February 2007 |
This bimonthly newsletter includes news from
December& January. |
|
Note from the Editor
February 1, 2007
Dear Friends:
A
friend brought to my attention "Wild Law"
a new approach that explores human relationships with
the natural world. The line of thinking goes something
like this - because human existence is inextricably
linked with the health of global ecosystems - the laws,
treaties and policies that now govern our relationship
with the Earth will do little to protect the environment
unless we stop using human-centered approaches to law
and decision making. If
you are interested in learning more click here: Link
1 and Link
2.
And
this Friday, I hope you have fun celebrating World
Wetlands Day.
All
the best,
Heidi
Heidi
Luquer, Editor
Migratory Bird & Wetlands NewsLink |
|
News from Sponsors
U.S. National Ramsar Committee
(USNRC)
- World Wetlands Day Webcast!!!!
February 2, 12:15-1:00 p.m. EST
From Stetson University College of Law: “Wetlands
and fisheries: a Florida perspective” from Luiz
R. Barbieri, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
To log on click
here at the time of the event.
-
USNRC Annual Meeting, March 21, 2007 in Portland,
Oregon
To be held in conjunction with the North American
Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference.
- The
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: Assessment of International
Designations Within the United States
By Royal C. Gardner and Kim Diana Connolly, appears
in the February issue of the Environmental Law Reporter.
If you would like a copy, please email gardner@law.stetson.edu.
|
News from Friends
in alphabetical
order...
BirdLife
International
-
Bulgaria has become the first East European state
to join the BirdLife Network.
Click
here for more details.
- Caribbean Birdwatchers Urged to Submit Their Sightings
Click
here to learn more or partake.
- The
World Bird Festival Breaks Record in the Americas
- Over 200 organisations in 23 countries celebrated.
Save
Brasil (BirdLife in Brazil) and Instituto de
Estudo Socioambientais do Sul da Bahia used the World
Bird Festival as an opportunity to change attitudes
in Serra das Lontras, a region where wild birds are
routinely caught to keep at home or sell. Click
here
News
from Nepal
3 Wetland Clubs Formed Around Ghodaghodi Lake
Go to Friends of Nepal website for all the details.
Click
here
|
|
News from Ramsar
- World Wetlands
Day
Index Page - click
here
- Kazakhstan becomes the Convention's 154th Contracting
Party
- Nicaragua
Wetland Added to the Montreux* Record
Situated on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, the Bluefields
Bay Wetland System is under threat from a proposed all-weather
road from Nueva Guinea to Bluefields. [*Montreaux = Ramsar's
wetland sites where changes in ecological character have occurred,
are occurring or are likely to occur."]
- The Republic
of Serbia has new sites: Peštersko polje and
Labudovo okno.
Click
here for more Ramsar information.
|
Migratory Bird & Wetland News
in the news -
from around the globe
most recent
news listed first
Bird Ranges Move, but Is It Climate Change? [USA/Canada]
31
January 2007, Reuters, by Ed Stoddard, Dallas - Alice
Hale remembers the day she first saw a northern cardinal,
an unmistakable creature famed in bird watching circles
for its brilliant scarlet plumage - in Dartmouth, Nova
Scotia. According to Hale's 1980 edition of the "Peterson
Field Guides: Eastern Birds," Nova Scotia should
not have been a common part of the bird's range. Click
here
Migratory
Birds Follow Flight of the Siberian Crane
28
January 2007, Ahmedabad Newsline, Bharatpur - Following
the flight of the Siberian crane away from wetlands,
many migratory birds have stopped coming to Keoladeo
Ghana National Park in Rajasthan due to water scarcity
and unchecked growth of invasive shrubs and grasses.
Click
here
|
|
Governments
Fail to Stop Tuna Plunder [International]
26 January 2007,
WWF, Kobe, Japan – Government members of the world’s
five tuna regional management organizations have failed to
agree on an action plan to help reverse the decline in tuna
stocks... WWF believes this inaction will result in further
depletion of tuna populations, degradation of the oceans,
loss of tuna to eat and ultimately lead to a loss of livelihoods
across the world. Click
here
First Field
Guide to Birds of Iraq Shows No Extinctions
26 January
2007, Environment News Service - The wildlife conservation
movement in Iraq took off with the publication of "Field
Guide to the Birds of Iraq" in Arabic. Covering the 387
bird species that have been recorded in Iraq, the book is
the first comprehensive, fully illustrated field guide to
the birds of an Arabic speaking country and first field guide
of its kind for Iraq. Click
here
Can a 'Leaky'
Levee Save the Louisiana coast? [USA]
24 January 2007,
Christian Science Monitor, by Patrick Jonsson, New Orleans
- A bold US Army Corps of Engineers plan would build a semipermeable
'Great Wall of Louisiana' from the Mississippi River to Texas
to block the advancing Gulf and, at the same time, do the
opposite of what a levee is supposed to do: Allow water through
to keep marshlands from drowning in the kind of brackish backwaters
that are killing off Louisiana's signature swamps at the rate
of more than 30 acres a year. Click
here
Madagascar
Protects Wetlands Crucial for People and Birds
23 January 2007, Reuters AlertNet - Conservationists
have hailed Madagascar's decision to establish a 300,000 hectare
(741,300 acres) protected habitat for birds unique to the
giant Indian Ocean island. The Mahavavy-Kinkony wetland is
home to the Madagascar Teal, Sakalava Rail, Madagascar Sacred
Ibis and Madagascar Pond Heron, which are all unique to the
island. Click
here
Wetlands Will
Get Revitalized [Hawaii]
22 January 2007,
Honoluluadversiser.com, by Jan TenBruggencate - The vast Hawaiian
wetlands have largely been destroyed during the past two centuries.
As part of an $18.8 million National Coastal Wetlands Program,
the Hawai'i projects will get $2.4 million, to be matched
by more than $3.3 million in funds from conservation groups,
private landowners and the state. Click
here
Highway Proposal
Would Pave over Utah Lake Wetlands [USA]
21 January 2007,
The Salt Lake City Tribune, by Todd Hollingshead and Patty
Henetz - Barker has been working to restore 26 acres of federally
protected marshlands where Spring Creek empties into the lake,
tearing out non-native grasses, Russian olives and tamarisks.
But all of his work may be buried under a 350-foot-wide, six-lane
freeway. Having a highway destroy the past five years of his
work is one thing, but it seems implausible to Barker to threaten,
all for the sake of a road, hundreds of deer, fish, ducks,
beavers and geese - and that white-faced ibis overhead. Click
here
Kazakhstan
Safeguards Lakes and Migratory Waterbirds
16 January
2007, Environment News Service, Geneva, Switzerland - Kazakhstan
has strengthened protection for a large lake system important
to migrating waterbirds by acceding to the Ramsar Convention,
an international treaty for the protection of wetlands. "Accession
to the Ramsar Convention will help us ensure that our efforts
to conserve them fit into a global strategy for conserving
wetland birds," said Khrokov. Click
here
Large Birds
Vanishing from West African Sahel
16 January 2007, BirdLife International - Systematic counts
thirty years apart reveal a catastrophic decline in numbers
of large birds in the sub-desert region of West Africa. Jean-Marc
Thiollay travelled the same 3,700 mile routes in 1971-73 and
2004. Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus numbers over
a large section of the route had dropped from 75 in the early
survey to just one. Click
here
US Debate
Continues Over Future of “Bird Jewel”
[Salton Sea, California, USA]
15 January 2007,
BirdLife International- The State of California have been
tasked to come up with aplan for restoring the Sea, but so
far none of the proposals include actions to “adequately”
maintain the site as a habitat for wildlife, conservationists
argue. It is California’s largest lake and a key stopover
for millions of birds every year. Click
here
Acres of Paraguayan
Wetland Saved
12 January 2007, BBC News, by Andrew Bomford - A British charity
has moved to save thousands of acres of environmentally important
wetland in South America from destruction. Click
here
Albatrosses
Feel the Heat [International]
28 December 2006, BirdLife International- Albatrosses with
GPS data loggers strapped to their backs or legs are helping
to map the surface temperatures of the North Pacific. The
devices are attached to Laysan Phoebastria immutabilis and
Black-footed Albatrosses Phoebastria nigripes at breeding
colonies on Tern Island, in the north-west of the Hawaiian
island group, and Guadalupe Island, Baja, Mexico. Click
here
IMAX Film
Focuses on Lousiana's Wetlands
[USA]
23 December 2006,
PittsburgTribune-Review, by Michael Machosky - "Hurricane
on the Bayou" could be one of the most important films
made in the IMAX format. It was intended to explore and depict
Louisiana's rapidly disappearing wetlands... The images they
captured on video are riveting, and frequently terrifying.
Even the baby alligators that we meet early on in the bayou,
later are seen rolling like tumbleweeds in the Katrina's winds.
The film's impact has been significant." Click
here
Whooping Cranes
Back in Texas [USA]
20 December 2006,
Houston Chronicle, by Slatheia Bryant - This winter, the marshes
along the Texas coast are more alive with snowy white whooping
cranes than they've been in a century. A recent census flight
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recorded 237 whooping
cranes that made the 2,400-mile seasonal trek from Canada,
up from 220 last winter. Wildlife officials called the increase
remarkable considering the Texas whooping crane population
plunged to a low of about 15 birds in 1941. [Paul Baicich]
Migratory
Birds On Their Way [Bangladesh]
20 December 2006,
The Daily Star, by Wahida Mitu - The destruction of natural
habitat, poaching, pollution and disappearance of wetlands
are keeping migratory birds away from the city. "Migratory
birds are decreasing day by day both in terms of quantity
and species," said Sajahan Sorder, president of Bangladesh
Bird Watchers' Society, secretary-general of Nature Conservation
Committee (NCC) and also an individual bird-watcher for the
last 30 years. Click
here
Balmy Winter
Puts Chill on Bird Migration [Norway]
20 December 2006, CNN.com, Oslo, Norway - Some European birds
have failed to fly south for the winter, apparently lured
to stay by weeks of mild weather that experts widely link
to global warming. Click
here
Government
of Grenada Sells off National Park for Four Seasons Resort
[Caribbean]
19 December 2006
- A ‘high-end luxury resort’ threatens one of
the last remaining refuges for the Grenada Dove, a Critically
Endangered species with a global population of just 180 birds
as the Government of Grenada looks set to sell the whole of
the Mount Hartman National Park. The National Park, also called
‘The Dove Sanctuary’ is home to the Grenada Dove
is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the near
future. Click
here
20 Million
Years and a Farewell [China]
China's River Dolphin the Baiji is Extinct
17
December 2006, The New York Times, by Andrew C. Revkin - The
first species to be erased from this planet’s great
and ancient Order of Cetaceans in modern times is not one
of the charismatic sea mammals that have long been the focus
of conservation campaigns, like the sperm whale or bottlenose
dolphin. It appears to be the baiji, a white, nearly blind
denizen of the Yangtze River in China. Click
here
When Dry is
Wet [Florida, USA]
17 December 2006, St. Petersburg Times, by Craig Pittman -
Over the past decade, a little-known industry has reaped a
billion-dollar bounty by convincing lawmakers it is the answer
to saving the nation's wetlands. The promise of the wetland
mitigation banking industry - a free-market solution that's
good for the environment - pleases politicians of every stripe.
Click
here
Five Wetlands
to be Nominated for Ramsar Sites [Viet Nam]
15 December 2006, VietnamNet Bridge - Viet Nam plans to nominate
five more wetland sites to be listed in the Ramsar List of
Wetlands of International Importance in the next two years,
said the Environmental Protection Department. The sites in
question are Ba Be Lake, Tien Hai tidal land, U Minh Thuong
forest, Ca Mau Cape, and Con Dao island. Click
here
Migratory
Birds Keep Their Date with Kashmir [India]
14 December 2006, India Enews.com - If winter has arrived
in Kashmir, can migratory birds be far behind? Thousands of
exotic birds have kept their date with the valley this year
too, landing in water bodies from far off lands to avoid the
extreme winters there. From times immemorial, hundreds of
thousands of avian visitors land here each year... Click
here
Satellite
Radar Gauges Water Levels in Louisiana Wetlands [USA]
12 December 2006,
SpiritIndia.com - Ohio State University researchers have demonstrated
that a satellite radar system can be used to gauge water levels
in vegetated wetlands. C.K. Shum, professor of earth sciences
at Ohio State, and his colleagues hope to develop the technique
to aid studies of wetland hydrology including the role that
wetlands play in quelling storm surges caused by large hurricanes.
Click
here
Ambrose Faces
Lawsuit over Wildlife Habitat, for Piping Plover [Canada]
6 December 2006, Globe and Mail, by Dennis Bueckert, Ottawa
— Environmentalists are taking Environment Minister
Rona Ambrose to court for failing to identify the critical
habitat of a rare shorebird in a case they say strikes at
the heart of the government's failure to protect endangered
species.
[Related
Story]
Conservationists Unite in Piping Plover Lawsuit
12 December 2006, BirdLife International - A coalition of
leading conservation groups in Canada have filed a lawsuit
against the Canadian Environment Minister for her ministry's
refusal to identify critical habitat in the recovery strategy
of Piping Plover. Click
here
'Lost' Woodpecker
Reappears [Brazil]
6 December 2006,
BirdLife International - One of Brazil’s most enigmatic
birds has reappeared after an absence of 80 years: the Caatinga
Woodpecker Celeus obrieni in the Tocantins region of Central
Brazil. Click
here
Court Orders
Protection of St Lucia Wetlands [Caribbean]
1 December 2006, The Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday
interdicted Mkuze people from destroying indigenous vegetation
in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park in order to plant vegetables.
Click
here
[Related
Story]
Court Defends KZN Wetlands, from News 24.Com
Click
here
Resources On the Web
Charles
Darwin's Works Online
Cambridge
University has digitized approximately 50,000 pages
of text and 40,000 images of original publications.
Click here
[La Tangara.]
The Ducks Unlimited Latin America/Caribbean Waterbird
Database is Now On-line
Information
can be searched and entered for all waterbird species
and for all countries in the Neotropical Region, although
for the moment only waterfowl surveys data for the countries
where the Ducks Unlimited works have been entered. English
so far, Spanish coming. Click
here
Strategy
for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of IBAs
in Africa: 2005-2015
Click
here [PDF, 4.25 MB]
The Eco-Index: A Service of Rainforest Alliance
A searchable reference of conservation projects in the
Neotropics, with goals, achievements, lessons learned,
interviews, reports, and more. Click here http://www.eco-index.org/
The Wetlands
International Asian Waterbird Census December 2006 Newsletter
Click
here
|
|
|
Publications
National Strategy for Thriving Wetlands
"Thriving
Wetlands" sets the framework to maintain the ecological
and water-conserving functions of wetlands in the landscape
and to preserve valuable wetlands for the future. Parliament
established 16 environmental quality objectives to guide
Sweden towards a sustainable society. All sectors are
involved in the implementation of these objectives,
aiming to solve the major environmental problems within
one generation. Click
here
Waterbirds Population Estimates, 4th Edition
According to
Nick Davidson Deputy Secretary General of Ramsar, "The
summary of the WPE4 report makes alarming reading: nearly
half of all waterbird populations are decreasing, whilst
only one in six is increasing, with the conservation
status of waterbirds being most critical in Asia where
nearly two-thirds of known populations are in decline."
Click
here
|
|
Job
Opportunities
American
Bird Conservancy Seeks Seabird Conservation
Program Officer
Click
here
International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Seeks
Director General
Headquarters Colombo, Sri Lanka. Click
here
Western Hemisphere
Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) Seeks
Conservation Specialist and Assistant Director
Click
here
|
|
|
International Calendar
for 2007 & beyond...
February
1
- 2 February
12th Annual Wetland Science Forum, Riverine
Wetlands: Connections, Corridors and Catchments
La Crosse, Wisconsin. Click
here
2 February 2007
World Wetland Day
This year's theme is "Fish for Tomorrow?"
Click
here for details and resources.
5 -
8 February
Bird Conservation through Education: A National
Gathering for Bird Education
Austin, Texas, USA. This forum is for discussion, network
building, and planning to further the reach of bird
education efforts in North America. Hosted by Flying
Wild, a program of The Council for Environmental Education.
Click here
7 - 10 February
2007 Southeast Partners in Flight Meeting
Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Holiday Inn Select at the Memphis
Airport. Click
here
|
|
New
7 - 11 February
34th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group
Asilomar, California. Click
here
New
16 - 19 February
10th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)
New York and Ithaca, New York, USA. Sponsored by the Cornell
Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society. Click
here for information from Cornell.
March
12 - 14 March
International Conference on Water and Flood Management
Dhaka,
Bangladesh. Organized by The
Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) of Bangladesh
University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Click
here
New
22 - 25 March
87th
Annual Meeting of The Wilson Ornithological Society
Boston, Massachusetts. To be held at the Sheraton Colonial
Hotel & Golf Club Boston North in Wakefield, Massachusetts
at the invitation of Mass Audubon. Click
here
New
23 - 25 March
The 84th annual meeting of the Eastern Bird Banding
Association (EBBA)
Brewster, Massachusetts, USA. Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club
on Cape Cod.
Click
here
April
15
- 18 April
Carbon in Peatlands: State-of-the-Art and Future
Research
Wageningen, The Netherlands. Click
here
May
13
- 19 May
2007 Neotropical Ornithological Congress, together with the
Unión Venezolana de Ornitologos Maturín,
Mongas, Venezuela. Click
here
New
30 May - 3 June 2007
2nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists-Europe:
Linking Wetland Science and Scientists from Eastern and
Western Europe
Trebon, Czech Republic. Click
here
June
3 June
Western State Workshop: Strengthening the Roles
of Land Trusts and Local Governments in Protecting and Restoring
Wetlands and Riparian Areas
Park city, Utah, USA. Treasure Mountain Inn. Hosted by The
Association of State Wetland Managers, Inc. Click
here
10 - 15 June
2007
Society of Wetland Scientist International Conference: Water,
Wetlands and Wildlife - Resolving Conflicts and Restoring
Habitats
Sacramento, California. Click
here
New
19 - 23 June
The Cooper Ornithological Society: Endangered
ecosystems and the species therein
Moscow, Idaho, USA. Click
here
New
26-29 June
International Conference on Multi Functions of Wetland
Systems
Legnaro (Padova), Italy. Organized by the Department of Environmental
Agronomy and Crop Production University of Padova. Click
here
July
1 - 7 July
21st Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation
Biology
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth,
South Africa. The conference will be hosted by the Terrestrial
Ecology Research Unit (TERU) of the NMMU. Click
here
New
2 - 6 July
6th International Convention on Environment and Development:
For a Sustainable Future: Caring and Humanist Integration
Havana, Cuba. Havana International Conference Center. Organized
by The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment of
the Republic of Cuba and other. Click
here
August
5 –- 10 August
92nd Annual Meeting of The Ecological Society of America
San Jose, California, USA. San Jose McEnery Convention Center.
Updated
8 - 11 August
The American Ornithologists' Union Meeting
Laramoie, Wyoming, USA. University of Wyoming. Click
here
15 - 23 August
International Ethological Conference, IEC 2007
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Click
here
New
26 - 30 August
2nd International Field Symposium West Siberian Peatlands
and carbon Cycle: Past and Present
Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Click
here
New
28 - 30 August
Association of State Wetland Managers 2007 Conference:
"Watershed Strategies to Protect and Restore Wetland
Ecological and Social Services."
Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. Click
here
September
3 - 6 September
International Conference on Environmental Flows
Brisbane,
Australia. The Nature Conservancy and the River Symposium
are co-conveners. Click
here
12 - 16 September
2007 Joint Meeting of the Raptor Research Foundation
and the Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA)
Fogelsville, Pennsylvania, USA. Click
here
New
16 - 20 September
WETPOL 2007 - 2nd International Symposium on Wetland
Pollutant Dynamics and Control
Tartu, Estonia. Click
here
22 - 26 September
The 14th Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society
Tucson, Arizona, USA. Click
here
New
27 - 29 September
26th Annual Meeting of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists
Lake Opinicon, Ontario at the Queen's University
Biological Station. Click
here
October
New
5 - 6 October
Peatland Management and Climate Change
Freising, Germany. Click
here
28 October - 2 November
12th
World Lakes Conference
Jaipur (Rajasthan), India. Organised by the Ministry of Environment
and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi, and co-hosted
by the Government of Rajasthan. The Conference will be held
at Jaipur (Rajasthan) the Pink City, 260 km from New Delhi.
Click here
New
31 October - 4 November
World Owl Conference: Owls, Ambassadors for the Protection
of Nature in their Changing Landscape
Groningen, The Netherlands. Hosted by Birdlife International
in The Netherlands, the Global Owl Project and the World Owl
Trust. Click
here
December
New
2 - 5 December
Australasian Ornithological Conference
Perth, Western Australia, held jointly between Birds Australia
and the Ornithological Society of New Zealand at the University
of Western Australia. Click
here
2008
Date-to-be-determined
10th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention
Changwon, Republic of Korea. Click
here
February 2008
13 - 16 February 2008
4th International Partners in Flight Conference:
Tundra to Tropics
McAllen, Texas. McAllen Convention Center. Contact Terry rich
for more information: terry_rich@fws.gov.
April 2008
New
17 - 20 April 2008
The Wilson Ornithological Society and the Association of Field
Ornithologists Annual Meetings
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA, at the University of Southern
Mississippi. Click
here
May 2008
12 - 16 May
10th International Conference on Salt Lake Research
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Hosted by The International Society
of Salt Lake Research (ISSLR). Co-sponsors include FRIENDS
of Great Salt Lake, Utah State University, The University
of Utah, and U.S. Geological Survey. Click
here
June 2008
9 – 15 June
2008
13th International Peat Congress After Wise Use:
The Future of Peatlands
Tullamore, Ireland. Click
here
14 June - 14
September 2008
Expo
Zaragoza 2008: Water and Sustainable Development
Zaragoza, Spain. For more informat about this three-month
public event, featuring a specially-constructed “Water
Tower” click
here
July 2008
13 -
18 July 2008
22nd Annual Meeting of the Society
for Conservation Biology
Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. Hosted by the University of Tennessee
at Chattanooga’s Department of Biological and Environmental
Sciences. To be held at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
More information to come.
The End
1 February 2007
|
