Together for Birds and People

Transcription

1 Together for Birds and People Conserving threatened birds through the maintenance of socio-cultural landscapes The First Global Conference of the IPSI Public Forum: On the Ground Activities BirdLife International Mayumi Sato

2 Our mission is to: Conserve wild birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, by working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources

3 Birds: Indicators of biodiversity, environment, sustainability

4 BirdLife is : The world s largest alliance of conservation NGOs active in 113 countries / territories Andorra Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Belarus Belgium Belize Bolivia Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Canada Chile Cook Islands Cote d ivoire Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Is/Malvinas Faroe Islands Finland France French Polynesia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Kenya Macedonia Kuwait Latvia Lebanon Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Malta Mexico Myanmar Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nigeria Norway Palau Palestine Panama Paraguay Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Rwanda Samoa Saudi Arabia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine U.K. Uruguay U.S.A. Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

5 BirdLife is indigenous and grass roots A world wide constituency > 2.3 million members, 10 million supporters

6 Worse. Better. Red List Index of species survival What are the main threats driving species to higher categories of extinction risk? Other Pollution Climate change & severe weather Fisheries Logging Hunting & trapping Invasive alien species Agriculture & aquaculture Blank Year McGeoch et al. (2010) Diversity Distrib 16:

7 Example 1: Pampas grasslands in the Americas The grasslands of the Southern Cone of South America - Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul state (Brazil) and southern Paraguay Unique and globally significant concentration of grassland biodiversity Cattle ranching in natural grasslands important to long-term conservation Threat: recent intensification of agricultural production Cattle ranching in natural grasslands important to long-term conservation BirdLife and Partners: Alliance initiative for the conservation of the grasslands (e.g. increase value of beef by guaranteeing and certifying products)

8 Example 2: Dehesa cork oak in Europe Dehesa (in Portugal) -biodiversity-rich agro-ecosystems in Europe Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus); Black vulture (Aegypius monacus); Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti) Production of cork has been keeping the forest rich in biodiversity; however, recent replacement of cork with plastic used in wine bottles has thrown the sustainable system into crisis 70 percent of cork revenues from wine industry UK - world s biggest importer of wine RSPB (BirdLife in UK): public awareness campaigns to educate wine industry and consumers about cork s role in preserving wildlife

9 Example 3: Wet grasslands in Cambodia Western Siem Pang forest, with a characteristic wet meadow and pool (trapeang), of critical importance for some of the rarest species 5 globally critically endangered birds including White-shouldered Ibis (Pseudibis davisoni) - a dramatic decline owing to the widespread and ongoing conversion of their habitats for plantation People traditionally graze their cattle and buffaloes at the trapeangs, keeping grasses short and maintaining the trapeangs wet BirdLife and Partners initiative for the conservation of the trapeangs (e.g. promote the designation of Western Siem Pang as Protected Forest )

10 Example 4: Kinangop grasslands in Kenya, Africa Sharpe s Long claw (Macronyx sharpie) - globally threatened grassland-specialist bird prefers short grassland interspersed with dense tussocks People traditionally coexisted with the antelopes that kept the grassland as ideal habitat for the claw Threat: heavy grazing of the land by cattle and the disappearance of tussocks BirdLife Partners initiative for the conservation of the grasslands by replacing cattle with sheep to protect the grassland

11 Thank you