Forest and Bird joins global effort to save birds

Forest and Bird joins global effort to save birds

24,000 Britons in the last week have signed the Royal Forest and Bird's Protection Society's (Forest and Bird) petition to save the albatross from the impact of illegal fishing. Forest and Bird's Executive resolved this weekend to formally become the New Zealand partner to BirdLife International - a global partnership of bird and nature conservation organizations.

The albatross petition is one of Forest and Bird's contributions to BirdLife's albatross campaign. BirdLife International has partner organizations in over 100 countries.

"By working internationally to protect the places our birds visit, Forest and Bird intends to ensure that New Zealanders yet to be born will enjoy the wonder of seeing an albatross. We aim to reach 100,000 signatures on our petition to save the albatross by June. We can do this because we are campaigning across the globe," Forest and Bird's Deputy President Dr Peter Maddison said today.

Dr Peter Maddison called on New Zealanders to match the effort by the UK based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, "New Zealand is the albatross capital of the world; it's important that New Zealanders sign the petition to show we care about the fate of the world's greatest traveling birds," he said

"At the end of the month we look forward to welcoming Brent Stephenson, Forest and Bird member and one of our travelers, from his adventurous journey from New Zealand to the Falkland Islands with John Ridgeway's Save the Albatross Voyage," he said.

"Many of New Zealand's native birds travel around the world. We have waders that travel each year from New Zealand to the Arctic and back. We have albatross that circle the globe and travel 2000km in a day. Only by working internationally will we save these birds," he said.

"New Zealand's bird conservation issues are global. The present and ongoing destruction of a major wetland in South Korea is jeapordising the survival of New Zealand's migratory waders. These birds - like the threatened kuaka - rely on South East Asian wetlands as feeding and rest stops on their incredible journey from New Zealand to the Arctic and back each year," he said.

"New pests and diseases threaten New Zealand's birds and their habitats. By working internationally, we can raise awareness about the importance of biosecurity for conservation," he said.

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