a very good 

chance that we will for the first time discover 

where this enigmatic petrel breeds. 

Note 

The project is a collaboration between BirdLife International, 

the New Ireland Provincial Government, the 

Conservation and Environment Authority of Papua New 

Guinea, Ailan Awareness and the Wildlife Conservation 

Society, funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership 

Fund. The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a join 

initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement, 

Conservation International, the European Union, the 

Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, 

the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. A 

fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged 

in biodiversity conservation. 

For further information about the Beck’s Petrel project 

please contact Steve.Cranwell@birdlife.org 

Extremely rare Macaw 

reappears in Brazil 

Critically Endangered Spix’s Macaw 

thought extinct in the wild seen by local community 

I 

It was Grandpa Pinpin’s dream: to see his 

favourite bird, Spix’s Macaw, fly again over 

the skies of Curaçá, a small town of about 30,000 

in the dry Caatinga area of Bahia, Brazil. Pinpin 

Oliveira passed away last year, aged 94, his wish 

unfulfilled. But the baton was passed to his 16 

year old grand-daughter, Damilys, who not only 

saw the macaw, but also managed to film it with 

her mobile phone. Spix’s Macaw Cyanopsitta 

spixii has not been seen in the wild since 2000 

and is Critically Endangered, primarily as a result 

of trapping for trade plus habitat loss. Only 130 

Spix’s Macaws worldwide exist as part of a captive 

breeding programme. 

The bird was first sighted on 18 th June by local 

farmer Nauto Sergio de Oliveira. On the following 

day, his neighbour Lourdes Oliveira and her 

daughter Damilys woke up before dawn to look 

for the macaw in Barra Grande creek’s riparian 

forest. At 6:20 AM they found and filmed it. 

Lourdes contacted the Society for the Conservation 

of Birds in Brazil (SAVE Brasil, BirdLife Partner), 

one of the organisations that make up the project 

Ararinha na Natureza (Spix’s Macaw in the Wild) 

which aims to bring the bird back from extinction. 

The video and the distinctive vocal calls 

killed all doubts: it was indeed a Spix’s Macaw. 

Pedro Develey, SAVE Brasil’s Director, organised 

0 Spix’s Macaw 

Cyanopsitta spixii. 

Photo Al Wabra Wildlife 

Preservation 

1 Lourdes & Damilys Oliveira 

where they filmed the bird. 

Photo Pedro Develey 

This individual’s origin is uncertain, but was 

quite possibly released from captivity. Conservationists 

have had a large presence in the area 

where it would likely have been seen, and recent 

patrols and project warning signs against trapping 

might have prompted a panic release. One thing 

is for sure: a Spix’s Macaw in the wild is precious. 

“Now we have a model to understand the bird’s 

behaviour in the wild, ready for the reintroduction”, 

said Develey. 

Another project expedition has also commenced, 

led by the federal government’s Instituto Chico 

Mendes para a Conservação da Biodiversidade. 

In parallel to the field efforts, breeding the 

species in captivity for future reintroduction in 

the wild is crucial for the project’s success, and 

is thanks to the participation of the breeders 

AWWP (Qatar), ACTP (Germany) and Fazenda 

Cachoeira (Brazil). According to Ugo Vercillo, 

Director of Biodiversity of the Ministry of the 

Environment, Spix’s Macaw appearing here reinforces 

the necessity of protecting this area. Since 

2014, the project has been working to create a 

44,000 hectare protected area in the municipality. 

In fact, Grandpa Pinpin’s family donated 

a small area of their property (30 hectares) to 

become a reserve for Spix’s Macaw. And the bird 

then appeared in front of their house! “It’s very 

symbolic,” said Develey. 

Thanks to two years of community work from 

SAVE Brasil, the people are really committed for 

the reintroduction. “There’s hope again,” he says. 

Many questions remain. For now, just one, thrillingly 

pleasant thought: a Spix’s Macaw is soaring 

free, again, in Curaçá’s Caatinga. 

s.h. 



27


A LIFELINE FOR 

ANCIENT 

MARINERS 

The world’s albatrosses have been in catastrophic decline, 

due largely to commercial fishing practices. But thanks to your support, 

the Albatross Task Force is out on the seas fighting back – and winning 

Mike Unwin 

T 

he scent of squid hangs on the ocean 

breeze. With an effortless tilt of its threemetre 

wingspan, the Wandering Albatross 

changes direction. Zigzagging low over the peaks 

and troughs of the heaving south Atlantic, it heads 

towards the unmistakable silhouette of a fishing 

boat on the horizon. On board, the crew is hard at 

work setting the long line. As thousands of metres 

of nylon monofilament spool out slowly over the 

stern, sea-hardened fingers bait each hook with 

a tempting piece of freshly thawed squid. With 

more than 1,500 hooks, the job will take them 

five hours. It’s exhausting work. And as they bend 

to the task, seabirds come angling in from all 

directions: Black-browed Albatrosses – a smaller 

species – are first on the scene. Behind them, our 

Wandering Albatross is fast making up ground. 

These birds spend their lives combing the ocean 

for food: they can’t afford to pass up a free lunch. 

But this lunch could be their last. Any albatross 

that grabs the bait is liable to find itself hooked, 

dragged underwater and drowned. Longline 

SMALLEST 

SPECIES 

Indian Yellow-nosed 

Albatross 

Thalassarche carteri 

2.5 kg, 

6.5 ft wingspan 

BIGGEST 

WINGSPAN 

Wandering Albatross 

Diomedea exulans 

3.5 m, 11 ft 

MOST COMMON 

SPECIES 

Black-browed 

Albatross 

Thalassarche 

melanophrys 

600,000 pairs 

LONGEST 

MIGRATION 

Wandering 

Albatross 

Diomedea exulans 

120,000 km in a year 

RAREST 

SPECIES 

Amsterdam 

Albatross 

Diomedea 

amsterdamensis 

18-25 pairs 

4 Portrait of a Shy Albatross 

Thalassarche cauta. 

Photo AndreAnita/Shutterstock 

“WHEN FISHERMEN 

SEE US WORKING 

WITH BIRDS AND 

SEE THE RESULTS 

FOR THEMSELVES, 

THEY BEGIN 

TO UNDERSTAND” 

fishing has had a devastating impact on albatrosses 

and other pelagic (ocean-going) seabirds. 

One line may stretch for up to 65 km and carry 

1,500 baited hooks – set to capture tuna and 

other ocean-going fish. The birds, adapted over 

millions of years to scavenge floating food from 

vast areas of ocean, cannot resist the bait. Some 

300,000 seabirds a year have been dying in 

longline and trawl fisheries, including 100,000 

albatrosses. Fifteen of the 22 albatross species 

are at risk of extinction – but the Albatross Task 

Force is changing that. 

GETTING ALBATROSSES OFF THE HOOK 

Today, the birds are hanging back in the boat’s 

wake. The reason for this uncharacteristic caution 

is clear: a colourful curtain of plastic streamers 

flutters over the stern, blocking their route to the 

line. On deck, Sebastian Jimenez watches with 

quiet satisfaction. Sebastian, from Montevideo, 

works for the Albatross Task Force (ATF). For the 

last seven years, he has been heading out to sea 

with the fishing fleet, observing their work and 

gathering data. He is one of a team of dedicated 

individuals braving some of the roughest seas in 

the world to help protect albatrosses. And today 

he can see the fruit of his hard work. 

The coloured streamers, called tori lines, are 

among several simple measures developed by the 

ATF to help tackle the needless slaughter of albatrosses 

in what the fishing industry calls ‘seabird 

bycatch’. In the South African trawl fleet, the use 

of tori lines has reduced albatross bycatch by an 

astonishing 99% since ATF started working with 

the fishing fleet. In longline fisheries a combination 

of measures is required; using lead weights 

on hook lines, so they sink before the birds can 

reach the bait, and setting the lines by night, when 

the birds are least active. These measures have 

been designed with fishermen in mind, being 

simple to implement and requiring little training or 

expense. And they’ve proved amazingly effective. 

ALL AT SEA TOGETHER 

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Albatross 

Task Force, a pioneering conservation 

programme led by the RSPB on behalf of the 

BirdLife Partnership. Starting in South Africa in 

2006, it has since taken its mission to Argentina, 

Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Namibia, Peru and Uruguay, 

all of whose offshore waters are among the world’s 

hotspots for both foraging seabirds and longline 

fishing. It is by directly targeting these fisheries that 

the ATF can make the most difference. 

Of course, fishermen making a precarious living 

at sea might, understandably, not take kindly to 

strangers telling them what to do. So Task Force 

members get hands-on, joining the fishing fleets 

to demonstrate exactly how the new measures 



29


can work. In this way they can understand the 

issue from the fishermen’s perspective, and help 

them find solutions that suit both them and the 

albatrosses. “When we climb aboard we are often 

viewed as odd people who have come to perform 

a strange job,” says Argentinian ATF member 

Nahuel Chavez. “But when the fishermen see us 

working with birds and see the results for themselves, 

they begin to understand. We find we 

suddenly have their help.” ATF members don’t 

spend all their time at sea. Much of the work 

takes place onshore, raising awareness through 

talks, meetings and training workshops. 

Fishery managers need convincing that reducing 

seabird bycatch won’t make life harder for fishermen 

or reduce the industry’s profitability. Ultimately, 

the goal is to persuade the fisheries and 

governments to adopt new best-practice regulations 

across the industry. But regulations are 

worth little unless those at the sharp end – the 

fishermen themselves – buy into the idea. 

Happily, most fishermen like albatrosses, which 

provide company on the world’s wildest oceans. 

And, after all, a dead bird on the hook is a waste 

of bait, time and effort. Once they know their 

livelihoods will not be affected, they take little 

persuading. “They were there before us,” says 

Carlos Aparecida Cavenaghi, a longline fisherman 

from Itajaí, Brazil. “It’s not fair to kill them when 

all they’re doing is feeding.” The work never lets 

up. In 2014, the team spent a combined 700 

days at sea in 13 different fisheries and, onshore, 

conducted an amazing 850 meetings, port visits 

and outreach events. Progress can sometimes 

be slow but persistence pays off. This past year, 

for instance, has seen the Namibian government 

finally overcome political obstacles and draft 

0 Juvenile Black-browed 

albatross caught on a baited 

longline hook, off the coast of 

Brazil. The bird was released 

by Albatross Task Force 

instructor Fabiano Peppes. 

Photo Fabiano Peppes 

THANKS TO THE 

ATF, 7 OUT OF 

THE 10 FISHERIES 

ORIGINALLY 

IDENTIFIED AS 

SEABIRD BYCATCH 

HOTSPOTS HAVE 

NOW ADOPTED 

REGULATIONS TO 

PROTECT SEABIRDS 

“IN SOUTH AFRICA, 

ALBATROSS DEATHS 

HAVE DROPPED 

BY 99% SINCE 

ATF STARTED 

WORKING WITH 

THE TRAWL FLEET” 

seabird bycatch mitigation measures into new 

fisheries regulations. 

MAKING OCEANS SAFER 

Albatrosses, lest we forget, are extraordinary 

birds, able to fly more than 1,000 km per day 

without a flap and to live for more than 60 years. 

But unfortunately their slow-paced lifecycle 

makes them uniquely vulnerable. The largest 

species takes 12 years to reach breeding maturity 

and lays just one egg every second year, 

from which the chick takes nearly nine months 

to fledge. This means that declining populations 

take a very long time to recover. Today, without 

speedy action to reverse their decline, extinction 

looms large for such critically endangered 

species as the Amsterdam Albatross. 

Longlining isn’t the only threat. The ATF is also 

addressing other forms of fishing, such as trawling, 

purse-seine and gill-netting, which all take a heavy 

toll on seabirds. New technology, meanwhile, is 

offering new solutions. Recent innovations include 

the hookpod, in which the hook is contained 

within a plastic pod and released by water pressure 

only when it has sunk out of reach of seabirds. 

Alternatively, lines can now be set from a chute 

below the surface, concealing the hooks from 

seabirds as they enter the water. So, it seems that 

the ATF represents a rare conservation success 

story. The team’s valiant efforts have seen critical 

research completed, mitigation methods adopted 

and awareness spreading fast. But huge challenges 

remain. The priority now is to work with the fishing 

industry and governments to ensure that seabird 

protection is integral to all new fisheries regulations 

– and then to ensure that the fishermen on their 

boats comply with these regulations. 

As the work continues, both out on the high seas 

and back in the boardroom, you too can play a 

part by supporting the ATF. After all, albatrosses 

have been flying the world’s oceans for at least 

30 million years. They are the original ancient 

mariners. Look after them, and they might teach 

us something about how we, too, can live in 

harmony with the sea. 

The ATF is an initiative led by the RSPB for the BirdLife 

International Partnership. The initiative involves work 8 

countries including Argentina (hosted by Aves Argentinas), 

Brazil (Projeto Albatroz), Chile (CODEFF), Ecuador 

until 2013 (Aves y Conservación), Namibia (Namibia 

Nature Foundation), Peru (ProDelphinus), South Africa 

(BirdLife South Africa) and Uruguay (Proyecto Albatros y 

Petreles de Uruguay). 

Article reproduced from the 

RSPB Nature’s Home magazine, Spring 2016. 

MEET A CONSERVATION HERO 

CLEMENS NAOMAB 

Albatross Task Force Coordinator in Namibia 

With his dreadlocks and smile, Clemens is the kind of charming guy you instantly get on with. A real ‘high-seas hero’ who coordinates 

the ATF in Namibia, where his work has led to the government recently passing regulations to stop seabird bycatch. Spending weeks at sea, 

he has spent the last year befriending and convincing fishermen to help save seabirds, and seems to have charmed a bird as well… 

What’s your favourite bird? 

When I started I didn’t really know much about 

birds. I love conservation, not just seabirds, but 

I remember when I first saw the Shy Albatross 

Thalassarche cauta. Wow! With its eyebrows it 

looks sort of mean, but it’s very beautiful. 

Tell us about the situation in Namibia 

Namibia was a very destructive fishery in terms 

of bycatch, with 30,000 seabirds a year killed. It’s 

really sad to see a drowned bird, especially the 

big ones because you know their long life cycle, 

that they might have chicks waiting for them 

on nests, and that it can be avoided by simple 

measures. It got a lot of attention of the ‘people 

upstairs’, if I can say it that way. The regulations 

have now been implemented so we’re hoping 

to reduce the numbers by 85-90%. Now when 

I go out on a trip on a longline vessel where 

they’ve taken up the measures I actually have 

no dead birds to record. 

So some fishing vessels adopted the measures 

before the regulations were in place? 

Yes, the Hake Association opted to do it voluntarily. 

It was at a time we were doing a lot of 

workshops, a lot of port visits and outreach in 

between fishermen docking and being very 

busy – we were quite annoying! [laughs] And 

we started going on the vessels and showing 

the fishermen and fishing managers how to 

use the bird scaring lines, how easy and cheap 

it is and that the measures aren’t going to interfere 

with their daily fishing practices. That’s 

when they said “Okay, come on, we’re going 

to do this.” It was a quite an achievement. 

What do you do out on the fishing boats? 

We go with the crew, we monitor, which 

includes recording bycatch data, up to 12 days 

at a time. They are always curious [laughs] 

when they see us sitting on top of the gantry 

counting birds, they ask: “There are so many 

behind the boat why do we need to protect 

them?” So I explain to them the situation, the 

life cycles of the birds, breeding, and they 

are amazed the albatrosses live for 60 years. 

I haven’t had a bad experience, they want to 

save the birds when they understand. On the 

22 

Species of albatross 

worldwide 

15 

Species threatened 

with extinction 

(was 19 in 2004) 

20 KPH 

Minimum wind speed 

an albatross needs 

to lift from water 

without flapping 

1,000 KM 

Distance an 

albatross can fly 

per day without 

flapping its wings 

5,000 DAYS 

ATF spent at sea 

10,000 KM 

The distance 

a wandering 

albatross will fly 

to find food 

THIS YEAR 

MARKS THE 10TH 

ANNIVERSARY 

OF THE ALBATROSS 

TASK FORCE 

vessels, I think the best way to build a relationship 

is when you don’t just talk about the work 

that you’re doing, but when you ask and try to 

understand their point of view. You tell them a 

story, they tell you a story and then later you 

just become friends, and that friendship brings 

the trust. You bump into them at a bar, we 

talk about English football quite a lot – they’re 

impressed I went to England so now I have 

stories to tell them! 

What’s your most memorable story? 

One of the funniest things that happened to me 

was when I was on the front of the vessel and the 

fishermen called me over to see some dolphins 

they’d spotted. I was just turning around when 

a Skua landed on my head! I thought it was 

going to poke my eye or something so I moved 

away and it flew, and then came straight back 

and landed on my head again! I guess it’s my 

hair… The captain was in tears laughing. They 

called me ‘Bird Man’ after that. 

How was your first trip? 

So, I go out on the vessel in the evening and 

the guys ask me if I get sick and I tell them “I 

don’t know, I think I’m fine with it…” When they 

started serving dinner, they fed me a lot of 

food because they knew what was coming… 

I held it for a good two hours but then was 

sick for two days straight. They laughed saying 

“How is the sea life?!” but they treated me well, 

coming to motivate me, give me water. 

So you’re a seabird conservation instructor 

who gets seasick…? 

It’s worth it. You forget about the days of 

seasickness. If someone tells you you’ve saved 

30,000 birds, that is “wow” [laughs] – it’s quite 

an achievement. But I would also congratulate 

the Namibian government and the chief 

of fisheries for taking this issue so seriously 

and pushing the regulations. And sometimes 

the fishermen are really interested in the birds 

too, helping me take pictures and calling me 

up saying “Is this the Yellow-nosed Albatross”? 

(They were right). 

Shaun Hurrell 



31


I 

magine the buzz in the crowd at the 

recent Brazilian Birdwatching Festival, 

when ornithologist Rafael Bessa unveiled his 

rediscovery. The highly anticipated talk was titled 

“Species X” and for the first time in history, this 

bird’s song was played to the public. Previously 

known only from a handful of stuffed and ageing 

museum specimens and some more recent 

unsubstantiated reports, Bessa brought the Blueeyed 

Ground-dove back to life. 

“When he played the video there was a commotion 

in the crowd and nonstop applause”, said 

Pedro Develey, Executive Director of SAVE Brasil 

(BirdLife in Brazil). “It was pure emotion.” 

“SPECIES X” 

REDISCOVERED IN BRAZIL 

AFTER 75-YEAR DISAPPEARANCE 

The blue eyes of this extremely rare bird hadn’t been seen for nearly a century. Researchers have 

announced the comeback of the Blue-eyed Ground-dove Columbina cyanopis. Sightings of just 

12 individuals have been confirmed. Securing its habitat will be key to conserving this elusive bird 

For the last few months, the group of researchers 

– supported by SAVE Brasil, the Rainforest Trust 

and Butantan Bird Observatory – have been 

working in secret to report the rediscovery 

scientifically, while simultaneously developing a 

conservation plan that will secure the Critically 

Endangered bird’s long-term survival. 

Describing the rediscovery, Bessa said: “I returned 

to the place and I could recreate this vocalisation 

with my microphone. I reproduced the 

sound and the bird landed on a flowering bush, 

coming towards me. I photographed the animal, 

and when I looked at the picture carefully, I saw 

that I had recorded something unusual. My legs 

started shaking.” 

Blue-eyed Ground-dove occurs exclusively in 

Brazil and is threatened by the destruction of 

the Brazilian Cerrado, a savannah-like habitat. 

The jubilation of rediscovery quickly turned to 

sobering thoughts of how to act fast enough to 

save the tiny population. 

“We are now worried about the conservation 

of the species”, explained Rafael Bessa. “We are 

working on several fronts to build this plan. The 

main action is to ensure that the area where it was 

found becomes a protected area, which would 

benefit not only Blue-eyed Ground-dove, but 

many other threatened species occurring there.” 

With cobalt blue eyes and dark blue spots on its 

wings that stand out against its overall reddishchestnut 

plumage, it’s hard to believe such an 

eye-catching bird went unnoticed for so long. 

But rapid rates of habitat loss in the region mean 

that many more species could be heading to 

extinction unseen. “Increasing the knowledge 

on Brazilian biodiversity is the first step to ensure 

its conservation”, said Luciano Lima, Instituto 

Butantan. “And, by doing so, we contribute to 

a better quality of life and health for all species, 

including our own.” 

Right after first spotting the bird, in June 2015, 

the ornithologist Rafael Bessa contacted Lima, at 

Instituto Butantan. With support from the Institute 

and SAVE Brasil, they started studying the 

0 Blue-eyed Ground-dove 

Columbina cyanopis. 

Photo Rafael Bessa (2) 

A COMMOTION 

IN THE CROWD 

AND NONSTOP 

APPLAUSE. 

“IT WAS PURE 

EMOTION” 

“I SAW THAT 

I HAD RECORDED 

SOMETHING 

UNUSUAL. 

MY LEGS STARTED 

SHAKING” 

PREVIOUSLY 

KNOWN ONLY 

FROM A HANDFUL 

OF STUFFED 

AND AGEING 

MUSEUM 

SPECIMENS, 

THE BLUE-EYED 

GROUND-DOVE 

HAS BEEN BROUGHT 

BACK TO LIFE 

species. A research group was formed, including 

ornithologists Wagner Nogueira, Marco Rego 

and Glaucia Del Rio, the latter two from Louisiana 

State University, USA. Neither the exact 

location where the species was found, nor the 

bird’s song, will be released by the researchers, 

until they conclude the conservation plan and 

the proposed measures are implemented. 

Within the conservation plan, the researchers are 

undertaking studies on the biology of the species, 

especially on behaviour, breeding biology and 

feeding. They are also venturing to places with 

geographic and environmental features similar to 

the site of the original rediscovery, aiming to find 

additional populations. The search areas are identified 

through satellite imagery as well as a technique 

called Ecological Niche Modelling: based 

on several environmental features of the sites 

where the species occur, specific software uses 

mathematical models to predict areas potentially 

suitable to the species. 

“So far we have visited many areas in three states, 

but the species was located only in two sites close 

together, both in the state of Minas Gerais, which 

reinforces the need for urgent action to guarantee 

its survival”, warned ornithologist Wagner 

Nogueira. Blue-eyed Ground-dove seems to 

require a specific habitat that could be as Critically 

Endangered as the bird itself. Let the orange-red 

of the birds feathers be a colour warning to potential 

new infrastructure projects in the region: even 

a small project could wipe out this entire species. 

Now brought to life publicly again, only time will 

tell how SAVE Brasil and the research team can 

help to improve the long-term survival prospects 

for this species. 

s.h. 



33

PREVENTING EXTINCTIONS I AM NOT A BIRD 

T 

DIGGING DEEP TO SAVE 

ROCK IGUANA 

This robust, prehistoric looking species is fighting 

for survival with all populations covering an area of less than 100 km 2 

he soil is hot to touch, the temperature 

reaches over 37° C in the early morning 

hours, and someone is covered in dust, lying 

face down on the ground with their head in a 

hole in the sand. Not an uncommon sight in 

certain areas of dry forest on the Caribbean 

island of Hispaniola. 

What could at best be considered unusual behaviour, 

or even mistaken for illegal activity – egg 

stealing, a threat facing many reptiles across 

the globe, is a scientist – Dr Stesha Pasachnik 

– conducting vital research to help save a large 

reptile from extinction. The Ricord’s Rock Iguana 

Cyclura ricordii is a stocky, prehistoric looking 

Ali North 

NOWADAYS IT CAN 

ONLY BE FOUND 

ON THE ISLAND 

OF HISPANIOLA 

creature that occurs in just four sub-populations 

on Hispaniola (an island shared by the Dominican 

Republic and Haiti). 

Classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN 

Red List, the species is fighting for its survival, 

with a total range of less than 100 km 2 and an 

uncertain global population estimate of fewer 

than 4,000 individuals. The threats facing this 

island endemic are broad, and are exacerbated 

by its restricted range: illegal hunting, predation 

and disturbance by introduced mammals, agricultural 

expansion and charcoal production are 

all ramping up the pressure. 

0 Ricord’s Rock Iguana 

Cyclura ricordii. 

Photo Juan Sangiovanni/ 

Shutterstock 

7 Researchers collect data 

to better understand 

the nesting ecology 

of Ricord’s Rock Iguana. 

Photo Rick Hudson 

IT’S ONE OF OVER 

SIXTY BIRDLIFE 

PROJECTS 

INVOLVING 

REPTILES 

In the early 2000s, a Species Recovery Plan was 

developed by the IUCN and its implementation 

brought together five partner organisations. Grupo 

Jaragua (BirdLife in the Dominican Republic) was 

one, whose contributions have been instrumental 

in building a greater understanding of the species 

and raising environmental awareness among 

local communities. Ground surveys have revealed 

the existence of a handful of critical nesting sites, 

including a population in Haiti that was previously 

thought to be extinct. These sites, locally called 

fondos, are small areas with deep dirt/clay soils 

where the iguanas can dig and lay their eggs in 

synchrony with the rainy season. 

One of the most dense concentrations of iguana 

nests is Fondo de La Tierra, a conservation area of 

26 hectares purchased in 2010 by Grupo Jaragua 

with funding from the International Iguana Foundation. 

Since 2006, four fondos have seen a threefold 

increase in Ricord’s Rock Iguana nest numbers. 

Research by Grupo Jaragua, INTEC University 

in Santo Domingo, Mississippi State University 

and San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation 

Research is helping to better understand population 

size, genetics and the ecology of this and 

another iguana – the Vulnerable Rhinoceros Iguana 

Cyclura cornuta. This explains the dust-covered 

scientists, excavating nests to determine hatching 

success and retrieve temperature loggers. 

Using camera traps and frequent field surveys, 

Grupo Jaragua has also been able to document 

and help control one of the many threats facing 

Ricord’s Rock Iguana: invasive alien species. 

These include cattle and donkeys (which degrade 

iguana habitat) and cats, dogs, and mongoose 

(which prey upon iguana hatchlings and adults). 

President of Grupo Jaragua, Yolanda León, adds 

“We are also documenting the severe habitat 

destruction caused by charcoal production and 

have been actively involved in advocacy activities 

to reduce this illegal activity. We are working with 

journalists, filmmakers, and social media to document 

and expose the situation”. 

Grupo Jaragua has trained 400 teachers about 

the species’ ecology and the importance of iguana 

conservation to help foster positive attitudes 

towards the species, while the use of native and 

endemic plants in an agroforestry programme, 

alongside the promotion of bee-keeping as a 

biodiversity friendly activity, is ensuring that critical 

habitat for iguanas, birds and other wildlife 

will remain for generations to come. To ensure 

the future of Ricord’s Rock Iguana and the habitat 

it relies on, conservation organisations on the 

island really are having to dig deep. However, 

through a huge collaborative effort involving 

research, land protection and local engagement, 

there is now genuine optimism that the decline 

can be reversed. 

This is just one of many non-avian species that are the 

focus of work by the BirdLife Partnership across the globe. 

A recent survey, supported by the Aage V Jensen Charity 

Foundation, revealed that 74% of BirdLife Partners are 

conducting work that benefits or focuses on taxa beyond 

birds. Over 370 projects were identified worldwide, with 

Grupo Jaragua’s work on Ricord’s Rock Iguana being just 

one of over sixty projects involving reptiles. 



35

IRREPLACEABLE 

Sierra de Bahoruco 

Dominican Republic 

At 1,100 km 2 , Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, is the largest 

terrestrial protected area of the Dominican Republic and one 

of the most important refuges for Hispaniola island’s unique 

biodiversity. Located on the southern border separating the 

Dominican Republic and Haiti, this Important Bird and Biodiversity 

Area (IBA) supports many different subtropical foresttypes 

including montane pinelands, sub-humid forests and 

the severely threatened broadleaf forests (including cloud and 

humid forests). Sierra de Bahoruco’s natural ecosystems hold 

more than 40 globally threatened (many endemic) species 

including endangered birds such as the Black-capped Petrel 

Pterodroma hasitata, La Selle Thrush Turdus swalesi, Bicknell’s 

Thrush Catharus bicknelli and Hispaniolan Crossbill Loxia 

megaplaga; six Critically Endangered frogs and two Endangered 

endemic land mammals – the Hispaniolan Solenodon 

Solenodon paradoxus and Hutia Plagiodontia aedium. But this 

diverse IBA is in danger of being lost. The strongest of the many 

threats is illegal agriculture encroachment by local land owners 

and immigrant Haitian farmers, which threatens in particular the 

biodiverse-rich humid broadleaf forests on the southern slopes 

that are home to many of the endemic and migratory species. 

Other threats include forest fires due to agriculture and charcoal 

making, heavy use of agrochemical products and illegal 

taking of birds, mainly parrots. Grupo Jaragua (BirdLife in the 

Dominican Republic) has been working at Sierra de Bahoruco 

since 2003, developing a wide range of activities to respond to 

these challenges. They have been working with local communities 

to encourage sustainable activities like eco-tourism and 

bee-keeping, and carrying out research, species and 

habitat monitoring, reforestation, land purchase in 

the buffer zone of the Park, and advocacy. As a result of 

their successful media campaign highlighting the effect of 

encroachment on the Park, the Government has established a 

committee of key stakeholders to prepare a Strategic Conservation 

Plan for the Park. The Plan is being developed in consultation 

with local communities, including those responsible for 

illegal activities and it is expected to be ready by October this 

year. Conservation action will follow, so fingers crossed! 

0 Narrow-billed Tody Todus angustirostris. Photo E. Fernandez 

4 Esteban Garrido, Jaragua Volunteers. Photo Grupo Jaragua 



37

IRREPLACEABLE 

not just one, but five Critically Endangered bird 

species. These include 50% of the global population 

of White-shouldered Ibis Pseudibis davisoni 

and 10% of the world’s Giant Ibis Thaumatibis 

gigantea. You will also find a dedicated BirdLife 

team, skilfully covering huge distances every day 

on urban motorbikes unsuitable for the sandy 

terrain, diligently monitoring crucial forest pool 

habitats, or working with an enforcement team 

to report illegal logging and confiscate wood 

and captured wildlife. Some rangers, like Mem 

Mai, are former hunters and have an ear so well 

trained that they can monitor bird song over the 

noise of the motorbike engine. 

THE PRESERVATION 

OF WILD PLACES IS 

OFTEN PITCHED AS 

A BATTLE BETWEEN 

THE INTERESTS 

OF WILDLIFE 

AND THE INTERESTS 

OF PEOPLE. 

THIS IS NOT TRUE 

Ask Project Officer Eang Samnang and he will 

tell you the exact location of all three Critically 

Endangered vulture species’ nests. Or he will 

explain that the vulture “restaurant” they created 

to supplement feeding, necessitated by a decline 

in large wild mammals now supports 73% of all of 

Cambodia’s vultures. 

In the local villages, you will find Dina Yam, 

Community Outreach Officer, showing educational 

films to prevent wildlife poisonings, or 

helping people build up herds of cattle and 

buffalo. Lately, the Cambodia team and Forestry 

Administration had an economic land concession 

cancelled to prevent the clearance of the 

forest for plantations and came one step closer 

to ensuring protected status. 

HUGE PROTECTED FOREST JIGSAW 

COMPLETED 

Welcome to the new Prey Siem Pang Lech 

Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia, home to five 

Critically Endangered bird species and local communities 

T 

he picture on the jigsaw box shows an 

extensive swathe of unified nature, beyond 

borders, of thriving wildlife and local communities 

across 700,000 ha in Laos, Cambodia and 

Vietnam. Together, they make one of the largest 

protected landscapes in South-east Asia. 

However, for the last couple of years, one of the 

most valuable jigsaw pieces in the world was 

missing: a large deciduous forest called Western 

Siem Pang, in northern Cambodia. Now, it has 

finally been slotted into place. Welcome to the 

new Prey Siem Pang Lech Wildlife Sanctuary. In 

this newly protected forest you will find Endangered 

Eld’s Deer Panolia eldii roaming along with 

2 Giant Ibis 

Thaumatibis gigantea. 

Photo Jonathan C. Eames 

Suffice to say that the BirdLife Cambodia 

Programme has been working hard for years to 

protect Western Siem Pang. 2014 saw celebrations 

when the northern half was declared a Protected 

Forest. But the puzzle was not completed until 

the Prey Siem Pang Lech Wildlife Sanctuary was 

created, covering over 65,000 ha in the remaining 

southern half of the forest. The Cambodian 

Prime Minister, Hun Sen, signed the sub-decree 

establishing Prey Siem Pang Lech Wildlife Sanctuary 

on 9 th May 2016, with a boundary that 

follows almost exactly BirdLife’s proposal. Now 

this boundary completes the regional protected 

area jigsaw combining forest in southern Laos, 

northern Cambodia and western Vietnam. This 

latest sub-decree also sees the upgrade of the 

northern half of Western Siem Pang forest from 

its Protected Forest status, bringing the total area 

designated as Wildlife Sanctuary to 132,321 ha. 

“We are delighted with this decision and BirdLife’s 

Cambodia team will continue to support the 

Ministry of Environment to manage this wildlife 

sanctuary”, said Bou Vorsak, BirdLife Cambodia 

Programme Manager. “This success comes from 

working in close collaboration with our government 

partners, the Forestry Administration of the 

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 

and the General Department of Administration 

for Nature Conservation and Protection of the 

38 



39

IRREPLACEABLE 

Ministry of Environment, and thanks to unwavering 

support from the MacArthur Foundation 

over the many years.” “My department is proud 

to have initiated this protected area designation 

process”, said Dr Keo Omaliss, Director of Department 

Wildlife and Biodiversity of Forestry Administration. 

“As someone who studied the Giant Ibis 

as part of my PhD research, I am pleased this 

population of this Critically Endangered species 

is now more secure. The Royal Government of 

Cambodia is committed to establishing more 

protected forest in the near future.” 

New grants from the MacArthur Foundation 

and Darwin Initiative are crucial to providing the 

resources to enable the process of zonation in 

the Sanctuaries to begin, as BirdLife works with 

the government to plan the management of 

the forest. Kong Kim Sreng, Head of the Department 

of Terrestrial Protected Areas at the Ministry 

of Environment, said: “I am so pleased to have 

played the final role in getting Prey Siem Pang 

Lech Wildlife Sanctuary nominated. I now look 

forward to working closely with BirdLife to make 

the protected area a reality on the ground.” 

The preservation of wild places is often pitched 

as a battle between the interests of wildlife and 

the interests of people. This is not true. It was 

only by understanding the value of Western Siem 

Pang forest both for threatened birds and for 

local people that its future is now secure. 

Western Siem Pang illustrates this connection 

very simply. Scattered under the broad leaves of 

the forest, seasonal pools called trapaengs are 

central to the lives of people as well as wildlife. 

In the dry season these trapaengs all but dry up 

0 Elds deer Rucervus eldii. 

Photo Jonathan C. Eames 

CONSERVATION IS 

NEVER AS SIMPLE AS 

SLOTTING A SINGLE 

JIGSAW PIECE 

INTO PLACE, BUT 

THE HARD WORK 

BEHIND THE SCENES 

OF BIRDLIFE’S 

CAMBODIA 

PROGRAMME 

CERTAINLY MAKES IT 

LOOK THAT WAY! 

(especially if buffalo aren’t around to wallow); 

but they are sources of water, frogs and fish 

for humans and birds alike, and also provide a 

wealth of non-timber forest products. Recognising 

this common interest, BirdLife works with 

local people and over a decade has established 

a network of Local Conservation Groups (LCGs) 

who agreed a Trapaeng Management Protocol to 

protect the essential pools, alongside the Ibises, 

Deer and other threatened wildlife like Gaur Bos 

gaurus, Banteng Bos javanicus, Clouded Leopard 

Neofelis nebulosa and Red-shanked Douc Langur 

Pygathrix nemaeus. 

Of course, conservation is never as simple as slotting 

a single jigsaw piece into place, but the hard 

work behind the scenes of BirdLife’s Cambodia 

Programme certainly makes it look that way! 

“The many years of perseverance have paid off 

at last”, said Jonathan Eames, BirdLife Cambodia 

Programme. 

s.h. 

Notes 

BirdLife wishes to thank all supporters of our work in 

Cambodia culminating in this fantastic news, including 

the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; 

Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation; Critical 

Ecosystem Partnership Fund; Darwin Initiative, UK 

Government; Giant Ibis Transport (Species Champion); 

Mr Steven Martin (Species Champion); Forestry 

Bureau of the Council of Agriculture of Taiwan; Directorate-General 

for International Cooperation, Netherlands 

Government; British Birdwatching Fair. 

Western Siem Pang is an Important Bird & Biodiversity 

Area, and a BirdLife Forest of Hope. 


41

GOOD PRACTICE 

FANCY 

A MATE? 

ONLY IF SHADE GROWN 

Organic yerba mate receives a healthy infusion from Darwin Initiative grants scheme. 

Guyra Paraguay (BirdLife in Paraguay) and its local partners awarded more than £300,000 

to protect Paraguay’s Atlantic Forest through their shade grown yerba mate project 

Louise Gardner 

W 

hen you think about plantations, several 

images may spring to mind. Rows of 

uniform trees stretching as far as the eye can see, 

scorched earth and withered weeds crunching 

beneath your feet as you wonder what chemical 

cocktail has been sprayed there. But visit a shade 

grown yerba mate (pronounced yer-bah mah-tay) 

plantation in Paraguay and you’ll have to throw 

your preconceptions out the window. Here, rain 

drips from the forest canopy above, unseen birds 

and frogs call from the undergrowth and indigenous 

people harvest yerba leaves according to 

tradition dating back centuries. 

This is the agricultural model that Guyra Paraguay, 

in a multi-layered partnership with indigenous 

Mbya Guarani people, campesinos (rural 

people), private sector, government and civil 

society, is keen to recreate in the globally important 

San Rafael Reserve in south-east Paraguay. 

The reserve protects over 72,000 ha of Atlantic 

Forest, a biodiversity hotspot and Endemic 

Bird Area (EBA), containing more Critically 

Endangered endemic bird species than any 

RAIN DRIPS 

FROM THE FOREST 

CANOPY ABOVE, 

UNSEEN BIRDS 

AND FROGS 

CALL FROM THE 

UNDERGROWTH 

AND INDIGENOUS 

PEOPLE HARVEST 

YERBA LEAVES 

ACCORDING TO 

TRADITION DATING 

BACK CENTURIES 

4 Locals harvest yerba 

leaves the traditional way. 

Photo Guyra Paraguay 

2 Shade grown yerba mate 

protects Paraguay’s Atlantic 

Forest. 


other neotropical region. In fact, San Rafael is 

the largest and highest priority area of Atlantic 

Forest in the country, home to Jaguar, Brazilian 

Tapir and 400 species of birds. The reserve also 

falls within the indigenous people’s ancestral 

domain, with 600 Mbya Guarani people living in 

22 communities. 

These communities are extremely isolated: 

most people live in severe poverty, lacking basic 

health, education and sanitation services. Without 

technical skills or access to markets, they rely 

on subsistence and cash-crop agriculture that 

is ultimately inadequate for basic needs, leading 

to food insecurity and child malnutrition. The 

Mbya Guarani depend heavily on native forest 

resources, but poverty forces them, as well as 

campesinos from the surrounding area, to clear 

more Atlantic Forest for agriculture. 

Despite the ratification of a “zero deforestation” 

law in 2006, effective enforcement over such a 

large area is difficult. A market-driven solution to 

provide alternative livelihoods is therefore crucial 

if the remaining forest is to be saved. 

42 



43

GOOD PRACTICE 

Yerba mate Ilex paraguariensis is a South American 

tree related to the familiar European Holly 

Ilex aquifolium. It is used to make mate, a hot 

beverage traditionally consumed in central and 

southern regions of South America. 

A shade grown yerba producer, Guayaki says 

proudly that it “combines the strength of coffee 

with the health benefits of tea and the euphoria 

of chocolate”. It is usually grown in full sun plantations, 

but there is growing demand for shade 

grown, organic yerba for export to foreign 

markets. 

Using the Darwin Initiative funds, the partnership 

will create 50 ha of organic shade grown 

yerba and develop guaranteed international 

markets, providing communities with sustainable 

alternative employment. The proceeds from 

sales will be distributed to communities for much 

needed development projects. Evidence from 

monitoring, research and grassroots will also help 

to inform government good practice policies on 

equitable conservation of Atlantic Forests using 

the shade grown yerba model. 

So next time you fancy an invigorating cup of 

mate, reach for shade grown! 

0 San Rafael forest. 


“MATE COMBINES 

THE STRENGTH 

OF COFFEE 

WITH THE HEALTH 

BENEFITS OF TEA 

AND THE EUPHORIA 

OF CHOCOLATE” 

SAN RAFAEL: PARAGUAY’S 

MOST IMPORTANT SITE 

FOR BIRD AND BIODIVERSITY 

CONSERVATION 

James Lowen 

Lying in the small, land-locked South American 

country of Paraguay, San Rafael is a 

site wreathed in environmental accolades, 

glittering with conservation aspirations yet 

undermined by uncertainties. It has long 

been considered the country’s highest priority 

for biodiversity conservation, consequently 

receiving concerted attention from Guyra 

Paraguay (BirdLife Paraguay) and other conservation 

organisations. 

San Rafael contains two of the continent’s 

most threatened ecosystems: Upper Paraná 

Atlantic Forest and Mesopotamian grasslands. 

San Rafael protects Paraguay’s largest 

remnants of the former habitat, and was 

designated Paraguay’s first Important Bird 

and Biodiversity Area (IBA). The site harbours 

13 Globally Threatened Birds and 18 classified as 

Near Threatened. More bird species have been 

found at San Rafael than anywhere in Paraguay; 

roughly 430, c.60% of the country’s total. 

The avifauna is complemented by 61 mammal 

species, 35 amphibians, 52 fish, and 47 reptiles. 

And those numbers are rising: three reptiles new 

to science were discovered in San Rafael’s grasslands 

during 2006. 

Among birds, pole position is taken by 70 

species endemic to the Atlantic Forests. These 

include numerous species that trigger IBA classification, 

notably globally threatened birds such 

as Helmeted Woodpecker Hylatomus galeatus, 

Bare-throated Bellbird Procnias nudicollis, and 

Russet-winged Spadebill Platyrinchus leucoryphus, 

plus Near Threatened species such as Solitary 

Tinamou Tinamus solitarius, Rusty-barred 

Owl Strix hylophila, and Yellow-browed Woodpecker 

Piculus aurulentus. 

Understandably then, San Rafael first grabbed 

conservationists’ attention for its Atlantic Forest. 

But as biologists explored the site, they discovered 

that its natural grasslands also teemed with 

rare birds. Open-country species include globally 

0 Rusty-barred Owl 

Strix hylophila. 

Photo Pete Morris/Birdquest 

2 Strange-tailed Tyrant 

Alectrurus risora. 

Photo James Lowen 

THE CONSERVATION 

OF SAN RAFAEL 

IS A LONG, 

CONVOLUTED 

AND ONGOING TALE 

threatened representatives of both damp and 

dry grasslands. Among them are Saffron-cowled 

Blackbird Xanthopsar flavus, Ochre-breasted Pipit 

Anthus nattereri, and a trio of Tyrants: Cock-tailed 

Alectrurus tricolor, Strange-tailed A. risora and 

Sharp-tailed Culicivora caudacuta. 

With such an abundance of riches, one might 

assume protection to be a shoe-in. Not so. The 

conservation of San Rafael’s 70,000 ha is a long, 

convoluted and ongoing tale. In 1992, the Paraguayan 

government arrived at the Rio ‘Earth’ 

Summit having declared San Rafael an ‘Area 

Reserved for a National Park’. And so the site’s 

status remains despite attempts to ‘upgrade’ it to a 

real National Park or managed-resources reserve. 

In consequence, San Rafael is a ‘paper park’, 

lacking legal protection, receiving scant conservation-management 

resources, and with its ownership 

scattered between nearly 50 landlords. 

Painfully aware that the country’s most important 

rainforest risked destruction, Guyra Paraguay has 

made San Rafael a strategic priority. Since 2001, 

it has purchased and managed 6,500 ha of land 

as the Guyra Reta reserve, pioneered a model of 

joint social and environmental ownership with 

local Mbya Guaraní communities, donated 500 

ha to the national government to formally run, 

and led an accredited REDD+ (Reducing Emissions 

from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) 

carbon-storage project that pays communities to 

manage forest rather than clear it for agriculture. 

Given Guyra Paraguay’s target of protecting at 

least 20,000 ha, San Rafael is justifiably one of 

BirdLife International’s 20 ‘Forests of Hope’, not 

just one of its 422 ‘IBAs in Danger’. 

44 



45

PORTFOLIO 

0 Rows of non-native olive trees are a common sight in Turkey. These landscapes do not allow the local economy 

and birds to thrive. See how Doğa Derneği (BirdLife Turkey) is changing the landscape. Photo Noradoa 

0 In the Seferihisar region, students at Doğa’s Nature School are using adobe bricks to build 

‘soil houses’ – providing a home not only for people but also for nesting birds. Photo Mahmut Koyaş 

1 Doğa has been helping locals manage their resources in nature-friendly ways. As a result, the district of Izmir 

is a rich habitat that hosts a variety of threatened animal and plant species. Photo Tijen Burultay 

1 Maintaining these landscapes is only possible by passing the knowledge from one generation 

to the next. The community aspect is key to their conservation. Photo Mahmut Koyaş

NATUREALERT 

DEFENDING NATURE LAWS IN EUROPE 

THE FIGHT 

CONTINUES 

The EU Commission has delayed the release of its technical assessment 

without any plausible excuse. Many fear attempts to weaken nature protection 

T 

he saga surrounding the Nature Directives, 

the laws that protect Europe’s 

nature, continues. On 20 June the EU Environment 

Council, (ministers with responsibility for 

the environment from all 28 EU member states) 

met in Luxembourg. BirdLife Europe was also 

there to support ministers in reiterating their 

backing for the Birds and Habitats Directives. A 

number of key ministers, from Germany, France, 

Luxembourg, Estonia and Greece joined BirdLife 

in front of a banner calling for the Nature laws 

to be officially deemed fit for purpose immediately. 

During the meeting itself, the ministers 

from Luxembourg and Germany expressed their 

disappointment with the European Commission 

for not publishing its “fitness check” report 

on the Directives. They called on the European 

Commission to publish the report as soon as 

possible. Commissioner Vella replied that the 

Christopher Sands 

0 Eurasian Spoonbills. 

Photo Frank Vassen 

Nature Directives are key to protect biodiversity 

and nature and agreed that strengthening implementation 

in all member states is important. He 

stated that the Commission is still working on 

this issue and is planning to present its report 

on the “fitness check” in autumn. He reiterated 

Vice President Timmerman’s emphatic statement 

before the ENVI committee of the European 

Parliament that “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” 

is their operating and underlying principle. Their 

own commissioned study is unequivocal that the 

directives ‘ain’t broke and don’t need fixing’! 

The EU’s basic environmental laws, the Birds and 

Habitats Directives, came up for review starting 

in January 2015, with an extensive collection of 

evidence and relevant public input. The process 

is part of its Smart Regulation policy, a series of 

evidence-based critical reviews of all EU legislation 

to ensure that laws are ‘fit-for-purpose’ – that 

is that they deliver what’s expected, and do so 

intelligently, well and efficiently. Knowing full well 

the current Commission’s inclination to consider 

regulations, and environmental laws in particular, 

as a hindrance to unbridled economic growth, 

BirdLife, and a group of NGO partners including 

WWF and European Environmental Bureau (EEB), 

decided, for the first time, to attempt an unprecedented 

public participation in the evidence collection 

and citizen input phase of the EU’s evaluation 

of the directives. With our networks of local Partners, 

massive scientific evidence was collected 

and analysed for the Commission’s evaluation 

efforts, and a wide range of EU stakeholders 

were engaged and participated which reinforced 

lobbying efforts in the EU member states. 

And what a campaign it was! Never before 

have EU leaders and politicians received such 

an outpouring of public opinion on a matter 

before them. Well over half a million citizens 

expressed support for the Nature Directives 

through a specially established website providing 

them with the background they needed and the 

means to register their opinions. The campaign 

also received the support of the European Parliament 

whose Members overwhelmingly endorsed 

the Nature Directives. And Member States of the 

European Union also joined in with 12 Environment 

Ministers calling for the preservation of the 

Nature Laws and their enhanced implementation. 

It is apparent that this extensive public expression 

of support has stopped the attack in its tracks and 

opened up a real opportunity for a new season 

of better enforcement and implementation. The 

initial results of their fitness check in November 

2015 have been a vindication of BirdLife’s position 

that the Directives are fit for purpose but 

suffer from a gross deficit of implementation. The 

Commission decision, expected for Spring 2016 

has still failed to materialise however. 

4 Jean-Claude Juncker. 

Photo David Plas/cc-by-2.0 

7 Half a million Europeans 

supported our campaign 

to save the Nature Directives. 

Photo Friends of the Earth 

Europe 

TIMMERMANS, 

GRILLED BY 

THE EUROPEAN 

PARLIAMENT 

PROMISED: 

“IF IT AIN’T BROKE 

WE WON’T FIX IT” 

AFTER BREXIT 

THE EU MUST 

RECONNECT 

WITH ITS CITIZENS 

The Dutch government, originally very critical 

of the Directives, was forced by a parliamentary 

vote to support our demands and, having taken 

over the EU rotating presidency, had organised 

an important conference for the end of June to 

be called ‘Future-proof Nature Policy; Reaching 

common goals’. The purpose of the conference 

was to have extensive, collaborative discussions 

based on the Commission’s assessment 

of the Directives on how to best improve and 

strengthen their implementation. Whoops! With 

no such document released by the Commission, 

the Dutch Presidency has just cancelled the 

conference deeming it a waste of time in view of 

the Commission’s paralysis. 

Of course the inner machinations of the EU 

political sausage-making are inevitably difficult 

to decipher but it appears clear that the mobilisation 

BirdLife Europe and others so successfully 

mounted did derail the weakening and diminishing 

of Europe’s nature protection. On the 

other hand, it is also clear that intense lobbying 

by nature’s enemies is stonewalling progress. Of 

course with the impasse now having this embarrassing 

outcome for key Euro institutions like 

the Presidency and the Commission, the mobilisation 

will need to increase its efforts to free 

Europe’s nature laws from the Commission’s 

deep freeze. Planning and discussions are now 

underway to achieve just this. 

The shocking Brexit vote outcome has shaken 

the EU to its foundations, and inescapably proves 

that the EU Commission and political leadership 

must reconnect in the most essential ways with 

EU citizens. Responding to the popular support 

for the EU Nature Laws would be a great place 

to start. With summer at our doorstep, the Nature 

Directives must be allowed out into the warmth 

and sunshine to flourish in their critical role of 

protecting our lives, our biodiversity and the 

planet on which we temporarily live. 

48 



49

MEET THE PARTNER 

0 Tito Narosky, Honorary President of Aves Argentinas. Photo Aves Argentinas 

0 Grasslands Alliance members and Princess Takamado. Photo Aves Argentinas 

YEARS 

OF AVES ARGENTINAS 

In 1916 the Sociedad Ornitologica del Plata was founded by a small group 

of visionaries. Today it counts 3,000 members and works on over 1,000 species. 

And its symbol, the Rufous Hornero, is a national emblem 

0 Students building nest boxes, 1924. Photo Aves Argentinas 

0 The Albatross Task Force working with schools, 2015. Photo Aves Argentinas 

Hernán Casañas 

CEO of Aves Argentinas 

A 

century ago, on July 28 1916, the Sociedad 

Ornitológica del Plata was born. Leading 

researchers and naturalists of the time, including 

the great writer and ornithologist William Hudson, 

founded the first environmental NGO of Latin 

America. Today, its name is Aves Argentinas, Latin 

America’s oldest environmental organisation. 

cover a wide range of issues including grasslands, 

urban reserves, seabirds, Important Bird & Biodiversity 

Areas (IBAs) and preservation of endangered 

species; such actions have consolidated 

our leadership in the conservation community. In 

addition, since 1917, we have published the scientific 

magazine El Hornero. 

0 Board of Directors, 1932. Photo Aves Argentinas 

0 One of their first birdwatching excursions, 1932. Photo Aves Argentinas 

0 National conference against wildlife trade, 2015. Photo Aves Argentinas 

0 Hooded Grebe guardians, 2015. Photo Aves Argentinas 

There are now more than 3,000 members in 

the country, who enjoy and protect the more 

than 1,000 species of birds that inhabit Argentinian 

territory, 120 of which are threatened with 

extinction. 

To reverse the decline, we are following two 

strategies: first, to connect Argentinians with 

nature; and secondly, to manage key protection 

sites for species’ survival. For example, we 

organise hundreds of birdwatching courses and 

promote Argentina’s School of Naturalists, which, 

since 1989, has trained hundreds of naturalist 

interpreters and field naturalists. 

Back in 2007, we launched the Birding Club, an 

initiative that aims to motivate people to connect 

with birds and advocate for their protection. At 

the same time, our conservation programmes 

“THERE WILL 

ALWAYS BE A BIRD 

FLYING ACROSS 

THE SKY AND 

AN ARGENTINIAN 

WATCHING IT” 

Tito Narosky 

Honorary President 

Lately we have been investing time and effort 

in creating new national parks, with encouraging 

results. For example, our involvement in partnership 

with other institutions to form the Patagonia 

National Park allowed us to safeguard this unique 

landscape. It is an international natural landmark 

where endangered wildlife, such as the Critically 

Endangered endemic Hooded Grebe Podiceps 

gallardoi, and breathtaking landscape coexist. We 

also work to promote birdwatching tourism, an 

activity that increasingly generates more resources 

in our country, taking advantage of the outstanding 

diversity of species and environments. 

To paraphrase the renowned naturalist Tito 

Narosky, Honorary President of our organisation, 

we want to continue flying high to ensure that 

“there will always be a bird flying across the sky 

and an Argentinian watching it.” 

50 



51

MEET THE PARTNER 

1916 THE FOUNDATION 

28 July: With the Great War raging across 

continents, a group of 21 scientists and naturalists 

meet in the Montserrat neighbourhood 

of Buenos Aires. They discuss a future 

where people are aware of the importance 

of conserving biodiversity. They imagine a 

world where people, thanks to information, 

education and research, come to fully understand 

that birds are indicators of the health 

of our environment and that by conserving 

birds’habitats, we secure the planet for generations 

to come. On that day Aves Argentinas 

is founded: it will become a pioneer in bird 

conservation in the Americas. 

1917 HERE COMES EL HORNERO (OVENBIRD) 

One year after its foundation, Aves Argentinas 

chooses the Hornero as the ambassador for 

their mission, with the first issue of their scientific 

journal El Hornero. What started as a few 

articles defining the character and aims of the 

organisation is now considered a benchmark 

in the area of neotropical ornithology in Latin 

America. 

The Rufous Hornero Furnarius rufus is not 

your regular brown bird. Its seemingly dull 

plumage hides a fascinating behaviour. This 

tiny bird builds mud nests that resemble old 

wood-fired ovens (the Spanish word horno, 

means “oven”, giving rise to the English name 

Ovenbird). This unique chambered construction 

is built in many stages, allowing the materials 

to dry and form a highly weather-resistant 

home that will eventually survive storms and 

winds. Since their nests are so sturdy, horneros 

happily build them in the strangest of locations: 

rooftops, powerlines, street lamps or 

0 Argentina’s official stamps 

feature local birds 

statues. Inevitably, their omnipresent visibility 

has fuelled people’s imagination. Ovenbirds are 

the harbingers of good luck. Their unique sound 

announces upcoming times of prosperity. As a 

South American proverb goes “No thunder ever 

fell where horneros have nested”. 

1917 ONWARDS AND UPWARDS 

The first issue of El Hornero opens with an article 

that might well be written today. Attributed to the 

founder and former president Roberto Dabbene, 

the following commentary is published: 

“Nobody can debate that the study of birds 

constitutes one of the most rich chapters in the 

history of the natural sciences. Once we know 

the name of the species, we must discover their 

behaviour, nesting habits, migrations, diet. Few 

animals provide, in this respect, so much charm to 

discover. The beauty of their forms and colourful 

exterior blends with their impressive instinct and 

intelligence. From their songs, expressions of 

love, to the artistic appearance of their nests, 

they are not only a study subject but also worthy 

of admiration.” “But the interest for birds does 

not end there. There’s also the practical aspect. 

It’s proven that birds provide indirect services to 

humanity. Many feed themselves off insects and 

small mammals that could wreak havoc in our 

crops.” “Ornithological societies build a bridge 

between science and education. Aves Argentinas 

aims to gather support from all over the country 

and with the collaboration of members hopes to 

bring about, in time, a cause that is meaningful 

and useful for society.” 

1922 THE MIRACLE YEAR 

The year has been described as a mirabilis for 

many reasons: literary, political and technological. 

Perhaps most importantly, it was the year 

that public radio hit the global airwaves. Suddenly, 

it became possible to reach vast audiences with 

new ideas and information, and for people to 

take an active interest in the world beyond their 

provincial and national borders. 

However, sharing ideas on new global perspectives 

can change the world only if people act on 

them. That’s exactly what happened at midday 

on 20 June, 1922, when a group of people from 

different countries met at the London home 

of the then UK Minister of Finance to found 

the International Council for Bird Preservation 

(ICBP). This was the world’s first international 

conservation organisation, as renowned Swedish 

zoologist Professor Kai Curry-Lindahl described 

decades later. It’s where the BirdLife International 

Partnership has its roots. The group, united by 

their passion for birds, decided that co-ordinated 

international action was the answer to 

the various threats birds faced. In words very 

similar to those BirdLife still uses 90 years 

later, their declaration of principles stated: “…by 

united action, we should be able to accomplish 

more than organisations working individually in 

combating dangers to BirdLife.” 

1928 FROM PROVERBIAL BIRD TO NATIONAL EMBLEM 

In April national newspaper La Razón surveys 

primary schools, asking which could be the most 

representative bird of Argentina, to become the 

National Emblem. 

The hugely successful survey initially seems to 

show that the majestic Andean Condor Vultur 

gryphus will be the winner. At the last minute, 

however, it is the dull looking Hornero who 

becomes the National Emblem. This is thanks 

in great part to the efforts of Aves Argentinas: 

0 Narosky’s bird guide, 

the most popular bird guide 

of Argentina & Uruguay. 

Edited by Aves Argentinas 

0 The first issue 

of El Hornero 

taking interest in the survey, the then president 

Roberto Dabbene writes to the newspaper, 

explaining the reason why as the 

Horneros’ name had been chosen for their 

scientific journal. More letters follow. The 

author Leopoldo Lugones writes a poem 

dedicated to this singular bird, declaring it 

to be the true symbol of the country. The 

Rufous Hornero is chosen as the National 

Bird of Argentina. 

1936 AVES ARGENTINAS JOINS BIRDLIFE (TO BE) 

Former Audubon founder, Gilbert Pearson, 

finally invites Aves Argentinas to join the ICBP, 

which years later would become BirdLife 

International. It takes them one year to 

become an official member of the BirdLife 

family, expanding its impact beyond Argentinian 

borders. 

2016 LOOKING FORWARD 

A century later, Aves Argentinas has grown 

from two dozen founders to a nationwide 

project, with citizens and scientists alike 

coming together to save biodiversity. It is 

important to look back to see what we have 

achieved, to inspire us to continue tackling the 

threats with renewed energy. 

www.avesargentinas.org.ar 

0 Birdwatching course. Photo Aves Argentinas 0 Field work in Patagonia National Park, 2015. Photo Aves Argentinas 

0 First ornithology meeting, 1976. Photo Aves Argentinas 

0 Aves Argentinas staff, 2016. Photo Aves Argentinas 

52 



53

YOU CANNOT MISS 

JULIUS ARINAITWE, Director of BirdLife Africa: 

“Our continent has fantastic biodiversity but is currently 

threatened by the plans of most African leaders to achieve 

double-digit GDP growth rates at all costs. Also, Africa is a very 

attractive investment hub for high-impact, natural resources 

based industries e.g. mining, energy production, agriculture. 

These two factors, combined with weak political and financial 

support for environment management agencies, create 

the conditions for biodiversity to be trashed left, right and centre. 

Civil society is critical in safeguarding biodiversity in Africa. 

BirdFair’s support to Africa is very timely, appropriate 

and will make a critical difference in saving nature.” 

THE BRITISH BIRDWATCHING FAIR 

FROM RUTLAND 

TO THE WORLD 

Every year tens of thousands of people energise 

a nature reserve in central England to celebrate birds and have fun: 

it’s the world’s largest gathering of wildlife-lovers 

James Lowen 

4 Photo Hero Images 

THIS YEAR 

THE FAIR WILL 

RAISE FUNDS FOR 

AFRICAN FORESTS 

AND YOUNG 

CONSERVATIONISTS 

A 

s Britain’s summer tails off – our trees 

remaining vibrantly green yet hinting at 

end-of-season exhaustion – tens of thousands 

of people energise a nature reserve in central 

England to celebrate birds... and have fun. The 

British Birdwatching Fair (or Birdfair, for short) is 

the world’s largest gathering of wildlife-lovers. If 

you have never been to Rutland Water on the 

third weekend of August, you must. If you have 

been, you know not to miss out. 

Dubbed by The Guardian newspaper “the Glastonbury 

of birdwatching”, the Birdfair is indeed a 

festival of wildlife – the event of the year. There are 

talks by authors and tour leaders, interviews with 

TV celebrities. There is pond-dipping and facepainting, 

performing arts and sumptuous local 

food. You can chat to experts about anything 

from butterflies to botany, from conservation 

strategies to coaxing kids into loving nature. And 

you can criss-cross the world without leaving 

England’s smallest county. 

This is the ultimate wildlife trade fair: 450 exhibitors 

representing every continent and populating 

the entire spectrum of the birdwatching industry. 

There are travel companies and booksellers, 

optics manufacturers and photographic retailers, 

artists and magazine-publishers. Whether you 

wish to buy a scope or a sculpture, bird food or 

a bug-hunting kit, you will have no issue satiating 

any acquisitive urges. It wasn’t always thus. As is 

typical of great ventures, the Birdfair had humble 

beginnings. A local event in 1987 – about wildfowl, 

at a small nature reserve – led to a plot hatched by 

conservationists Tim Appleton and Martin Davies 

at a village pub. Although history doesn’t record 

the brand of ale they supped, the annals of 1989 

note that the inaugural British Birdwatching Fair 

hosted 3,000 visitors and raised £3,000 to help 

stop the massacre of birds in Malta. 

The latter statistic stresses the very point of the 

Birdfair. For sure, it’s a trade fair, a festival and 

a meeting-point for thousands of like-minded 

people. But, above all, the Birdfair is about raising 

money to save birds. 

Every penny of the entrance fee from 24,000 

visitors goes to BirdLife International projects. 

Factoring in sponsorship, exhibitors fees and 

merchandising, Birdfairs collectively have raised 

marginally shy of £3.4 million. Each successive 

year smashes the fundraising record set by its 

predecessor. In 2015, the donation of a mighty 

£320,000, says BirdLife International CEO 

Patricia Zurita, helped “BirdLife’s work on migratory 

birds, to prevent the illegal killing in the 

East Mediterranean”, a region where 25 million 

migrant birds are slaughtered annually in defiance 

of national laws. 

The Birdfair’s ever-widening reach is exemplified 

in the location of the initiatives it has supported. 

During its first six years, Birdfair funding only 

underpinned European projects. Since then, it 

has gone global. The event has helped conserve 

threatened habitats in tropical countries (Peruvian 

dry forests, Madagascan wetlands and Ecuadorian 

rainforests), helped prevent extinctions 

of Critically Endangered birds (such as Gurney’s 

Pitta), and funded programmes benefitting a 

suite of birds (protecting migratory flyways and 

ocean-wandering seabirds). 

“The Birdfair”, says co-founder Martin Davies, 

“goes to show that people really care about 

nature both here in the UK and abroad, and that 

by working together we can all make a difference 

for conservation.” Monies from this year’s 

Birdfair, plus those in the next two years, will help 

protect the world’s most endangered Important 

Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), starting with 

the unique lowland rainforest at Tsitongambarika 

in Madagascar. 

In addition to scores of lectures and hundreds 

of stands, this year’s enticing events include 

moth-trapping live on a big screen, debates 

about rewilding and grouse-shooting, and an 

evening of music headlined by world-renowned 

guitarist Craig Ogden. Helping conserve birds 

while enjoying yourself... what’s not to like about 

the British Birdwatching Fair? 

54 



55

ACTION REPORT 

T H E K I L L I N G 

Unlawfully shot, trapped or glued. 

Every year around 25 million birds are slaughtered 

in the Mediterranean. Read our first review 

of illegal killing of birds in the region 

FIGHTING 

THE KILLING 

ONE YEAR LATER 

Reduce the killing of protected species, improve the 

protection of key sites for migratory birds and ensure 

adequate law enforcement: the three pillars of the 

strategy to end the slaughter of migratory birds in the Med 

Claire Thompson 

E 

xhausted migratory birds are trapped in 

glue, in agony from thirst and exhaustion. 

Squeezed to death, tangled in fine nets, millions 

are massacred this way every year before they 

can reach their breeding grounds. In an Egyptian 

market, ducks and orioles with broken wings 

are carried on a merchant’s back alive before 

being killed. Countless raptors and other migratory 

birds such as Turtle Doves await their fate in 

cages. Many of you will have seen our graphic 

video of illegal bird killing practices in the Mediterranean 

(it reached over 3 million people in 

three days), or you may have been shocked to 

learn this at last year’s Birdfair. 

The 2015 Birdfair coincided with the launch of 

our first ever assessment of the scope and scale 

of illegal killing of birds in the Mediterranean 

region. The report, entitled The Killing, estimated 

that approximately 25 million birds may be illegally 

killed in the region every year. 

Twice a year on migration through the Mediterranean, 

Sociable Lapwing, Red-footed Falcon, 

Eastern Imperial Eagle and 22 other globally 

threatened species are running the gauntlet. 

What has BirdLife International been doing to 

restore a safe flyway for these migratory birds? 

Our objective is to end illegal and indiscriminate 

killing of birds and ensure legal, responsible and 

sustainable hunting – in areas where hunting does 

take place. It is a long road ahead, but progress 

is being made. We’re making a three-pronged 

attack in the Eastern Mediterranean: reducing 

the killing of protected species, improving the 

protection of key sites for migratory birds, and 

ensuring adequate law enforcement. 

DEATH ON THE NILE 

With an estimated 6 million birds killed and 

trapped illegally every year, Egypt is one of the 

most dangerous places for migratory birds in the 

Mediterranean, alongside Italy and Lebanon. We 

launched a study to meet the hunters and trappers 

and find out why. Conservation requires, 

first and foremost, understanding since people’s 

livelihoods may depend on these illegal activities. 

The study estimates that over 75% of bird 

killing and trapping is illegal, but elucidated 

some more complex issues. For instance, only 

7% bird hunting is taking place for subsistence, 

whilst economic gain (through export of wild 

birds in some cases) is a prominent reason, plus 

for traditional recreation. 

Clearly, household size, occupation and income 

are significant influential factors, but surprisingly 

almost 20% of hunters are public-sector 

employees. Although some hunters are aware 

that they are hunting illegally, illegal activities are 

in part due to a lack of knowledge and understanding 

of the complex national laws. 

For this reason, an in-depth review of existing 

laws and enforcement mechanisms – followed 

by a set of recommendations for changes – has 

been completed by Nature Conservation Egypt 

(NCE, BirdLife Partner) and the Egyptian Environmental 

Affairs Agency (EEAA), which will lead to 

clearer communication of the legal framework to 

hunters and law enforcement authorities. 

In autumn 2015, as migratory birds started 

flying northwards towards illegal fine nets on 

the Egyptian Mediterranean coast, NCE took to 

the beaches and headlands with EEAA National 

Park rangers to conduct the first wide-scale field 

monitoring of bird hunting. The watch and data 

collection happened again this spring and will be 

repeated during every migration season. 

Thanks to the growing understanding of the issue, 

NCE and the EEAA will now be better able to plan 

how and where to target their law enforcement 

and public awareness-raising efforts to bring this 

gruesome illegal massacre under more effective 

control on the Egyptian coast. National 

Park rangers have received new equipment and 

training workshops were held to provide them 

with a greater understanding of regulations. 

LEBANON’S RESPONSIBLE HUNTERS 

AND CYPRUS’ IRRESPONSIBLE DELICATESSEN 

In Lebanon, the Society for the Protection of 

Nature in Lebanon (SPNL; BirdLife Partner) 

continues to work on the establishment of 

“Responsible Hunting Areas” to empower responsible 

shooters to become the guardians of birds 

and their habitats in 8 municipalities. In these 

areas, indiscriminate hunting methods will be 

prohibited, non-’game’ species will be protected, 

and hunting seasons respected. Regulation by 

municipal authorities will be vital to bring about a 

change from the current ‘free for all’ that is killing 

protected species with impunity.. SPNL have also 

0 Eurasian Scops-owl Otus 

scops trapped. 

Photo BirdLife Cyprus 

2 BirdLife’s report 

on the illegal killing of birds 

in the Mediterranean 

OUR NEW STUDY 

ESTIMATES THAT 

IN EGYPT OVER 75% 

OF BIRD KILLING 

AND TRAPPING 

IS ILLEGAL 

IN CYPRUS 

ACACIA BUSHES 

USED FOR 

LIMESTICKING ARE 

BEING CLEARED 

IN CROATIA 

AND MONTENEGRO 

WE FIGHT TO RAISE 

AWARENESS 

established a partnership with Sayd Magazine 

(hunters’ magazine) which has helped promote 

responsible hunting practices. 

BirdLife Cyprus is fighting against illegal trapping 

of songbirds for ambelopoulia – a local 

controversial ‘delicacy’ of trapped Blackcap and 

other songbirds sold in law-breaking restaurants. 

With the majority of Cypriots not considering 

bird trapping to be a problem – BirdLife Cyprus 

continues to lead their zero-tolerance campaign 

to shift public opinion in schools and through 

engagement with new influential stakeholders 

such as tourist guides and members of the 

Orthodox Church. 

In the British Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus, the 

authorities have continued to undertake invasive 

acacia clearance in the trapping hotspot of 

Cape Pyla, involving the removal of planted scrub 

which trappers use as cover and which attracts 

vast numbers of migrating songbirds. 

SHAKING POLITICIANS IN THE BALKANS 

In the Balkans, where the illegal killing of birds 

remains low on the public and political agenda, 

the focus has been on awareness-raising, 

reporting cases to ensure offenders are prosecuted, 

and ensuring national legislation is 

adequate. In particular, CZIP (BirdLife in Montenegro) 

has established an awareness-raising 

team through the development of a network 

of journalists. The organisation is also lobbying 

for the shortening of the legal hunting season. 

Association BIOM (BirdLife in Croatia) has been 

relentlessly raising public and political awareness 

on the illegal killing of birds in Croatia. 

The fight against illegal killing of birds is a tough 

one because of its complexity. Culture, society, 

economics, politics and human nature all come 

into the mix. But things can improve and we 

have evidence of this in the Messina Straight 

where LIPU (BirdLife in Italy) successfully got 

local enforcement authorities on board in the 

fight against illegal killing of Honey Buzzards 

and other species. The number of casualties 

for Honey Buzzards and other species in 

spring in Messina has been reduced from over 

2000 to approximately 200 per year since the 

1980s thanks to law enforcement and awareness-raising 

efforts to trigger cultural changes. 

From Egyptian shores to the Balkan media, the 

battle against illegal killing in the Eastern Mediterranean 

continues. 

BirdLife and Partners are leading the fight with national 

governments, in collaboration and with invaluable additional 

support from the MAVA Foundation for Nature, 

the Nando Peretti Foundation and the Africa-Eurasia 

Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). 

56 



57

YOUNG CONSERVATIONIST AWARDS 

PROTECTING 

THE FUTURE 

TOMORROW’S CONSERVATION HEROES 

Birdfair is kick-starting a new award scheme to train young conservationists, 

called the BirdLife-Birdfair Young Conservation Leader Awards. The three year programme 

will support teams to protect Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) in danger 

IBAs like Tsitongambarika are in danger. You’ve 

heard of critically endangered species – well, 

these are the world’s critically endangered sites, 

identified by BirdLife and are facing unprecedented 

and immediate threats. 

4 Julie Hanta Razafimanaha. 

Photo CLP 

7 David Kuria. 

Photo Adrian Long 

THE NEW BIRDLIFE- 

BIRDFAIR YOUNG 

CONSERVATION 

LEADER AWARDS 

AIM TO ENSURE 

THAT PEOPLE 

LIKE HAZELL 

ARE FAR FROM 

‘A RARE SPECIES’ 

IN THE FUTURE 

Major progress has been made in advocating 

their conservation, with nearly half of all IBAs 

now having some form of formal legal protection. 

But in a changing world with damaging and 

escalating developments, land-use impacts and 

increasing human population pressures, who will 

ensure the protection of nature in the future? 

Young, local, conservation leaders – that’s who. 

Networks of highly-trained, internationally-aware 

conservation professionals to inspire action and 

fight for change from the local level. 

Conservation in the 21st century is a holistic discipline, 

requiring broad scientific expertise, policy 

and advocacy skills and the ability to raise public 

awareness and rally support. 

This is why the Young Conservation Leaders 

will be mentored and supported by their national 

BirdLife Partners and trained through the existing 

infrastructure of the CLP – a recipe for a lifechanging 

career to protect nature. 

The three-year scheme will leave a lasting legacy 

of the Birdfair, as well as strengthening the whole 

of the BirdLife Partnership’s ability to better 

protect IBAs. Next year, and beyond, the Young 

Conservation Leaders will present at Birdfair their 

progress and experiences. 

“Follow your passion and you really can’t go 

wrong”, says Hazell. 

s.h. 

T 

hrough his childhood passion for nature, 

Hazell Shokellu Thompson had developed 

a unique knowledge of local birds in the 

Gola Forest, Sierra Leone. In 1988, a Conservation 

Leadership Programme (CLP) expedition did not 

hesitate to choose him as the team’s local expert. 

“I was a rare species at that time,” said Hazell. 

Young Hazell gained a vital insight into conservation 

projects on that expedition that sparked 

an incredible career in conservation leadership 

with BirdLife. Hazell designed and introduced the 

first conservation biology course ever taught in 

his home country while he was a lecturer at the 

University of Sierra Leone, and describes the joint 

visit of the presidents of Sierra Leone and Liberia 

to the Gola Forest to declare their intention to 

create a Peace Park as “the pinnacle of my career”. 

Now Dr Thomson, Global Director of Partnership, 

Capacity and Communities for BirdLife International, 

Hazell’s key motivation is the opportunity 

to make a significant difference not only to the 

4 Conservation Leadership 

Programme training camp. 

Photo BirdLife International 

7 Hazell Shokellu 

Thompson (left). 

Photo CLP 

environment, but also to people’s lives: “One of 

the greatest joys of my job is being able to help 

national programmes and organisations – and 

young people – to become stronger”. 

The new BirdLife-Birdfair Young Conservation 

Leader Awards aim to ensure that people 

like Hazell are far from ‘a rare species’ in the 

future. Starting in Africa, every year three teams 

comprising at least three young conservationists 

(9 people per year) will be supported through 

grants, training and mentoring to build their 

conservation and leadership skills. 

Since the expedition in Sierra Leone, the CLP 

has evolved into an incredible mechanism for 

developing young conservation professionals 

from developing countries, now with alumni 

all over the world protecting nature from the 

grassroots up. The new BirdLife-Birdfair awards 

are now building on this success, with a focus 

on helping local conservation leaders to protect 

threatened IBAs. 

FROM BATS TO LEADING NGO 

Julie Hanta Razafimanahaka is a 

CLP-alumnus who is passionate 

about bats and lemurs. As a student in 

2004, Julie joined a CLP-funded team 

focusing on the interactions between 

people and bats in Madagascar. 

“Attending a conference in Cambridge 

was very exciting as it was the first time 

I had travelled out of Madagascar!” 

She remembers. Seven years later, 

she became Director at Madagasikara 

Voakajy (MV) - a leading national NGO 

in Madagascar that uses conservation 

science and community participation 

to protect endemic Malagasy species 

and their habitats. “My advice would 

be that conservationists should always 

try and link their work with people.” 

A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE 

“Let me say this,” said David Kuria, a 

CLP alumnus from Kenya. “The chance 

I was given to be an intern in BirdLife 

International opened me and it created 

a different person. With the first CLP 

award, I felt I meant something. And I 

came to understand how people from 

different backgrounds look at things in 

different ways, how conservation works, 

and what you can do with your own 

potential. It gave me a global voice for 

my community.” 

As a result, David realised the Kikuyu 

Escarpment Forest would disappear in 

a generation (and with it his people’s 

livelihoods) if he did not take action to 

protect it. 

He started speaking out and hasn’t 

stopped since. Described as a ‘vision 

bearer’, the 42-year-old created 

and steered the Kijabe Environment 

Volunteers (KENVO) – a community-based 

forum and BirdLife Local 

Conservation Group which now 

works with over 10,000 members of 

the community – and has dedicated 

his life to nature conservation and 

social issues. 

“But what we do in Kikuyu is very 

possible to be replicated elsewhere. 

What you just need are champions, 

guys who are really are passionate. 

And then you also need to be 

supported in terms of training, recognising 

their views and also letting 

them present their issues the way 

they see them.” 

58 



59

IRREPLACEABLE 

CONSERVING MADAGASCAR’S 

FOREST 

OF HOPE 

Developing the confidence of local communities and a BirdLife Partner 

to work together to protect their environment has brought 

encouraging changes for nature and people 

Roger Safford 

S 

ome places are so rich in natural wonders, 

so extraordinary, so different from any 

other, so important for people, and yet so threatened, 

that we must pull out all the stops to save 

them. Madagascar is one such: an ‘island-continent’ 

almost as big as France, with wildlife so 

unlike even nearby Africa’s that it can hardly be 

bracketed with it, or any other region of the world. 

Within this vast area are a multitude of astonishing 

sites, and right up among the most remarkable 

of these is Tsitongambarika Forest. Most of 

Madagascar’s forests have been destroyed over a 

long period, and in particular the lowlands have 

suffered, being the most accessible areas. The 

rainforests of Madagascar form a chain extending 

down the east side of the great island, much of 

it on steep slopes and at high altitude. In a few 

places, mostly in the North, forest survives down 

on the hills, and very occasionally plains, by the 

coast; but in the South, forest in such places has 

virtually all gone. 

SOMETIMES 

IT SEEMS 

THAT ALMOST 

EVERYTHING 

IS ENDEMIC. 

MANY SPECIES 

ARE KNOWN FROM 

NO OTHER SITE 

IN MADAGASCAR 

ITSELF 

4 Collared Lemur 

Eulemur collaris. 

Photo nickgarbutt.com 

2 Scaly Ground-Roller 

Geobiastes squamiger. 

Photo Pete Morris 

It is no wonder, then, that Tsitongambarika, as 

the only remaining area in southern Madagascar 

that supports significant areas of lowland rainforest, 

is such a treasure. Scaly and Short-legged 

Ground Rollers (Geobiastes squamiger and 

Brachypteracias leptosomus), once impossible 

dreams for visitors and still highly prized finds, 

are common. Scaly Ground-roller is a particularly 

bizarre-looking creature, confined to Madagascar’s 

lowland rainforest, with markings unlike 

any other bird: subtle rufous, green and brown 

hues set off by black and white ‘scales’, and quite 

unexpectedly sky-blue patches revealed when 

the tail is spread. Like most other ground-rollers 

(an entire family restricted to Madagascar), they 

live on the ground, rummaging in the leaf litter or 

rotting wood, picking out animal prey. Its close 

relative, the Short-legged Ground-roller, looks 

somewhat similar, but is the exception, living 

mainly in the trees. 

More in the ‘small brown job’ category - but 

on closer inspection a pleasing mixture of pastel 

shades of grey, brown, pink and rufous - the 

Red-tailed Newtonia Newtonia fanovanae was lost 

to science from 1930 to 1989, when it was rediscovered 

very close to Tsitongambarika; we now 

know it to be common there but there are very few 

if any other places where this can be said. Another 

species once lost is the elusive Madagascar Red 

Owl Tyto soumagnei; this is also increasingly 

frequently observed at Tsitongambarika. 

However, it is arguably for the other fauna and 

flora that Tsitongambarika is most extraordinary. 

Being able to fly, birds tend to spread around 

the island’s forests (although not beyond them), 

whereas these other species have evolved and 

remain in situ as unique forms confined to tiny 

areas. Sometimes it seems that almost everything 

is endemic, not just to Madagascar, but to South- 

60 



61

IRREPLACEABLE 

East Madagascar, and many species are known 

from no other site. Nearly all the lemurs are represented 

by local species, like the beautiful Collared 

Lemur Eulemur collaris, along with Fleurette’s 

Sportive Lemur Lepilemur fleuretae (Critically 

Endangered, with a tiny range), Southern Woolly 

Lemur Avahi meridionalis, Southern Bamboo 

Lemur Hapalemur meridionalis and others. 

The reptile and amphibian fauna is almost unbelievably 

rich: among around 130 species in total, 

no fewer than 11 have been observed that simply 

are ‘not in the book’ and so appear, based on the 

views of highly experienced herpetologists, to 

be new to science, and recorded only at Tsitongambarika. 

Giant and dwarf chameleons abound, 

alongside cryptically coloured lizards (one gecko 

bearing a startling resemblance to Gollum from 

the Lord of the Rings stories), brilliantly coloured 

free-frogs and snakes. The flora is, of course, just 

as extraordinary, with new species being found at 

such a rate that botanists have, like the zoologists, 

been unable to keep pace in describing them. 

The bad news is that deforestation rates at 

Tsitongambarika have been among the highest in 

Madagascar. As in much of the country, deforestation 

is mainly a result of shifting cultivation by 

poor subsistence farmers lacking alternative land 

to grow food-crops and desperate to lay claim 

to land, which they can do by clearing forest. 

Further threats are from logging of precious hardwoods 

and hunting of wildlife in the forest. 

But there is hope. Since 2005 the national 

NGO Asity Madagascar (BirdLife Partner), has 

been working to save Tsitongambarika Forest, 

as part of the BirdLife’s global Forests of Hope 

programme. Local people, as aware as anyone 

of the forest’s value, are also keen to conserve 

it, but need help to maintain and improve their 

0 Red-tailed Newtonia 

Newtonia fanovanae. 

Photo Bruno Raveloson 

/Asity Madagascar 

3 Tsitongambarika Forest. 

Photo Ravoahangy 

/Asity Madagascar 

LOCAL PEOPLE 

CAN BE THE BEST 

CONSERVATIONISTS, 

SO LONG AS 

THEIR NEEDS 

ARE PROPERLY 

CONSIDERED 

AND BENEFIT FROM 

MANAGEMENT 

precarious livelihoods without clearing forest; any 

change to their circumstances and the resources 

they need can be disastrous for them. Too often 

portrayed as the villains of tropical deforestation, 

local people can be the best conservationists, so 

long as their needs are properly considered and 

they take part in and benefit from management. 

As one of the first steps in developing the forest 

conservation programme, Asity Madagascar 

carried out a comprehensvie social and environmental 

assessment for the whole forest, which 

identified people most affected by protected area 

establishment and specified actions to meet their 

needs. Asity Madagascar then helped to establish 

a local organisation, KOMFITA, as an ‘umbrella’ 

body of community associations which, together 

with Asity Madagascar and supervised by the 

Government, manage the forest. 

KOMFITA ensures that the forest-edge community 

is consulted in all aspects of the project, the 

benefits are determined and shared fairly, and 

local people are properly involved (as ‘co-managers’) 

of the forest. The communities themselves 

define the Dina or resource management rules for 

the forest. These can include some controlled and 

agreed use of forest products, limited to certain 

zones so that other areas are left completely 

intact; they may also benefit from income related 

to forest conservation such as tourist guiding, or 

be supported to take up new ways of making a 

living by growing food for sale or subsistence 

away from the forest. Remarkable improvements 

have been made, for example through supporting 

simple composting methods in the cultivation 

of cassava, the local staple, or improved water 

management to grow rice close to the villages. 

In April 2015, 600 square kilometres at Tsitongambarika, 

including the whole forest, was protected 

by the Government of Madagascar, in recognition 

of the progress made by Asity Madagascar working 

with local communities as well as of its overall 

importance. Problem solved? Sadly not, although 

a crucial step forward, which blocks many potentially 

damaging developments and helps to direct 

conservation support to the site. The Government 

of Madagascar, one of the world’s poorest countries, 

can neither fund nor manage and enforce 

conservation plans for its many extraordinary sites; 

it needs, and has asked for, help. 

This is where the project comes in. Asity Madagascar 

and local communities have jointly been 

made managers of the new Tsitongambarika 

Protected Area, supervised by the Government 

and supported by many other organisations. 

Support through Asity Madagascar, with 

support of the BirdLife, will allow Asity Madagascar 

and local communities to carry out longterm 

conservation plans for Tsitongambarika. 

It will strengthen their ability to conserve the 

forest while improving their livelihoods outside 

0 Chameleon 

Furcifer balteatus. 

Photo Mahaviasy Sando 

WITH BIRDLIFE’S 

HELP, ASITY 

MADAGASCAR 

HAS GROWN INTO 

A PROFICIENT 

PROTECTED AREA 

MANAGER AND 

ADVOCATE FOR 

CONSERVATION 

the forest, providing them with opportunities 

that, based on trials, they readily accept. But 

there must be rules, and the project will support 

enforcement, by local communities themselves 

but supported by Government authorities where 

necessary. Finally, the project will identify and 

secure long-term financing sources for conservation 

of Tsitongambarika. 

Thirteen years ago, BirdLife launched a wetland 

conservation programme in Madagascar with the 

team that is now Asity Madagascar. Back then, the 

capacity of national (Malagasy) organisations to 

conserve big sites was minimal, and the country’s 

wetlands were on hardly anyone’s agenda. With 

BirdLife’s help, Asity has grown into a proficient 

protected area manager and advocate for conservation, 

and have secured protection for both of 

the huge wetland sites; no wetland species has 

been lost from the sites. Conservation work there 

continues as it will always have to, but so much 

has been achieved that it is time to look again at 

the forests. Let us all rally round to save them. 

Since 2005, the work of BirdLife and Asity Madagascar at 

Tsitongambarika has been funded by Rio Tinto (currently 

through a pioneering ‘biodiversity offsets’ programme), 

The Waterloo Foundation, Wetland Trust, European 

Association of Zoos and Aquaria, MAVA Foundation, SVS/ 

BirdLife Switzerland, Forestry Bureau of the Council of 

Agriculture of Taiwan, Conservation International Madagascar, 

Aage V Jensen Charity Foundation and Global 

Environment Facility through the United Nations Development 

Programme. In 2016, the UK Birdfair will be 

allocating part of its support to the conservation of Tsitongambarika 

forest, alongside its support to African Important 

Bird Areas in Danger, and Young Conservationists. 

62 



63

AFRICAN IBAs IN DANGER IN NEED OF URGENT HELP 

1 3 

Cross River National Park 

Nigeria 

Arabuko-Sokoke Forest 

Kenya 

Cross River National Park is a large area of lowland and 

submontane rainforest situated in south-east Nigeria along 

the border with Cameroon. The park is divided into two 

sections. The smaller area to the north-east, Okwangwo Division, 

is separated by about 50 km of disturbed forest from 

the larger Oban Division. Which is contiguous with Korup 

National Park in Cameroon. 

This is one of the most diverse sites in Nigeria for birds: over 

350 bird species have been recorded in this still vastly underexplored 

park, including the Vulnerable Grey-necked Pitacarthes 

oreas and Yellow-casqued Hornbill Ceratogymna 

elata. The national park and its vast buffer zone holds no less 

than 18 species of primates, including Lowland Gorilla Gorilla 

gorilla, as well as other endemic and threatened mammals. 

The areas surrounding the national park are threatened by 

plans to construct the Cross River super-highway promoted 

by the State Governor. Some of the concerns surrounding 

the construction of this highway are that the road is likely to 

attract farming, logging and hunting on a massive scale which 

will destroy the area’s rich biodiversity vital for human life. 

The lives and livelihoods of the forest communities depend 

on this natural ecosystem; their food, water, shelter, medicine 

and culture is inextricably linked to the ecosystem services 

provided by the forests. Birds could suffer serious declines, a 

key indicator of the health of any ecosystem. 

BirdLife, in coalition with other international and national 

NGOs has sent a letter to the Government of Nigeria, asking 

for a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment to be 

carried out before constructions begin. The current EIA has 

many shortcomings as it doesn’t take into account the manifold 

and potentially grave impacts on the area’s exceptional 

wildlife. The State Government has agreed to the review of 

the EIA but is adamant that the road should be built, despite 

widespread opposition. BirdLife needs to continue putting 

pressure on both the state and federal governments to opt 

for a less damaging alternative route for this highway. 

The island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe is a hotspot of 

endemism. The archipelago has a tiny land area of 1,001 km 2 , 

yet no fewer than 28 endemic bird species (and many endemic 

subspecies), over 100 endemic plant species, a whole family of 

endemic land snails, and several endemic species of mammal, 

amphibian and reptile call this IBA home. The lowland forests 

that comprise the IBA are recognised in the top three most 

important sites in the world for conserving forest birds, 

supporting three Critically Endangered (CR) species: the Dwarf 

Olive Ibis Bostrychia bocagei, the São Tomé Fiscal Lanius 

newtoni and the São Tomé Grosbeak Neospiza concolor. 

Forest loss and degradation is driven by industrial-scale 

plantation development, hydroelectric dam development, 

illegal logging, illegal hunting, and the as yet unknown 

2 

São Tomé Lowland Forests 

Gulf of Guinea 

AREAS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE CENSUS 

IBAs 

IBAs IN DANGER 

impact of introduced non-native species. Work to date by 

the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) and SPEA (BirdLife in Portugal) 

has focused on a significant four year research programme 

to increase understanding on the status, distributions, 

requirements and threat drivers for the three CR birds, as 

well as building relationships with key national partners and 

stakeholders and undertaking emergency advocacy work to 

protect species and habitat. 

Immediate action is now needed to protect the remaining 

forest habitat and restore degraded areas, to enable the 

recovery of globally threatened biodiversity. To do this, significant 

investment in building national capacity is required 

alongside engaging with key private sector stakeholders and 

government departments. 

2 

1 

4 

3 

As one of the largest remaining fragments of coastal forest in 

East Africa, Arabuko-Sokoke has been identified as the second 

most important forest for conservation in Africa due to the range 

and diversity of endemic species (24 species, including Sokoke 

Scops Owl Otus ireneae, Sokoke Pipit Anthus sokokensis and 

Clarke’s Weaver Ploceus golandi). Nature Kenya (BirdLife 

Kenya) has a long history of working with communities in the 

area to ensure they benefit from conservation of the forest. 

For example, Nature Kenya helped to develop the successful 

community-based butterfly farming – the Kipepeo Project – 

as well as other livelihood projects such as honey production 

and ecotourism. At the end of October 2014, Nature Kenya 

received reports that Camac Energy Ltd. had announced that 

they would be conducting seismic surveys in Kilifi county 

for oil and gas, including transects through Arabuko-Sokoke 

Forest. When the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Adjacent Dwellers 

Association (ASFADA) found that their lands and forest were 

threatened by the oil company, BirdLife International and RSPB 

supported them through a vigorous campaign, spearheaded 

by Nature Kenya, and working at all levels from communities 

and grass roots organisations to national and international 

levels. As a result, Camac responded by agreeing not to enter 

the forest nor other culturally or ecologically sensitive sites. 

However, the fact that the oil and gas concessions still cover 

the area means that the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest is still under 

threat. Nature Kenya will continue to maintain vigilance with 

local communities for protection of the forest. 

4 

Lake Natron 

Tanzania 

Lake Natron is world famous for its breeding Lesser Flamingos 

Phoeniconaias minor of which about half a million pairs regularly 

visit the lake for nesting and raising their young. There are 

also large numbers of other waterbirds, both migratory and 

resident. Lake Natron is a shallow highly-saline lake in a closed 

basin on the floor of the Eastern Rift Valley. It is 1,540 km 2 , but 

only 50 cm deep. The IBA is also a Ramsar Site (wetland of 

international importance) but has no national protection status. 

The biggest threat to the lake comes from plans to open one 

or more mines to exploit the rich soda ash deposits of the lake. 

This would not only affect the water levels and quality, and 

hence the breeding flamingos and other waterbirds, but also 

nature tourism, which is an important income generator in the 

wider area. In 2007-09, BirdLife led a campaign with support 

from the the Lake Natron Consultative Group (a coalition of 

56 institutions), which successfully defeated a large-scale soda 

ash plant development at the site. Since then, BirdLife has 

implemented projects aimed at improving local communities’ 

livelihoods and boosting tourism. Unfortunately, the lake is still 

not totally safe. Although the current government is in favour 

of conservation, the situation may change again in the future, 

so getting widespread support for conservation from local 

people is key to defending the lake from future attacks. 



65

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BirdLife The Magazine June 2016

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