Planet of Birds

On 16 January, the French oil company Total and the Italian shipping classification society RINA were fined by a Parisian court over their involvement in the huge oil spill that resulted from the sinking of the tanker Erika off the coast of France. The Erika was a 24 year old rusting, Maltese-registered vessel that broke […]

The EU strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport fuels is in disarry today following the European Commission’s proposal to massively increase biofuel use, according to environmental groups BirdLife International and Transport and Environment (T&E). Whereas both organisations strongly support the Commission’s proposal of a 20% target for renewable energy by 2020, they argue […]

Guyra Paraguay (BirdLife in Paraguay) has been recognised by one of the country?s leading newspapers, Ultima Hora, as one of the top Paraguayan institutions of 2007. read more at Birdlife

The number of White-rumped Gyps bengalensis and Slender-billed Gyps tenuirostris Vulture nests recorded west of Narayani Chitwan National Park / Buffer Zone Area, Nawalparasi District, Nepal, has doubled in two years, as a result of measures taken to reduce and replace the use of a drug toxic to vultures. read more at Birdlife

Analyses of satellite images have revealed for the first time the extent of deforestation occurring on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, indicating that many more bird species are threatened with extinction than previously feared. An eighth of lowland forest on the island -a stronghold for a number of birds found nowhere else […]

Efforts to save the Middle East?s rarest bird have been boosted by two chance sightings of the species 1,500 miles apart. Northern Bald Ibises were seen last month in the Jordan Valley for the first time in 13 years, and in Djibouti, east Africa, for the first time ever, raising hopes that numbers of this […]

On January 15th, BirdLife International welcomed the publication of ‘ A Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds’. This Atlas marks a major advance in understanding the potential impacts of climate change on wildlife. It shows that in the course of the 21st century the changing climatic conditions will force most species to move into new […]

Ten years of survey work in the San Rafael National Park in Paraguay have established that it is “as important for both avian diversity and threatened species as any other location in South America”. read more at birdlife

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) begins today (December 3rd) on the island of Bali. The Conference, hosted by the Government of Indonesia, brings together representatives of over 180 countries together with observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, and the media. The two week period includes the sessions of the Conference of […]

An analysis of 124 of Europe’s common birds has revealed that over a 26-year period 56 species (45 per cent) have declined across 20 European countries. This alarming rate of decline has fuelled fears for the future of many of the continent’s birds, including the Grey Partridge. Five of the ten common European species showing […]