Editorial

Nobody likes a boastful person but sometimes modesty can be overdone. As I write we are approaching the end of another business year and a review of progress made is fully justified.

At home I can only admire and thank our members for what has been a truly amazing response to our annual appeal. Despite another slow decline in membership, our members and friends have generously given over £22,000 – my thanks to you all, this has enabled us to fund fully the projects we agreed to support last autumn.

In Italy, we have also enabled successes:

The anti-poaching camps would struggle without our help. The LIPU teams are winning in Sardinia thanks to the leadership of Gigliola Magliocco who is also the warden at the Torrile reserve, near HQ in Parma, when she’s not collecting traps and changing local attitudes to the poaching.

The monitoring of raptor migration has been supported annually since 2003 and a valuable dataset has been achieved; however, equally important is the way in which it dovetails into the anti-poaching work at the migration bottleneck at Messina.

Mention of Messina reminds us that LIPU-UK has supported the anti-poaching teams there since its foundation in 1989. LIPU is not alone in the Peloritani mountains but is a respected senior partner in the successful anti-poaching work.

Georgia Gaibani writes about Marine IBAs (Important Bird Areas) and the latest news is that these areas, identified by projects funded by LIPU-UK, after the Italian Ministry withdrew, have been accepted by the EU to be upgraded as Special Protection Zones. Italy may mutter and delay but it will have to comply – well done LIPU!

We help the protection of breeding Bonelli’s Eagles, much sought by falconers, and this year the news was mixed. One nest was robbed but all the others were safely protected, the sadness and anger at this loss should remind us all of the importance of the work, the losses would be much worse without our efforts.

There is no room for complacency but we can also look at the progress being made with quiet satisfaction and, because all these successes have been enabled by funds raised by LIPU-UK, I offer you all my sincere thanks.

Contents

• Kentish Plover on the Beach
• Seven Species to Save
• Agriculture Policy Reform
• Marine IBAs to be Protected

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