Wild adult white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) in flight. Pinjore, Haryana, India. © Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
Willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), caught in an illegal mist net, Cyprus. © RSPB (rspb-images.com).
In 2010/11, The Rufford Foundation provided a grant £50,000 to the RSPB.
Saving Asia's Vultures
The RSPB and partners in Asia have been working to save three species of vulture from almost certain extinction. Just one in a thousand oriental white-backed vultures survives, and there have been similarly dramatic declines for long-billed and slender-billed vultures. The birds cannot survive when they ingest the veterinary drug diclofenac from livestock carcasses.
To save the vultures, our focus has been to rescue and take into care a number of birds of each of the three Critically Endangered species and to campaign for the banning of diclofenac and to find and promote alternatives to this drug.
Three breeding centres are now up and running. They are in Pinjore in Haryana, Buxa in West Bengal, and at Rani Forest in Assam. The Rufford Foundation provided vital funding towards the establishment of the Pinjore centre in 2004. Continued support from The Rufford Foundation has enabled the RSPB to develop the other breeding centres. We are delighted to report the first fledging of the birds in captivity. It will be some years however before the environment is considered safe enough from the threat of diclofenac to consider releasing the birds.
Illegal Bird Trapping in Cyprus
When we started our campaign to stop illegal bird trapping in Cyprus in 2002, with The Rufford Foundation's support, an estimated 12 million birds per annum were being illegally trapped while on migration in autumn and spring. We then took action to address this problem, working with our partner organisation BirdLife Cyprus and the authorities.
Our work has involved surveillance in the areas where the illegal activities are most widespread. We have provided information to the police in the UK's Sovereign Base Area and to the Cyprus Government's Game Fund. Many arrests have been made. We have also been able to increase our publicity and education work and to put pressure on the restaurants that used to openly (and illegally) sell songbirds.
Our work here has also been vital to ensure that the laws protecting Europe's wild birds are not compromised by lack of enforcement in Cyprus and other countries where illegal hunting might otherwise go unchallenged.
We are delighted to report that our enforcement action has saved over 65 million birds up to 2009. Our report for 2010 is in preparation. We have to maintain the pressure to ensure that enforcement is maintained, as there has been some indication of a relaxation by the authorities and a recent upward trend in illegal trapping that is worrying.
Action on Hunting and Trapping in Malta
With the support of The Rufford Foundation, the RSPB and BirdLife Malta launched a project in 2006 to clamp down on illegal hunting and to bring Malta in line with the EU Birds Directive.
Malta has a vital role to play in global bird conservation. It is located on one of the main migratory bird flyways that link Europe and Africa. Despite widespread international disapproval, Malta has developed a reputation over many decades for uncontrolled shooting and trapping activities. Since it joined the EU, Malta has failed in its duties by allowing spring hunting of turtle doves and quail. Many hunters have seen this as a 'carte blanche’ to kill protected species. The scale of illegal hunting (shooting), particularly of birds of prey, has long been and remains a serious concern for conservationists and the public everywhere.
Our action includes:
- Mapping finch trapping sites.
- Running the international Raptor Camp for volunteers from all over the world.
- Educating and informing trappers as well as the public about the reasons why trapping is illegal in the EU and the agreement reached with the EU to phase it out.
- Lobbying the government to press for maximum pressure on hunters and trappers.
- Identifying trapping sites and monitoring illegal structures built by hunters and trappers.
- Presenting these findings to the public to expose and stop those responsible.
- Campaigning for the designation as Special Protection Areas of the two final Important Bird Areas that had previously been excluded.
Beating the illegal hunters has required determination and considerable bravery on occasions on the part of conservationists and volunteers. We could not have achieved as much without the support of The Rufford Foundation and we are confident that concerted action and continued lobbying will ensure continued campaign success.
Saving Africa’s Threatened Vultures
This project has three main strands:
- To standardise vulture surveys in East Africa.
- To increase public awareness of the many threats facing the species.
- To promote action to combat these threats.
Our action is focused on Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. These countries are key centres of population for vultures and raptors generally and are in the top 10 for raptor diversity in the world. Each has an active and effective RSPB partner organisation in BirdLife International leading on the programme of action. Stakeholders across these countries are being made aware of the scale of the problem, and mobilised to contribute to recovery efforts.
