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In an Information Paper prepared for consideration at the Fourth Meeting of the Parties to the Albatross and Petrel Agreement, due to be held in Lima, Peru over 23-27 April 2012, BirdLife International has looked at the "state of conservation play" of the 29 ACAP-listed species of albatrosses and petrels.  The analysis shows that the listed species are more threatened than are seabirds overall, but that there has not been an overall worsening in their status over the last six years.  Underlying data on threats to these species show that this reflects the impacts of bycatch (particularly longline fisheries) in combination with other threats such as invasive species at breeding colonies.

The paper's summary follows:

"The Red List Index (RLI) shows trends in aggregate extinction risk for sets of species based on data from the IUCN Red List. RLIs for ACAP-listed species, all seabirds and for all birds are summarised from 1988 to 2008, with the trend for ACAP-listed species projected to 2012 based on the 2012 IUCN Red List to be published later this year. Overall the seabird index has decreased somewhat faster than the index for all birds. The index for ACAP-listed species shows that this group is substantially more threatened than other seabirds (and likewise compared with all birds) and has deteriorated in status particularly rapidly over the last two decades. However the RLI for 2012 has not changed relative to recent assessments in 2004 and 2008. More comprehensive analyses of the recent population trends for ACAP-listed species will be completed by 2013 and may revise this picture further."

More information on the listed species may be found by accessing the ACAP and BirdLife Assessments.

Tristan Albatross: Critically Endangered
Photograph by Andrea Angel and Ross Wanless

Selected References:

BirdLife International 2012.  The Red List Index for species covered by the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.   MoP4 Inf 03.  6 pp.

Croxall, J.P, Butchart, S.H.M., Lascelles, B., Stattersfield, A.J., Sullivan, B., Symes, A. & Taylor, P. 2012.  Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment.  Bird Conservation International. 22: 1-34.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 April 2012