Wings & Waves Newsletter | June 2019 | Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon

Wings & Waves Newsletter | June 2019

CEPF small grants for Cultural Landscapes in Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan

CEPF has just announced the call for small grants for Mediterranean cultural landscapes; eligible countries are Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan. You can find the call announcement here and the full documents here: English, French.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERING COUNTERS & TRAINERS FOR RAPTOR MIGRATION COUNT LEBANON SEPTEMBER 2019

Lebanon is situated straight in the eastern Mediterranean flyway and sees the annual migration of hundreds of thousands of raptors, storks and other soaring birds. Very few studies have been done to document this and no updated counts or figures exist. Pressing is also the need to train local conservationists and birdwatchers and to spread awareness for reducing the widespread illegal bird hunting. This is pioneering bird conservation work and you can be a part of starting it up!

SPNL participated in the Birdlife 65th Global Council Meeting

Assad Serhal the Director-General of SPNL (Birdlife Lebanon) participated in the Birdlife 65th Global Council Meeting held from 17th – 19th June 2019 at David Attenborough Building, Cambridge, UK

BirdLife hosts joint WORKSHOP in Madrid on the Monitoring and Raising Public Awareness of Bird Crime

The International Workshop on the Illegal Killing, Trapping and Trade of Birds: Monitoring and Raising Public Awareness took place in Madrid, Spain on the 27-29th June 2019. It was jointly organized by BirdLife Europe & Central Asia, BirdLife International and BirdLife Cyprus, hosted by SEO/BirdLife Spain. The workshop was financed by the MAVA Foundation as part of the Safe Flyways: Stop Illegal Killing in the Mediterranean project and the Capacity Development Fund, by the EuroNatur Foundation and the LIFE Against Bird Crime (LIFE17 GIE/NL/000599) project.

Nature and Culture in Menorca: meeting of the Cultural Landscapes Steering Committee

A Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Cultural Landscapes Outcome Action Plan (OAP) of the Mediterranean Programme was held in the Balearic island of Menorca from 6 to 9 May 2019, hosted by local organization GOB Menorca. Twenty participants from 13 organisations attended the meeting, representing projects implemented in five Mediterranean countries and cross-cutting regional initiatives.

Northern Bald Ibis: baldly leading the way in ibis conservation

Four ibis species in three very different circumstances. All facing extinction. One, the Northern Bald Ibis, is now recovering. What does it take to turn the tables on extinction?

Flying into the face of danger

Shooting, trapping, poisoning – an average of 24 million birds are illegally slaughtered in the Mediterranean each year as they attempt their perilous migratory journey between Africa and Europe.

Celebrating 40 Years of Global Action for Migratory Animals

Sunday, 23 June marks the 40th anniversary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also known as the “Bonn Convention” after the city in which it was signed. It is the only global treaty dealing with the conservation of migratory species and their habitats across the world, including birds, whales, dolphins, sharks, elephants, antelopes, and gorillas.

Why is it controversial to declare a species less threatened?

Last year, we moved the Pink Pigeon from Endangered to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, its recovery the result of decades of conservation work. When we move a species to a lower threat category, it sounds like a cause for celebration – but why doesn’t everyone agree?

7 great dads of the bird world

Father’s Day is about celebrating all the great dads out there – and there are plenty in the bird world. Who knows, one of these feathered fathers might remind you of someone you know…