Birds: Somalia's Little-Known Treasures

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Birds: Somalia’s Little-Known strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity. Treasures

Mohamud M. Khadar

Somalia is located in the Horn of Africa and covers a land area of 637,657 km2. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian ocean to the east and south, and Kenya to the southwest. The country has the longest coastline in Africa of over 3,333 km, which ranges from the Gulf of Aden in the north to the Indian Ocean in the east and south. Fig.1. EASTERN CHANTING GOSHAWK, Climatically, the country is hot, arid to semi- Photo location: Berbera – Hargeisa Road arid and two rainy seasons prevail over much of the country, the "Gu" (April to June) and the While this is a good start in recording the bird "Deyr" rains (October to December). species of Somalia, the country’s birds remain to be one of the least well-known. Somalia has been the evolutionary centre of fauna and flora adapted to the climate Firstly, due to the prolonged civil war and conditions of the country. There was an subsequent violence, particularly in the south, abundance and diversity of wildlife and the Somalia is one of the region’s least-visited country had a reputation of being one of the best country. The security situation does not wildlife havens in Africa. The fauna of the encourage birdwatchers to visit the country to country has a remarkable composition of augment our knowledge of its birds. Secondly, endemic species and has been described as the Somali people are unaware of their treasure most interesting of the African continent 1 . birds. There are no known Somali However, over the last three decades, the ornithologists who study the birds of the national wildlife heritage of Somalia has country. Almost all the available literatures are seriously declined from the loss of habitat, written by foreigners. Sir Geoffrey Archer, illegal hunting, wars and the reduction and Governor of British Somaliland (1919–22) degradation of the natural vegetation cover of wrote “The Birds of British Somaliland and the country. the Gulf of Aden” (Archer & Godman 1937, 1961). Later two books were published, “Birds Ornithologically, Somalia is one of the most of Somalia” by Ash & Miskell (1998) and important bird areas in Africa. It is home to an “Birds of the Horn of Africa” (Redman et al. impressive number of bird species that vary 2009)2. Although these books might be hard to from endemics, residents, breeding birds, find in Somalia, nevertheless, they remain to be migrants and wintering birds. A total of 570 important resources on the birds of the country. bird species including 9 endemic species are recorded by Bird Life International, a global partnership of conservation organisations that

1 UNEP, 2005 2 Cohen et al., 2011

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Threats to Birds

The bird population in Somalia is under continual threat. Species that were once abundant have become rare, some are on the verge of extinction and some have already disappeared from the country. The destruction of the natural habitat through forest cutting for charcoal, overgrazing, the pollution of the environment, hunting, shooting, egg collection and trapping birds for trade are among the principal causes of bird population declines. Fig.3. HOODED VULTURE Photo location: Outside Hargeisa

Climate change also threatens to exacerbate the dangers towards birds. Somalia frequently experience climate related hazards such as droughts. These conditions negatively impact the sensitive ecological systems on which birds depend on.

Protection of Birds

Policies and legislations with respect to the Fig.2. SUPER STARLING protection of the environment are weak. No Photo location: Outside Gabiley national environmental policies & laws were passed post-1991. In fact, the country did not Another threat to birds is hunting. Normally, have any central body responsible for Somalis do not hunt birds for meat. However, environmental matters until 2007. The some species such as ostriches are hunted for Directorate of Environment and Climate medicinal purposes3. Related to hunting is the Change was established in 2007. It is the illegal trade of birds. Since the collapse of the national authority responsible for all matters central government in 1991, there has been related to the environment. In February 2020, multiple reports indicating that various types of the Federal government approved the National birds (e.g. birds of prey) are illegally exported Environmental Policy. At policy level, the from Somalia. government is committed to protect the country’s biodiversity including birds. These commitments should be translated into concrete actions to tackle environmental degradation, desertification, pollution and threats to biodiversity. The capacity of law enforcement agencies should be built to combat illegal trafficking of birds and wild animals. Cooperation with neighbouring countries is of paramount importance and joint efforts are

3 Amir, 2006

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needed to effectively tackle the cross-border are prohibited. In addition, the National wildlife trafficking. Environmental Policy prohibits the export of indigenous species of Somalia. Three out of the nine endemic Somali bird species, are endangered (EN) while another one is near threatened (NT) 4 . Strict enforcement of the policy is needed. Urgent action should be taken to protect these iconic and unique creatures endowed to our country. We need to reverse the current trend. The unique birds of Somalia are not only the heritage of the Somalis, but they belong to the whole world’s fauna. If the endemic birds disappear, the world’s fauna Fig. 4. WHITE BELLIED GO-AWAY BIRD would be poorer. Photo location: Sheikh area Internationally, Somalia is a signatory of both Conclusion the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora The threats facing birds are part of the broader (CITES) and the Convention on the environmental trend in the country. The actual Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild status today of the endemic birds and the other Animals. These are crucial conventions that species are unknown. There is a need to could be used to combat illegal trade of birds. encourage research and birdwatching to Through these conventions the country can also produce reliable data, document the situation of access the international funding projects and existing species and explore little known birds. programs intended to combat illegal wildlife There is so much more that needs to be done to trade and biodiversity conservation efforts protect the endangered endemic bird species in across the world, particularly Africa. Somalia. These include strengthening legal frameworks for conservation and their compliance, better conservation management practices, combatting illegal hunting, and overall encouraging the engagement of civil society in conservation efforts. Given the number of important bird sites, one set of activities to raise awareness and support for bird conservation can be through bird watching.

Fig.5. SOMALI WHEATEAR Photo location: Sheikh area

Under CITES, all commercial and international transfers of species threatened with extinction

4 Bird Life International, 2020

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In the next few pages, you can view beautiful and majestic birds found in Somalia. The pictures were taken in Somaliland, near Hargeisa, Berbera, Burao, Sheikh, Gabiley and Borama.

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References

African Bird Club. (2013, January 25). Important bird areas. Retrieved September 21, 2020, from http://www.africanbirdclub.org/countries/Somalia/ibas Amir, O. G. (2006). Wildlife trade in Somalia. CiteSeerX. Retrieved September 22, 2020, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/ BirdLife International. (2020). Country profile: Somalia. BirdLife Data Zone. Retrieved September 21, 2020, from http://datazone.birdlife.org/country/somalia/species Cohen, C., Mills, M., & Francis, J. (2011). Endemic and special birds of Somaliland. Birds Angola. http://www.birdsangola.org/ UNEP. (2015). The State of the Environment in Somalia A Desk Study. https://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/dmb_somalia.pdf