bird
bul l et in
Middle East
A BirdLife delegation met in
Lebanon to plan phase two
of the highly successful Migratory Soaring
Birds project, aimed at tackling threats faced
by large, slow-flying birds such as raptors.
The meeting took place in Kayfoun Village
on Mount Lebanon, SPNL’s latest Hima
Zone. Hima is a centuries-old tradition of
community-protected natural areas, which is
now being revived for conservation.
Burung Indonesia has
received a grant to assess
illegal parrot poaching levels on the island
of Halmahera. The White Cockatoo Cacatua
alba (Endangered) and Chattering Lory
Lorius garrulus (Vulnerable) are both big
victims of the pet trade. However, they are
not legally protected, and local people still
assume numbers are high. The Full Circle
Foundation’s funding aims to change this.
ASIA
Kayangel Atoll is set to
become the first inhabited
island in the Pacific nation of Palau to be
cleared of rats, following a large-scale
restoration project. As well as a healthier
ecosystem for Endangered birds such as
the Micronesian Scrubfowl Megapodius
laperouse, which incubates its eggs in
large rotting mounds, residents look
forward to better livelihoods through
increased crop yields.
jul-sep 2018 • birdlife
PACIFIC
Natura 2000
Awards granted
to five BirdLife
Partner projects
After scooping up
nearly a third of
the nominations
for the “Oscars of
Conservation” earlier
this year, BirdLife’s
hopes for winning at
least one trophy were
quietly high. But our
expectations were
exceeded at the awards
ceremony in Brussels
this May, where three
of the night’s six
prizes were awarded
to BirdLife projects,
involving five national
Partners in total.
The EU’s prestigious
Natura 2000 Awards
recognise excellence
in the management
of the EU’s Natura
2000 network –
the world’s largest
coordinated network
of protected nature
sites. Our Spanish
Partner SEO swept up
the Communications
Award with a project
which doubled
public awareness of
Spain’s Natura 2000
network, and included
a highly acclaimed
documentary series.
Our Hungarian Partner
MME was one of
the recipients of the
Conservation Award,
for an ambitious project
to tackle the illegal
poisoning of Eastern
Imperial Eagles Aquila
heliaca (Vulnerable).
And the Cross-border
Award was granted
to BSPB (BirdLife in
Bulgaria), HOS (BirdLife
in Greece) and RSPB
(BirdLife in the UK) for
their collaboration to
protect the Egyptian
Vulture Neophron
percnopterus
(Endangered).
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