Surfbirds News

Swarovski Optik and the RSPB will this Friday become joint sponsors of work to protect and track the bird on its breeding grounds in Kazakhstan and during its annual migration.

The Austrian company, which makes binoculars, telescopes and other optical equipment, will announce its backing at the opening of the three-day international Birdfair at Rutland Water, an event likely to attract about 20,000 people.

The dual sponsorship is part of BirdLife International's Preventing Extinctions Programme, which aims to raise funds and provide support for all 190 of the world's critically endangered birds.

Sociable Plover © Leander Khil, from the surfbirds galleries

Swarovski's Johannes Davoras said: 'We consider it our duty to contribute to the preservation of endangered species. We are looking forward to working closely with the RSPB and Birdlife International and hope that with our commitment it will soon be possible to downlist the sociable lapwing from its critically endangered status. Our products, such as binoculars and telescopes, are used for the most part in nature and are held in particularly high regard by birdwatchers.'

The sociable lapwing is closely related to the northern lapwing seen in the UK, and breeds on the vast, open steppes of central Kazakhstan.

It was listed as critically endangered by BirdLife International in 2003, on behalf of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), after numbers plunged by 95 per cent.

Scientists put the losses down to the trampling of nests by cattle and the decline of the saiga antelope, which grazed breeding areas and kept vegetation in check.

Since then, sociable lapwings have been seen in Turkey, Syria and Sudan, including a flock of 3,200 birds in south-east Turkey last October. That sighting was the largest number of the bird seen together for more than 100 years.

The species became one of the smallest birds to carry a satellite-tracking device earlier this year, when it was recorded flying 5,000 miles to Sudan and back on migration.

Swarovski and the RSPB will become 'species champions' for the sociable lapwing under the BirdLife programme. Their backing will help pay for research and tracking work and complement earlier funding from the UK government's Darwin Initiative. Scientists hope to find more nesting sites in Kazakhstan, safeguard those areas and find ways of protecting the birds on migration.

Dr Rob Sheldon, the RSPB's Sociable Lapwing Project Leader, said: 'Our research so far has told us an enormous amount about the bird and uncovered populations we had no idea existed.

'The bird's problems seem to be linked more to its migration and wintering grounds than its breeding sites, and this new funding means we can step up our monitoring work to find out more about where these birds go and the problems they face on their migration routes.'

Jim Lawrence, who is managing BirdLife's Preventing Extinctions Programme, said: 'This agreement is a huge boost for the project. We are confident more international businesses and conservation organisations will follow the lead of Swarovski and the RSPB and provide the vital funding needed to save other species on the brink of extinction.'