Funding Needs

The BirdLife International Pacific Partnership Secretariat is currently developing a ‘project catalogue’ with projects in the Pacific region that urgently need funding. Some of the projects that are included in the catalogue are described below. For more information about the catalogue, about the projects mentioned here, and/or about how you can support BirdLife’s work in the Pacific, please contact maaike@birdlifepacific.org.fj

Selected projects that need funding (more are available on request):

Cook Islands (TIS)

Implementing the Cook Islands NBSAP: this project is aimed at reducing biodiversity loss through informing national-level planning and enhancing the capacity of civil society and governmental networks to implement national conservation plans in the Cook Islands..

Fiji Programme

Developing Protected Areas at Internationally Important Sites in Fiji: the BirdLife Fiji Programme works towards the conservation of Important Bird Areas (IBAs), and wishes to contribute to an emerging community-based Protected Area network in Fiji.

French Polynesia (MANU)

Saving the Tahiti Monarch: in order to conserve the Critically Endangered Tahiti Monarch Pomarea nigra, this project will gather important data on habitat use and foraging preferences to inform future conservation options; it will enhance community engagement in conservation; and it will develop a more streamlined rodent management programme to increase safe and suitable habitat for the bird species.

New Caledonia (SCO)

Mise en place d'un partenariat régional «  Nouvelle-Calédonie- Polynésie Française- Fidji » pour la préservation des Zones Importantes pour la Conservation des Oiseaux (ZICO):  ce project veut développer le partenariat et des échanges d’expérience sur la thématique de gestion durable des ressources naturelles sur différents sites identifiés comme ZICO/IBA pour la Nouvelle-Calédonie et la Polynésie Française.

New Zealand (Forest & Bird)

Invasive Vine Control to protect lowland tropical forest in Vatthe Conservation Park – Vanuatu

Forest & Bird seeks funding to work with a Vanuatu partner to scope the feasibility of an extensive vine control operation in Vatthe, the only extensive alluvial and limestone forest left in Vanuatu that contains habitat for a diversity of wildlife, including one globally endangered and two vulnerable bird species. This project will be undertaken in conjunction with the local owners, and managers of Vatthe.

Regional (BirdLife Pacific)

Pacific Island Restoration: building on BirdLife’s successful track record in the region, this project will carry out a regional prioritisation exercise to identify the islands that are in most urgent need of restoration (with a focus on the removal of alien invasive species) for the protection of threatened bird species; it will develop national action plans; and it will implement a number of island restoration projects together with the land-owning communities, in order to achieve sustainable ‘protection’ of these islands.

Species Guardian / Species Champions: the BirdLife International Partnership is renowned for saving bird species from the brink of extinction, but until now limited resources have forced us to concentrate on just a handful of the world’s most threatened birds. While we have been saving these birds one species at a time, the pressures that lead to extinction have been building relentlessly. In an attempt to save all 189 Critically Endangered bird species from extinction, BirdLife International has launched a major campaign called ‘Preventing Extinctions: Saving the world’s most threatened birds.’ Click here to find out more. This campaign builds on the innovative concepts:

Species Guardians – these are the people and organisations who are best placed to carry out the conservation work necessary to prevent the extinction of Critically Endangered species.

Species Champions - individuals, institutions and companies who are financially supporting the conservation of a species that otherwise faces certain extinction.

The following bird species in the Pacific region are Critically Endangered or, in other words, about to go extinct if nothing is done to protect them. Some of these species already have a Species Guardian. In French Polynesia MANU has become the Species Guardian for the Polynesian Ground-dove and Tahiti Monarch and in Fiji, NatureFiji is the Species Guardian for the Fiji Petrel. However, none of them have, as yet, a Species Champion.

If you would like to know more about how you, your company or institution, could become part of the BirdLife Species Champions initiative, please send an email to species.champions@birdlife.org or click here.

The Pacific Region, including Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand now has 42 critically endangered species. Some of the top priorities to establish Species Guardians and Champions for are species that have known populations or have been recorded in recent years and that require additional support to run or initiate species recovery programmes. These species include: