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March 2016

Editorial

In the years since I became the UK delegate many things have impressed me about LIPU’s work in Italy. The determined opposition to poaching and the dedication shown in helping birds which have become the innocent victims of the poachers, are matched by the strength of the science employed by the conservation department.

The short term solution is the anti-poaching patrols, who bravely fight the battle year after year with a slow but steady gain over the law-breakers. The long term solution is the changing of attitudes of the Italian people, and two groups of people are targeted by LIPU here – the children in the schools who are the future, and the politicians who are deciding policies today. Political change will come only by reasoned debate and only if this is backed by facts which will withstand any challenge because they are indisputably true – not based on weak assumptions and data.

I was in Extremadura at the end of January and the locals were as surprised as I was to see Barn Swallows moving north on the 29th – and House Martins starting the repair of nests. Is it a sign of climate change, or simply an unusually mild winter? Can any conclusion be drawn from this? Of course not – and I mention this only to show the value of long term research such as the LIPU study of the migration routes and behaviour of raptors passing through Sicily in the Spring. I shall be asking for your support for this project now in its fifteenth year as we launch our annual appeal with this issue.
In the past you, the supporters of LIPU, have responded magnificently and we have succeeded in making real changes for the better – please help again, this year, with the generosity which you have shown in the past, generosity which is truly appreciated. Thank you.

Contents

  • Starlings, Cormorants and other “problem” species
  • The importance of soil
  • Red List – European extinction risk
  • LIFE+ project – Gestire
  • Reserves news
  • News from LIPU-UK

 

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