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| NEWS & | INFORMATION compiled by Dawn Balmer and Guy M. Kirwan |
| The aim of this section is to inform readers about events in the OSME region. It relies on members and others supplying relevant news and information. If you have anything concerning birds, conservation or development issues in the OSME area please send it to News and Information, OSME, c/o The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2DL, U. K.
This section is not intended as a definitive report or write-up of the projects concerned. Many of the projects are sponsored; such support is appreciated but is not generally given acknowledgment here. |
| Saker crisis | Saker crisis A recent study casts
doubt on the sustainability of the trade in Saker Falcon Falco cherrug
for falconry. The study investigated the numbers of Sakers passing through
animal hospitals in the Middle East. The results were startling; a minimum
of 6400 Sakers are trapped and exported each year to the region. This level
of trade is serious but the situation is compounded because females, being
larger than males and therefore able to tackle the traditional falconers'
prey, Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata, are targetted. In some countries,
more than 98% of the falcons seen at animal hospitals were female and the
majority, around 80%, taken from the wild are juveniles.
The species has already disappeared from large areas of its former range, which stretched from Europe to Mongolia, with particularly severe declines in Europe, Kazakhstan and China. Some countries, notably UAE, have been actively promoting the use of captive-bred falcons to reduce pressure on wild populations, but modelling suggests that if harvesting birds from the wild continues at current levels, Saker could soon be ecologically extinct, perhaps within five years. Meanwhile, BirdLife International reports that trapping, mainly of Saker and Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus, is rampant in Egypt in autumn, with birds being illegally exported to Arabia for falconry. Numbers involved are unknown, but Sakers have declined in thecountry and resident populations of other falcons, which are used as decoys to attract the more valuable species, have declined massively. Another trend is for hybrid falcons to be bred for falconry. Some of these are escaping, with unknown biological impacts on wild populations. (Source: World Eirdwatch 24 (4): 7.) |
| Waterbirds Around the World | Waterbirds Around the World is the title of a conference concerning global flyways for waterbirds to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 3-8 April 2004, and organised by Wetlands International with support from the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries and the U. K. Joint Nature Conservation Committee and other agencies. Information concerning the conference can be sought from Dr Gerard Boere (boere@wetlands.agro.nl) or via the Wetlands International website: www.wetlands.org. (Source: Gerard Boere in litt. March 2003.) |
| Caucasian Black Grouse | International conference on Caucasian Black Grouse The Georgian Center for the Conservation of Wildlife, in partnership with the Azerbaijan Ornithological Society, is organising a conference entitled Conservation of the Caucasian Black Grouse Tetrao mlokosiewiczi, to be held in Georgia in September 2003. The overall objective of the conference is to promote regional cooperation for the conservation of this little-known species, which is largely confined to the Caucasus. More specific goals are to: exchange information on species research results and status; share experience of the species and its habitat conservation requirements; facilitate the development of a long-term action plan for the species and its habitat throughout the Caucasus; and to promote multi-national cooperation. While the publishing deadlines for Sandgrouse mean that we have been unable to include information concerning the conference before now, we consider it of value to highlight this important regional initiative in support of a Near-Threatened species. More information can be found at http://www.gccw.org. (Source: Elchin Sultanov in litt. April 2003.) |
| Make over for Phoenix | Make over for Phoenix While OSME celebrates its 25th year, it is worth recalling that the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia (ABBA), brainchild, personal tour de force and perhaps even millstone (!) of Mike Jennings is not many years younger. Contributors to the project and other interested (and paying) parties receive latest news concerning ABBA and associated ornithological goings-on via the annual newsletter-cum-bulletin Phoenix, which has just received a substantial makeover, including the introduction of colour. Issue 19, which is again sponsored by the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (Saudi Arabia) contains 24 pages, within which one finds news of several significant breeding range extensions, the first breeding evidence for Jacobin Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus in Arabia (uncovered by the master sleuth of parasitic birds, Bob Payne), a detailed report of the ABBA survey of several Yemeni offshore islands in midsummer 2002, recent news from Kuwait, and the usual mix of news, reviews and updates concerning the project, including the welcome development that Mike has been granted early retirement from his 'real' job, thus permitting him time to complete the final atlas. However, that does mean that one of the present correspondents needs to finish his long-promised species accounts...! Correspondence concerning the ABBA project and those wishing to subscribe to Phoenix should contact Mike Jennings, Warners Farm House, Warners Drove, Somersham, Cambridgeshire PE28 3WD, U. K.; e-mail: arabian.birds@dial.pipix.com. (Source: Mike Jennings in litt. February 2003.) |
| Zoology in th Middle East | Zoology in the Middle East abstracts published in volumes 21-27 are now available online. Both the abstracts (in English and German) and the key words of papers from the most recent issues are now available on the journal's website, www.kasparek-verlag.de, where you can also find information concerning subscriptions. (Source: Max Kasparek in litt. February 2003.) |
| BirdNet Caucasus | BirdNetCaucasus goes online BirdNet Caucasus is a new e-mail group (home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BirdNetCaucasus) devoted to birds of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, north-eastern Turkey and northern Iran. Postings to the list will cover research, conservation, bird news, recent literature, interesting records, field identification, requests for, and exchange of, information, etc. The group is open to anyone interested in birds of this region. To start sending messages to it, simply send an e-mail to BirdNetCaucasus@yahoogroups.com. (Source: Alexander Abuladze in litt. February 2003.) |
| New Internet Resource | New Internet resource Birders or ornithologists with a serious interest in taxonomy, distribution and nomenclature may wish to view a new website, put together by John Penhallurick. The site enables you to search for any species of bird and view its English name (with species endemic to a particular country clearly denoted), scientific name, French name, German name, Spanish name, English synonyms, Peters family name, Sibley & Monroe family name, Gill (second edn.) family name (as used by Clements), habitat, distribution, threat status (for those species listed in the BirdLife International Red Data Books), criteria for threat status, and annotated synonymy for every generic, subgeneric, species and subspecies name. The author advises that there are a number of explanatory documents on the site that explain what he is doing and why, and he urges readers to view these first. The site should be considered work in progress and is being expanded working through the Peters order. Updates should be available on a monthly basis. The site can be viewed at either: http://www.worldbirdinfo.net or http://www.worldbirdinfo.bribieisland.net. (Source: John Penhallurick in litt. to African Birding and Bulletin Board for Ornithologists Working with Neotropical Birds, March 2003.) |
| Guy Mountford | Guy Mountfort 1905-2003 Guy Mountfort died, aged 97, in late-April 2003. An advertising executive by profession, Mountfort played a leading voluntary role in the founding, in 1961, of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and, subsequently its campaign to save the Tiger Panthera tigris. He was also one of the trio of authors of the million-selling A field guide to the birds of Britain and Europe (1954), which revolutionised European birdwatching; the other two were Roger Tory Peterson and ex-OSME Council member, Phil Hollom. The Peterson guide, as it is best known, is currently in its fourth edition and has been translated into 13 other languages. To OSME members, Mountfort is perhaps best remembered for the last of his trio of 'Portrait' books, Portrait of a desert, which told of his expedition to the Azraq oasis, in Jordan. (Source: The Guardian 30 April 2003.) |
| Max Nicholson | Max Nicholson 1904-2003 Irish-born conservationist Max Nicholson died recently at the age of 98. Although he had no particular connections with the Middle East, Nicholson's role call of credits are legion: director-general of the Nature Conservancy in 1952-1966, one of the founders of the World Wildlife Fund, founder and trustee of Earthwatch Europe (1985-1993), founder of the British Trust for Ornithology (1932), head of the world conservation section of the International Biological Programme, in addition to his formidable career of public service, commencing in the early 1930s, and authorship of a number of books, including the seminal How birds live (1927). He was also involved in the formation of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (Source: The Guardian 28 April 2003.) |
| Bird Numbers 2004 | Bird Numbers 2004 Monitoring in a Changing Europe is the title of the 16th International Conference of the European Bird Census Council, which will be held on 6-11 September 2004, at Erciyes University, Kayseri, in Turkey. The conference aims to share knowledge of all aspects of bird monitoring across Europe and is open to those interested in the following related issues and others: monitoring (field methods and analysis, conservation action and policy), accession to the European Union and pan-European monitoring and indicators, atlas studies, modeling bird numbers and distributions, monitoring ecological disasters, climate change, setting conservation priorities and site or protected areas monitoring. Plenary speakers on these topics will include: Franz Bairlein (Migration), Ali Stattersfield (Prioritisation of Species), Frank Gill (Citizen Science Projects), Carsten Rahbek (Complementarity and Biodiversity Hotspots), Brian Huntley (Climate Change), and Sancar Baris (Birds in Turkey). The registration deadline is 1 October 2003 (visit http://www.kustr.org/ebcc2004/). For further information e-mail: ebcc2004@erciyes.edu.tr or fax:+90 352 437 6748. |
CYPRUS
| The North Cyprus Bird Report |
The North Cyprus Bird Report 2001 has recently been published.
In addition to the systematic list of birds recorded during the year,
the contents include an updated checklist of the birds of Cyprus, details
of ringing recoveries, breeding biology of the Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe
cypriaca, details of a May 2001 census of endemic breeding birds,
systematic list of butterflies recorded in 2001, a description of the
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| Bird Trapping in Cyprus |
More on bird trapping in Cyprus The long-controversial issue of the killing of small migrant birds for food in Cyprus was most recently highlighted in these pages in Sandgrouse 24: 3-4. The total numbers of birds killed run to millions per annum. Recently, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (the BirdLife partner in the U. K.) has become closely involved in monitoring and lobbying against this desperate situation. Another RSPB team visited south-east Cyprus in September -October 2002 to act as observers for the local law enforcement agencies, and to document illegal trapping activities. The observers cooperated closely with the Cyprus Ornithological Society (1957) and received the full support of the Cyprus government and U. K. Sovereign Base authorities. Acting on information received from the observers, the local enforcement agencies made several arrests and seized bird-trapping equipment. A welcome development was that a general reduction in trapping was noted, partially because of press coverage of the arrests, but an estimated 500,000 birds were still killed in the study area. Both the government and media pointed out that Cyprus must reduce its bird-trapping activities in order to meet existing domestic and European bird protection legislation, if it hopes to join the European Union. A report on the RSPB findings has been submitted to the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, in support of a complaint made by BirdLife and others in 2001. At its recent annual meeting, the Bern Standing Committee charged Cyprus and the U. K. to maintain the pressure on illegal bird-trappers and report back in 2003. (Source: World Birdwatch 25 (2) : 4.) |
GEORGIA
| New website | New website The Georgian Center for the Conservation of Wildlife (GCCW) has recently launched a website at http://www.gccw.org, which has information on GCCW operations, programme areas and ongoing projects, e.g. raptor migration (see below), vulture studies, Javakheti wetlands management, wildlife corridors and national parks planning. (Ramaz Gokhelashvili in litt. May 2003.). |
| Raptor migration | Raptor migration monitoring in Georgia Located in the heart of the Caucasus, one of three Endemic Bird Areas in Europe, Georgia harbours important populations of many bird species of European Conservation Concern. The Black Sea coast is an especially important migratory corridor for large numbers of migrant raptors as well as waterbirds and passerines. This pathway, known as the Eastern Black Sea Migration Route, funnels birds from breeding populations in Fenno-Scandinavia and Russia heading to wintering areas in the Middle East and Africa. In 2000, the Georgian Center for the Conservation of Wildlife (GCCW), in partnership with BirdLife International and the BirdLife partner in Switzerland, initiated a migratory raptor conservation programme on the Black Sea coast. The main objectives are to: increase public awareness concerning migrant raptors, build capacity for long-term monitoring, identify major migration routes and watch-points, document the importance of this migration route, and commence long-term counts. As the first steps, a participatory monitoring scheme was developed jointly with local stakeholders, a guidebook for raptor identification was prepared and published in Georgian, local counters were identified and trained, and in 2002 counts were conducted involving locals and foreign volunteers. Around 60,000 raptors were counted during the ten-week period. In autumn 2003 counts will be conducted from 15 August to 15 November close to Batumi. The GCCW invites volunteer observers with good raptor identification skills to participate in the project. For further details please contact: Zura Javakhishvili, GCCW, e-mail: zure@gccw.org, or via http://www.gccw.org |
IRAQ
| Drying Marshes | Drying Mesopotamian marshes further affected by Iraq war Few OSME members will be unaware of the immense biological importance of the Mesopotamian marshes. At the time of writing, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) announced that it would be ready to start work reconstructing Iraq now the conflict has ended. Whether the UN agency will get the chance to handle reconstruction is a different matter. It is possible that the United States will also sideline the UN in the reconstruction of a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, awarding the major reconstruction contracts only to American companies. Presently, UNEP is assessing Iraq's most urgent needs. More than 20 years of military operations in the Gulf have resulted in great damage to water resources, arable land and loss of biodiversity (see Sandgrouse 23: 87-88). Much of the damage was deliberate destruction of the environment. The Mesopotamian wetlands were affected by the present conflict, being used as a traffic zone by U. S. ground forces en route to Baghdad. Two years have elapsed since UNEP drew the world's attention to the destruction of the fertile Mesopotamian marshlands, lost mainly as a result of drainage and damming. The Tigris-Euphrates basin is among the most intensively dammed regions in the world. The wetlands, which once covered 15,000-20,000 km2, were reduced in 2001 to around 10% of that area. Now, in 2003, a further 30%, 325 km2, of the remaining trans-boundary wetland has disappeared. Fresh satellite imagery shows that the desiccation trend continues unabated in the area known as Hawr Al-Hawizeh in Iraq, and as Hawr Al-Azim in Iran, and that the remaining wetlands are disappearing even more rapidly than initially thought. A recent UNEP assessment mission in Iraq confirmed that the surviving wetlands are highly degraded, qualifying the area as an environmental disaster zone. New dams and large irrigation projects have tightened the grip on the rivers feeding the surviving marshlands. Internationally recognised as an exceptional human and natural heritage site inhabited by ancient communities descended from the Sumerians, and a haven for globally significant biodiversity, the marshlands have been turned into a desolate wasteland. The collapse of Marsh Arab society, the culture of a distinct indigenous people that has inhabited these marshlands for millennia, adds a human dimension to this modern environmental disaster. A 5000-year-old culture is coming to an abrupt end. The impact of marshland loss on the area's wildlife is equally devastating, with significant implications for global biodiversity. Despite the tragic human and environmental catastrophe, UNEP believes there is still a last window of opportunity to reverse wetland desiccation and achieve partial restoration, if a long-term recovery plan can be drafted for the marshes, whereby all Tigris-Euphrates riparian countries, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, share the rivers' waters in a coordinated and equitable manner. (Source: http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2003/2003-03-21-06.asp.) |
| BirdLife Action Plan |
BirdLife International Action Plan The recent conflict in Iraq may have had environmental impacts on the 42 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) identified in the country by BirdLife International, and on the 24 globally threatened species that occur there. Furthermore, the draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes Endemic Bird Area over the last 30 years has doubtless threatened, and perhaps eliminated, several IBAs. The post-conflict reconstruction of Iraq may pose further threats to biodiversity and local wildlife communities. BirdLife is committed to helping develop a conservation capacity in Iraq long term and helping people live sustainably with wildlife. An assessment by BirdLife of the known status of IBAs and key species has resulted in the following plan of action. As soon as it is safe and possible to do so, a survey team from BirdLife's Middle Eastern headquarters in Amman (Jordan) will leave for Iraq in order to undertake a rapid assessment of a selection of key sites. This work will be followed by further surveys that will quantitatively assess the 42 Important Bird Areas, focusing on the Mesopotamian Marshes, and the threatened and endemic birds for which Iraq is particularly important. These follow-up teams will work closely with UNEP, an informal network of Iraqi ornithologists and conservationists, and others interested in the conservation of biodiversity in Iraq. The information obtained will be important for the future development of Iraq's land-use policy during reconstruction. In the longer term, BirdLife is planning, together with Wetlands International, a complete winter survey of waterbirds to mirror the last surveys, in 1979, undertaken by Wetlands International. All of the data collected by BirdLife will be immediately and freely available to interested parties and especially the Iraqi administration. (Source: BirdLife International, May 2003.) |
ISRAEL
| Colour marked Bee-eaters |
Colour-marked bee-eaters In order to study the flight routes of migratory European Bee-eaters Merops apiaster in southern Israel and the Middle East, several tens of individuals will be individually marked by oxidizing a combination of different wing and tail feathers. They may include a wing marking at the wingtip (outer half of the flight feathers), mid-wing or close to the body. Tail markings will be at either side of the tail. Thus, overall, eight different locations for the marks are possible (three in each wing and the two tail-sides). The oxidized feathers are sandy coloured, quite conspicuous in the wing but less so in the tail, and are best seen in a flying bird. If you observe a European Bee-eater with a strange colour pattern to its wings and tail, please contact Nir Sapir by e-mail (nirsa@bgumail.bgu.ac.il) or letter, Nir Sapir, Department of Life Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, P. O. Box 653 Be'er-Sheva 84105, Israel. (Source: MEBirdNet.) |
KUWAIT
| Kuwait Bird Monitoring |
Kuwait Bird Monitoring and Protection Team annual report The second annual report of this Kuwait bird group, covering records for 2001, has been published. The report covers the group's activities, details on bird monitoring and protection, an up-to-date Kuwait bird list with summary and status information, and selected records from 2001. For further information contact George Gregory (ggoldie51@hotmail.com). (Source: Phoenix 19.) |
| Nature Reserves in Kuwait |
Nature reserves in Kuwait The Bird Monitoring and Protection Team has been given management rights over c. 100 km2 of the National Park, including the important sites of Wadi Ar-Rimam, Tulha and part of the Zor escarpment. The entire National Park currently lies in the military exclusion zone, although it is hoped that access will soon be restored, in order that a management programme can be implemented. The latest reserve is a 1-km strip, c. 200 metres deep, of the important mudflats at Sulaibikhat Bay. This has been fenced and gated, and the first prefabricated buildings have been installed near the entrance, which will serve as offices, a visitor centre, library and accommodation for the guards. The reserve is particularly important as the rest of the shoreline at Sulaibikhat Bay is scheduled for development. (Source: George Gregory.) |
YEMEN
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The Socotra Conservation Fund |
The Socotra Conservation Fund (SCF) is a newly created NGO, one of whose main aims is conserving the endemic and globally significant biodiversity of this Yemen archipelago. (Socotra is often regarded as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean. It has over 300 endemic plants, at least six endemic birds and 21 endemic reptiles.) Among other major objectives of interest to birders and wildlife conservationists in the U. K. are the fund's aims to protect and manage the large biodiversity reserves identified in the Socotra Zoning Plan, and promote scientific research into wildlife conservation requirements in this unique island complex in the Arabian Sea. Improving environmental awareness among the people of Socotra and the promotion of ecotourism are also high on the fund's agenda. The management of the SCF is designed to be flexible and democratic. While it has been incorporated in the UK as a not-for-profit company, its operational bases are in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, and the Socotran capital, Hadibu. Although the SCF is an NGO and thus independent of government it should have considerable political clout as one of its directors is a past Prime Minister of Yemen. Anyone requiring further information or wishing to join SCF should first visit its website: www.socotraisland.org. (Source: Richard Porter in litt. February 2003.) |
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Socotra Bird Records Committee |
Formation of Socotra Bird Records Committee A records committee has recently been established to maintain the Socotra Bird List and assess records of rare birds in this Yemen archipelago. Records should be sent to either Omar Al-Saghier (e-mail: 'omarbio@y.net.ye) or Richard Porter (e-mail: richardporter@dialstart.net). Details of new birds for Socotra, which are also new for Yemen, will be published in Sandgrouse. (Source: Richard Porter in litt. February 2003.) |
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Conservation on Socotra |
Conservation on Socotra-new status and important agreement signed On 10 July 2003, the Socotra archipelago was named as the first UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve in Yemen. Socotra is internationally renowned for its remarkable plant and animal diversity, and for its cultural richness, with the 40,000 inhabitants speaking the unique Soqotri language. The archipelago has at least six endemic species of birds. The world network of Biosphere Reserves consists of globally important sites, where an interdisciplinary approach to sustainable development can be applied in actual situations. The network covers a representative-and growing- sample of the major ecological regions and human-use systems of the earth. In addition, UNDP and key stakeholders, notably the Yemen Ministry of Water and Environment and the Ministry of Planning, have signed a major programme for 'Sustainable Development and Biodiversity Conservation for the People of the Socotra Islands'. The programme will be financed by UNDP and the governments of Italy and Yemen, who will collectively contribute over US$5 million. The aim is to continue to support the people of Socotra through conservation and sustainable use of the islands' unique biodiversity and natural resources for the coming five years. The programme is designed to assist the Yemen government with a number of initiatives including the implementation of a Zoning Plan, management of protected areas and support for the local economy through ecotourism and sustainable fisheries. There are also plans to develop a partnership with the Galapagos National Park. (For further details contact Faud Ali Abdulla: faud.ali@undp.org or visit www.socotraisland.org.) |
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