October 2005
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This bimonthly newsletter includes news from August too. |
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Note from
the Editor
October 1, 2005
Dear Friends:
Writing about wetlands in the aftermath
of hurricane Katrina (and Rita) is difficult when the
toll of human loss and suffering is so dominant in our
minds. I find myself asking the same question posed
by Dennis Anderson: "What is it about human nature
that allows us so willingly to accommodate our seemingly
predictable demise, measured this time by a hurricane
and flood, and for some years now by the killing of
the Mississippi and other natural environments, when
we know better?"
For
this issue of Newslink, I searched for articles about
Louisiana's coastal wetlands. My hope is that some of
this underrlying information can be put to use as we
pause and consider ways that policies and conservation
practices can be transformed so that we can help prevent
such devastation to humans, wetlands, and all life forms,
from occurring again.
Until December 1st,
Best wishes.
Heidi
Heidi Luquer,
Editor
Migratory Bird & Wetlands NewsLink |
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U.S.
National Ramsar Committee (USNRC)
- USNRC Conducts Survey on 22 USA Ramsar Sites. To
participate or learn more click
here.
- For upcoming
USNRC meetings click
here.
- For details
on the Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan for
Okefenokee click here.
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News
from Friends
in alphabetical
order...
African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement
The EU joins AEWA
The European
Community will become the 51th Contracting Party beginning
October 1, 2005. The European Community currently
has 25 Member States. The EU Birds Directive provides
a framework for bird conservation across the EU, defining
the minimum legal requirements and standards that
all Member States must comply with to protect and
conserve wild birds and their habitats in their territory
and in the EU as a whole. For the full article click
here.
BirdLife International
Over Half of Globally Important Tropical Andean Wildlife
Sites Remain Unprotected
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Quito, Ecuador —
The most comprehensive inventory to date of some of South
America's globally important areas for birds and biodiversity
reveals that more than half have no legal designation. "Important
Bird Areas in the Tropical Andes," published in August
by BirdLife International and Conservation International,
identifies 455 sites that cover 17% of the region's total
land area, of which 250 (55%) are unprotected. For the full
article click
here.
News from
Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV) [Colorado, USA]
Wanted: Playa Buffer Research Cooperators
The PLJV seeks to develop
a research partnership to address an incomplete understanding
of the ecological values of playa buffers. For more details
click here.
Ramsar News:
For
a Wetland Report Update on Cooperation between the Czech Republic
and Ethiopia click
here.
New Ramsar
Sites:
Republic
of Kenya — Lake Elmenteita.
New Zealand —
Manawatu river mouth and estuary.
Trinidad and
Tobago — Buccoo Reef / Bon Accord Lagoon Complex and
Caroni Swamp.
For more Ramsar news
click here.
| Migratory
Bird & Wetland News
in the news -
from around the globe
most recent
news listed first
New Jersey
Buys Wetlands to Help Control Flooding [USA]
29 September
20005, Ameriscan, Washington, DC — The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and Wildlife Preserves Inc. are nearing
an agreement to acquire Wildlife's properties in the
Great Piece Meadows area of the Passaic River Central
Basin as a natural flood storage area. "Heavy rain
and subsequent flooding along the Passaic River each
year underscores the importance of reaching an agreement
to preserve more wetlands and establish more natural
flood storage areas in northern New Jersey," said
New Jersey Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen, a Republican,
the state's only member of the House Energy and Water
Appropriations Subcommittee. Click
here (and scroll down the page.)
Avian Flu Spreads, Countries Prepare
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September 27 2005,
The National Academies, by Lisa Pickoff-White — Avian
flu is spreading throughout Indonesia, with increasing numbers
of people under observation. The World Health Organization
has sent a delegation to Indonesia to help deal with the outbreak.
For the full report click
here.
Rise of Lake
Sevan Could Drain Armenia's Treasury
26 September 2005,
Environment News Service, by Arevhat Grigorian, Yerevan, Armenia
— Armenian ecologists fear a rare environmental triumph
is in danger of going wrong. Buildings and beaches around
Lake Sevan are rapidly disappearing under water as efforts
by scientists and environmentalists to reverse the decline
of this huge freshwater reservoir pay off more quickly than
expected. For the full article click
here.
Wetlands Suffer
from Two Hurricanes
25 September National
Public Radio, All Things Considered, Christopher Joyce —
Cities and towns along the Gulf Coast have seen more than
their share of destruction from this month's hurricanes, but
the land itself -- particularly the marshes of Louisiana --
has also suffered. Click
here to hear this story.
Rescuers Comb
Wetlands After Rita
25 September BBC, UK
Edition — People who defied orders to evacuate from
the Cajun swamps of south-west Louisiana are being sought
by rescue teams in the wake of Hurricane Rita. For the full
article click
here.
Flood Lessons
[USA / The Netherlands]
23 September 2005,
National Public Radio, Living on Earth — After the devastating
1953 flood in the Netherlands, engineers there built an elaborate
network of dikes, islands and floodgates. The New Orleans
flood is causing Dutch politicians and specialists to re-examine
their protection systems and the country’s readiness
to withstand another major flood. Click
here for the week of September 23rd's radio show.
Congress Continues
Funding for Wetlands and Waterfowl (USA)
21 September 2005,
Ducks Unlimited, Washington — Congress extended an important
funding element for the North American Wetlands Conservation
Act (NAWCA). NAWCA provides federal cost-share funding for
habitat conservation projects for waterfowl and other migratory
birds. A key federal funding mechanism for the Act is set
to expire soon. For the full article click
here.
Cyprus Tries
Education to Halt Illegal Songbird Slaughter
20 September 2005,
Environment News Service, Nicosia, Cyprus — In an attempt
to stop the illegal trapping and sale of migratory songbirds
for food, the Cyprus government and BirdLife Cyprus announced
Monday the launch of an anti-bird trapping publicity campaign.
To get the word out, they will distribute a leaflet prepared
jointly by BirdLife Cyprus, the government's Game Fund, and
police. Trapping songbirds has been illegal in Cyprus for
more than 30 years, but fines are low compared with money
to be made supplying the songbirds to local restaurants, where
birds can sell for two pounds (US$3.60) or more each. For
the full story click
here.
New York Skyscrapers
Dim Lights to Save Birds
20 September 2005,
MSNBC, New York — The city that never sleeps will darken
the lights of the famed Manhattan skyline after midnight to
help save migrating birds. New York civic leaders on Tuesday
said the lights of buildings above the 40th floor will be
turned off after midnight in the fall and spring migration
seasons to save birds. "This is recognizing that beyond
architectural beauty, natural beauty is something that can't
be replaced. Once these bird species go extinct they're not
coming back," Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said.
For the full article click here.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9052290/
World Leaders
Urged to Acknowledge Links Between Ecosystems and Poverty
14 September, BirdLife
International — 2005 UN World Summit (for the Millennium
Development Goals) — Political leaders attending the
UN Summit in New York will gather with Nobel prize winners
and figures from the world of entertainment, at a dinner organised
by the environmental community to highlight the importance
of healthy ecosystems for human wellbeing. For the full article
click
here.
Water Crisis
Looms as Himalayan Glaciers Melt
9 September 2005, Reuters,
New Dehli, India — Imagine a world without drinking
water. It's a scary thought, but scientists say the 40 percent
of humanity living in South Asia and China could well be living
with little drinking water within 50 years as global warming
melts Himalayan glaciers, the region's main water source.
For the full article click
here.
Katrina Offers
Lesson on Wetlands Protection
5 September 2005, St.
Petersburg Times, by Matthew Waite and Craig Pittman —
Wetlands could have protected New Orleans, experts say, if
so many acres hadn't been destroyed by years of alterations
to the Mississippi River. For the full article click here.
Scientists
Want Help to Save Louisiana Wetlands
5 September, CNN.com
— Since the 1930s, according to scientists, Louisiana
has lost about 1,900 square miles of marsh and swamp, and
stands to see another 700 square miles slip away by 2050 if
drastic measures aren't taken. For the full story click
here.
Work with
Nature, Not Against it to Reduce Risk of Floods in Europe
31 August 2005, WWWF,
Brussels, Belgium — As the European Commission is preparing
a new EU Directive on flood risk management, WWF asks that
lessons be learnt from the repeated catastrophic flood events
across Europe. For more of the story click
here.
Avian Influenza
'Poultry flu'
25 August 2005, by
Marco Lambertini, BirdLife International - Intensive farming
practices and inadequate disease control seem to be the main
factors behind this outbreak of avian flu. The numerous strains
of avian influenza can be divided into two classes, according
to their pathogenicity (disease-causing ability) to domestic
poultry. For the full article click
here.
Iraqi Marshlands
Reflooded to 40 Percent of Former Area
23 August 2005, Environment
News Service, Tokyo, Japan — The Iraqi Marshlands, one
of the world’s largest wetland ecosystems, is on its
way back from the brink of obliteration. Nearly destroyed
under the regime of Saddam Hussein, there has been a rapid
increase in water and vegetation cover over the last two years,
new satellite images and analysis from the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) show. For the full article click
here.
First Global
Bird Map Shows Complex Diversity Patterns
19 August 2005, Environment
News Service — The first full map of where the world's
birds live shows that the pattern of bird diversity is much
more complicated than previously thought. The new findings
are drawn from the most complete and detailed picture of bird
diversity yet made, based on a new global database of all
living bird species. Published in the current issue of the
journal "Nature, the map will help to focus conservation
efforts, says senior author Professor Ian Owens of Imperial
College London.
For the full article click
here.
Lake Faces
Aftermath of City Catastrophe
(New Orleans, LA, USA)
8 August 2005, BBC
News, by Patrick Jackson — the filthy floodwaters that
have engulfed much of New Orleans are posing a fresh challenge
for the city - where should the toxic mess be deposited? For
the full story click
here.
Resources on the Web
America's
Wetland Campaign - to Save Coastal Louisiana
Click
here.
Ebird
A project developed
by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon
Society, provides a simple way for you to keep track
of the birds you see anywhere in North America. For
more information click
here.
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Publications
California
Current System Marine Bird Conservation Plan
This plan is
a collaborative effort of multiple agencies and organizations
that are committed to the conservation of seabirds that
breed or feed in the California Current. It can be found
on the Point Reyes Conservation Sciences website. Click
here to download this resource by chapter.
Chasing
Crocodiles in Cuba - A Different Kind of Vacation
This 3 page article is about to be published by Earthwatch.
It describes a 10-day adventure by Regina Anavy. If
you are interested in reading the 3-page article send
her an email at: ranave@aol.com.
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SOS
State of the System
(USA)
This report by the National Wildlife Refuge Association cites
an urgent need to implement strategies that conserve lands
outside national wildlife refuges. Finding that lands and
waters surrounding refuges, called buffer zones, actually
have more agriculture, subdivision and other human activity
than the national average. The report illustrates stories
of 12 refuges — 6 threatened and 6 rescued.
Released August 2005. The 24-page report is available in PDF
format by clicking
here.
Zambia's IBA
Guide - with a difference
By Peter Leonard
Most directories of
Important Bird Areas can be used as site guides for birders.
The newly-published Important Bird Areas in Zambia takes this
one step further by including a section headed "Information
for visitors." This book is published by the Zambian
Ornithological Society (BirdLife in Zambia). For the full
article click
here.
Job Opportunities
BirdLife
International's BirdLife Global Seabird Programme Seeks
South American Coordinator
The deadline
is September30th but has been extended. The location
is Buenos Aires Argentina in the Aves Argentinas (BirdLife
Partner) office. Please contact Ian Davidson for more
information: ian.davidson@birdlife.org.ec
Florida
Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Seeks 3
Snowy Plover Field Workers
Two positions
are available in Panama City headquarters and one in
Southwest Florida, Lakeland headquarters. The salary
is $12.00 an hour. The dates are from 27 February 2006
to 15 August 2006 (with possible extension to 1 September
2006) for surveys of breeding Cuban snowy plovers along
the Gulf Coast of Florida. Duties will include censusing
potential nesting beaches on foot or by ATV (some sites
to be accessed by boat), searching for and marking nests,
observing bird behavior, interacting with public land
managers and private landowners, and data entry. For
more information contact: John.Himes@MyFWC.com and/or
Nancy.Douglass@MyFWC.com.
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The Mekong
River Commission has Several Job Openings
Based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. For
more details click
here.
Point Reyes
Conservation Science (PRBO) Seeks Senior Marine Policy Specialist/California
CUrrent Joint Venture Coordinator
Deadline is October 21, 2005. For the job description in detail,
in PDF format, click
here.
The South Branch Watershed Association Seeks Executive Director
For more information
click here.
Grant
Opportunities
(Americas)
Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act/Acta para
la Conservación de las Aves Migratorias Neotropicales
The next deadline
for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act
will be Thursday, December 1, 2005
La fecha límite de enviar electrónicamente
las propuestas será el 1 de diciembre de 2005.
For more information click
here.
Playa
Lakes Joint Venture Announces 2005-2006 ConocoPhillips
Funding for Grants that Suport their Mission
Deadline November
15, 2005. For details
click here.
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North
American Wetlands Conservation Act Grant (NAWCA)
USA
Deadline: Friday, December
2, 2005. The purpose of NAWCA is to promote long-term conservation
of North American wetland ecosystems, and the waterfowl and
other migratory birds, fish and wildlife that depend upon
such habitat. For details click
here.
United States Fish & Wildlife Service
2006 Request for Proposals under the Neotropical Migratory
Bird Conservation Act.
The Act offers a matching
grants program to fund projects that promote the conservation
of these birds in the United States, Latin America, and the
Caribbean. The US Congress appropriated $4 million for the
grants program in Fiscal Year 2006. The deadline is December
1, 2005. For more information click
here.
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International
Calendar
for the remainder of year 2005 &
beyond...
2005
October
3 – 7
October
Peatland Ecology Research Group (PERG) Restoration
Workshop
Québec, Canada, open to all those interested
in studying the "Canadian way" of peatland
restoration. Click
here for the PERG website
6 - 9 October
3rd International Waterfowl Symposium on Anseriformes
of Northern Eurasia
Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Click
here for online registration and information.
12 - 16 October
Annual Waterbird Society Meeting
Jekyll Island, Georgia, at the Holiday Inn. Abstract
deadline is August 15th. Registration deadline is September
15th. Anticipated symposia topics include: wood storks,
shorebirds, Atlantic seabirds, and marshbirds. Three
workshops are scheduled: Status of the U.S. breeding
population of Wood Storks; Status of Marshbirds; and
an update on the SE Regional Waterbird Plan. Click
here
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New
16 - 19 October
South Eastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies
59th Annual Conference
St. Louis, Missouri. There will be a special All-Bird Conservation
symposium during the afternoon of 17 October. This symposium
seeks to facilitate coordination and implementation of the
North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) and comprehensive
wildlife conservation strategies (CWCS) as they relate to
avifauna in the southeast. Click
here for more information.
or email Denise Bateman: Denise.Bateman@mdc.mo.gov
18 October
The Upper Bay of Panama will celebrate its
recognition as a Site of Hemispheric Importance (as part of
WHSRN, the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.)
The date was chosen to coincide with the astronomical high
tide, bringing the hundreds of thousands of shorebirds expected
to be present into close viewing range. For more information,
contact Rosabel Miró, President, Panama Audubon Society,
rosabelmiro@mac.com.
18 - 19 October
Wetland and Riparian Area Legal Workshop: Identifying
"Waters of the United States" After SWANCC
(Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County), Albuquerque,
New Mexico, Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North. Organised
by The Association of State Wetland Managers Institute. Click
here
23 - 27 October
3rd Meeting
of the Parties of the African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement
(AEWA)
Dakar, Senegal, Click
here
24 - 26 October
Western Wetland Conference, ""Collaboration
Across Boundaries"
Denver, Colorado, Denver Marriott West. Click
here
25 – 27 October
2nd Regional Workshop on Dredging, Beach Nourishment,
and Bird Conservation
Eastern Long Island, New York, USA, Radisson Hotel Macarthur
Airport. Sponsored by the American Bird Conservancy and the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A principal focus will be on
three coastal bird groups: waterbirds, shorebirds, and Piping
Plovers. For more information contact Casey Lott at American
Bird Conservancy: clott@abcbirds.org
November
5 - 9 November
Wetlands
International Goose Specialist Group 9th Annual Meeting
Sopron, Hungary. Contact: Prof. Dr. Sándor Farago:
farago@emk.nyme.hu Click
here
New
9 November
Bird Conservation Alliance. Organized by the American Bird
Conservancy Washington, DC. USA
Click
here.
7 – 11 November
2nd North American Sea Duck Conference
Annapolis, MD. Sponsored by the Sea Duck Joint Venture, and
by various other federal and private organizations. Sponsored
by the United States Geological Survey – Patuxent Wildlife
Research Center at the Loews Annapolis Hotel. Click
here
8 – 15 November
9th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention (COP9) , Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
Kampala, Uganda, Click
here
8 – 26 November
Community–based Integrated Watershed Management
Silang, Cavite, Philippines. Organised by the International
Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), this 3–week
training course intends to offer a new approach in integrating
technologies and participatory strategies within the natural
landscape or "watershed" for sustainable resource
use, conservation and protection. Click
here
15 - 16 November
Integrated Restoration of Riverine Wetlands, Streams,
Riparian Areas, and Flood Plains in Watershed Contexts
University of Massachusetts Campus Center, Amherst, Massachusetts,
USA. Organised by the Association of State Wetland Managers.
Click
here
New
16 - 17 November
Constructed Wetlands for Water Quality, Environmental
Concern Inc.
Norwell, Massachusetts, South Shore Natural Science Center.
Registration: $550. Instructors: Bob Knight and Al McCullough.
16 - 25 November
8th Meeting of Contracting Parties of Convention on
Migratory Species
Nairobi, Kenya. Click here
24 - 27 November
Waterbird Society Meeting, "Avian Disease
and Bird Migration"
Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China, Evergreen Plaza Hotel.
Click here
28 November
– 2 December
3rd International Conference on Deep Sea Corals
Virginia Key, an island off the coast of Miami, Florida, USA.
Offered by the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine
and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). Click
here
December
11 – 13 December
Australasian Shorebird Conference 2005
Nelson, New Zealand. Hosted by the Ornithological Society
of New Zealand, the Australasian Wader Study Group, and the
New Zealand Wader Study Group. [The Conference follows the
Australasian Ornithological Conference which will be held
in Blenheim, New Zealand 6–10 December 2005.] Contact
David Melville (david.melville@xtra.co.nz) for general conference
issues and Phil Battley (philbattley@quicksilver.net.nz) about
the program. Click
here
2006
4-7 January
Environmental
Change in Lakes, Lagoons & Wetlands of the Southern Mediterranean
Region (ECOLLAW): 1st International Conference
Cairo, Egypt. Organised jointly between University College
London (UK) and the National Authority for Remote Sensing
& Space Sciences (NARSS), stemming from the EU-INCO funded
project MELMARINA (Monitoring & Modelling Coastal Lagoons:
Making Management Tools for Aquatic Resources in North Africa).
Email: info.ecollaw2006@geog.ucl.ac.uk Click
here
New
11 - 13 January
Annual Waterbird Conservation Council
Santo Domingo, Costa Rica, Hotel Bougainvillea, to be followed
by a fieldtrip the 13th and 4th.
The Council's annual meeting is an extremely important opportunity
to get to know eachother better, assess progress, set direction
and to advance waterbird conservation.
New
30 January -
2 February
Wetlands, Water and Livelihoods Workshop
An international workshop exploring best practices and lessons
learned in integrating poverty - environment issues. Seasands
Lodge & Conference Centre, St. Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal, South
Africa. The purpose of this workshop will be to formally launch
the Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project and to gather support
for, and input into, this new 4-year initiative. For more
details click
here.
February
20 – 23 February
4th Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration
Training Workshop
Hollywood, Florida, USA, Anne Kolb Nature Center. The workshop
includes an introduction to mangrove forest ecology, management
options and problems, and restoration design issues. Case
studies of 5 successful mangrove restoration projects, and
several unsuccessful projects, are discussed. This course
is organized by the Coastal Resources Group, Inc., and will
be taught in conjunction with the Mangrove Action Project
(www.earthisland.org/map). More information can be provided
by Robin Lewis: LESRRL3@aol.com or click
here
New
27 February - 2 March
Shorebird Science in the Western Hemisphere
Boulder, Colorado. Click
here for more details and logistics or email David Lank
at: dlank@sfu.ca
March 2006
Wetlands for Water Quality - Online Course
UNESCO-IHE (Institute for Water Education) and the Partnership
of Water Education and Research (POWER) Offer this online
Course. It begins March 1 and lasts for 4 months. Click
here for more information.
June 2006
20th Annual
Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, Conservation
Without Borders
San Jose McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, California,
USA. Click
here
August 2006
6 –
11 August
Ecological Society of America 91st Annual Meeting
Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Click
here
13 – 19 August
24th International Ornithological Congress
The Deutsche Ornithologen–Gesellschaft (DO–G,
German Ornithologist's Society) and Institute of Avian Reseach
'Vogelwarte Helgoland,' Wilhelmshaven
Hamburg, Germany.
New
29 - 31 August
Wetlands 2006: Wetlands of the Great Lakes
Organized by the Association of State Wetland Managers. Grand
Traverse Resort and Spa, Traverse City, Michigan, USA. For
more information contact: laura@aswm.org.
September 2006
1 – 3 September
Seabird Populations Under Pressure
Aberdeen, Scotland. To be hosted by the (UK) Seabird Group.
For further information contact: Mark Tasker: mark.tasker@jncc.gov.uk
October 2006
2 – 7 October
2006
4th North American Ornithological Conference
(NAOC)
Veracruz, Mexico. Other associated meetings: American Ornithologists'
Union, Association of Field Ornithologists, CIPAMEX (Sección
Mexicana de Consejo Internacional para la Preservación
de las Aves, A. C.) , Cooper Ornithological Society, Raptor
Research Foundation, Society of Canadian Ornithologists /
Société des Ornithologistes du Canada, The Waterbird
Society, Wilson Ornithological Society. Click
here
December 2006
9 – 13 December
3rd National Conference and Expo on Coastal and Estuarine
Habitat Restoration, "Forging the National Imperative
for Restoration"
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, Hilton Riverside Hotel. Contact
Conference Planning/Program coordinator, Steve Emmett-Mattox
at sem@estuaries.org
2007
June 2007
4 - 9 June
VIII Neotropical Ornithological Congress
Maturín (Monagas), Venezuela & Unión Venezolana
de Ornitología. Click
here
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1 October 2005
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