The Amazing Journey

Each spring since April 2009, Nature Iraq has conducted ornithological survey expeditions in and around the vast arid western and central deserts of Iraq, hoping to find Sociable Lapwings that might be passing through the country on their northerly migration back to Kazakhstan.

Omar Fadhil is an ecologist and wildlife photographer working for Nature Iraq.

Delegates attending the inaugural meeting of the Sociable Lapwing International Working Group in Syria, last weekend, received the welcome news that Swarovski Optik will be providing further funding to help their international conservation action.

In September 2010, Nature Iraq undertook a combined monitoring and advocacy exercise in several areas of Iraq where Sociable Lapwings have been previously found on passage.

Here you can see a group of school children holding up posters that explain the rarity of the species and urge local communities to participate in their protection.

Since the invasion of 2003, many people have been struggling to survive in the chaos and bloodshed in Iraq . Even now the country’s far from safe. However, over the past two years, Omar Fadil has set out to doggedly survey the bird population for Nature Iraq (BirdLife Partner), taking him to some of the [...]