LANDMARK ACHIEVEMENT IN WHOOPING CRANE CONSERVATION INSPIRES EFFORTS TO SAVE THE SIBERIAN CRANE

The first successful nesting of wild whooping cranes in the American Midwest since the 1890s marks an important milestone in the long running conservation programme to save the world’s rarest crane. Russian crane conservationists hope to emulate this success by employing similar techniques to save the threatened Siberian crane. Members of the IUCN SSC Crane Specialist Group are closely involved in both projects.

This year, for the first time for over 100 years, wild whooping cranes Grus americana successfully fledged two young in Wisconsin, USA, marking their return to the Midwest as breeding species since they were hunted to extinction in the region in the 1890s. The last recorded nesting was in Iowa in 1894. The birds are part of a re-introduced flock established through the release of captive reared birds. They have been taught to fly to their wintering grounds in Florida by the imaginative technique of teaching them to follow an ultra-light aircraft.

Russian conservationists, through the support of ITERA (an oil and gas company) and the Strekh Foundation, have sought to emulate the techniques successfully employed by their North American counterparts to help the threatened Siberian crane Grus leucogeranus. Two birds reared in one of three captive breeding centres were successfully taught to follow an ultra-light aircraft from the historic western Siberian breeding grounds 1,500 km south to southern Russia.

Full story: http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/news/2006_articles/cranes.htm

NEW SCIENTIFIC PANEL TO KEEP THE FINGER ON THE PULSE OF THE ENDANGERED WESTERN GRAY WHALE

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has convened a new independent scientific advisory panel to monitor the impact of the Sakhalin II offshore oil and gas development on the critically endangered Western Gray Whale population. Ten prominent international scientists will monitor its status in the Northwest Pacific and provide ongoing independent advice to a consortium of companies developing oil and gas reserves in the whale’s summer feeding grounds, off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East.

The Panel is being convened by the World Conservation Union in response to the findings of an independent report, published in 2005, on the impacts of the Sakhalin II project on the whale population and following consultation with the oil industry and the conservation community.

Full story: http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2006/10/02_sakhalin.htm
More information on new advisory panel: http://www.iucn.org/themes/marine/sakhalin/index.htm

SUSTAINABLE USE SPECIALIST GROUP/ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY LONDON 2006 HUNTING WORKSHOP

The recently held symposium Recreational Hunting, Conservation and Rural Livelihoods: Science and Practice has broken new scientific ground. Organised by the IUCN SSC Sustainable Use Specialist Group and the Zoological Society London, it brought together, for the first time, over 200 leading experts and practitioners from around the world to examine in depth the claims that recreational hunting makes a significant contribution to species conservation and rural livelihoods.

Symposium summary report: http://iucn.org/themes/ssc/susg/news/oct06hunting.htm

Bertrand des Clers, a member of IUCN for more than 30 years and ‘Member Emeritus’ of the Species Survival Commission left us on October 9. Although an aeronautical engineer by training, he devoted most of his professional life to wildlife conservation.

As Director of the International Foundation for the Conservation of Game (IGF) since its inauguration in 1976, until his retirement in 2001, Bertrand carried out a wide range of wildlife conservation projects around the world; including black rhino Diceros bicornis rescue in Zimbabwe, the re-introduction of the scimitar-horned oryx Oryx dammah in Tunisia and the promotion of community-based natural resource management programs (CBNRM) in Southern Africa.

An enthusiastic naturalist and wise hunter since his youth, he was very well placed to advocate sustainable use of wildlife as a conservation technique and as a means to reconcile the imperatives of development with the necessities of conservation.

A full tribute will appear in the next edition of the SSC Newsletter, Species 46

The redesign of the SIS Date Entry Module is complete and the tool, which enables the collection and preparation of information destined for submission to the Red List is now widely available to Specialist Groups involved in Red Listing.

If you would like a copy of the new SIS Data Entry Module software programme, please send an e-mail to sistechsupport@iucn.org with your request

UPDATE ON THE FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT UNIT’S DARWIN PROJECT

This project, entitled “Strengthening pro-poor wetland conservation using integrated biodiversity and livelihoods assessment”, is developing integrated methods to document the value of wetland biodiversity in terms of its value to livelihoods using maps to combine and present the information to decision-makers. It is integrating methodologies employed by the three disciplines of biodiversity assessment, livelihoods analysis, and socio-economic valuation. These three approaches are often applied to tackle similar problems but with little, if any, integration, even though an integrated approach has potential to present the strongest case for valuing wetlands and their biodiversity in the face of proposals for alternative uses.

Progress to date includes a draft methodologies toolkit and field assessments at the two case study sites in Cambodia and Tanzania have started.

Further details. http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/our_work/freshwater/darwin_index.htm


THE 11th INTERNATIONAL MEDITERRANEAN ECOSYSTEMS CONFERENCE - MEDECOS XI

This will be held in Perth, Western Australia, Australia in 2007 (2nd - 5th September). The scientific program will feature oral and poster presentations covering important contemporary topics of global interest (e.g. global change, conservation of threatened species and ecosystems, restoration ecology). The accompanying pre- and post- conference field trips will showcase some of Western Australia's unique flora and fauna, ancient landscapes and striking coastline.  

For detailed conference information, please visit http://www.medecosxi2007.com.au

For additional information, the organising committee can be contacted via medecosxi2007@bgpa.wa.gov.au.

The conservation and status of cetaceans in the Black and Mediterranean Seas has been a source of concern for many years. This was reflected in the 1991 Action Plan of the Barcelona Convention and in the global action plans for cetacean conservation published by the IUCN’s Survival Commission’s CetaceanSpecialist Group. Scientists working in the region have long recognised the need for additional detailed assessments.

With this objective, a workshop was held at the Ministry of State in Monaco on 5-7 March 2006. Its stated purpose was to assess all populations of Mediterranean and Black Sea cetaceans against the 2001 IUCN RedList Categories and Criteria. The workshop report is now available and the assessments will be submitted formally for review and endorsement by the Cetacean Red List Authority for inclusion in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Workshop report: http://www.iucn.org/places/medoffice/documentos/status_distr_cet_blac_med.pdf

News release: http://iucn.org/places/medoffice/documentos/med_cetacean_en.pdf