ASIA FACES BIRD EXTINCTION CRISIS
Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday 5th June, 2001 (UN World Environment Day). Hundreds of Asian bird species face extinction because of unsustainable human activities causing habitat loss and degradation, according to 'Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife International Red Data Book', a landmark assessment compiled by BirdLife International, sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and launched by HIH Princess Takamado of Japan in Tokyo today [1, 2, 3].
The crisis can still be reversed by implementing the practical solutions and policy commitments identified for the first time in this book, which also ranks as the most comprehensive data set ever assembled on the subject.
Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday 5th June, 2001 (UN World Environment Day). Hundreds of Asian bird species face extinction because of unsustainable human activities causing habitat loss and degradation, according to 'Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife International Red Data Book', a landmark assessment compiled by BirdLife International, sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and launched by HIH Princess Takamado of Japan in Tokyo today [1, 2, 3].
"I was shocked to learn that one in four Asian bird species are listed as Threatened or Near Threatened", said HIH Princess Takamado of Japan. "Years of co-operation and dedicated hard work at an international and regional level is reflected in this Red Data Book. Birds recognise no national borders and therefore concerted action and co-operation between countries is critical in our efforts to save threatened bird species and ecosystems."
"We need to act urgently and on a scale greater than anything previously achieved if we are to avert the extinction crisis facing Asia's threatened birds", said Noritaka Ichida, Chair of the BirdLife Asia Council.
"Threatened Birds of Asia sets out practical actions and solutions to save the region's unique and highly diverse birds from the threat of extinction", said BirdLife International's Dr Nigel Collar, the book's Editor-in-Chief.
Taking into account newly identified species, two rediscovered species and changes in status, the new assessment shows there are 323 threatened species out of a total of 2,700 in Asia in 2001 [4], compared with 340 in 1994, 287 in 1988, and 51 in 1981. The total for 2001 is a shocking 12% of all bird species in the region. All 323 threatened species are at risk of extinction from human activities, particularly habitat loss or degradation resulting from unsustainable and often illegal logging, and land or wetland clearance for agriculture or exotic timber plantations.
As many as 41 species are listed as Critically Endangered, including the Forest Owlet (Heteroglaux blewitti) - recently rediscovered as a by-product of the book project [5] - which have only an estimated 50% chance of survival over the next decade without concerted conservation action. A further 65 are Endangered and 217 Vulnerable. Another 317 Near Threatened species are close to qualifying as threatened and one is Conservation Dependent. For 23 Data Deficient species there are inadequate data to make an assessment, but these too may be at risk [6]. Altogether 664 species - a deeply disturbing 25% of all Asian birds - are of conservation concern.
Of these 41 Critically Endangered species, 11 may already be extinct, including Javanese Lapwing (Vanellus macropterus), and seven have fewer than 50 mature individuals in the wild, including Gurney's Pitta (Pitta gurneyi) which is confined to one locality in Thailand where forest degradation continues.
The book also identifies the region's extinction "hotspots". Indonesia has the highest number of threatened species (115) in Asia and in the world. China has the second highest in the region (78), India ranks third (73) and the Philippines fourth (69). Counting all species of conservation concern, Indonesia again has a very high total of 320 species, followed by Malaysia (143) and Thailand (137). For Critically Endangered and Endangered nationally endemic species, Indonesia has the most (32), followed by the Philippines (21) and Vietnam (5).
The assessment also shows that tropical moist forests are particularly important for 70% of threatened forest species, including the very recently rediscovered Critically Endangered Caerulean Paradise-flycatcher (Eurichomyias rowleyi) [7]. The continuing loss and degradation of lowland moist forests in the Sundaic region of Indonesia and Malaysia, in particular, has resulted in some notable changes: 37 species are now threatened compared to 26 in 1994 and, alarmingly, 82 are Near Threatened compared to just 19 in 1994.
Wetlands are crucial for the survival of 20% of threatened species, including the well-loved Spot-billed Pelican (Pelecanus philippensis). Many large waterbirds are already very close to extinction because of disturbance or conversion of their habitat, such as the magnificent Siberian Crane (Grus leucogeranus) and Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor). Planned coastal reclamation in east China and the Korean peninsula also threatens to disrupt the migratory routes of threatened species such as Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorynchus pygmeus) and Chinese Egret (Egretta eulophotes), and could lead to more migratory east Asian waterbirds becoming threatened in future.
Notable species down-listed since 1994 include Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) and Black-faced Spoonbill, which were formerly Critically Endangered but are now listed as Endangered, thanks to a combination of conservation action, a regional Species Action Plan and increased public awareness. The Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) has been down-listed from Endangered to Vulnerable due to improved protection and habitat restoration and a resulting increase in breeding success. However, significant threats still remain for these three species.
The assessment identifies the practical actions required to save species from extinction which include: establishing new protected areas, extending existing protected areas, new legislation, increased awareness and advocacy and the implementation of Species Action Plans for those occurring across national boundaries. It provides sound data and policy advice on which governments can base more effective conservation actions. In particular, it highlights the critical need for a strong, co-operative network of Asian and international conservation organisations - including, of course, BirdLife International - that are able to focus on saving the region's threatened birds and the habitats and ecosystems upon which they depend.
FOOTNOTES
1. Threatened Birds of Asia has been compiled by the BirdLife Asia Partnership. It includes the most authoritative and comprehensive assessment ever published on the status of the region's threatened bird species, including a detailed analysis of the threats facing each species and the measures required to prevent their extinction. Almost all localities where each species has ever been recorded are documented and mapped, and the database developed will be used as a baseline to monitor future changes in their conservation status.
2. BirdLife International is a global alliance of conservation organisations working in more than 100 countries who, together, are the leading authority on the status of birds, their habitats and the issues and problems affecting bird life. Partners and Affiliates in Asia include Bombay Natural History Society in India, Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, Wild Bird Society of Japan, Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources (The Philippines), Malaysian Nature Society, Bird Conservation Nepal, Ornithological Society of Pakistan, Russian Bird Conservation Union, Nature Society (Singapore), Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Wild Bird Federation of Taiwan, and Bird Conservation Society of Thailand. BirdLife International also has Country Programmes in Indonesia and Vietnam.
3. HIH Princess Takamado of Japan is an Honorary Patron of BirdLife International's Rare Bird Club and a keen bird watcher.
4. Threatened Birds of Asia includes the first ever comprehensive analysis of the threatened status of Asian bird species. There are therefore a number of differences from previous preliminary analyses as a result of the improved documentation and interpretation of existing data, as well as new information. Since 1994, over 50 species have been assessed as threatened for the first time in the new book. Half of these have been elevated from Near Threatened status, with 12 moved from Least Concern and 12 evaluated for the first time ever (either newly described species or newly elevated to specific rank such as Indian Vulture Gyps indicus and the Slender-billed Vulture G. tenuirostris). Conversely, this more detailed assessment has resulted in nearly 70 species being downlisted from threatened status, although the majority of them (75%) are retained as Near Threatened.
5. The Forest Owlet (Heteroglaux blewitti) was known only by a handful of nineteenth-century records from central India, until preliminary investigations for Threatened Birds of Asia helped guide the survey that led to its rediscovery in India in 1997.
6. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List criteria for globally threatened species are: Critically Endangered (facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future), Endangered (facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future), Vulnerable (facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term), Conservation Dependent (the focus of a conservation programme which, if stopped, would result in the species qualifying for one of the threatened categories), Near Threatened (not CD but close to qualifying for Vulnerable), Least Concern (does not qualify for any of the previous categories), and Data Deficient (inadequate data to make a direct or indirect assessment of its risk of extinction based on its range and/or population).
7. The Caerulean Paradise-flycatcher was rediscovered in 1998. Its continued existence is dependent upon the protection of one small remnant forest area in Sangihe off northern Sulawesi in Indonesia.
For further information please contact Simba Chan in Tokyo, Japan, on 042-593-6871, 0081 425 936 871 or via e-mail simba@wing-wbsj.or.jp or Michael Szabo at BirdLife International Secretariat, Cambridge, UK, on + 44 (0) 1223 277 318 or 07779 018332 (mobile).