Hi Paul
MY COMMENTS IN BOLD CAPS
NEIL
----- Original Message ----
From: "Buckley, Paul" <paul.buckley@rspb.org.uk>
To: Neil & Liz Baker <tzbirdatlas@yahoo.co.uk>;
tanzaniabirds@yahoogroups.com
Cc: AfricanBirding@yahoogroups.com; kenyabirdsnet@yahoogroups.com; "Cleminson,
Sacha" <sacha.cleminson@rspb.org.uk>; "McNiven, Duncan"
<duncan.mcniven@rspb.org.uk>; hazell.thompson@birdlife.or.ke
Sent: Friday, 14 September, 2007 12:33:14 PM
Subject: RE: [AfricanBirding] trade in cranes
Hi Neil
I don't normally respond to these, but couldn't let this one go
GOOD, IT'S A SUBJECT THAT CERTAINLY REQUIRES AIRING. PERHAPS ON THE NEW ABC DEBATE FORUM.
For information BirdLife International is a global partnership of
conservation organisations. This includes non governmental
organisations in 18 African countries, staffed by Africans. They are
supported by a BirdLife partnership office based in
staffed by Africans. Many of them are young organisations with few
resources
YES, IT IS CLEAR THEY HAVE FEW RESOURCES BUT WHY ??????
and few staff
YES, TERRIBLY UNDERSTAFFED BUT WHY ???
but they are all 'in touch'
HOW CAN THEY BE, THEY HAVE SO "FEW RESOURCES" AND SO "FEW STAFF" ?
IF THEY ARE IN TOUCH WHY HAVE NONE OF THEM EXPRESSED DEEP CONCERNS ABOUT
THIS TRADE . WOULD LIKE TO BET VERY FEW, IF ANY, HAVE REAL FIGURES ON TRADE OR
EVEN A STAFF MEMBER WORKING ON IT.
and doing an excellent job
THIS IS SERIOUSLY DEBATABLE. HOW CAN THEY WITH SO FEW RESOURCES AND SO FEW STAFF ?
IF THE UN IS FAILING
of trying to protect birds against tough odds, and have had some notable successes.
WOULD BE GOOD TO LIST THESE NOTABLE SUCCESSES, NOT SURE MANY FOLK ARE AWARE
OF THEM. IS THERE A URL YOU CAN SHARE WITH US ON THIS ?
Both RSPB and BirdLife (with active support from our African partners)
have been heavily involved in the successful lobby to ban the wild bird
trade in the European Union. Yes it was helped by avian influenza
WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE A.I. RAISED IT'S HEAD ?
andyes there are some exemptions for zoos
WHERE DO THESE CRANES GO IF NOT TO ZOOS ? NOT MANY SADDLE-BILL STORKS IN THE PET TRADE.
but it was still a hard fight andit will make a big difference for wild birds.
SOME EVIDENCE PLEASE. LAST TWO YEARS FIGURES FROM
WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF TRADE TO THE MIDDLE EAST ? AND THE FAR EAST ? AND THE
I am copying in a couple of colleagues who played a big part in that.
WOULD BE INTERESTING TO HAVE A URL TO DISSEMINATE THIS GOOD NEWS.
We do not 'encourage this trade' and I am not sure what leads you to
think that.
PAUL, I BEGAN THIS TRADE DEBATE WITH THE RSPB IN 1983. IN 1993 AT
ROSSENHEIM WHERE WERE "YOU" ON THIS DEBATE ?25 ODD YEARS FOR YOU GUYS
TO BEGIN TO DISCOURAGE IT AND THEN ONLY BECAUSE "YOU" THOUGHT A.I.
MIGHT BECOME AN ISSUE. AND STILL YOU ARE NOT TAKING ON THE ZOO TRADE OR THE ILLEGAL TRADE OR THE NON-EU TRADE. TRAFFIC TELL US THAT BIRDS ARE NOT THEIR PRIORITY SO WHO SHOULD BE ON THIS PARTICULAR CASE OTHER THAN THE RSPB AND BIRDLIFE ?
But you raise a good point. All crane species are on Annex 2 of CITES
WHICH IS TOTALLY TOOTHLESS.
but none of the African ones are on Annex 1. I will try and find out if
there is history on this and maybe this is something that can be pushed
as a priority - I am sure ICF must have tried this already.
NO DOUBT IT WILL BE DISCUSSED AT THE NAIVASHA CRANE TRADE MEETING NEXT MONTH.
Of course trade is only one of the threats facing
DO NOT GET ME GOING ON THIS OLD SONG OF YOURS. WE ARE ALL WELL AWARE THAT WE HAVE
A HUGE POPULATION EXPLOSION IN
BUT OUR
LARGE BIRDS ARE GOING FROM OUR PROTECTED AREAS BECAUSE THE WEST DOES NOT CARE
ENOUGH TO STOP THIS TRADE. IT IS AS SIMPLE AS THAT AND HAS BEEN FOR A VERY LONG
TIME. DURING WHICH WE HAVE LOST MOST OF OUR LARGE WATERBIRDS. HAVE YOU LOOKED AT SHOEBILL TRADE DATA, HORRIFIC. AMERICAN ZOOS EVEN EMPLOY A LOBBYIST TO WORK THEIR SYSTEM FOR THEM.
I FLEW TRANSECTS OVER THE IHEFU SWAMP ON THE USANGU PLAIN RECENTLY, ONLY TWO
WATTLED CRANES YET THE RSPB COMMISSIONED A REPORT BY WCST THAT GIVES A FIGURE
OF 400 !!!! UNDERSTAFFED OR POORLY STAFFED. VERY FEW, <20 GREY CROWNED CRANES AND NO SADDLE-BILLED STORKS,
NONE, AND THIS IS THOUSANDS OF SQUARE KM OF EXCELLENT HABITAT.
A REALITY CHECK WOULD BE MOST USEFUL IF YOU ARE REALLY GOING TO MAKE A
DIFFERENCE.
NEIL