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OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2018

THE BIODIVERSITY ISSUE

P L U S : 1 0 Y E A R S O F P R E V E N T I N G E X T I N C T I O N S

How YOUR support is reversing the fortunes of the world’s rarest birds

C O M M U N I C AT I N G T H E C R I S I S O F O U R T I M E T O A W O R L D T H AT D O E S N ’ T C A R E E N O U G H

Together we are BirdLife International Partnership for nature and people

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

3OCT-DEC 2018 • BIRDLIFE

My chest puffed like a lekking grouse during the making of this issue – such was the pride it instilled in me for the BirdLife family. Firstly, I had the chance to attend my first Global Partnership Meeting – the first of its kind since 2013, and a rare chance for the entire Partnership to roost under one roof to discuss a strategy for the next half-decade of conservation. Having the privilege to break bread with impassioned conservationists from across the globe – from Bolivia to Czechia, Seychelles to Nepal – made it easier to appreciate the dizzying scale of the Partnership’s global efforts to safeguard nature.

Likewise, our Preventing Extinctions Programme’s 10th anniversary brings opportunity for reflection, and our stories of success [page 24] hold a mirror to what The State of the World’s Birds’ indices suggest: that conservation efforts can and do move the needle. But as we prepare to enter the 2020s, we find the stakes are rising. As the biodiversity crisis deepens, it’s no longer enough for us to fight fires on the frontline; we need to be proactive in instilling meaningful societal change to prevent the collapse of our planet’s vital ecosystems [page 48]. And this needs to begin by getting better at the way we communicate the crisis – beginning with a review of what the word ‘biodiversity’ represents [page 12]. If together we fail to get the severity of the message across to those outside the conservation bubble, pride will come before a fall.

Alex Dale, Editor

Neha works in advocacy and policy for Bombay Natural History Society (BirdLife in India), and is also a wildlife writer for outlets such as The Hindu and The Indian Express. You can now add us to that list – on

page 54 she reports on how India’s attitudes towards the once-feared Greater Adjutant have changed.

NEHA SINHA LOLITA GIBBONS-DECHERONG DOMINIC COUZENSCustodians of some of the world’s remotest

terrestrial habitats, our Pacific Partners are on the frontline of the biodiversity crisis. On page 10,

Lolita, of the Palau Conservation Society (BirdLife Partner), fights the corner for a shorebird paradise

threatened by damaging development.

Dominic is a British birder, journalist, speaker and tour leader with over 30 published books under

his belt. On page 30 he opens his BirdLife account with a recap on the peril faced by the heavily-hunted Helmeted Hornbill – and the ten-year

action plan that will save it.

FAMILY REUNION

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

EDITORIAL

P. 7WHAT WAS

DECIDED IN A MEETING OF

100+ BIRDLIFE PARTNERS?

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CONTENTS

BIRDLIFE • JUL-SEP 2018

CONTRIBUTORS Shannon Anstee, Tom Clynes, Dominic Couzens, Lolita Gibbons-Decherong, Jessica Law, James Lowen, Dima Obeidat, Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Neha Sinha, Hannah Wheatley, Gui-Xi Young

PRODUCTION Jennifer Meade

SCIENCE EDITORS Tris Allinson, Ian Burfield, Stuart Butchart, Maria Dias, Melanie Heath, Claudia Hermes, Anuj Jain, Rob Martin, Noelle Kumpel, Lizzie Pearmain, Ashley Simkins, Roger Safford, Cleo Small, Zoltan Waliczky, James Westrip, Stephanie Winnard

FRONT COVER Shutterstock

EDITOR Alex DaleDEPUTY EDITOR Shaun Hurrell

The views expressed are those of the contributorsand not necessarily those of BirdLife International.

ART EDITOR Richard HoodPrinted by On Demand Print Services LtdPrinted on processed chlorine-free paper made from at least 80% post-consumer waste recycled fibre.

To advertise in BIRDLIFE please contact Jim Lawrence,Mobile: +44(0) 7831 187 057Email: [email protected]

To subscribe to BIRDLIFE please email [email protected]

BIRDLIFE is available by subscription from BirdLife Internationalat the above address and from some Partner organisations.

JUL-SEP 2018NUMBER 3VOLUME 40ISSN 2519-4658

The production of BIRDLIFE is generously supported by the A. G. Leventis Foundation.

OFFICERS OF BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONALPresident Emeritus Her Majesty Queen Noor of JordanHonorary President Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado of JapanHonorary Vice-Presidents Baroness Young of Old Scone (UK), Gerard A Bertrand (USA), A. P. Leventis (UK), Ben Olewine IV and Peter Johan ScheiChief Executive Patricia Zurita, Chairman Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias Treasurer Nick Prentice

COUNCIL OF BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONALAfrica Achilles Byaruhanga (Uganda), Claudia Feltrup-Azafzaf (Tunisia) and Mark Anderson (South Africa), Asia Sarath Wimalabandara Kotagama (Sri Lanka) and Shawn Lum (Singapore), Americas David O’Neill (USA), Rosabel Miró (Panama) and Alberto Yanosky (Paraguay), Europe Gergő Halmos (Hungary), Vera Voronova (Kazakhstan) and Philippe Funcken (Belgium), Middle East Yehya Khaled (Jordan) and Assad Adel Serhal (Lebanon), Pacific Kevin Hague (New Zealand) and Paul Sullivan (Australia)

GLOBAL ADVISORY GROUP TO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVEChair Susan Orr, Former Chair Wendy Paulson, John S. Adams, Jane Alexander, Geoff Ball, Nathalie Boulle, Nick Butcher, Appy Chandler, Christie Constantine, Sean Dennis, Scott Dresser, Joe Ellis, Warren Evans, John Gregory, Daniel Gauthier, Piyush Gupta, Richard Hale, Pamela Isdell, James Kushlan, Tasso Leventis, Hector Morales, Ben Olewine, Nick Prentice, Deb Rivel, Terry Townshend, Kurt Vogt, Barbara Young

BIRDLIFE is published quarterly by BirdLife International, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UKTel. +44 (0)1223 277318 | Fax +44 (0)1223 277200 | Email [email protected] | UK registered charity n. 1042125BirdLife International is a worldwide partnership of conservation organisations working to protect the world’s birds and their habitats.

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5JUL-SEP 2018 • BIRDLIFE

REGULARS

3 EDITORIAL

Family reunionAlex Dale

6 AROUND THE PARTNERSHIP

The latest news from every region

8 ONE TO WATCH

Gurney's Pitta

10 IRREPLACEABLE

Peleliu Lkes, PalauLolita Gibbons-Decherong

60 BCI

New insights into raptor conservationHannah Wheatley

62 SCIENCE SPOTLIGHT

State of the World's RaptorsStuart Butchart

COVER STORY

12 BIODIVERSITY

The 'B' WordShaun Hurrell

18 THE INTERVIEW

Thomas LovejoyShaun Hurrell and Alex Dale

22 SPIX'S MACAW

Gone forever?Alex Dale

FEATURES

24 PREVENTING EXTINCTIONS

10 years of Preventing Extinctions

James Lowen


Saving the Helmeted HornbillDominic Couzens


BirdLife's Champions LeagueJim Lawrence


Saving the sentinels of the skiesJessica Law

40 ECOTOURISM

The race to save the AndesTom Clynes

43 NATURE & CULTURE

The Middle East: sorting fact from fiction

Dima Obeidat

46 FLYWAYS

LIFE EuroSAP: the Sweet SixteenGui-Xi Young

48 WHY BIRDS MATTER

Why we need birds (even more than they need us)

Jessica Law

52 MARINE

Want to save seabirds? Follow them.Margaret Sessa-Hawkins

54 NATURE'S HEROES

The Adjutant armyNeha Sinha

58 INTERVIEW

Around the world in 8,000 birdsMargaret Sessa-Hawkins

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6 BIRDLIFE • OCT-DEC 2018

NEWS ROUND-UP

A R O U N D T H E

PA R T N E R S H I PALL THE LATEST NEWS, INSIGHT AND SUCCESS STORIES

FROM 117 PARTNERS IN 115 COUNTRIES

EUROPEThe Saker Falcon Falco cherrug has been discovered

to be breeding in Bulgaria for the first time in ten years – two chicks have already successfully fledged. Having been driven from the country by hunting, habitat loss and egg stealing, this Endangered species is now returning across the Balkans thanks to a captive breeding programme. BSPB (BirdLife Partner) is working to preserve its habitat.

AMERICASIn Chile, modifications to purse seine fishing nets

have been proven to reduce accidental seabird deaths by up to 98%, with far fewer birds becoming tangled in equipment when diving for fish. This project, led by BirdLife’s Albatross Task Force, has been listed as one of the best 500 environmental initiatives in Latin America by Premios Latinoamérica Verde (The Latin American Green Awards) 2018.

AFRICAA highly successful campaign lead by BirdLife

Malawi helped fast-track a delayed court ruling on the national ban on thin plastic bags and containers. The campaign united universities, faith groups and community organisations, raising awareness with wide media coverage and a peaceful march. This compelled the court to pass judgement, allowing the ban to finally be implemented.

KEY BIRDLIFE PARTNER

BIRDLIFE COUNTRY PROGRAMME

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Between 26th-28th September, over 200 members of the BirdLife family flocked to Wallonia, Belgium for the 2018 BirdLife Global Partnership Meeting. Held every five years, these landmark meetings offer a rare chance for representatives of all 117 BirdLife Partners to meet under one roof and agree on a strategy for the next half-decade of conservation. In addition to looking at our common work, our successes and our future plans, the Partnership elected our governing body, both at the regional and global levels. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, former Executive Secretary of the Convention of Biological Diversity, was elected as the Chair of the Global Council.

“I look forward to helping the BirdLife Partners continue to grow, making the Partnership as strong as ever, particularly in light of the changes that the Global Conservation Agenda will have with the new deal for nature to be approved in 2020 in Beijing,” said Dias following his election.

At a regional level, the Partnership elected Shawn Lum and Sarath Kotagama (Asia), Paul Sullivan and Kevin Hague (Pacific), Achilles Byaruhanga, Claudia Feltrup-Azafzaf and Mark Anderson (Africa), Assad Serhal and Yehya Khaled (Middle East), Gergö Halmos, Vera Voronova and Philippe Funcken (Europe and Central Asia), and David O’Neill, Rosabel Miró and Alberto Yanosky (Americas).

MIDDLE EASTWith wind technology becoming a rapidly

emerging sector in the Middle East, RSCN in Jordan has developed national guidelines helping investors to plan wind farms through an environmentally friendly framework – the first of its kind in the region. In June, RSCN hosted an awareness-raising event encouraging stakeholders to aspire to zero bird mortalities from collisions with turbines, as part of the Migratory Soaring Birds project.

ASIAIn China, birdwatchers aren’t just spotting birds.

Volunteers trained by the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society (BirdLife Partner) have been patrolling coastal wetlands, reporting illegal bird trapping nets and raising awareness among local people. In five years there has been a 90% reduction in nets, benefiting species like the Spoon-billed Sandpiper. HKBWS says the key is understanding hunters, not vilifying them.

PACIFICThe Australian Government has failed to reject the

latest application to build a marina and residential complex on top of Moreton Bay, Queensland: a crucial overwintering site for Endangered shorebirds such as the Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis. Allowing the development to go ahead would set a worrying precedent, threatening other Ramsar-listed wetlands. BirdLife Australia is campaigning against the decision.

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Gurney’s Pitta Hydrornis gurneyi (Endangered) has declined by a staggering 70% in just 13 years, its rapid population plummet a result of habitat loss. Following its relatively recent extinction from Thailand, the species now occupies a small range of flat, low-lying forests in Myanmar. Unfortunately, these same forests are being cleared to make way for oil palm and betel nut plantations.

This isn’t the first time this striking species has been in danger of extinction. Widespread in Thailand before 1915, Gurney’s Pitta was feared extinct after there were no confirmed sightings between 1952 and 1985. Rediscovery came with excitement in 1986, and populations were then discovered in five separate locations. However, by 1997 the species had again dwindled – occurring in only one of its previous five Thai habitats. By this time, the global population was estimated at a mere nine pairs and the pitta was believed to be one of the rarest species on earth.

Luckily, a search for the species in Myanmar in 2003 found the bird at several sites and estimated the population at between 5,000 and 8,500 pairs. Despite this encouraging discovery, since then the decline has been precipitous. Whilst it is currently listed as Endangered, civil unrest within the final stronghold of the range could increase rates of habitat loss and push the species to Critically Endangered. Without slowing this decline through habitat protection, Gurney’s Pitta may disappear from Myanmar just as it has from Thailand, except this time there will be no second chance.

Gurney’s Pitta: lost and found – and lost again?

GURNEY’S PITTA Hydrornis gurneyi Photo Boonchuay Promjiam/Shutterstock


estled inside the tropical island nation of Palau is Peleliu Lkes, an intertidal zone made up of pristine sand flats and islets that have lain unspoiled for hundreds of years. This area has

been a sanctuary for a multitude of shorebirds over the years, with Peleliu Lkes serving as a stopover point as they travel from breeding grounds in the arctic and subarctic regions of East Asia, Siberia and Alaska down to coastal habitats as far south as Australia and New Zealand.Several globally Endangered species including the Micronesian Scrubfowl Megapodius laperouse, Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis and Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris rely on Peleliu Lkes. Its favourable tidal conditions lead to abundant feeding opportunities, while its islets provide a perfect place to rest. For this reason, BirdLife has added the site to our inventory of global Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas (IBAs).

Over the course of history, there has emerged a time-honoured bond between shorebirds and Palauans. They are seen in local values, beliefs, oral history, literature, art, and chants. This bond is displayed in the relationship between Palauans and the Far Eastern Curlew, the Delerrok. An ancient icon of culture, pride, and prosperity, the Delerrok as it is called in the Palauan language is etched in the Bai, the chief’s meeting house. Oral tradition states that the Far Eastern Curlew brought the first monies into Palau, earning its locally common name, the ‘money bird’. Unfortunately, these birds are in peril. An islet adjacent to the Lkes has been leased to a foreign developer for $300,000 with the intention of developing it into a resort. Resort operations on the islet will encroach into the reef flat and result in the degradation of this habitat for endangered shorebirds and other wildlife.

Palau Conservation Society (BirdLife Partner) has been working to preserve the area. Stressing the vital role Peleliu Lkes plays for both the local community and birds, we are lobbying to convince the public and politicians that the area vitally needs protection. Hopefully, both local and global pressure will lead to the site being included on the national network of protected areas. n

Peleliu Lkes Palau

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F A R E A S T E R N C U R L E W Numenius madagascariensis

Classified as ‘Least Concern’ just a decade ago, the Far Eastern Curlew is now Endangered, due in large part to the loss of stopover habitats along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. This makes Peleliu Lkes even more important as a key site where the Far Eastern Curlew can rest and refuel.

BIRDLIFE • OCT-DEC 2018

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Constructed using local materials such as wood and thatch placed over a stone platform, the Bai was a traditional

meeting house for council chiefs in a village. Pictures of the Delerrok appear on each corner-post

of the Bai.

G R E E N T U R T L E Chelonia mydas

Green Turtles are found throughout the waters around Palau. They inhabit shallow lagoons, and feed on

seagrasses, such as those found around Peleliu Lkes.


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Biodiversity. It’s the magnificent infrastructure that supports all life on earth, including ours. But we’re losing it fast. With the biodiversity crisis quite possibly surpassing climate change as the greatest threat to humanity, we explore why many do not seem to realise the urgency, and reveal why next year is the crucial time for a plan ‘B’.

Shaun Hurrell

oth incredibly complex and simply vital, biodiversity is much more than a contraction of ‘biological diversity’. First coined by Thomas Lovejoy

in 1985 [p.18], the term actually describes the variety of life on Earth, from the level of genes, to different species, to entire ecosystems like forests, wetlands, reefs and deserts. It also represents the myriad of interactions between all living things on the planet that provides everything from fresh water, to clean air, to medicine, even the joy we feel with the smell of fresh rain, or the money we get from selling building materials or food. If you want to put a price on the ‘ecosystem services’ biodiversity provides, it is in the trillions of dollars – double the world’s GDP. Yet unfortunately its importance is not understood or recognised by many - which in itself could be the greatest threat facing nature.

For nearly 100 years, BirdLife has been documenting the decline of bird species. Our 2018 State of the World’s Birds report shows that one in eight bird species are in peril. This is a horrific statistic, but it’s also an indicator of a wider problem. Today we’re already living in the Anthropocene and the beginning of a Sixth Mass Extinction event. The impact of humans is now so huge that extinction levels are 100-10,000 times greater than the background (or in other words, ‘natural’) rate.

This impact has spread to every corner of the globe. More than 70 percent of coral reefs are under threat or already destroyed. The

Bnumbers of individual animals on the planet has halved since 1970; over 40% of amphibians are threatened with extinction; as are a quarter of all mammal species.

And that’s only the threats we’ve measured [p. 15]. Diversity is the key to our resilience, yet we’ve lost a huge amount of genetic variety in domesticated commercial crops. Wild relatives of modern rice and wheat, which contain genes that could withstand disease and climate change, are now on the verge of extinction.

Combine this with large-scale damage to biodiversity from the conversion of habitat to farmland, soil degradation, overconsumption, and pollution, and we are rapidly hurtling towards the point of no return when it comes to biodiversity loss.

There’s a scientific debate at the moment whether the loss of biodiversity beyond a ‘planetary boundary’ will lead to a global tipping point and the collapse of ecosystems (such as ocean acidification bleaching entire coral reefs, or the removal of top predator fish from a freshwater lake that leads to the proliferation of algae and can irreversibly turn the lake to a toxic ‘pea soup’ green). Another theory holds that rather than a sudden plunge of the system, the continued erosion of life will see the gradual loss of ecosystem function. But at this point it all leads to the same conclusion: we’re soon to be using more than four Planet Earth’s worth of resources, which is clearly not sustainable. We have to change how we live, and we have to do it now, together.

WE NEED A PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE WAY THAT HUMANS INTERACT WITH NATURE; TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE AND A SYSTEMIC APPROACH TO ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES OF BIOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION

CRISTIANA PAŞCA PALMEREXECUTIVE SECRETARY, UN CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

0 Wonder and enjoyment? Food security? Greater resilience when conditions change? What does biodiversity mean to you?Photo Shutterstock

THE ‘B’ WORD

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THE ‘B’ WORD


In 2010, the UN declared the ‘decade on biodiversity’ as signatory countries to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) agreed on a strategic plan for 2020, including 20 biodiversity goals, referred to as the Aichi Targets, at the CBD Conference of Parties (COP) in Nagoya, Japan. “Despite the usual struggles with some governments putting perceived short-term national economic interests above the importance of biodiversity, there was a sense of true optimism”, says Melanie Heath, BirdLife’s Director of Science, Policy & Information. “The targets are clear, they corroborate the needs of people and sustainable development, but they need resources and commitment to implement them.”

Whilst the CBD is non-binding for countries, the Aichi Targets should have been a head-start for conservation. BirdLife provided data that underpinned one-fifth of the indicators used to judge progress towards the Aichi Targets, and our policy team advocated heavily at CBD conferences for greater investment when countries looked like they were flailing at the midway point. We even provided figures estimating the investments needed to reduce the extinction risk for all known threatened species at $4 billion annually, with a further $76 billion needed each year to protect and manage terrestrial sites of global conservation significance – totalling less than 20 percent the annual consumer spending on soft drinks.

Today, progress is being made towards a few (arguably insufficiently ambitious) Aichi Targets -

or at least parts of them - such as Target 11: 15% of the agreed 17% of land, and 4% of the 10% target for the marine realm, is now protected or conserved, with a little over two years left before the 2020 deadline. The overall picture, however, is one of failure, inadequate commitment and prioritisation in governments, and poor investment. Post-2020, the planet literally can’t afford to miss the mark again.

By 2020, the end of the current UN Decade on Biodiversity, the world’s biodiversity is set to have declined by two-thirds”, says Dr Cristiana Paşca Palmer, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the woman with the onerous task of leading efforts to create a new global deal for nature at the CBD COP in Beijing in 2020. “This unprecedented rate of destruction jeopardises not only the amazing variety of life on Earth, but the prospects for human development and well-being. We need a paradigm shift in the way that humans interact with nature; we need transformative change and a systemic approach to address the root causes of biological destruction.”

Perhaps it’s not what we said, but how we said it. A 2018 paper entitled Our House Is Burning: Discrepancy in Climate Change vs. Biodiversity Coverage in the Media as Compared to Scientific Literature found that media coverage of climate change was up to eight times higher than that of biodiversity since 2002. The paper recommended that changing how we communicate the biodiversity crisis could have a

T H E A I C H I TA R G E T S THE 20 TARGETS FOR 2020 ARE GROUPED INTO FIVE STRATEGIC GOALS

STRATEGIC GOAL A Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society.

STRATEGIC GOAL B Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use.

STRATEGIC GOAL C To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity.

STRATEGIC GOAL D Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services.

STRATEGIC GOAL E Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building.

2 Despite the species’ starring role in the 2011 film Rio, the announcement of the extinction in the wild of the iconic Spix’s Macaw didn’t lead everyone to mourn in the streets like they would a famous actor, or protest against deforestation like they would raised taxes: people don’t realise how biodiversity loss can affect their daily lives.Photo Blue Sky Studios

15XXXXX 2018 • BIRDLIFE

A great visual example of connections in ecosystems is the classic big red ‘toadstool’ fungus called fly agaric, which are the fruiting bodies of mycorrhizae fungi – an entire network of fungal threads in a woodland symbiotically associated with plant roots, exchanging nutrients, minerals and signals between neighbouring trees in what’s nicknamed the ‘wood-wide web’. At the ecosystem level, we’re only just beginning to understand the plethora of intricate interactions that holds nature together – for example fungi help over 90% of plants thrive, yet of the three million species of fungi, only 56 have had their conservation status assessed; many are in decline from habitat loss, nitrogen pollution, and climate change.

B I O D I V E R S I T Y CO N N EC T I O N

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big enough impact to drive the change we need, such as using metaphors, culture, personal experience, and relevance to daily life.

“The greatest problem in communicating the biodiversity crisis is the word ‘biodiversity’”, said Richard Black, former BBC Environmental Correspondent, at a recent CBD and Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) workshop co-convened by BirdLife, called Many Voices, One Nature, which recently gathered conservationists, communicators and journalists at the start of a series of events in the lead up to 2020. Whilst you’d probably hear David Attenborough using ‘nature’ or ‘life’ over ‘biodiversity’, the latter is the word of choice in international politics. Maybe the ‘B-word’ is technocratic and alienating, and perhaps this represents another problem.

“On their own, and when not provided in the context of a story, facts and figures are a surprisingly inefficient persuasion tool to most audiences”, says Ralph Underhill, a communications consultant, and former staff member at the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK). “Humans aren’t objective, rational beings; what influences us all, even scientists, is an emotional connection; humour, stories.”

Underhill is also the author of the Framing Nature Toolkit, an informative work that explains how the words we use can have profound knock-on effects. “In one experiment, a crime issue was presented to participants using two different metaphors: when ‘beast’ was used

to describe crime, participants favoured more punitive responses; while those who had crime presented as a ‘virus’ favoured rehabilitation”, hesays. “How problems are described will change the solutions we come up with, because all words trigger certain beliefs and associations in our minds.” So it is for nature, also: too much emphasis on the threats and people become depressed and fatalistic. “We need to highlight the problem, but also the successful work we’ve done to address it, so change feels possible and people are inspired to act.”

Perhaps the slogan of the CBD should be reframed as the ‘Safeguarding Our Life on Earth Convention’. The reality is that we shouldn’t have to make it so (cumbersomely) obvious, yet today there is a subliminal chasm between nature and people that exists in the public psyche, and the vast majority of people do not realise how much they rely on the web of life. For one we need to better emphasise our connection to nature and how absolutely amazing it is but, as we’ve seen, this problem extends far beyond slogans.

We need a Plan ‘B’. Paşca Palmer, in her keynote speech at the Many Voices, One Nature workshop, proclaimed: “We need to move beyond conservation, beyond protection.” Nature conservation is no longer just a scientific discipline, it needs to be a movement of social scientists, psychologists, artists, economists, journalists. What’s needed is a behaviour change

THE GREATEST PROBLEM IN COMMUNICATING THE BIODIVERSITY CRISIS IS THE WORD ‘BIODIVERSITY’

RICHARD BLACKFORMER BBC ENVIRONMENTAL CORRESPONDENT

0 We need to restore out connection with nature. Cartoon: Ralph Underhill

3 Looking on the bright side, we caused the biodiversity crisis, so we can fix it. Photo Shutterstock


so massive it changes ‘the system’ itself. A mega-campaign, surpassing the scale of that which garnered support for the Paris Climate Accord needs two fronts – emotion for the public, and evidence for policy.

“Kicking off with the CBD Conference of Parties in Egypt this November, and over the next two and a half years, the BirdLife Partnership will be advocating strongly for rapid progress by governments to reach the Aichi Targets”, says Heath. “We are also working hard to secure an ambitious and robust post-2020 biodiversity conservation agenda owned by us all that, critically, must be more effective.”

Climate change has a very clear goal for governments to understand: no more than 1.5 degrees. We may need the equivalent for

biodiversity, and the public reaction needs to be proportionate to the scale of the threat, such that it will influence elections. This means new narratives, new incentives, new policies, even a new economic model, and, dare it be said, a replacement for the ‘B’ word.

Because if the one thing we’re trying to save cannot be captured in just one term, ‘biodiversity’ (and we’ve seen that, yes, that includes us humans), then we aren’t feeling it in our hearts. In the past, human cultures have often turned to art, creativity and emotion to make sense of the indescribable. Today, we know that the benefits and wonder of biodiversity are literally beyond words. So too must be the renewed campaign to protect them. The deadline: 2020.

Extreme weather eventsWeapons of mass destruction

4.0

Water crises

Food crises

Cyberattacks

Large-scale involuntary migration

Biodiversity loss andecosystem collapse

Man-made environmental disastersInterstate conflict

Profound social instability

Unemployment or underemployment

Spread of infectious diseases

Data fraud or theft

Terrorist attacks

Failure of national governance

Critical information infrastructure breakdown

Fiscal crises

Failure of critical infrastructure

Failure of regional or global governance

State collapse or crisis

Asset bubbles in a major economy

Illicit trade

Unmanaged inflationDeflation

Failure of urban planning

Natural disasters

Failure of climate-change mitigation and adaption

Energy price shock

Adverse consequences of technological advances

Failure of financial mechanism or institution

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1 Extreme weather events

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3 Cyberattacks

4 Data fraud or theft

5 Failure of climate-change mitigation and adaption

6 Large-scale involuntary migration

7 Man-made environmental disasters

8 Terrorist attacks

9 Illicit trade

10 Asset bubbles in a major economy

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1 Weapons of mass destruction

2 Extreme weather events

3 Natural disasters

4 Failure of climate-change mitigation and adaption

5 Water crises

6 Cyberattacks

7 Food crises

8 Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse

9 Large-scale involuntary migration

10 Spread of infectious diseases

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0 Compiled by 900 members of the World Economic Forum, this chart measures 30 global risks facing the planet over the next ten years, both in terms of likelihood of them happening, and the severity of impact if they do. Risks and crises relating to nature rank high on both scales, yet are nowhere near high enough on government agendas...

THE GODFATHER

OFBIODIVERSI TY

In 1980 a conservation biologist by the name of Thomas Lovejoy, then of WWF in USA, coined ‘biological diversity’. Nearly four decades later, BirdLife sits down with the ‘Godfather of Biodiversity’ to discuss what’s behind the term and how we all need to change...

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wenty years ago, eminent conservation biologist Thomas Lovejoy came up with

a word that encapsulated not only the variety of life on earth, but the life-giving services that delicately-balanced ecosystems provide to us all. Since then, his long and varied career has always centred on conserving them. At the age of 77, he is a senior fellow at George Mason University. Talking to BirdLife, he shares his thoughts on dinosaur calls, public awareness, and the urgent need for humanity to start seeing itself as part of nature.

You’ve been credited with coining the term ‘biodiversity’. Can you explain how you came up with the word?What’s interesting is that there were three of us who came up with the term ‘Biological Diversity’ in 1980. None of us were thinking we’d invented something new, none of us were thinking “oh, maybe I was first” – it just flowed naturally from the way we were thinking scientifically and environmentally at the time. And it was only later that Elliott Norse, who was one of the three, went back and looked at it and said that I was the first.

What was the purpose behind the word?Well, it was really intended to address the complexity and diversity in nature, and take us beyond thinking about the traditional forms of conservation, which would be about a particular species, to thinking about conserving the variety of life on earth. Today, we’re talking about the biodiversity crisis and how pressing that is.

Do you have any thoughts on how to get this issue into the public consciousness?I think we need to do two things in particular. One is make people realise that we’re not separate from nature in the least, and that what we really need to do is embed ourselves in the natural

world and stop thinking about it as something that can be protected in a particular place with a little fence around it. But I also think people need to understand how much biology actually contributes to their daily lives. Whether it’s the prescription that you got at the drugstore, or the water from the watershed, or the composition of the atmosphere, we’re benefiting from the natural world every second of our lives.

Do you enjoy going out and experiencing nature yourself?My favourite thing in the world is to go to my favourite camp in the Amazon, which is essentially an unbroken forest all the way to the Guianas. It’s like the forest primeval – it’s like being in the heart of the living planet. I love to take people there, it’s always transformative.

What do you think is the greatest challenge in communicating the biodiversity crisis today?Yes, there’s a crisis – but we should spend less time elaborating on the details of the crisis, and more time helping people to understand that they really are part of nature, and it’s in everybody’s basic interest to protect the variety of life on earth.

We totally agree with you!You know, it’s not only that: nature is beautiful, it’s

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wonderful, it’s fascinating. As E. O. Wilson once said, every child had a bug period, he just never grew out of his! And we all should be that way.

What’s your favourite bird species – if you have a favourite?That’s really hard! You know, for David Attenborough, it would be a bird of paradise – I think for me it might be one of the manakins: little fruit-eating birds of the New World tropics which have elaborate dances, and there’s one of them that has a cap which is like iridescent mother-of-pearl. It’s spectacular.

We talk a lot about birds being indicators of the health of the planet. In our latest State of the World’s Birds report we call it ‘taking the pulse of the planet’. What are your thoughts on this concept?Basically, if you save the variety of birds on this planet, you will save the variety of life, at least on land. So they’re great indicators of the overall health of the environment. And they’re very accessible to people, because birds are basically very visual organisms, and we’re very visual, so we respond to their elaborate plumages and cues. And we’re also reasonably auditory, and they use all kinds of auditory communication. Interestingly enough, it’s recently been determined that in any bird which makes its song with a syrinx, the syrinx actually goes back to the dinosaurs that gave rise to birds. So some of those dinosaurs were making strange, bird-like noises. Isn’t that amazing?

For 2018, BirdLife teamed up with National Geographic to declare the Year Of The Bird. A key component of this is encouraging members of the public to make small but meaningful steps to benefit nature. In your opinion, what is the one thing that every person could do tomorrow that would make the biggest impact in preserving biodiversity?

19

THE INTERVIEW

Well, I would suggest two things. The first step is just to go and visit some local piece of nature, and then the next thing would be actually taking some kids to see it, some friends to see it, and help them to see the connection between nature and the quality of our life. You know, this is a living planet, and most people are under the illusion that it works as a physical system – absolutely not. It is a combined physical and biological system. And it controls the composition of the atmosphere, controls the flow of water, and all kinds of other things that make it a habitable planet. Do you have any examples of how much an ecosystem can survive when a certain number of species have been removed from it? When will it collapse?Ecosystems will go through small collapses, but they don’t usually go through big collapses – they just erode, and become less capable of doing what they were able to do before. So what we’re going through as a planet is the erosion of the biology of the planet, and its ability to support people – and it makes no sense at all.

You attended our Flyway Summit in Abu Dhabi, where attendees from a whole variety of different countries and sectors came together to discuss the future of conservation: does that give you hope for the future?It’s incredibly encouraging to see – I don’t even know how many countries were represented – probably a few dozen in the end, from all over the world, caring deeply about the future of birds. The main focus of the meeting

was on migratory birds – and when you actually think about what migratory birds do, it’s just staggering. I once flew from Washington to San Jose in Costa Rica, and then spent another two or three hours in the car, and then I got where I was going at one in the morning. And then I had to be out the door at 6am to go with a graduate student who was mist-netting birds, and it was the first day that I caught a full migrant. It was a yellow warbler which I got to take out of the net, and that bird had just flown a greater distance than I had come – all the way, probably, from Canada, all on its own. And when you blew the feathers away and looked at it, you could see that it had burned every little bit of fat, probably burning protein at the end of the trip. And if that isn’t something wondrous, I don’t know what is.

What, in your opinion, is a major threat to biodiversity that doesn’t get enough airtime, and needs to be discussed more? One of the things I worry about a lot is the soup of man-made chemicals that we live in. And the medicine taking out so many vultures [diclofenac] is just one example out of tens of thousands of man-made chemicals. So I worry about that a lot, and think the more we can move back towards using molecules from nature, which degrade naturally, the better off we’ll be.

Why do you think it is that people won’t change their attitudes? It’s something that we all know, but it’s just never entered into the public consciousness – people don’t take it seriously.

“It’s a social primate problem – we spend time grooming each other without really considering what’s going on in the habitat“

Well, there are two parts to that problem. One is, it’s very easy for an individual to think, well, it’s just me – how can that make a difference? But it all adds up. And the other is thinking about ourselves as apart from the environment. Probably, the majority of people on this planet suffer from that to one degree or another. And when you think that way, you don’t even stop to think whether something you’re doing might pollute the planet. Personally, I think it’s a social primate problem – we like to spend time grooming each other, without really thinking about what’s going on in the habitat.

That’s a very good way of putting it!I once read it was a little bit like a troop of baboons grooming each other while the environmental lion sneaks up.

Yes, it’s way beyond just a scientific problem.That’s right – it’s a sort of human behaviour/human attitude problem. And yes, it’s great that more and more people are living in cities, in the sense that that can take a lot of pressure off the natural world, but it also increases this sense of not needing nature. So you need a lot of counter-effort to keep people aware.

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THE INTERVIEW

Turquoise-fronted Amazon Amazona aestivaPhoto Deni Williams

Blue-crowned Manakin Lepidothrix coronataPhoto Geoff Gallice

21JUL-SEP 2018 • BIRDLIFE

THE INTERVIEW

White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis

Photo Andre Botha

Juvenile Spectacled Owl Pulsatrix perspicillataPhoto Rhian Springett

Crimson Topaz Topaza pella Photo Aisse Gaertner

n the 2011 animated film Rio, Blu, a captive-raised Spix’s Macaw, arrives in Brazil to mate with the last-known wild member of his species, a female

named Jewel. But according to our latest paper, Blu was already 11 years too late – Jewel, the last of her kind, likely perished in or around 2000.

Spix’s Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii is one of eight species primed to have their extinctions either confirmed or deemed highly likely, following a new study by BirdLife International. The eight-year study used a new statistical approach to analyse 51 Critically Endangered species, quantifying, for the first time, three factors at once: intensity of threats, timing and reliability of records, and the timing and quality of search efforts for the species. With eight proposed uplistings, the study reveals a worrying new

trend: for the first time, mainland extinctions are outpacing island extinctions.

“Ninety per cent of bird extinctions in recent centuries have been of species on islands,” says Dr Stuart Butchart, BirdLife’s Chief Scientist and lead author on the paper. “However, our results confirm that there is a growing wave of extinctions sweeping across the continents, driven mainly by habitat loss and degradation from unsustainable agriculture and logging.”

Five of the eight confirmed or suspected extinctions took place on the South American continent, with four in Brazil alone, reflecting the devastating effects of the high rate of deforestation in this part of the world. SAVE Brasil (BirdLife Partner) is already escalating its ongoing efforts to conserve the country’s unique habitats. “These recently confirmed

0 Clockwise from top left: Spix’s Macaw (Photo via Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation), Alagoas Foliage-gleaner (Ciro Albano), Poo-uli (US Fish & Wildlife Service).

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FEATURE

BIRDLIFE • OCT - DEC 2018

Eight bird species, including two species of macaw, look set to have their extinctions confirmed following a robust new review of Critically Endangered species

Alex Dale

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extinctions are a consequence of the intense habitat loss we have been facing in Brazil, especially in the Northeast Atlantic Forest,” says Pedro Develey, Executive Director, SAVE Brasil. “Other Critically Endangered species still living in this region are on the brink of extinction; however, our current conservation efforts are preserving the forest remains, restoring habitats and engaging the local communities. It is very sad to know that we have lost these species, but it is not too late to save many others.”

Of the eight species, it was recommended that three species should be re-classified as Extinct: the Cryptic Treehunter Cichlocolaptes mazarbarnetti and Alagoas Foliage-gleaner Philydor novaesi, two ovenbirds from Northeast Brazil; and Poo-uli Melamprosops phaeosoma, formerly of Hawaii, which has not been seen in the wild since 2004 (the same year the last captive individual died).

The data also suggests another four species should be reclassified as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct), a category that indicates the species is highly likely to be extinct, but further search efforts are required before we can definitively rule it so. These species are New Caledonian Lorikeet Charmosyna diadema (last sighted in 1976), Javan Lapwing Vanellus macropterus (last sighted in 1939), Pernambuco Pygmy-owl Glaucidium mooreorum (2001) and another Brazilian macaw, Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus (2001).

While the announcement of extinctions makes for glum reading, identifying which species are gone for good is an important part of conservation; with limited funds available globally, it’s important that we don’t waste money chasing ghosts. But equally, announcing extinctions prematurely can be costly. “While we need an accurate measure of extinction rates, giving up on a species prematurely risks committing the so-called Romeo Error where conservation efforts are abandoned prematurely on the presumption that the species has disappeared,” says Butchart. While it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever encounter a Javan Lapwing again, precedents have been set before, such as the Blue-eyed Ground-dove Columbina cyanopis, a Brazilian endemic that was dramatically rediscovered this century, having not been seen with certainty since 1941. Hope still persists for the Spix’s, too, despite it apparently being wiped out in the wild as a result of deforestation and other factors such as the creation of a dam, invasive bees and trapping for wild trade. An estimated population of fewer than 90 persists in captivity, hence the suggested classification change to Extinct in the Wild. A lone sighting in 2016 sparked hope the species may persist in the wild, but it is now suspected to be an escapee from captivity. If so, it is sadly highly unlikely this Blu ever found his Jewel.

COMMON NAME

2017 RED LIST CATEGORY

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DATE OF LAST RECORD

Spix’s Macaw Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct in Wild)

Extinct in the Wild 2000

Cryptic Treehunter Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)

Extinct 2007

Alagoas Foliage-gleaner

Critically Endangered Extinct 2011

Poo-uli Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)

Extinct 2004

Glaucous Macaw Critically Endangered Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)

2001

Pernambuco Pygmy-owl

Critically Endangered Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)

2001

Javan Lapwing Critically Endangered Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)

1944

New Caledonian Lorikeet

Critically Endangered Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)

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23OCT - DEC 2018 • BIRDLIFE

T H E E X F I L E S

CRYPTIC TREEHUNTER Inhabiting the humid forests of Northeast Brazil, this small perching bird, named after its elusive nature, was only found in two sites: Murici in the state of Alagoas, and Frei Caneca in Pernambuco. However, these tiny patches of forest were rapidly felled for logging, and to make way for sugar cane plantations or pasture.

ALAGOAS FOLIAGE-GLEANER Like Cryptic Treehunter, the Alagoas Foliage-gleaner was a member of a family known as ovenbirds, named after the round, sun-dried mud nests that some species in the family construct, and again it was only ever found in two sites in Northeast Brazil. It was already designated Extinct at a national level following extensive searches.

POO-ULI This Hawaiian honeycreeper, endemic to the island of Maui, was already rare when it was discovered in 1973 (an estimated 200 individuals). Rapid deforestation in the following years meant that number dwindled to just 5-7 by 1995.Despite the almost constant presence of researchers, no trace of the bird remains.

A decade on from the launch of our Preventing Extinctions Programme, we revisit just ten of the BirdLife Partnership’s inspiring success stories in that time

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t its 2008 World Congress, BirdLife launched the Preventing Extinctions Programme, bringing together

the whole Partnership’s species conservation efforts. The underlying principle was simple: “BirdLife couldn’t, with a clear conscience,

stand by while bird extinctions continue as a result of human activity,” says Jim Lawrence, BirdLife Global Marketing Manager. “While extinctions will sadly happen, we can’t and won’t accept that they are inevitable, and will strive to take action, either directly or through advocacy.” Underpinned by BirdLife’s science, often supported

by ‘Species Champions’ who provide funding, and working through local ‘Species Guardians’ (frequently BirdLife Partners), the Programme has helped at least 483 threatened species, many Critically Endangered. That’s a mighty list to choose from – but what are the Programme’s greatest success stories to date?

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It seems apt that a spectacular bird once mummified to accompany ancient Egyptian royalty into the afterlife should count European royalty amongst its present-day supporters. Alongside ZEISS, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco is a Species Champion for the Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita. Once widespread through the Mediterranean, this species now breeds in the wild only in Morocco, and is considered Critically Endangered. However, following two decades of colony protection, with support from GREPOM (BirdLife in Morocco), Morocco’s population has soared from 59 pairs in 1997 to 600 birds in 2016. Even better, pairs bred at two new sites last year.

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Sometimes, Roger Safford (BirdLife Senior Programme Manager, Preventing Extinctions) suggests, successful conservation can involve a simple concept: “If a forest occupied by a Critically Endangered species is large enough, properly protected and well-managed, the bird involved should survive.” The Cherry-throated Tanager Nemosia rourei illustrates Safford’s point. This striking Brazilian endemic was an enigma for 120 years until

its 1998 rediscovery. There may be as few as 50 birds left, all in Espírito Santo’s remnant Atlantic Forest. In 2017, thanks to support from BirdLife Species Champion Urs-Peter Stäuble, SAVE Brasil (BirdLife Partner) helped Grupo Águia Branca (a major Brazilian company) to create a 1,688-hectare private reserve. Work now continues to secure protection for another patch of habitat known to harbour the species.

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3Two Indian Ocean island states famously illustrate how dedicated action can reverse the fortunes of the world’s rarest birds. Thanks to the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (BirdLife Partner), the legendary salvation of the Mauritius Kestrel Falco punctatus has been used as a model to save other species, including ongoing population increases since 2008 for Echo Parakeet Psittacula eques, Rodrigues Warbler Acrocephalus rodericanus, Mauritius Fody Foudia rubra (pictured) and Rodrigues Fody Foudia flavicans. In Seychelles, several species have seen similar recoveries through innovative conservation action by Nature Seychelles (BirdLife Partner). Most remarkably, in 2015, Seychelles Warbler Acrocephalus sechellensis was re-categorised as Near Threatened – an astonishing turnaround from the nadir of 30 birds precisely 50 years ago.



As the Millennium dawned, the Chinese Crested Tern Thalasseus bernsteini was presumed long extinct. Fifteen years later, 16 chicks fledged at a colony in eastern China, after conservationists including BirdLife attracted birds to Tiedun Dao island through decoy models and audio systems playing tern calls. In 2016, Burung Indonesia (BirdLife Partner) confirmed a new

wintering site in eastern Indonesia. In 2017, things improved further when birds were discovered breeding in South Korea, where BirdLife is now supporting the Government to safeguard the new nesting site. The Chinese Crested Tern may remain Critically Endangered – the highest possible threat category – but at least it has been spared an entry in the log of extinct species.

CHINESE CRESTED TERN

In 2012, some 100,000 migrating Amur Falcons Falco amurensis were trapped in Nagaland, India – then slaughtered for food. Alerted by a video of the massacre that subsequently went viral, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS, BirdLife in India) marshalled an emergency response that saw trappers swiftly arrested and their nets destroyed. BNHS then engineered an engagement programme that has transformed local attitudes: Nagaland’s Chief Minister calls the falcons “esteemed guests”. After five years of conservation action, the safe passage of a million Amur Falcons is again assured: not a single falcon is known to have been killed for the plate since 2012. Instead, the migrating birds now provide a feast for the eyes.

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In relation to land area, nowhere has more threatened birds than the Pacific. Many evolved on tiny islands, thriving without predators or competitors. Then Man arrived, introducing non-native plants and animals, with devastating consequences. Twenty years ago, just 19 Tahiti Monarchs Pomarea nigra could be located on Tahiti. These final survivors had to contend with not one, but nine invasive species. SOP Manu (BirdLife in French Polynesia) has literally rescued the Monarchs from the jaws of defeat, controlling predators as diverse as cats, mynas, rats and ants, and in 2017, 70 monarchs were counted. The next stage will be to translocate birds to a location where these predators are absent.

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At the 2008 BirdLife World Congress in Argentina, corridors hummed with concerns about the perilous status of a remarkable local waterbird. Hooded Grebe Podiceps gallardoi numbers had slumped by 80% in 25 years. In response, BirdLife upped its threat status to Critically Endangered and Aves Argentinas (BirdLife Partner) initiated a conservation programme that has catapulted this stunning creature to international stardom (via an internet video reaching 20 million viewers). Aves Argentinas has identified and combatted numerous threats to the grebe’s existence, including securing the designation of a new National Park. Although populations have now stabilised, concerns now surround a new threat from a hydroelectric dam.

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“One reason for the Programme’s success,” says Lawrence, “is the ‘Power of Many’ afforded by the BirdLife Partnership.” This is particularly apparent in wide-ranging migratory species such as the Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius (Critically Endangered), which breeds in Russia and Kazakhstan, then migrates through 14 countries to winter in north-east

Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Supported by Species Champion Swarovski Optik, BirdLife Partners collaborated on a satellite-tagging project, revealing unknown wintering grounds and pinpointing key staging posts along the wader’s route. “At one location we discovered a flock of 3,200 lapwings – more than we thought existed worldwide!” says Lawrence.

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In the 1970s, 2,000 Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea pairs bred in north-east Russia. Thirty years on, there were 90% fewer. Extinction seemed imminent. BirdLife is part of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force, an international partnership addressing threats across the wader’s range, which extends south to wintering grounds in Thailand and Myanmar. One Species Champion, Heritage Expeditions, is supporting action by transporting conservationists and their equipment, helping them discover new breeding sites and release locally captive-raised birds into the wild. The Chinese Government, meanwhile, halted coastal land reclamation in 2018, a boost to ‘Spoonies’ and millions of other migratory shorebirds using the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

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BirdLife International thanks the many donors who support their Preventing Extinctions Programme. These include multiple Species Champions who have also raised the profile of individual birds and the actions being taken by Species Guardians and others to save them.

10South Asia’s formerly super-abundant vultures were brought to near-extinction by a drug administered to a ubiquitous domestic animal. Treating cattle with diclofenac killed many millions of White-rumped Vultures Gyps bengalensis (whose numbers plummeted by 99.9% in a frighteningly

short time) and fellow carcass-feeders. BNHS (BirdLife in India), Bird Conservation Nepal (BirdLife Partner) and authorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh (with support from UK BirdLife Partner the RSPB, who also contributed significantly to several of the other successes described here)

blew the whistle on diclofenac, and the painkiller was banned for veterinary use in all four countries. But our work is not yet done. “BNHS later discovered a loophole – the use of large vials of human formulations of diclofenac – and persuaded the Indian Government to ban these in 2015,” says Lawrence.

SOUTH ASIAN VULTURES

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The Helmeted Hornbill is under threat from a resurgence in demand for carvings made from its solid red casque. The trade is so intense that the bird is now Critically

Endangered. Can it be saved?

Dominic Couzens

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elmeted Hornbills Rhinoplax vigil are used to clashes. When a tall forest tree is in fruit, rival individuals launch into one of the most remarkable

skirmishes seen among birds anywhere. The mighty hornbills, up to 1.5 m in length, take off from their high perches with deep beats of their enormous wings. Just above the canopy, they take aim from up to 50 m away, accelerate towards each other in a glide and then launch straight into a ferocious head-butt. The clash they make is loud enough to be heard 100 m away on the forest floor, and the combatants are thrown backwards by the force of the collision, whereupon each makes an impressive aerial flip to regain its balance. If matters aren’t settled, the birds will make repeated jousts, sometimes for an hour, with up to 12 ‘hits’ being recorded.

These extraordinary duels are made possible only by the Helmeted Hornbill’s specially adapted casque, sitting atop its bill. A captivating orange-red colour, it is made up mainly from keratin, and in contrast to that of all other hornbill species, which have open casques, it is both solid and heavy. Amazingly, the casque accounts for more than ten percent of the bird’s body weight.

Most of the research points to the possibility that Helmeted Hornbills fight over resources, particularly food. These are large birds with a broad diet that includes fruit, berries and animal matter, including small reptiles, mammals and birds (apparently, sometimes smaller hornbills). However, life is easiest when large trees, especially figs, come into fruit, offering a temporary bonanza to all manner of forest wildlife. It has even been suggested that the action of fermenting figs might intoxicate the birds, ushering them more readily into combat.

Few have ever seen Helmeted Hornbills performing their aerial jousts. Indeed, few have

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HELMETED HORNBILL Rhinoplax vigil

RED LIST STATUS: Critically Endangered

RANGE: Southern Thailand and Myanmar, Malaysia, Sumatra and

Borneo.

THREATS: Habitat loss, heavily targeted by

hunters.

FAST FACT: While it feasts on fruit, the Helmeted Hornbill is also known to hunt squirrels, snakes and even other hornbills.

ever seen this magnificent species at all. Despite its size, they are elusive birds, living in the canopy of the tall dipterocarp forests of Brunei, Indonesia (Kalimantan and Sumatra), Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. Just recently a new, unknown population was discovered, proving how poorly known the bird is.

The Helmeted Hornbill was once widespread and reasonably common. However, its preference for undisturbed, usually primary forest means that, over many years, its population has dwindled. The problem is compounded by the bird’s fussy habits: it is thought to have a narrower diet than most other hornbills, more dependent on figs. It also makes its nest site in the tallest, oldest trees, which have developed cavities high above the forest floor, and are the most valuable to the logging industry. Its breeding biology, typical of a large, forest bird, compounds its vulnerability. Helmeted Hornbills breed very slowly, laying a small number of eggs and devoting enormous time and effort to their single young, meaning the reproductive rate is very slow. As a long-lived bird, this is sustainable, but in a dwindling habitat, it is the sort of species that disappears quickly once a forest is subject to disturbance. Small amounts of poaching disproportionally reduce their numbers.

In recent years, however, a new threat has clouded the Helmeted Hornbill’s horizon, so much so that the bird has found itself recently classified as Critically Endangered – unusual for such a relatively widely distributed species. In fact, it isn’t an entirely new threat – more a recurrence of an old one. For millennia, forest peoples noticed that the casques of Helmeted Hornbills were ideal for carving. From at least the year 1371 there was a small and sustainable trade between the Greater Sundas and China for these works, and Chinese craftsmen

The Helmeted Hornbill has a very peculiar quirk to its breeding behaviour. The nest site, a hollow outcropping in a tree, is chosen by both members of the pair. Then the female selects mud from the outside, and piles it in front of the opening. Reducing the window little by little until it is too small for her to come and go, she then completes the job by adding her own excrement and food remains, leaving just a slit. The male then visits to bring food, which it regurgitates to its mate. The female never leaves the nest, relying entirely on the male for food provision. She takes the opportunity to moult her feathers and becomes temporarily flightless. If something were to happen to the male during this period – if it was killed by poachers, for example – the female would be exceptionally vulnerable and both she and the chick would probably die.

U N U S UA L B R E E D I N GThe Helmeted Hornbill’s nesting habits make it vulnerable to poachers

1 The Helmeted Hornbill prefers to nest in the largest, oldest treesPhoto Bjorn Olesen

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and women themselves also learnt to carve remarkably intricate scenes for belt buckles, buttons, bracelets and other accessories, sometimes leaving the rest of the skull intact. Occasionally these carvings were brought to Western Europe and elsewhere to satisfy fashionable demand for curios. However, the trade was never large, and it is thought to have died out completely during the chaos of the Second World War.

In a highly unfortunate development, however, a revived interest in carved hornbill casques has reared its ugly head. Among a set of nouveau riche Chinese, the casques of Helmeted

Hornbills have become the latest must-have possession, along with other inexplicable delights such as Pangolin scales. These are apparently status symbols. This bizarre market is fed by organised criminal gangs that already target illegal trade in the body parts of endangered animals.

Poaching for Helmeted Hornbill casques is now at unprecedented levels, particularly in Indonesia. There have been shocking estimates of the slaughter of birds – for example, 6,000 birds a year in 2012/13. For a large bird that breeds slowly, these levels are unsustainable. To make matters worse, the local poachers enlisted by the gangs tend to kill all the large hornbills in an affected area, of which there may be several other species, so that they don’t miss the valuable Helmeted. These other species are collateral damage. This new threat means that, if things carry on as they are, this will be the Helmeted Hornbill’s last clash. The big fighting bird of the giant forests will be reduced to a few carved skulls lurking in a study.

But conservationists do not intend to allow this species to fade away. This August, following a huge collaborative effort which involved more than 30 organisations including BirdLife, the IUCN SSC Hornbill Specialist Group, Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP), Hornbill Research Foundation, Rangkong Indonesia, TRAFFIC, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Wildlife Reserves Singapore, a ten-year Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for the Helmeted Hornbill’s survival was launched. The

Much of BirdLife’s work protecting the Helmeted Hornbill has been made possible through grants from National Geographic, the Ernest Kleinwort Foundation and BirdLife’s Species Champions such as Peter Smith. Thanks to these resources, BirdLife is leading a large collaborative project across the five countries in which the Helmeted Hornbill is known, to map out its distribution and secure protection for its key habitats.

S U P P O R T N E T WO R K

0 Illegal poaching of Helmeted Hornbill casques has soared in recent years. Photo Dewantara/WCS

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plan represents a multi-pronged, multi-national assault on the bird’s difficulties, and saw input from six national BirdLife Partners: Biodiversity And Nature Conservation Association Myanmar (BANCA), Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST), Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), Burung Indonesia, Nature Society (Singapore) and the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society.

There are three main aspects to the plan. The first is to eliminate the trade in Helmeted Hornbills. In order to do this, NGOs will map current and potential trade routes, make sure that local laws penalising hornbill trade are strengthened, and work to improve cross-border law enforcement. This, together with effective enforcement of laws that are already in place, should slow, if not halt, the trafficking.

Secondly, the plan commits to long-term monitoring of the remaining Helmeted Hornbill populations, and protection of their habitats throughout their natural range. This will include implementing anti-poaching measures such as on-ground patrolling in areas that are not already protected, putting into place reforestation efforts in critical forests, and cutting down on illegal forestry and agricultural encroachment. The plan will also work on trying to safeguard hornbill habitats outside protected areas by advocating for increased government patrolling and protection of those areas.

Thirdly, the plan states that organisations will collect and share information so that current population levels of Helmeted Hornbills can be maintained, and hornbill populations that have

been damaged can be allowed to recover. This can only be achieved by identifying Helmeted Hornbill population strongholds (‘safe havens’) and devising standardised monitoring plans to ensure we have reliable estimates of baseline populations which can be evaluated over time. Conservation action can then be triggered if populations fall below agreed thresholds.

BirdLife especially has previous experience in this area and has been working on the ground through its partners to enact local conservation measures. In May-June 2018, BirdLife and MNS gathered Helmeted Hornbill experts in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia to collaboratively identify knowledge gaps in Helmeted Hornbill distribution and agree upon population thresholds. At the Harapan rainforest in Indonesia, Lenya National Park in Myanmar, and Khlong Saeng-Khao Sok Forest Complex in Thailand, population surveys and engagement with local forest departments have enabled BirdLife, Burung Indonesia, BCST and BANCA to develop population monitoring plans. At the Belum-Temengor forest in Malaysia, for the past 14 years communities have been monitoring Helmeted Hornbills with help from MNS. The project has also empowered local communities by providing them with education (hornbill camps), training and toolkits to report illegal hunting, logging or encroachment activities.

All of these efforts are meant to combat poaching, and secure safe havens for the species. After all, the Helmeted Hornbill is a bird that’s worth fighting for.

H OW CA N YO U H E L P ?

You can help BirdLife and collaborators identify the Helmeted Hornbill’s safe havens by sharing confirmed sighting records across Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. Records should have the location (GPS coordinates if available) and the month and year of sighting. Please reach out to [email protected] for details.

4 The Helmeted Hornbill is a rarely-seen bird that lives in the forest canopy Photo Bjorn Olesen

7 Recently, demand for carved Helmeted Hornbill casques has resurfaced Photo Kanitha Krishnasamy/TRAFFIC

3 Rhinoceros Hornbill Buceros rhinoceros is often mistaken for the Helmeted HornbillPhoto Bjorn Olesen


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Behind the scenes of our Preventing Extinctions Programme are some surprising sponsors and advocates. Famous authors, renowned wildlife presenters and royalty all feature

among the Species Champions making our work possible…

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

e’ve all heard of sponsoring an animal at a wildlife park or animal sanctuary. But have you ever imagined what it would be like to sponsor an entire

species? Since August 2007, a remarkable 95 Species Champions have stepped forward to provide vital support to our Preventing Extinctions Programme, acting as a lifeline for species on the brink.

This ever-expanding community is an eclectic mix of philanthropic individuals and environmentally-sensitive companies from all over the world. While each approaches BirdLife with slightly different thoughts and ideas, they are bonded by one worthy and practical intent: the desire to provide – or raise – funds and awareness that will help preserve the world’s most threatened birds and biodiversity. Species Champions are a constant source of inspiration. And it’s not just their great generosity: enthusiasm and ingenuity are also in plentiful supply. Take 32 year old Arjan Dwarshuis – world record holder of the largest number of species seen in a calendar year (6,852). While this stellar feat marks his incredible ambition, the personal challenge to raise funds and awareness to prevent extinctions has been his driving motivation.

Some Species Champions really think outside the box. In 2014, Daniel Mirecki, founder of stamp-collecting company ‘Cover Story’, offered his expertise for free. “Let me help. I can turn all those old stamp albums, coins and ephemera gathering dust in people’s cupboards into cash - to help fund your work.” And so Collectibles for Conservation was born, and more funds flowed…

And then there is writer, film-maker and art impresario Ceri Levy, who came to us with the idea to stage an art exhibition in a trendy East End gallery. With the inspiring brief “breathe life back into an extinct species”, he cajoled friends and colleagues until eventually more than 150 artists of renown were on board.

Soon an incredible cast of sculptors, poets, musicians and dancers set to work under the banner Ghosts of Gone Birds. Contributors ranged from contemporary musicians such as Daman Albarn (of Blur and Gorillaz fame), to legendary pop artist Sir Peter Blake. Ralph Steadman became so deeply engaged with the subject he filled an entire hall with original art and, with characteristic wit, renowned writer Margaret Atwood (author of The Handmaid’s Tale) swapped pen for knitting needle and crafted a woollen Great Auk Pinguinus impennis. The public gathered, art was sold and substantive funds and awareness were raised.

Many corporate sponsors have become invaluable long-term Species Champions too. Swarovski Optik has provided vital support for Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius since 2008, and became champion for a second migratory species, the Canada Warbler Cardellina canadensis, in 2013. Their funding helped to create an action plan across the Americas, and allowed our scientists to pin down the source of the bird’s decline to wintering grounds in the Andes. Now the Colombian government has also become a champion for the warbler, funding conservation action in the country’s coffee-growing region.

Then there’s royalty. HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco’s support for Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita has been fundamental to the species’ recovery over the past nine years. Now optics company Zeiss has joined forces to keep the species’ trajectory swooping upwards. As for the “royalty” of the conservation world, Sir David Attenborough’s support for the Araripe Manakin Antilophia bokermanni has elevated our work in the Atlantic rainforest to a new level. Every BirdLife Species Champion deserves high praise for their support. While we haven’t space to list all of them here, a roll of honour can be found on our website: www.birdlife.org/worldwide/support-us/species-champions

BECOME A SPECIES

CHAMPION

BirdLife Species Champions help fund and promote action for specific Globally Threatened Birds as

well as the international conservation, science, policy, advocacy and communications that

underpin our local actions to ensure no more bird extinctions ever occur. You can become a BirdLife Species Champion

by writing to [email protected]


W2 Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollisSpecies Champion: Uttar Pradesh Bird FestivalPhoto Koshy Koshy/Flickr

4 Margaret Atwood's woollen Great Auk Pinguinus impennis

0 Secretarybird Sagittarius serpentariusSpecies Champion: Petra DiamondsPhoto Frans Van Heerden/Pexels

For millennia, vultures have aided humans in their role as nature’s rapid-response

clean-up crew. Now, Kenya is repaying the favour with

a new rapid-response unit to combat vulture

poisoning: part of an ambitious project to save

Africa’s vultures

By Jessica Law

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vulture rides the thermals a thousand metres above the Masai Mara, the savannah laid out before it in a vast, emerald patchwork.

Its soaring may look serene, but its eyes are trained on the vista below it, scanning the plains and thickets for one thing: food. A vulture’s eyesight is needle-sharp: it can locate a recently deceased animal carcass from as much as a mile away. Vultures typically arrive on the scene within an hour of death, having roved as much as 200km that day in search of a meal. Then they get to work, picking the bones clean before disease has time to spread, far faster than scavengers such as feral dogs or rats can achieve. If you think about it, they are performing a huge humanitarian service. But for how long?

Nowadays, what looks like an inviting meal could turn out to be poison. Human encroachment upon wild spaces has lead to an increase in human-wildilfe conflict, and people have started lacing animal carcasses with toxic agricultural pesticides such as carbofuran. In many cases, vultures are not the intended victims – farmers may put out poisoned bait in order to kill off predators such as lions that would otherwise take their livestock, unaware of the accidental avian casualties.

Another more pernicious practice comes from ivory poachers not wanting to draw attention to their illegal activities. Vultures, in their capacity as the ‘sentinels of the sky’, can detect a dead elephant far faster than any park ranger would, and flocks of circling birds could alert law enforcement before the poachers had time to flee the scene. To prevent this, poachers often douse the carcass in poison. The results can be utterly devastating. If nothing is done,

A4 White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalisPhoto Andre Botha

7 The Lion Guardians engage with herders across Kenya to reduce human-wildlife conflictPhoto Nature Kenya

a laced elephant carcass can kill 500 vultures, and even a poisoned cattle carcass can claim 150 lives. Cumulatively, this has dealt an enormous blow to vulture populations across Africa, causing 60% of deaths. Now, seven of Africa’s 11 species find themselves threatened with extinction, and their decline has been alarmingly rapid: a plummet of 80-97% over just three generations. Four species are now listed as Critically Endangered: teetering on the very brink of disappearance.

And the effect of their absence is already being felt. A recent study in Laikipia County, Kenya demonstrated that in the absence of vultures, animal carcasses are taking longer to be consumed or decompose, increasing the risk of disease transmission. Conservationists in Africa were eager to avoid a repetition of the huge humanitarian and financial cost incurred by the Asian vulture crisis (see page 29). And so, in 2016, Nature Kenya (BirdLife Partner) received much-valued support to launch a visionary programme: ‘Preventing Poisoning to Save Africa’s Vultures’, which, if successful, could be rolled out across the whole continent.

A priority of this programme was to introduce a rapid response protocol, whereby a poisoned carcass could be spotted and disposed of before it could cause any more deaths. And so, in spring of this year, 89 rangers across the Mara were trained and equipped in readiness. Training included how to identify and dispose of the source of poisoning, getting veterinary help for sick animals, and even gathering evidence so that the perpetrators might be found and prosecuted. These rangers then went on to train 117 more of their colleagues, spreading their knowledge to create a network across the Masai Mara Ecosystem.

B I R D

F A C T F I L E

RÜPPELL’S VULTURE Gyps rueppelli

RED LIST STATUS: Critically Endangered

RANGE: The Sahel region and East Africa

THREATS: Many, including poisoning, habitat loss and trade

FAST FACT: The highest flying bird, recorded at

over 11,000m


However, rangers can’t be everywhere at once. Another important link in the chain is to educate the community about the importance of vultures in their everyday lives. Because as much as we love vultures, it’s understandable why people may have negative associations with them: famine, pestilence, death, the enormous shadow looming overhead wherever anyone is butchering meat. It’s not obvious that these are actually shy, harmless creatures.

To clear the vulture’s name, Nature Kenya embarked on a large-scale publicity campaign. In villages across the Mara, rangers attended regular bazaras (village meetings) to talk to local people. Drama groups such as the Buffalo Dancers performed at markets to raise awareness, and a ‘Vanishing Vultures’ documentary was aired on national television. Residents were told who to contact and what to do if they witnessed a poisoning.

“Attitudes have changed very positively,” says Samuel Bakari, Vulture Conservation Officer for BirdLife International. “While a dead vulture would have not attracted any attention before, now people are on the lookout, and this means poisoning cases that would have gone unnoticed are now likely to be noticed quickly.”

On Friday 9th February 2018, this was put into practice when rangers barely out of training were called out to their first rapid response. A researcher with the Mara Martial Eagle Project had spotted a poisoned vulture on Paradise Plains, and the bird was rushed into veterinary care. Rangers patrolled the area, uncovering further vulture casualties, but on this occasion were unable to find the source of poisoning. “The case elicited a high level of response from individuals and institutions, but

being the first, it also provided a good learning opportunity on how we can improve and what are the likely challenges,” says Bakari. One improvement to hasten communication was the creation of a dedicated WhatsApp group.

Fast forward to 2nd August, and a huge triumph showed just how effective the rapid response unit can be. A local community member came across a poisoned hyena at the border of Olare Motorogi Conservancy, and reported it instantly. The carcass was disposed of so quickly there were no vulture casualties whatsoever – hundreds of potential deaths were prevented.

The work is still ongoing. In the courtrooms, steps are being taken to ensure anti-poisoning laws are enforced at a local level. And vultures are being satellite-tagged to understand their movements further. But with enough support, we hope that the sentinels of the sky will soon be able feast in safety once again. After all they’ve done for us, it’s the least we can do.

RÜPPELL’S VULTURE POPULATIONS HAVE FALLEN BY

97 %

7 Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotosPhoto Andre Botha

7 Buffalo Dancers spreading awareness of the plight facing Africa’s vulturesPhoto Rebecca Ikachoi

‘Preventing Poisoning to Save Africa’s Vultures’ is financed by BAND Foundation and jointly implemented by Nature Kenya, The Peregrine Fund and BirdLife International. This work in Kenya is also supported as part of a programme to tackle vulture poisoning running jointly across Kenya, Botswana and Zimbabwe, funded by Fondation Segré.

The programme feeds into the ambitious Multi-species Action Plan to save all threatened vulture species over 128 countries in Africa and Eurasia.

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WHAT MAKES IT A HOME? The Mara and Talek rivers flow through rolling grassland and acacia thickets, feeding swamps and riverine forests. High densities of herbivores and predators maintain unique habitats.

ANY THREATS? Very little revenue from tourism trickles down to local communities. Instead, they earn a living from agriculture, which encroaches upon the reserve. Crop fields create monocultures, and some livestock owners poison predators threatening their herd.

WHAT IS BEING DONE? The area is a National Reserve and a World Heritage Site nominee. Conservation is carried out throughout, but is constrained by limited resources. Nature Kenya is active in preventing vulture poisoning.

M ASA I M A R ALOCATION: South-western Kenya

TYPE: Savannah, scrubland

SIZE: 530,000 hectares

VULTURE SPECIES: Includes Hooded Vulture, White-headed Vulture, Rüppell’s Vulture

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HELP THREATENED BIRDS BUILD

A BETTER FUTURE.

While extinctions such as those on page 22 will sadly happen, we at BirdLife do not accept they are inevitable. Whether it’s tackling vulture poisoning in Kenya, or rallying against the construction of a dam in Argentina, the BirdLife Partnership is commited to halting preventable bird extinctions. Your donation

will help our science team to continue to uncover global conservation priorities, allowing us to take action to save the world’s at-risk birds before it is too late.

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Website: tiny.cc/preventing-extinction Email: [email protected]: +44 (0)1223 747553

Peace in Colombia is attracting tourists – but also logging. Can a new generation of birding guides protect its spectacularly species-rich habitats?

Tom Clynes

s the first rays of sunlight penetrate the forests of Otún Quimbaya Fauna and Flora Sanctuary,

Catalina Casas, of Audubon Colombia, leads a group of a dozen guide trainees along a bird-noisy trail. “Is that a Pale-footed Swallow?” Casas asks, pointing to a bird on a sunlit branch. “Or is it a Southern Rough-winged Swallow?” The students’ eyes dart between the bird and the pages of guidebooks. “What colour is the flank?” the questions continue. “Is it blue, or more coffee-coloured?”

The students are among 60 bird guides-in-training who have come to Otún Quimbaya from cities and towns throughout Colombia’s picturesque coffee-growing region in the central Andes. And there’s no shortage of facts to learn about Colombia’s birds. The country has more than

any other country, with in excess of 1,950 confirmed species.

Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, the National Audubon Society (BirdLife in the US) is working with local partners to develop birding ecotourism. Audubon’s Colombia office is collaborating with Asociación Calidris (BirdLife in Colombia) to support conservation and local livelihoods by developing a national network of birding trails. Each ‘trail’ consists of Audubon-trained professional birding guides, sites such as national parks and private reserves,

and small businesses and support services.

“We’re already the top country for birds,” says Audubon Colombia’s Gloria Lentijo, who coordinates the Central Andes Birding Trail. “Now we’re preparing to become the world’s top destination for birdwatchers.”

The need to develop sustainable sources of income in Colombia has taken on a new urgency since the government’s 2016 peace accord with the guerrilla movement known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. If peace has made the country more attractive to international visitors, it has also complicated the chances of survival for some of Colombia’s rarest birds. A half-century of violence uprooted millions of rural Colombians and converted

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ECOTOURISM


Canada Warbler Cardellina canadensis Photo Jayne Gulbrand

perspicax. The species is now locally extinct in its namesake region Cauca, and fewer than 1,000 individuals are thought to exist in the wild. But in Otún Quimbaya at least, its habitat is well-protected. “We are getting more birders, who are contributing resources that allow us to protect the forest and its species,” says the reserve’s director, Gloria Teresita Serna.

Just a few years ago, only the most hard-core birders would have ventured into this forest. “The high valley of Otún was under the influence of armed groups,” says Serna. “As a consequence we have some places far up in the valley that have never been visited. Who knows what kinds of species we might find up there?” Indeed, Colombia’s bird list continues to grow, and some species that were described in 1980s guidebooks as ‘near mythical’ or presumed extinct – such as Yellow-eared Parrot Ognorhynchus icterotis and Indigo-winged Parrot Hapalopsittaca fuertesi – are now a regular part of birders’ itineraries.

Guide Arnulfo Sanchez has been at the forefront of determining the status of birds in el Sutú. Among the region’s avian standouts are little-known members of the tanager genus Bangsia, named for the 19th-century ornithologist Outram Bangs.

“During the conflict there was only one hotel in [my hometown] Mistrató, and it was always empty,” says Sanchez. “When peace finally came, word began to spread that the place I live is a birders’ paradise. Soon people were asking if I could help them see a Gold-ringed Tanager, or other birds that are hard to find elsewhere.”

Over the past six years the inventory of birds around Mistrató has risen from 237 to 445, including at least 28 tanagers. The town now has four hotels, and several residents who work in tourism. But for Sanchez, the value of bird-guiding is that it allows him to discover birds and improve his family’s farm.

large swathes of the country’s interior into no-go zones. Now, the end of fighting has set off a race to recolonise and exploit rural districts, including protected areas.

“The rebels were de facto rangers, and now there’s no one to fill that role,” says 26-year-old Kristian Daza, who began working at Otún Quimbaya’s lodge at the age of 21. “In many of the places they’ve left there’s little control. People are coming in to log and mine, and to burn the forest to create ranches and farms.”

Satellite monitoring confirms Daza’s observations: in 2017 Colombia lost more than 1.04 million acres of tree cover, according to the World Resources Institute – a 46% rise in deforestation from 2016. Some of the most significant degradation is occurring in the country’s most ecologically important – and in some cases, still unexplored – areas.

A few minutes before the guides head toward Otún Quimbaya’s dining room for breakfast, Hernán Arias, leading another group of students, spots a Cauca Guan Penelope

4 Gold-ringed Tanager Bangsia aureocincta Photo Franscesco Veronesi

7 Audubon and Calidris are working together to develop a national network of birding trails in ColombiaPhoto Tom Clynes

1 With more bird species than any other country, Colombia is well-equipped to become a birder’s paradisePhoto Tom Clynes


“I’ve planted 55 species of trees, which help to shade the coffee and attract birds. Now our neighbours are getting involved in conservation. Once they see what we are doing and understand what they have, they will protect it.”

Colombia’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism has declared the ambitious goal of becoming the world’s number-one birding destination. The number of foreign visitors is growing at nearly 40% per year, and birders have taken notice – as have tour operators like Rockjumper Birding Tours, which offers birders the chance to see a whopping 1,000 species of bird in 30 days.

But the challenges are formidable. Even though Colombia has more than doubled its national conserved area since 2010 — from 13 million hectares to 28.4 million hectares — many reserves remain unprotected. A new government, under intense pressure to boost economic development, may be more welcoming to extractive industries.

Many, if not most, of Colombia’s new birding hotspots currently lack basic tourist infrastructure and trained guides. Though the government requires that tourist guides be certified through a two-year program, it lacks the capacity to train and certify enough guides to meet demand. To stay within

regulations, most graduates of the Audubon program will need to present themselves as ‘interpreters’ or ‘informants’.

Whatever they are called, the graduates of this innovative program will be among Colombia’s biggest assets as the country rebuilds itself into a thriving — and hopefully sustainable — 21st-century economy. Birding in Colombia is new and hip, and birders tend to be younger than those in North America and Europe. That represents a source of optimism for older trainees, such as Javier Salazar, 48.

“Not long ago, it would have been risky to stand in this forest as we are, watching a Red-ruffed Fruitcrow tend to its chicks,” says Salazar. “Now the danger isn’t armed conflict, but the race to exploit our natural resources. But this experience makes me optimistic. I love watching these young people as they grow and learn. Their passion and their knowledge will help this country to recuperate.”

0 Cauca Guan Penelope perspicaxPhoto Martin Mecnarowski

4 Birding is increasingly popular among younger generations of ColombiansPhoto Tom Clynes

ECOTOURISM



Shattering common myths about the Middle East with the power of nature conservation

by Dima Obeidat

is controversial, and is criticised for being ‘Eurocentric’. Economically, it contains some of the world’s richest countries as well as among the poorest.”

1 The Middle East is one big stretch of desertContrary to popular belief, the Middle

East is made up of many different ‘ecoregions’ that offer a vast array of fascinating species and breathtaking topography. “These include misty Eastern Mediterranean conifer-broadleaf forests,” says Jbour, “where conservationists are conserving giant Lebanese cedar trees; dry Syrian xeric grasslands and shrublands; and high-altitude montane woodlands and grasslands – where the majority of the Middle East’s endemic flora and fauna occur, including a subspecies of Arabian Leopard.”

Yes, there’s plenty of desert, but it is equally diverse in its biological classification: Mesopotamian shrub desert, East Arabian fog shrublands and sand desert, and four types of Arabian desert. But you can also venture into the Wadis of Jordan where canyoning, ecotourism and wildlife depend on the crystal-clear waters; or to the coral reefs off the Arabian Peninsula that shelter sharks, turtles and cuttlefish.


any misconceptions have crept into international media representations of the Middle East, making this region one of the most

misunderstood in the world. Here we bust six myths with examples from our conservation work in the region.

First things first, what exactly is the Middle East? The term has been applied to a mix of countries and regions and, like shifting sand dunes, it does not have clear-cut political boundaries [see fact-box for a current list of states]. Sharif Jbour, from BirdLife's Middle East office based in Amman, Jordan, says: “The Middle East is perceived by many nations as countries of the Arabian Peninsula along with Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt. To some, it’s known as the cradle of civilisation and the origin of Abrahamic religions; to others a region of ever-lasting conflict; and to many a land of desert and oil. The term itself and its origination

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STATES INCLUDED: Bahrain*, Cyprus*¹, Egypt*², Iran, Iraq*, Israel*¹, Jordan*, Kuwait*, Lebanon*, Oman, Palestine*, Qatar*, Saudi Arabia*, Syria*, Turkey*¹, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen

HUMAN POPULATION: 371 million

NUMBER OF NATIVE BIRD SPECIES: 621 (BirdLife-defined Middle East region)

RARE NATIVE BIRDS: Abd al Kuri Sparrow (VU), Basra Reed-warbler (EN), Asir Magpie (EN)

TOP 3 LANGUAGES: Arabic, Persian, Turkish; English and French are common second languages

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2 The region is too full of conflict to be concerned with conservationWith the civil war in Syria, the growing

refugee crisis, and the unstable situation in Iraq and Yemen, it can be easy to see only the negatives in the region. But nature – be it its variety and beauty, or the services it provides – has a way of bringing people together in hope.

Take a project recently launched in the West Bekaa region of Lebanon, which is rekindling a traditional Islamic method of land management called Hima to empower young people to become leaders of change in the protection of their water resources, whilst conserving local natural habitats. Or a project in Faqou**, a very poor and arid area in Jordan, where hydroponic technology is being used collectively to secure food for the local people’s livestock. By relieving pressure on the land, wildlife like the Nubian

Ibex Capra nubiana is thriving as a result. Just this year, BirdLife brought scientists, politicians and donors to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for the first ever international Flyways Summit, which was based on a collaborative approach that promotes the conservation of migratory birds across borders.

3 Middle Eastern women are oppressed and passiveOf course, this is far from the truth; many

women in the Middle East are well-educated, ambitious and influential members of society with key jobs at conservation organisations in the region. Full of ambition and spirit, Professor Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat perfectly embodies the role of a female leader in the Middle East. As the Chair of the Life and Earth Science department in Saint Joseph University, Kharrat is a woman of many roles, including lecturer, plant geneticist and co-founder of Jouzour Loubnan, an NGO that reforests degraded land in Lebanon. Her work has also helped to create unique Plant Micro-reserves in Lebanon** to protect endangered plants such as the Sofar Iris: “As scientists, we have a role to spread awareness about the unique richness of the area and to build the skills of local people to manage and protect their biodiversity,” she says.

0 Wadi Mujib, JordanPhoto RSCN

7 Professor Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat at Ehmej Plant Micro-reserve, LebanonPhoto Olivier Langrand

* = BirdLife Partner ¹= included in BirdLife region Europe & Central Asia ²= included in BirdLife region Africa

as part of their energy mix. This will result in the construction of more wind farms and powerlines across the landscape, which may harm soaring birds that pass through the region. The BirdLife Migratory Soaring Birds Project was created to support the region’s transition to renewable energy whilst also considering bird and other biodiversity concerns.

6 The Middle East is not a priority when it comes to biodiversity conservationThe Middle East is a major bridge

connecting three continents, so is an incredibly important flyway for migratory birds. No less than 400 Key Biodiversity Areas in the Middle East are identified specifically to inform the conservation of priority species and their habitat, including rare species like Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius (Critically Endangered).BirdLife in the Middle East is also growing as conservation priorities emerge, with nine Partners and affiliates, and over 14 projects granted by CEPF** in the region, some of which reach remote communities that have not had the capacity to defend their causes before. There is a growing movement of civil society here to make a difference, as well as shattering a few misconceptions along the way.

**denotes projects funded by CEPF (the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund). In the CEPF Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot, BirdLife International, its Middle East Office and Partners DOPPS and LPO are the Regional Implementation Team. Find out more at www.birdlife.org/cepf-med

4 The Dead Sea area is devoid of lifeAlthough its name implies otherwise, the Dead Sea isn’t lifeless at all; birds like

Arabian Babbler Argya squamiceps and Dead Sea Sparrow Passer moabiticus, both threatened by habitat loss, are adapted to life in the dry lowlands and shrubs around its waters.

Here, despite harsh, dry conditions, a society of Jordanian farmers has joined efforts with the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN, BirdLife in Jordan) to replant native trees, making a safe haven for these birds, whilst helping to ensure a sustainable water supply. Now called Sweimeh Eco-Park, the people of Sweimeh view this project** as a representation of their “confiscated” heritage. “For decades, we have been forced to retreat from areas we used to cultivate and farm, while powerful companies replaced our farms with luxury hotels and resorts. That’s why Sweimeh Eco-Park is so important to us; its birds and trees represent our heritage and culture,” says Khalid Al-Ja’arat, President of Sweimeh Association Charity.

5 The Middle East is all about oilEven though the region is considered the largest producer of oil, there has been

a noticeable growth in the renewable energy sector. Governments across the Middle East have committed to renewable energy targets


4 The Migratory Soaring Birds Project aims to integrate conservation management objectives into targeted public and private sectors in countries along the Rift Valley (find out more at http://migratorysoaringbirds.undp.birdlife.org)Photo Dominic Dudley

0 West Bekka HimaPhoto Fouad Itani

NATURE & CULTURE

he 16 bird species targeted by LIFE EuroSAP are some of the most charismatic to grace Europe’s skies, seas and shores. The Bearded

Vulture Gypaetus barbatus, the fabled ‘breaker of bones’, has been shrouded in mystique since the ancient Greeks. A pair of gentle turtle-doves has come to symbolise love and friendship. We marvel at the graceful synchronicity of a flock of Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus soaring over the waves. And what is the sound of rural idyll in the spring if not the distinctive notes of redshank, oystercatcher and curlew ringing through the dawn chorus?

Yet our admiration has not spared them from the biodiversity crisis at hand. All are threatened

(or Near Threatened) at global or European level. All desperately require concerted conservation action to reverse their fortunes.

The overarching goal of LIFE EuroSAP was to determine science-based conservation solutions for these 16 species through the development of eight targeted Species Action Plans (SAPs) and one Multi-species Action Plan (MsAP), the latter combining the common needs of eight wet grassland-breeding waders. Though legally non-binding, SAPs are vital conservation tools that can help governments comply with environmental legislation and meet international biodiversity targets. In the past, SAPs were quite often poorly implemented or had become woefully outdated. This is where LIFE EuroSAP comes into play, by creating mechanisms to ensure they are implemented and up-to-date. The project has also promoted more effective international co-ordination, through which the conservation work done by individual countries can be enhanced.

Birds know no borders, and neither should our conservation strategies. LIFE EuroSAP has sought to take bird conservation into a new, more collaborative era. The project, co-funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme, AEWA (African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird

n Monteiro’s Storm-petrel

n Yelkouan Shearwater

n Velvet Scoter

n White-headed Duck

n Dalmatian Pelican

n Bearded Vulture

n Cinereous Vulture

n European Turtle-dove

8 S P EC I E S AC T I O N P L A N S ( SA P S )

EuroSAP is a LIFE preparatory

project, co-financed by the

European Commission Directorate

General for the Environment,

the African-Eurasian Migratory

Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), and

by each of the project partners.

46

FLYWAYS


SWEET SIXTEENWith the conclusion of one of BirdLife’s most ambitious projects to date, we reflect on a

mammoth three-year collaboration involving no less than nine BirdLife Partners, 65 countries and more than 500 individuals. The goal? To change the fate of 16 imperilled bird species

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Agreement) and the MAVA Foundation, was co-ordinated by BirdLife together with nine European BirdLife Partners, VCF (Vulture Conservation Foundation) and FACE (Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU). On this already broad base, an even wider network of over 500 individuals ranging the length and breadth of the African-Eurasian flyway was built – involving NGOs, researchers, local authorities, international institutions and other diverse interest groups, from farmers, fishermen and hunters to schools and businesses.

Species working groups analysed the birds’ entire life-cycles along their flyways and gathered the most up-to-date information about their ecology and the threats confronting them. After three years of study, these groups have now identified definitive actions that must happen within the next ten years (or sooner) to save these species.

Despite significant differences in their ecologies and habitats, the findings pointed time and time again to the same set of

threats facing Europe’s birds: unsustainable farming, fishing and hunting, invasions of harmful alien species, persistent gaps in scientific knowledge, and weak implementation of existing nature laws, leading to illegal killing of birds and habitat destruction.

LIFE EuroSAP set out to leave a long-term legacy and, in this respect, it has truly succeeded. The project has set a new gold standard for the creation of single-species SAPs at an international scale and has piloted a promising new Multi-species Action Plan (MsAP) methodology for the protection of multiple species sharing common threats. It has also created a new online tool to streamline SAP administration, monitoring and communication – the SAP Tracking Tool. Via this collaborative platform, users can easily track conservation progress country-by-country or get involved themselves by providing relevant data on any of the species.

The LIFE EuroSAP project ends on a high note with the news that all nine SAPs have been approved by the European Commission. Only with proper, internationally coordinated implementation can the spiralling decline of these iconic birds be reversed on a continental scale. We cannot afford to think of this as the end, but as the beginning.

n ‘Baltic’ Dunlin

n Black-tailed Godwit

n Common Redshank

n Common Snipe

n Eurasian Curlew

n Eurasian Oystercatcher

n Northern Lapwing

n Ruff

M U LT I - S P EC I E S AC T I O N P L A N ( M SA P)


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5 Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus Photo Francois Loubser

1 Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosaPhoto Gerrit Gerritsen

0 Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus Photo Veselin Gramatikov


WHY WE NEED BIRDS

(EVEN MORE THAN THEY NEED US)Can you imagine a world without birds? The benefits birds bring us aren’t just cultural. Birds play an essential role in the functioning of the world’s

ecosystems, in a way that directly impacts human health, economy and food production – as well as millions of other species. Here’s how... Ph

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WHY BIRDS MATTER

It might be a little extreme to say that we’d be wading knee-deep in invertebrates if birds

disappeared – but maybe not that extreme. A recent study has shown that birds eat 400-500 million tons of insects a year. In China, two-thirds of the diet of House Swift Apus nipalensis consists of agricultural pests, and in forests across the Americas, Evening Grosbeak Hesperiphona vespertina becomes a superhero during outbreaks of Spruce Budworm, providing biological control worth $1,820 per square kilometre. Birds are so efficient that nest boxes have become a pest control practice throughout Europe.

BIRDS CONTROL PESTS

When birds travel, they take the seeds they have eaten with them and disperse them

through their droppings. They bring plants back to ecosystems that have been destroyed, and even carry plants across the sea to new land masses. Birds have helped to shape the plant life we see around us – and around the world. In New Zealand’s forests, 70% of the plants have seeds dispersed by birds such as Tui Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae. An even greater duty is borne by Micronesian Imperial-pigeon Ducula oceanica; as one of the largest birds in the Palau archipelago: it is one of the main seed dispersers across the entire island chain.

When we think pollinators, bees and butterflies flutter to mind – but bird pollinators such as

hummingbirds and honeyeaters also make a big contribution, especially in high altitudes or hot climates. In South Africa, for instance, nearly a quarter of Salvia species are bird-pollinated. Such flowers are lacking in scent, since birds favour sight over smell. Their role as pollinators benefits us directly – around 5% of the plants humans use for food or medicine are pollinated by birds. And when they disappear, the results can be drastic: 31 species of Hawaiian bellflowers appear to have gone extinct along with the birds that pollinated them.

The sight of vultures circling overhead may look foreboding, but it is both their

speed of arrival (typically within an hour of death), and their thoroughness which makes them so valuable. It could be days before other less efficient scavengers, such as feral dogs or rats, arrive to pick at the remains, allowing deadly diseases such as rabies and tuberculosis to develop and spread. Over its lifetime, a single vulture provides waste disposal services worth around US$11,600. Following the collapse of Asia’s vultures, India’s feral dog population surged by 5.5 million, spreading rabies and leading to an estimated 47,300 human deaths.

BIRDS SPREAD SEEDS

BIRDS POLLINATE PLANTS

BIRDS ARE NATURE’S CLEAN-UP CREW

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WHY BIRDS MATTER

Habitats like forests, marshes and grasslands affect people across the whole planet, even

those living hundreds of miles away – they store carbon, keep the climate stable, oxygenate the air and transform

pollutants into nutrients. But without birds, many of these ecosystems may not exist. Birds maintain the delicate balance between plant and herbivore, predator and prey. A perfect example is the salt marshes of south-eastern USA, where cordgrass thrives, filtering local water and

protecting the coast from sea erosion. The Salt Marsh Periwinkle Littoraria irrorata grazes upon cordgrass with gusto, and were it not for predators such as oystercatchers, curlews and plovers, these tiny snails would devour the entire marsh leaving only mudflats.

BIRDS TRANSFORM ENTIRE LANDSCAPES

Birds, especially seabirds, play a key role in cycling nutrients and helping to fertilise marine

ecosystems such as coral reefs. Seabirds travel hundreds of kilometres to feed out in the ocean – and when they return, they deposit layers of highly pungent guano (seabird droppings) at their colonies. This guano leaches into the ocean and fertilises nearby communities such as coral reefs. A study on the Chagos Islands shows what happens when this process is disrupted. On islands free of invasive seabird predators, coral reefs thrived, with fish growing larger and faster for their age, compared to rat-infested islands.

BIRDS KEEP CORAL REEFS ALIVE

From the technology of flight, to the invention of zippers modelled on the barbules of feathers,

humans have drawn inspiration from birds for centuries. Some of these advances have been huge: Darwin’s studies of finches in the Galápagos proved instrumental in shaping his thoughts on evolution through natural selection. But birds play a more important role than just giving us ideas. Birds are the messengers that tell us about the health of the planet. Birds are widespread and respond quickly to changes in the environment. Because of this, they are our early-warning system for pressing concerns such as climate change.

BIRDS INSPIRE SCIENCE6 7

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lowly, gliding easily along, the Wandering Albatross heads home. She has spent three days over the ocean, trying to find food. Having

travelled up to 1,000 kilometres away from her nest to fill up on squid and small fish, she’s now flying back to the roost on South Georgia, where her mate sits, incubating their egg. Later in the year and on the other side of the world, an Atlantic Puffin flies back to his burrow on the UK’s Shetland Islands, sand eels for his newly hatched chick clutched in his mouth. He, however, hasn’t had to go as far to find his food – travelling within just 37 kilometres from the nest.

While Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans and Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica look and behave very differently, they have a lot in common. They both breed in coastal areas. They both spend a significant period of their lives on the open ocean looking for food. And they are both globally threatened – assessed by BirdLife as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

This is a common theme for seabirds, the most threatened of all the bird groups. Of the 360 different species, nearly half – 47% – are experiencing population declines. Thirty one percent are globally threatened. Yet, because

Sthey spend such long stretches at sea, and because different species go to different areas, it’s hard to know exactly what pressures they face, or how best to protect them.

“Seabirds face many threats,” says Maria Dias, Senior Marine Science Officer, BirdLife Internationa and an author on the paper. “They are vulnerable to pollution, overfishing, and bycatch [when seabirds are accidentally caught in fishing equipment]. It’s important to know where they go, so we can preserve these sites.”

Now, a new paper will ensure this vital information isn’t lost at sea. The study followed 52 species of seabirds between 1998 and 2017 to see how far from their nests they go when feeding during their breeding period. The study looked at which areas the birds visited, whether they spent time in groups or were mostly solitary, and how long they stayed out at sea.

The study was made possible through recent advances in technology. Trackers – small devices that relay a bird’s location at any given time – can provide scientists with all the information they need about the seabirds’ movements. It’s only recently, however, that we’ve been able to gather this data for smaller species.

THIS PAPER IS THE FIRST STEP IN UNDERSTANDING THE MARINE MANAGEMENT NEEDS FOR DIFFERENT SEABIRD SPECIES

MARIA DIASSENIOR MARINE SCIENCE OFFICER


MARINE

WANT TO SAVE SEABIRDS?

FOLLOW THEMA new study used tracking data from 52 seabirds over 20 years to help scientists

understand how to best protect them

Magaret Sessa-Hawkins

“You can really only put a tag on a bird if it is less than three percent of its body weight,” says Stephanie Winnard, International Marine Project Manager. “When you’re tagging a bird, you have to consider how much weight you’re putting on it, and what impact that might have on that bird’s behaviour and wellbeing. In the beginning, there was just no way you could make a tag small enough to track tiny birds. Over the years though, as technology improved, tags got smaller and smaller.”

With the new tags, researchers track birds of a variety of sizes, from the tiny European Storm-petrel Hydrobates pelagicus(26 g) to the imposing Wandering Albatross (7 kg), enabling us to compare foraging practices on a wide scale. “What this study showed is that what we consider the ‘area around their colony’ really depends on the seabird,” says Dias. “For example, a penguin may explore just a few kilometres around the colony – maybe 30 to 50, while an albatross can easily travel a few thousand kilometres when searching for food during the breeding season.”

This knowledge enables us to tailor conservation efforts to better meet the needs of different groups of seabirds. For example, the results showed that for families like cormorants or auks, which forage within a relatively small radius, Marine Protected Areas, which safeguard specific ocean spaces, would be an excellent tool for protecting their food sources. However, for wide-roaming birds like albatrosses, measures that can be applied at a broader scale — for example, by working with the fishing industry to mitigate bycatch — would be more effective.

FORAGING DISTANCE FROM NEST (KM) 250 500 750

Storm Petrels

Albatrosses

Petrels and shearwaters

Frigatebirds

Tropicbirds

Gannets and boobies

Penguins

Gulls and terns

Auks and guillemots

Cormorants and shags

1 Small trackers like the IGotU allow for the tracking of a broader range of seabirds Photo Sam Weber

Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulansDmytro Pylypenko

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MARINE

he village hall is a riot of colour. Women in vivid clothing give speeches, sing and shake percussion, and a large, ornately decorated

cake is placed at the centre of the throng, complete with candles. But whose birthday are they celebrating? The words iced on the cake offer a clue: “Happy Hatching Hargilla”. This is a hatching ceremony, celebrating the successful breeding of a bird once hated and feared.

Previously widespread across the wetlands of South Asia, the towering Greater Adjutant Leptoptilos dubius (Endangered) suffered dramatic declines during the 20th Century. Some of the causes are familiar – habitat destruction, pollution – but others less so. Their Assamese name, Hargilla – derived from the Sanskrit for “bone-swallower” – gives a clue as to this scavenger’s public image. Because it has a habit of leaving a trail of bones and debris in

A gangly, bald, leathery bird with a penchant for eating garbage, the Greater Adjutant’s unconventional appearance has brought it to the edge of extinction. But in India, an all-

female group of conservationists is fighting to clear its name

Neha Sinha

its wake, the stork was seen as a harbinger of bad luck, to the extent that some villagers even poisoned them or destroyed their nests.

But not anymore. In India today, the stork has found refuge in two locations – the Eastern state of Bihar, and the North Eastern state of Assam, both of which now have substantial nesting sites. Their security hasn’t come easily, though. In both districts, it took eight years of grassroots, intelligent community intervention to secure habitat for these birds.

As team leader of three Conservation Leadership Programme award-winning projects*, Purnima Devi Barman’s work is founded on the fact that the Greater Adjutant is very particular about the kind of tree it nests in. It requires large, broad-limbed trees with sparse foliage, which often occur on privately-owned land such as gardens. Accordingly, her approach was to inspire a sense of community pride and ownership towards the bird, making it part of the local identity.

In Assam, she engaged with the women of Dadara village, mobilising them into the ‘Hargilla Army’: an all-female team of conservationists dedicated to protecting the world’s most endangered stork. As well as using traditional songs and rituals to raise awareness in events such as the hatching ceremony, the women take part in training and are provided with sustainable livelihood opportunities. One of these is creating beautiful, traditional scarves with a new motif – the Greater Adjutant. Purnima also focuses on the ecology of the stork itself. This year, a storm felled six valuable nesting trees, and she decided to construct artificial nesting platforms. “It happened while the bird was in its breeding season,” says

THE ADJUTANT

ARMY

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1 A “baby shower” -style Hargilla hatching ceremonyPhoto Aaranyak

55OCT-DEC 2018 • BIRDLIFE54

NATURE’S HEROES


Barman. “I saw the pairs flying here and there when their tree fell down. In three locations, I experimented with making nesting platforms. Two were accepted.”

This venture offered important lessons for the coming year: “We will erect artificial platforms in a more systematic way. We were late last time and did not have many resources. It was just an experiment that by some miracle succeeded.” It was relief at this success that sparked the hatching ceremony – a far cry from the unease and suspicion the birds used to elicit.

Purnima’s work has given marginalised women a voice, while helping stork numbers rise from 30 to over 150 in just seven years. And she has achieved prestigious recognition: in 2017 she received the Nari Shakti Puraskar Women’s Empowerment Award from the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

On the other side of the Brahmaputra River,

2 Greater Adjutant Leptoptilos dubiusPhoto Bibekananda Kakoti

0 Attitudes toward the Adjutant have changed in

recent yearsPhoto Aaranyak

55OCT-DEC 2018 • BIRDLIFE54

NATURE’S HEROES


several years of community outreach are also bearing fruit in Bihar. Arvind Mishra, Bihar state coordinator of the Indian Bird Conservation Network, has been campaigning for acceptance of the Adjutant. In 2017-18, a survey found 130 nests in Khairpur Kadwa. Here, too, a few chosen trees are of great significance to the stork: the nests were crammed onto just 59 trees. But their future looks bright. Thanks to Arvind’s advocacy, the government is now invested in Greater Adjutant conservation. In 2016, it even opened a rescue centre for the stork chicks, who often jump out of their nests before properly fledged. The centre rescues and releases them when they are able to fly.

“The community has grown to admire the storks,” says Arvind. “Part of our outreach focused around the fact that the Greater Adjutant eats rats and snakes, whose populations can get out of control. At the same time, I have been campaigning to save wetlands and wetland basins, which is a very difficult, long-term activity.”

In Bihar, the storks forage in fields and wetlands for food, but back in Assam, they have replaced a taste for carrion with something equally unsavoury. Deepor Beel IBA in Guwahati adjoins a huge garbage dump, where storks are regularly seen feeding. And perhaps storks have always been found near municipal waste, as Greater Adjutant storks were part of Kolkata city’s municipal symbol (though the bird is no longer seen in West Bengal).

The health impact of eating garbage needs further study; a literal ‘junk food’ diet is unlikely to benefit the animals. Last year, 26 storks died in a mass mortality event in Deepor Beel. The cause is still unknown.

“The Guwahati garbage dump does provide a continuous food supply to the Greater Adjutant, but it’s likely they are continuously getting exposed to pathogens,” says Narayan Sharma, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Biology and Wildlife Sciences, Cotton University. “We urgently need to initiate a study to check levels of toxicity in storks so that timely interventions can be made.”

The threats aren’t going away any time soon, but as the initiatives at these two sites show, we have cause for hope. And at least you can’t say their mascot is boring.

*Purnima and her team received Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) grants in 2009, 2012 and 2015. CLP is a partnership between BirdLife International, Fauna & Flora International and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which provides funding, training and a professional network for early-career conservationists.

2 The Adjutant is named after a military rank,in honour of its stiff movementsPhoto Bibekananda Kakoti

1 Nests were often destroyed by fearful locals Photo Bibekananda Kakoti

B I R D

F A C T F I L E

GREATER ADJUTANT

Leptoptilos dubius

RED LIST STATUS: Endangered

RANGE: Assam and Bihar, Northeast India

THREATS: Hunting, habitat destruction,

disease from garbage

FAST FACT: Can grow as tall as an adult human

(1.5 metres)

THE COMMUNITY HAS GROWN TO ADMIRE THE STORKS

ARVIND MISHRA INDIAN BIRD CONSERVATION NETWORK


NATURE’S HEROES

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ell us how you got into birdwatching…I was four years old when I first began birding. My father was a

birder, and he took me out to Morris Park in Philadelphia. I recorded my first list of nine birds there, and I still have that list. I was really taken with birding from the beginning. There was a bit of a hiatus when I went to college and med school because I didn’t have that much time, but when I was setting up my [medical] practice, I started birding again more seriously in Columbus [Ohio] in the Green Lawn Cemetery. In 1989 I went to Costa Rica for my first international birding trip, and I just thought this is great, this is my hobby for life. 8,034 species and 114 countries later, it’s still my passion.

You’ve seen over 8,000 species and all the bird families. Were these specific goals you made, or do you just bird and then realise you’ve hit these milestones?With seeing all the families it was sort of an

accidental goal. I was in Rwanda and I saw the Shoebill Balaeniceps rex. They’re a monotypic family, so when I was looking at how many families I had seen after that, I noticed that I only needed to see five more families to see all the bird families. So that became a goal, and it took two more years to achieve that. And I have to say I had fun doing it. Birding is so fantastic because you learn all these ancillary facts and sciences. You learn geology, botany, meteorology. Most importantly, you learn the truth. When you’re going around and looking at birds you’re also meeting people from all different countries and you see we all have the same thing in common. We all want the best for our children and birding really opens one’s eyes.

What do you find rewarding about birdwatching?I think there’s a connection to my father with it, since he was instrumental in curating my birding love and buying me bird books and teaching me bird sounds. Birding also gives me the stress release to have the energy to go farther in my business.

You’ve been to 114 countries. What’s your favourite place to go birding?I have a five acre patch around my house that I keep wild and that’s my favourite place to bird. I bird it almost every morning. I have 185 species I’ve seen here, but I love seeing them again and again. I love seeing the spring warblers. They’re like little pieces of art flitting through my patch. Ohio’s total bird list, back to recorded history, is only 435 birds, and I’ve seen close to half right here in central Ohio. When I bird here there’s a connection to home, to family.

You have a bird named after you. Can you tell us a little bit about how that happened and what it’s like?

58

INTERVIEW


1 Styan’s Bulbul Pycnonotus taivanusPhoto Perry Chang

Birding was an early passion for Bernard Master; he’s kept a life list since he was four. Now, he’s become just one of a few dozen people to have spotted more than 8,000 species. Bernie speaks

to us about his favourite birding spots and the importance of conservation

Margaret Sessa-Hawkins

AROUND THE WORLD IN 8,000 SPECIES

T

It’s quite a remarkable honour. I’m only one of two or maybe three people that have living species named after them. This all came about because Paul Salaman, who was working in Colombia, discovered a bird he was unfamiliar with. He was mist netting and found this small bird that turned out to be a vireo and no one had ever seen it or recorded it. So there was a call to name the bird and protect its habitat; I stepped forward with the funds and the bird was named after me — the Choco Vireo Vireo masteri.

In your birding career, what are some of the memorable species you’ve seen?Well the top one was seeing a Vireo masteri. I saw that in Colombia on New Year’s Day 2011. My friend Forest Rolland called me and said that he had found my bird and that it was in a safe place. I had tried three times before to see it but had to turn back because of rebel activity. So I hopped on a plane and the next day I was watching Vireo masteri.

Then there was my 8,000th bird. That was a Styan’s Bulbul Pycnonotus taivanus in Chinese Taiwan. When that happened, the moment that I saw it and I knew what it was, that was a moment of thrill and elation and satisfaction, mixed with a little let down that I finally reached 8,000. It was a peculiar mix of emotion.

In addition to birdwatching, you’re also interested in conservation. What sparked that interest?My family spent summers in Cape May County New Jersey, which is a big hotspot for birding and conservation, so I was around a lot of people who were passionate about wildlife and nature and preserving natural habitats. So I became interested in it too. Of everything I’ve done with birding, being able to give back to conservation is what I’m proudest of.


0 Choco Vireo Vireo masteriPhoto Paul Salaman

7 Shoebill Balaeniceps rexPhoto Hanjo Hellmann

INTERVIEW

60

BCI


n the first national census of Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus in Poland, data collected by volunteers across the country

were combined with the results of surveys by expert ornithologists to produce an estimate of 3,400 breeding pairs. Also using data from volunteers, an analysis of population trends of Martial Eagle Polemaetus bellicosus across South Africa indicated a decline of around 60% in 20 years. This alarming result provides further evidence of the decline of this large eagle, which is threatened across Africa by poisoning, habitat loss, lack of prey and collisions with power lines, and was recently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. On the other side of the Atlantic in Argentina, a survey of electrocuted birds beneath powerlines found that the Endangered Crowned Solitary Eagle Buteogallus coronatus is particularly at risk from powerline collisions. The authors explain how electricity pylons can be modified to help protect raptors and other birds from collisions. n

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FROM THE FIELD

O N T H E C O V E R

NEW INSIGHTS INTO RAPTOR CONSERVATION

The latest scientific breakthroughs from BirdLife’s quarterly peer-reviewed journal

A series of articles in the latest issue of BCI provide new information to help conserve raptors

Crowned Solitary Eagle Buteogallus coronatus Photo Pablo Rodriguez Merkel


he American Black Vulture Coragyps atratus is thriving, benefitting when people dump

livestock carcasses and fish at landfill sites, fish docks and abattoirs. Recently, it has expanded its range into northern Argentine Patagonia – stronghold of the persecuted and declining Andean Condor Vultur gryphus, which is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. A team of researchers in Argentina examined the pellets of American Black Vultures and Andean Condors in rural areas of Northern Patagonia. They found a large overlap in the diets of the two species, indicating that the vultures may compete with the condors for food. This means that the expansion of the American Black Vulture range as a result of human activities may result in a new threat to the Andean Condor. n

he Mariana Crow Corvus kubaryi is native to the Pacific islands of Rota and Guam

in the Mariana Islands. On Guam its population has been decimated since the 1960s following the introduction of the predatory Brown Tree Snake Boiga irregularis, and it is now extinct on the island. Although the remaining population on Rota clings on, it is declining because of forest clearance, persecution, predation and competition with invasive species. A study of breeding pairs from 2013-2014 has led to a new population estimate of 178 individuals, which indicates that the population has declined by around half since the late nineties and may now be too small to be self-sustaining without considerable conservation efforts. It is therefore crucial that conservation programmes on Rota are continued. n

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NEW INSIGHTS INTO RAPTOR CONSERVATION

HUMAN ACTIVITIES CAUSE COMPETITION BETWEEN AMERICAN BLACK VULTURES AND ANDEAN CONDORS

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED MARIANA CROW CONTINUES TO DECLINE

The emergence of birdwatching in China: history, demographics, activities, motivations, and environmental concerns of Chinese birdwatchers / Quantifying the decline of the Martial Eagle Polemaetus bellicosus in South Africa / Assessing the temporal transferability of raptor distribution models: implications for conservation / Electrocution risk for the endangered Crowned Solitary Eagle and other birds in semiarid landscapes of central Argentina / Status and range decline of two galliform species in South-East Asia / Conservation status of threatened and endemic birds of New Britain, Papua New Guinea / Reassessment of the distribution and population size of Worthen’s Sparrow Spizella wortheni / Range compression of migratory passerines in wintering grounds of the Western Mediterranean: conservation prospects / Effectiveness of the system of protected areas of Lombardy (Northern Italy) in preserving breeding birds / Could introducing confiscated parrots to zoological collections jeopardise conservation breeding programmes?

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Rota IslandPhoto Shutterstock


Q&A

Why is it important to focus on the status of raptors in particular?Raptors are among the most iconic birds, but they are also highly threatened, with many of the larger species requiring large tracts of intact forest, and others persecuted because of their supposed impacts on livestock or game. We teamed up with researchers at The Peregrine Fund to undertake the first assessment focused specifically on the status of this group.

How threatened are they?We found that 18% of raptors are threatened with extinction and 52% of species have declining global populations: far higher proportions than for birds in general. In particular, raptor species that require forest are more likely to be threatened and declining than those that do not, and migratory raptors were significantly more threatened than resident species. The greatest concentrations of threatened species are found in South and South-East Asia.

What threats do raptors face that may be different to other bird groups?Vultures in South Asia have suffered catastrophic population declines owing to the toxic effects of the veterinary drug diclofenac, which remains present in cattle carcasses (see page 29 for more). In Africa, vultures and owls are killed for their body parts to be

State of the World’s Raptors

Every issue, we talk to a BirdLife scientist about a recent paper they have been working on which has contributed to our knowledge of birds and conservation. This time, our Chief Scientist Stuart Butchart discusses our newly published report, “State of the World’s Raptors”

used for supposed medicinal benefits. Many other raptors are vulnerable to electrocution or collision with powerlines. But as with most bird species, unsustainable agriculture and logging are the primary threats.

What is the role of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas in raptor conservation?Given that raptors comprise only 5% of the world’s bird species, a remarkable 32% of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) worldwide are key sites for raptor populations. Safeguarding and conserving these vital sites is critical for the conservation of raptors globally.

What are the main recommendations the report makes for protecting the world’s raptors?As well as site protection, we need to strengthen and enforce laws preventing illegal killing and unsustainable hunting. Other priorities include education and awareness-raising, policy changes such as improved regulation on the use of poisons, and safety measures for dangerous powerlines. For migratory species, international cooperation is of particular importance, including Species Action Plans such as those made under the Convention of Migratory Species.

Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus Photo Rokopix

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