BirdLife News Round-up: July 2008

05-08-2008

Let the games begin!

The Olympic Games are about to start in Beijing. Athletes from all over the world will be competing to be the best. However, some of the world's greatest athletes are birds. Celebrating the amazing achievements of birds, this month we’ll be running the BirdLife Games. This will be a series of online events designed to see if you can spot a winner.

Forming the focus for the Olympic Games, the mighty ‘Birds-Nest Stadium’ can shelter 91,000 spectators. Centre stage at BirdLife last month were our Important Bird Areas (IBAs). Sheltering globally significant numbers of birds, we announced that two IBAs have received World Heritage Site status (Kazakh IBAs…), and that Audubon Alaska (BirdLife in Alaska) has produced a beautifully illustrated IBA map (IBAs of the Last Frontier).

It was great to report that a BirdLife scientist - Dr Stuart Butchart – has received conservations very own ‘gold medal’. The Zoological Society of London's Marsh Award is a prestigious award which recognises his scientific work for BirdLife (BirdLife scientist receives top conservation award). Congratulations!

The BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme has it’s own champions. ‘Species Champions’ fund urgent conservation action to save the worlds’ most threatened birds. We recently announced that Birdwatch magazine became a Species Champion for the Critically Endangered Azores Bullfinch. Last month we heard that Europe's rarest finch seems to be responding well to habitat management and the population appears to be increasing (Bullfinch benefits from Guardian).

Following a search for wildlife heroes, Yemen recently approved the Golden-winged Grosbeak as a national bird (Yemen names national bird) in the same month that Yemen’s Socotra Archipelago was also added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Natural Sites (Socotra recognised as World Heritage Site).

Highlighting hurdles that need addressing, Korean representatives visited BirdLife in July to discuss the environmental impacts of the proposed Korean Grand Canal Project (Korean delegation highlights impact of proposed canal). A new book also details over 100 Indian wetlands which desperately need protection (India's riches unprotected). Thankfully, the first steps have been made in a race to solve the crises faced by Europe’s farmland birds, following the abolition of the EU set-aside scheme (Setting-aside space for UK birds).

Performing more gracefully than any Olympic gymnast, it was worrying to report that the Lesser Flamingos Phoeniconaias minor of Kamfers Dam (South Africa) are threatened by development (South Africa's flamingos under threat). In the middle of July, we also reported that Kenya’s Tana Delta has received a temporary reprieve after the High Court stopped a controversial $370 million sugar and biofuels project (Tana gets temporary reprieve).

The finish line of an epic marathon struggle is in sight for the ‘Taputeranga Marine Reserve’ - 17 years after Forest & Bird (BirdLife in New Zealand) first started campaigning for it. The 840 hectare reserve is home to Little Penguin Eudyptula minor and Australasian Gannet Morus serrator along with more than 180 species of fish (Marine reserve on home straight).

So, the world’s best are converging in one place in a unified spirit to help build a better world. But that’s enough about BirdLife’s World conference in Buenos Aires next month! If you’re going to be there, I really look forward to meeting you. Enjoy the Olympics, and don’t forget to play along with The BirdLife Games which start on the 8^th August.

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Credits: Nick Askew