lUCN Species Survival Commission The Live Bird Trade in Tanzania N. Leader-Williams and R. K. Tibanyenda Editors Occasional Paper of the lUCN Species Survival Commission No. 16 lUCN The World Conservation Union The Live Bird Trade in Tanzania IUCN – The World Conservation Union Founded in 1948, The World Conservation Union brings together States, government agencies and a diverse range of non-governmental organizations in a unique world partnership: over 913 members in all, spread across some 136 countries. As a Union, IUCN seeks to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. A central secretariat coordinates the IUCN Programme and serves the Union membership, representing their views on the world stage and providing them with the strategies, services, scientific knowledge and technical support they need to achieve their goals. Through its six Commissions, IUCN draws together over 6000 expert volunteers in project teams and action groups, focusing in particular on species and biodiversity conservation and the management of habitats and natural resources. The Union has helped many countries to prepare National Conservation Strategies, and demonstrates the application of its knowledge through the field projects it supervises. Operations are increasingly decentralized and are carried forward by an expanding network of regional and country offices, located principally in developing countries. The World Conservation Union builds on the strengths of its members, networks and partners to enhance their capacity and to support global alliances to safeguard natural resources at local, regional and global levels. The Live Bird Trade in Tanzania Proceedings of a Workshop held in December 1991 N. Leader-Williams and R. K. Tibanyenda Editors Planning and Assessment for Wildlife Management Department of Wildlife Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) No. 16 IUCN –The World Conservation Union 1996 The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of lUCN or other participating organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of lUCN or other participating organizations. This publication has been made possible by funding from the Planning and Assessment for Wildlife Management project, donated by USAID and managed by the African Wildlife Foundation and WWF Tanzania Office. Published by: lUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK lUCN The World Conservation Union Copyright: (1996) International Union for Conservation of Natare and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: Leader-Williams, N. and Tibanyenda, R.K. (Eds.) 1996. The Live Bird Trade in Tanzania, lUCN Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, United Kingdom. ix + 131pp. ISBN: 2-8317-0365-4 Cover design by: lUCN Publications Services Unit Cover drawing: Jomo Kitandu Layout by: Nigel Leader-Williams Produced by: lUCN Publications Services Unit Printed by: Page Brothers (Norwich) Ltd, Norwich, UK Available from: lUCN Publications Services Unit 219c Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DL, United Kingdom Tel: ++44 1223 277894, Fax: ++44 1223 277175 E-mail: [email protected] www: http://www.iucn.org A catalogue of lUCN publications is also available The text of this book is printed on Fineblade Cartridge 90 gsm made from low-chlorine pulp CONTENTS PREFACE N. Leader-Williams and R.K. Tibanyenda vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii OPENING OF THE WORKSHOP Tanzania's Bird Trade Workshop N.N. Kitomari 1 PART 1: PRESENTATIONS 3 1 A global overview of the wild bird trade T.A. Mulliken, S.R. Broad and J.B. Thomsen 5 2 CITES and the trade in wild-caught birds T.Milliken 26 3 Perceptions and management of the wild bird trade in the United Republic of Tanzania S.R. Edwards and S.R. Broad 31 4 Tanzanian bird trade: the traders' perspective Tanzania Wildlife Exporter's Association 48 5 The bird trade in Tanzania: the quota system N.E. Baker 49 6 Mortality in Tanzania's bird trade K.M.Howell 63 7 The bird trade in Tanzania: problems and future outlook Planning and Assessment for Wildlife Management 68 8 A management framework for the wild bird trade S.R. Edwards and J.B. Thomsen 82 PART 2: WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS 101 Group 1: Biological monitoring 103 Group 2: Management and trade control 106 Group 3: Benefits and economics 108 Group 4: Animal welfare 110 PART 3: OUTCOME OF THE WORKSHOP 113 Policy for management of Tanzania's avifauna, with special reference to the live bird trade 115 Management plan for Tanzania's avifauna, with special reference to the live bird trade 116 The revised bird quota for 1994 121 LIST OF ATTENDEES 131 V PREFACE Tanzania has long been recognised for its outstanding avifauna. This reputation arises from the great variety of species found in Tanzania, and the number of endemic species that are restricted to Tanzania, for whose future conservation Tanzania is solely responsible. Among the total of 1060 bird species now recorded in Tanzania, at least 19 species or sub-species are endemic to Tanzania alone, while a further 16 species are endemic to East Africa. Taking pride of place among the Tanzanian endemics is the genus of bird new to science, and discovered only in 1992, Xenoperdix the Udzungwa partridge, whose closest living relative is the Indian hill partridge. The discovery of this genus in Udzungwa Mountains has added further to their endemic avifauna. Udzungwa also boasts two other restricted species, including a species of sunbird discovered in 1981, as well as at least six other Tanzanian endemics found in other montane and coastal forest areas. Further restricted endemic species are found in other Eastern Arc montane forests, including the Pares, Usambaras, Ukagurus, Ulugurus, Udzungwas and Southern Highlands. Other Tanzanian endemics have a more widespread distribution throughout drier areas of Acacia- dominated woodland, including a species of starling and two lovebirds. A number of endemic species also occur in various wetlands, for example in the Wembere swamps. Furthermore, two Tanzanian endemics, a species of weaver, and a species of cisticola as yet undescribed to science, occur in the Kilombero Valley. Since the 1960s Tanzania has aimed to conserve her wildlife resources using strategies that include utilisation for the benefit of the people of Tanzania. The practice of maintaining wild birds in captivity extends back several thousand years among peoples of many different regions and cultures. Among their attributes, birds can provide meat, feathers, companionship and beauty. Large numbers of exotic birds have been traded internationally since the mid-nineteenth century. Countries in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America have supplied large numbers of birds to markets in Europe and the United States throughout this century. With improvements in the speed of transport, the volume and diversity of species in trade have increased dramatically. Today the pastime of keeping wild birds for pleasure is common throughout much of the world, giving rise to the international trade in millions of wild birds each year. Among the major suppliers of world markets over at least the last 15 years has been Tanzania, which ranks as the second largest African supplier of wild caught birds behind Senegal. Taken in combination, Senegal and Tanzania have accounted for over two-thirds of the trade in all species listed on the CITES Appendices during the late 1980s. Tanzania has utilised wild-caught live birds to supply world markets, under strategies that promote conservation both through protection and a wide range of utilisation options. The apparently increasing scale of the trade in live birds from Tanzania and other source countries, including Senegal, Indonesia, Argentina and Guyana, has been causing increasing international concern. At the same time, ornithologists and conservationists within Tanzania raised their own similar concerns about the bird trade. These concerns arose for a number of different reasons during the 1980s and early 1990s. These reasons include the following: whether the present offtake, particularly for parrots and parrot-like species, are set at sustainable harvest levels; whether the standards of animal welfare employed in the trade are adequate; whether the economic structure of the bird trade results in any benefits for conservation, either of the species themselves or of their habitats; and, the large illegal component of the trade. This attention brought recognition that the lack of any coherent policy guidelines to guide the conservation and utilisation of live birds was a major gap in Tanzania. Furthermore, little information has been available to judge the scale and value of the trade in live birds from Tanzania. Indeed, the lack of policies and plans, and the lack of data, throughout Tanzania's wildlife sector was realised in 1990 when the Planning and Assessment for Wildlife Management (PAWM) project was initiated. PAWM was given broad terms of reference, among which were included the brief to tackle the current key planning issues and to draw up national plans for the wildlife sector; and to organise a more efficient, workable system of information storage and retrieval. The goal of the overall programme of PAWM was to conserve the wildlife of Tanzania by promoting the sustainable economic development of the wildlife sector. A workshop on the live bird trade in Tanzania was designed as part of PAWM's programme of work, and was held in Dar es Salaam during December 1991.