A Global Audit of Biodiversity Monitoring has been proposed by BirdLife International with funding from the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) Collaborative Fund.

“A number of initiatives and international conventions seek to address the issue of the declining state of the world's biodiversity, notably by implementing conservation actions and promoting sustainable development. Effective action requires to be evidence based to set clear targets and priorities, measure progress and appropriately report on impacts to the key stakeholders and actors to inspire further involvement. In this context, the production and dissemination of biodiversity information, such as biodiversity monitoring data, is primordial.

Monitoring biodiversity includes tracking changes in species' abundance and occurrence. It is particularly important to help assess the changing conservation status of species, measure and report on the impact of conservation plans or of threats on species, manage natural resources, monitor sustainability or environmental impact of businesses and help raise awareness of conservation issues.

While a considerable amount of data on species monitoring is already available, some gaps have already been identified and need further investigation. Furthermore, locating the sources, databases and methodologies is difficult and time-consuming, reducing access to relevant information for end-users, decision- and policy- makers.

Supported by extensive and global network of partners and collaborators, this project aims to take stock of the distribution and coverage of species monitoring by undertaking a global audit of species monitoring schemes.”

A Campbell Albatross preens its chick, photograph by David Evans

Contributions by researchers working withACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels can be made by way of an online survey.

Read more here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 August 2018

This year is proving to be a record year for stranded globally Vulnerable Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan in Malta with nine fledglings recovered by members of the public during June and July following an appeal.    The birds had become disorientated due to light pollution; after capture they were released by BirdLife Malta's LIFE Arċipelagu Garnija project team.  “During this period, the young seabirds fledge from their nests in the cliffs at night for the first time.  However, bright coastal lights leave them disorientated and some of them become stranded inland in urban areas, unable to fly back out to sea”.

Yelkouan Shearwater, photograph by Matthew Borg Cardona

Click on the video to watch some of the releases.

“The Maltese Islands are home to approximately 10% of the global population of this seabird species, therefore their protection is important on the global scale, especially with the drastic declines Yelkouan Shearwaters have been facing over the last decades.”

Read more here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 08 August 2018

Following a call made by the ACAP Secretariat in December last year (click here) 10 grant applications were received from Parties for small grants by the February 2018 deadline.  The applications were assessed, as appropriate, by referees from the three ACAP Working Groups (Population and Conservation Status, Seabird Bycatch and Taxonomic) under the coordination of the Working Group Convenors and the Grants Subcommittee.  Due to declared conflicts of interest some members of the Grants Subcommittee did not contribute to assessing applications with which they were involved.

The Secretariat had originally advised that a total of AUD 120 000 was available for small grants. This level of funds has allowed six of the 10 applications to be supported. Three of them address seabird bycatch issues; the remaining three address a review of a bi-national plan of action, exposure to plastics and population monitoring. The total of funds allocated to the successful applications is AUD 111 005; the remainder of the available funds will be retained and included in the 2019 small grants round to occur following the Eleventh Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee (AC11) in Brazil in May next year.

A list of the six funded projects with their submitting Parties and project leaders follows:

Argentina:  Assessing the overlap between threatened pelagic seabirds and trawl fisheries operating in northern Patagonian Shelf.  Juan Pablo Seco Pon & Sofía Copello (IIMyC, CONICET-UNMDP, Argentina)

Brazil:  Hookpod for seabirds and sea turtles: looking towards a multi-taxa approach for reducing bycatch in pelagic longlines.  Dimas Gianuca (Projeto Albatroz)

Brazil:  Prevalence and magnitude of plastic exposure (macro and microplastics and select chemical compounds) in albatrosses and petrels off the shores of Argentina and Brazil.  Marcela Uhart (University of California) & Patricia Pereira Serafini (CEMAVE / ICMBio / MMA)

Ecuador:  Comprehensive review of the Bi-national Plan of Action for the Critically Endangered Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata.  Caroline Icaza (Ecuador) & Elisa Goya (Peru)

New Zealand:  Global review of nature and extent of trawl net captures.  Graham Parker (Parker Conservation)

Spain:  First conservation diagnosis of the Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus in Ibiza.  Meritxell Genovart (CSIC)

Waved Albatross, photograph by Ron LeValley

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 August 2018

At the first meeting of the Joint Tuna RFMO Technical Working Group on Bycatch in July 2011, ACAP offered to develop a standardised seabird identification guide to assist with the harmonisation of data collection across the RFMOs (Regional Fishery Management Organizations).  Working with the Japanese National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries in March 2015 the ACAP Secretariat produced a photo identification guide for use by observers at sea.  Following some initial feedback, an updated version was produced in August 2015 in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese.  The guide was also translated into Korean and Japanese, but the publication of these versions has stalled due to the time and resources required to incorporate updates suggested by experts during the editing process.

The ID Guide is available from the ACAP website and the Secretariat has distributed printed copies at relevant fora in the past four years.  The guide has been very positively received in the RFMO and seabird conservation communities, and helpful feedback from users and seabird experts has been provided to the Secretariat on ways to improve it in the future.

The ID Guide was intended to also be used as a basis for adapting or developing regionally specific ID materials. This has already been the case with some ACAP Parties and range states taking advantage of this freely available resource.  However, in order for the ID Guide to remain relevant for this purpose, and remain useful in its own right, it now needs to be revised and re-issued.

ACAP’s 2016-2018 Advisory Committee Work Programme (Task 5.15) calls for the update of the seabird bycatch ID guide, allocating core funding for the tasking of an intern/secondee to undertake the work, plus costs associated to translation, graphic design and printing. Consequently, the ACAP Secretariat has organised an internship in collaboration with agencies and organisations in New Zealand, tasking Cristián Suazo of Albatross Task Force Chile to undertake the work.  Cristian will work with experts in Australia and New Zealand to update the ID Guide, starting next month.  He has already started off by making an online call for pictures of live and dead seabirds with an emphasis on the 31 species of ACAP-listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters for the updated guide to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (click here).

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 06 August 2018