Summer 2019 Summer 2019 CONTENTS
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Magazine of the Summer 2019 Summer 2019 CONTENTS 30TH ANNIVERSARY SINCE 1989 Message from the Operations Director 4 Steve Milpacher Glanmor House, Hayle Cornwall TR27 4HB UK [email protected] +44 (0)1736 751026 14 years on from the EU Trade Ban: www.parrots.org Millions of birds flying free 5 ABOUT THE WPT Confiscation is the First Step: Capture for the live-bird trade, 8 Returning trapped parrots to the wilds of Indonesia habitat loss and other factors put wild parrots at risk. One in three parrot species are currently threatened in the wild. To See Wild Parrots: A personal trek to Tambopata As an international leader in parrot 11 conservation and welfare, the World Parrot Trust works with researchers, in-country 11 Red-fronted Macaws: organisations, communities and governments to encourage 14 Working together to bring them back from the edge effective solutions that save parrots. Since 1989 the WPT has grown to PsittaNews become a global force that moves quickly to address urgent issues 18 Parrot News and Updates and support long-term projects. 14 WPT Contacts Over that time WPT has led or aided conservation and welfare projects in 43 countries for more than 70 species of parrot. Parrots in the Wild 20 Sulphur-winged Conure CHARITY INFORMATION 5 United Kingdom: # 800944 United States: EIN 62-1561595 Canada: BN 89004 1171 RR0001 Printed on post-consumer recycled paper. ON THE COVER Endemic to Bolivia’s rugged inter-Andean valleys ecosystem, the Red-fronted Macaw suffered a devastating population decline linked to trapping for the pet trade, and as a result of conflict with farmers. Editor: Desi Milpacher Learn more about the work being done to protect this Layout, Design & Production: Michelle Kooistra species on Page 15: Red-fronted Macaws - Working Fulfillment: Karen Whitley & Charlotte Foxhall together to bring them back from the edge. The World Parrot Trust does not necessarily endorse any views or statements made by contributors to PsittaScene, and will consider articles or letters from Photo © National Geographic Image Collection any contributors on their merits. Visit parrots.org/ psittascene for Guidelines. Anyone wishing to reprint PsittaScene articles in full or in part needs permission from WPT and the author/photographer(s) and must state that it was copied from PsittaScene. All contents © World Parrot Trust Summer 2019 PsittaScene.org 3 | Editorial LEAVE A LEGACY © Elaine Henley Parrot Grey 14 years on from the eu trade ban: FOR PARROTS A message from... Millions of birds Flying Free by Rowan Martin, PhD Steve’s desk © Corey Raffel Macaws Red-and-green WPT Africa Program Director As we head into mid-year we are reminded that a central issue still affecting wild parrots is the wildlife trade. In ‘Confiscation is the First Step…’ by Indonesia Program Manager Mehd Halaouate, we learn that poaching is a major factor affecting parrot populations in one of the most widespread and complex countries on Earth. Elsewhere in this issue we learn that persecution and habitat loss have all but wiped out wild Red-fronted Macaws in Bolivia. And although these issues persist, WPT is working hard to address these challenges, collaborating with local communities to change perspectives and outcomes. On more positive notes, Dr. Rowan Martin takes a look back at a seminal event for parrots from over a decade ago, the European Union trade ban in wild-caught birds, and how it’s affected wildlife trade and wild populations since its inception. And finally, WPT supporter Cheryl Rutherford takes us on a journey of a lifetime to see wild parrots at clay licks in Peru. Blue-fronted Amazon caught in a mist net. © World Parrot Trust We invite you to reflect on and enjoy the stories featured in this issue. In October of 2005 the European Union (EU) moved to end the What will be importation of wild birds – Steve Milpacher your legacy? a decision which had the Operations Director By including the World Parrot Trust in your potential to save millions Will, trust or beneficiary designation, you are creating a personal legacy that will have a of birds each year. lasting impact for parrots. Visit parrots.org/legacy or contact the branch nearest you for more details (page 19.) 4 PsittaScene.org Summer 2019 Summer 2019 PsittaScene.org 5 What is CITES? The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna of wild birds imported), it sharply As a result, wild populations of Monk and Flora is an international agreement decreased in the years following the Parakeets have become established all between governments. Its aim is to ensure ban. Interestingly, the diversity of bird over Mexico and continue to spread. that worldwide trade in species of wild animals and plants does not threaten species available at pet markets did not their survival. decrease significantly after the ban, The rise in imports coincided with the but there was a dramatic switch away mid 2000s, leading some to conclude Parties to CITES are required to annually from the sales of wild-sourced birds that the EU ban was responsible for submit data on numbers of ‘specimens’ towards those bred in captivity. This redirecting trade to Mexico. However, of all species listed on the conventions again supports the idea that far from the scale of trade into Mexico after the appendices. These include all parrot stimulating a thriving black market EU ban dwarfed the number of Monk species with the exception of Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus), Cockatiels in wild birds, the ban was effective at Parakeets that were previously being (Nymphicus hollandicus), Ringneck reducing the numbers of wild birds imported into the EU, suggesting that Parakeets (Psittacula krameri) and entering the EU. other factors were at play. Peach-faced Lovebirds (Agapornis roseicollis). Patagonian Conures caged for shipment (circa 2005). Photos like However, disentangling the Prior to the ban A recent examination this and video evidence collected by the World Parrot Trust were impact of the ban versus of the latest drivers Further Reading instrumental in helping achieve the EU wild bird import ban. on wild bird other factors is not always of the Monk Parakeet easy. Around the same trade conducted by This article is based on the following imports made peer-reviewed research papers and time as the ban there were conservation groups in reports. Those marked with an asterisk many other changes taking final in 2007, Mexico concluded that are available open access. place around the world the EU ban was not to Cantu-Guzmán, J.C. and M. E. which also affected global the EU allowed blame, pointing to the Sánchez-Saldaña. (2018) Mexico’s The World Parrot Trust was at the centre of efforts to end the trade. For instance, in 2006 fact that Mexico was massive imports of the importation Monk Parakeets: Debunking a myth. CITES made a number of already a major importer Defenders of Wildlife and Teyeliz A.C. trade, spearheading a campaign eventually supported by 230 recommendations affecting of parrots prior to of over 2 million Cardador, L., Lattuada, M., Strubbe, organisations urging the EU to end imports of all wild birds. the trade in African Grey the ban, and that the D., Tella, J. L., Reino, L., Figueira, R., Parrots(Psittacus erithacus), birds annually. increase in trade in Monk & Carrete, M. (2017) Regional Bans on Wild-Bird Trade Modify Invasion which at that time were Parakeets was mirrored Risks at a Global Scale. Conservation among the most traded of by a burgeoning trade in Letters, 10(6), 717–725.* HE INITIAL BAN WAS A TEMPORARY T While the ban was certain to have a it on their own.” The study also found all wild birds. These recommendations other exotic pets, including reptiles and Cardador, L., Tella, J. L., Anadón, J. measure aimed at preventing the huge impact on legal imports into that the international bird trade was a included suspensions on exports and ornamental fish. Instead the rise in trade D., Abellán, P., & Carrete, M. (2019) spread of avian flu, but based on the Europe, there was uncertainty as to main cause of exotic birds spreading the use of ‘conservative’ export quotas was attributed to economic factors and The European trade ban on wild birds reduced invasion risks. Conservation EU’s own risk assessment, the ban was how things would play out. Would the around the world, and that the EU from several exporting countries in west opportunism by a handful of importers. Letters, 20, e12631–7.* made permanent in 2007 with a focus ban simply drive trade underground? trade ban strongly reduced the risk and central Africa, around the same time Hobson, E. A., Smith-Vidaurre, G., & broadened to include both biosecurity Would trade be directed to new of introducing invasive species across populations in the wild were collapsing. It’s now clear that the EU trade ban Salinas-Melgoza, A. (2017) History of and animal welfare. regions? Or worse, could a ban even most of the globe. Between the early 1990s and early 2010s has had a positive impact on the global non-native Monk Parakeets in Mexico. PLoS ONE, 12(9), e0184771–17.* stimulate wildlife trade as some feared? African Grey populations in Ghana, trade in wild birds. Millions have been According to official CITES statistics, A number of recent studies have begun Another recent study approached the which had been one of the leading spared unnecessary suffering, the spread Martin, R. O. (2018) Grey areas: temporal and geographical dynamics in the 1990s and early 2000s the EU to answer these questions. In 2017, a subject from a different angle, but coming exporters of wild Greys, declined by of exotic species and infectious diseases of international trade of Grey and dominated the trade in wild parrots study published in the leading journal to similar conclusions.