GOING SOUTH
VULTURE CONSERVATION ACTION
FROM A COMPLEX CONTINENT
Cape Vulture Gyps
coprotheres (Endangered).
Photo Marietjie Froneman in a workshop organised by BirdLife Botswana
in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife
and National Parks.
“NEW FARMERS
KEEP ASKING US
HOW TO BECOME
VULTURE-SAFE” RESOLUTION TO COMBAT ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE
IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA
Nigerian Conservation Foundation (BirdLife
Partner) brought together enforcement and
prosecution agencies, traditional healers associ-
ations, government, women wildlife trade asso-
ciations, and religious associations, for all to sign
an agreement to decrease trade in bushmeat
and vulture parts.
Vulture Safe Zone
sign erected
at a farm in Chisamba.
Photo BirdWatch Zambia MORE VULTURE SAFE FARMS IN ZAMBIA
More large private farms in Chisamba have been
declared Vulture Safe Zones (VSZ), thanks to per-
sistent awareness work by BirdWatch Zambia
(BirdLife Partner), seeded by the BirdLife Vulture
Appeal. And thanks to new resultant funding,
the successful model is now being scaled-up to
the Kafue Flats, a known breeding area, and the
Luangwa Valley, an area very close to the location
of Zambia’s worst vulture poisoning incidents.
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AFRICA
NOTORIOUS ELEPHANT POACHER ARRESTED IN ZIMBABWE
The worst poisoning incident in Hwange National
Park was reported in October 2013, where over
135 elephants died from the lacing of a watering
hole with cyanide. This consequently killed 219
vultures. The suspected culprit has now been
caught, but elephant poaching via poisoning
continues to be a major threat to vultures.
FORMING VULTURE SUPPORT GROUPS IN ZIMBABWE
BirdLife Zimbabwe are working closely with
Painted Dogs Conservation (PDC) in Hwange
National Park to strengthen community
involvement in the anti-poisoning campaign.
Elsewhere, Park Rangers have been trained to
identify and monitor vulture species, to help
respond to poisoning incidents; and a five year
national vulture action plan, has been submitted
to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Cli-
mate for endorsement.
LAW ENFORCERS TRAINED TO COMBAT WILDLIFE
POISONING AND SAVE VULTURES IN BOTSWANA
47 rangers from Chobe District were trained to
respond to wildlife poisoning crime, and in crime
scene investigation to help ensure prosecutions,
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ONE BIG PLAN TO SAVE ALL
THE VULTURES OF AFRICA AND EURASIA
INTERNATIONAL
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“We are hoping for between 90 and 120 thou-
sand hectares of Vulture Safe Zones come next
year. We spread the word as much as possi-
ble, and new farmers keep asking us how to
become vulture-safe” — Chaona Phiri, Bird-
Watch Zambia.
BIRDLIFE • SEPTEMBER 2017
African-Eurasian Vultures are the most threat-
ened group of terrestrial migratory birds on the
planet. Many have extensive soaring migra-
tions (and a Rüppell’s Vulture was recorded as
the world’s highest-flying bird when it collided
with an airliner), and their massive ranges mean
that their safety can only be guaranteed if many
countries come together and agree on a plan for
their protection. This is where BirdLife Interna-
tional’s work comes in, supported by Partners
around the world, with the Convention on the
Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Ani-
mals (CMS) providing a key platform.
It’s a huge problem and a huge area, so we
have made an appropriate plan: namely, the
Multi-species Action Plan to Conserve Afri-
can-Eurasian Vultures (Vulture MsAP), developed
by BirdL ife, the IUCN Species Survival Com-
mission’s Vulture Specialist Group and Vulture
Conservation Foundation, under the guidance
of the CMS Memorandum of Understanding
on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey
in Africa and Eurasia (Raptors MOU), with input
from numerous individual experts on vultures
and their conservation.
SEPTEMBER 2017 • BIRDLIFE
Vultures searching
for carcasses see no country
borders: international
commitments are required
to protect them.
Photo ScenaStudio/
Shutterstock
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THE PLAN HAS
THE ULTIMATE
DEADLINE: 2029
MUST BE A YEAR
OF CELEBRATION
OF VULTURE
RECOVERY
Wild White-rumped
Vulture with satellite tag
being released by BCN.
Photo Ankit Joshi
“We as conservation organisations recognise
the importance of vultures and are doing all we
can to save them, but this colossal task needs
action on an unprecedented scale through the
support of governments as well as the private
sector and many others”, says Roger Safford,
Senior Programme Manager, Preventing Extinc-
tions, BirdLife International. The comprehensive
action plan sets out actions, and links to practical
guidance, for governments of the 128 countries
in Africa and Eurasia that have vultures (Vulture
Range States), and other stakeholders, on pre-
venting poisoning, avoiding electrocution and
collisions with energy infrastructure, tackling
persecution and illegal trade, restoring habitat,
and ensuring natural food supplies.
“The Vulture MsAP aims for the recovery of 15
Old World vulture species to favourable popu-
lation levels by 2029”, says Safford. This plan lit-
erally has the ultimate deadline: 2029 must be a
year of celebration of vulture recovery, not griev-
ing of the imminent extinction of many species.
The consequences if not are unbearable.
BirdLife thus urges the 126 Parties of CMS to
adopt the Vulture MsAP, and to add 10 species
of African and Asian Vultures to CMS Appendix I,
giving them the highest level of protection. And
it must happen immediately: on 23-28 October
in Manila, Philippines, at the 12th Conference of
Parties (COP12) of the CMS.
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The challenge is then for the Vulture Range
States and others to put in place all the resources,
legislation and conservation measures, including
via national action plans, necessary to avoid a
vulture and human-health catastrophe. With this
machinery in place, international vulture conser-
vation would be shifted into a higher gear.
In advance of the CMS COP, the Vulture MsAP
is available online at www.cms.int
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