News Pacific

Neil Fitzgerald and Chris Gaskin capturing New Zealand Storm Petrels at sea maybe the key to saving the Fiji and Beck's petrel - photo: Martin Berg

Will 2016 be the year the nesting sites of the enigmatic Fiji and Beck’s petrels are found?

Wed, 30/12/2015

Finding the nesting sites of the `lost then found' enigmatic Fiji and Beck's petrels is the aim of two linked projects getting underway in 2016. In order to ensure the protection and survival of these Critically Endangered birds we must know where they are nesting and raising young. Only then can we put in place protection of their habitat and ensure they are safe from predators like rats and cats. Recent experience in `finding' other petrel species gives hop that one of the big bird puzzles of the Pacific can be solved.

Marquesas Archipelago - along with Rapa, the site of the next big Pacific species project

Marquesas Archipelago and Rapa in French Polynesia, the next big opportunity to stop extinctions

Wed, 30/12/2015

Building on the success of the Acteon & Gambier project, the next big operation being planned by BirdLife in the Pacific and its partners SOP Manu and Island Conservation is the restoration of up to 16 islands or islets in Marquesas Archipelago and at Rapa.

Pacific French Polynesia

There are less than 150 Critically Endangered Polynesian Ground-dove remaining in the world. This project has more than doubled the safe habitat available for them. Photo: © Marie-Helene Burle

2015 saw some important successes in the Pacific battle for birds and nature

Wed, 30/12/2015

2015 was a big year for conservation in the Pacific. The year saw the completion of the Acteon & Gambier project in French Polynesia giving sanctuary to eight globally threatened and near threatened birds (5 of which are seabirds), two turtle and seventeen nationally threatened endemic plant species. New marine sanctuaries and reserve proposals in Palau, New Zealand and the Cook Islands supported by BirdLife partners. Across the Pacific partnership with BirdLife and with our other partners makes a real difference for nature.

Pacific Australia Cook Islands Fiji French Polynesia New Caledonia New Zealand Palau

The `back-story’ to saving the Tahiti and Fatu Hiva Monarchs of French Polynesia

Mon, 28/12/2015

Living only on the islands that give them their names, the Tahiti and Fatu Hiva Monarchs are two of the world's most endangered birds. Our heroes fighting to give them a future are the staff and volunteers of BirdLife French Polynesian Partner, SOP Manu. But if these birds are to survive, it is not just about protecting them from the invasive predators that kill their young. It requires a whole community effort working to save these iconic birds and restore their habitat. Involving local people and providing them with the necessary skills, as well as looking to help them develop sustainable incomes is all part of the `backstory' to nature conservation in the Pacific. These are the real challenges for the Pacific heroes of nature conservation working at the coal face!

Pacific French Polynesia

Biological monitoring on Kayangel Atoll handed over to the local people

Wed, 09/12/2015

It is a key objective of BirdLife and its country partners to develop the skills of the local communities to manage and protect their own natural resources. On Kayangel Atoll, home to the endangered Micronesian megapode, four years of working together and training has enabled the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Services of Kayangel to take over biological monitoring,

Pacific Palau

iBird Application to help monitor ecological helth

iBird to support monitoring of ecological health in Palau

Tue, 08/12/2015

In Palau, technology in the form of iPods and the iBird application, is helping in the response to the threats of climate change to this Micronesian nation. And it is the local BirdLife partner, Palau Conservation Society (PCS), in association with BirdLife and the Aage V. Jensen Foundation, that is providing these innovative tools.

Pacific Palau

Bar-tailed Godwits and other shorebirds helped by new sanctaury

Shorebirds gain new sanctuary in South Australia

Wed, 02/12/2015

A key South Australian shorebird habitat, the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary, is to be proclaimed a national park and the South Australian Government will also seek for it to be acknowledged as a site of significance in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. Migratory shorebirds are in trouble across the world and the creation of this new sanctuary and the recognition of its importance is a role model for other Australian State Governments

Pacific Australia

Particpants at a forum at the end of a five year conservation project in the Pacific

Pacific Partnership Protects Nature for People and Wildlife

Sun, 29/11/2015

A five year project undertaken by BirdLife together with the European Union to protect some of the most important sites for birds and other native wildlife throughout the Pacific is coming to an end. Working with national BirdLife Partners in the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Palau, invasive alien species have been permanently removed from 10 islands and safeguarded 10 species of globally threatened wildlife such as the Polynesian Storm Petrel, Tahiti Petrel, Micronesian Megapode and the Polynesian Ground Dove. A feature of the project was the involvement of local landowners and communities who have benefited from the work to remove the invasive species.

Pacific Cook Islands Fiji French Polynesia New Caledonia Palau

Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoos threatened by urban sprawl

Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo threatened by urban sprawl

Sun, 29/11/2015

Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo is one of the popular and iconic birds of Western Australia. But the spread of Perth and habitat loss means they are in trouble. Updated research from BirdLife Australia shows that flocks are getting smaller as the population of these large, white-tailed, black-cockatoos declines each year. Over 600 volunteers taking part in the Great Cocky Count have confirmed the trend in numbers dropping each year. A causality of urban sprawl, If the current trend continues, the Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo population of the Perth-Peel Coastal Plain will continue to decline at a rate of roughly 15 per cent each year.

Pacific Australia

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