BIRD
BUL L ETIN
MIDDLE EAST
The President of Lebanon,
Michel Aoun, has launched a
range of special edition bird-themed stamps
to celebrate migratory Bird Day and raise
awareness of anti-hunting laws. Each stamp
features a protected migratory bird species
important to Lebanon’s biodiversity. SPNL
(BirdLife in Lebanon) presented the president
with a BirdLife trophy to thank him for
promoting the protection of migratory birds.
ASIA
In Nepal, two Critically
Endangered vulture species
are recovering after years of rapid decline.
The Slender-billed Vulture and White-
rumped Vulture both show population
increases since 2012 and 2013 respectively.
This is encouraging proof that Nepal’s Vulture
Safe Zones are working. These areas enforce
a ban on the veterinary drug diclofenac
(toxic to vultures), educate communities and
provide safe vulture feeding stations.
PROTECTED AREAS OR
‘PAPER PARKS’? NEW
STUDY PUBLISHED IN
SCIENCE MAGAZINE
BirdLife co-authored a
study critiquing a global
government target set
in 2010 to increase the
amount of land covered
by protected areas.
The study, authored
by lead scientists from
BirdLife, IUCN and other
NGOs and universities,
finds that these new
protected areas are not
necessarily located in
the most important sites
for biodiversity. Instead,
many are simply located
in areas unsuitable
for human use, or are
officially protected but
inadequately managed,
making them essentially
‘paper parks’. All of
these areas still count
as progress towards
the target, which is one
of the few biodiversity
goals likely to be met
by 2020 [see page 16].
The authors of the study
call for governments to
use networks such as
Key Biodiversity Areas,
which encompass
BirdLife’s Important Bird
and Biodiversity Areas,
to guide their decisions
and ensure that the sites
they are protecting are
globally significant for the
persistence of nature.
“Protected area targets
post-2020” was
published in Science
Magazine in April 2019
New Zealand is set
to gain its largest
inshore marine reserve to date.
Bobbys Head reserve – a 9,600
hectare area – will protect rare
examples of volcanic rocky reefs, sea
caves and seaweed gardens. This will
be one of six new marine reserves
proposed by the government for the
southeast of New Zealand following
years of advocacy and advice from
BirdLife Partner, Forest & Bird.
JUL-SEP 2019 • BIRDLIFE
PACIFIC
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