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Des infos sur les Ibis chauves de Syrie (en anglais)Envoyé par : peter (Adresse IP journalisée)
Date : Mon 4 November 2002 10:17:39
Bonjour, Voici un article tiré d'ArabicNews : A relict breeding colony of critically endangered Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita), an insectivorous colonial cliff-nesting bird, was discovered during the spring 2002 by UN-FAO project GCP/SYR/009/ITA within Al Badia. The news has drawn the attention of conservationists and media world-wide. This legendary and iconic bird is in fact also one of the rarest and most critically endangered wildlife species on earth. It is listed since the 70s as "critically endangered on a global scale" according to The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List. This means that the risk for this bird to become extinct at any point in the future is extremely high. Just to have and idea, the Bald Ibis global population dropped down to 97.8 % during the period 1900 - 2002. Arabic News (ArabicNews.com) met with Mahmoud Taher, the FAO Representative in Syria on this important discovery. On the FAO project in Palmyra and its objectives, Taher informed that Palmyra project, based in the archeologically renown site in the middle of the Syrian desertic steppe (Al Badia), has been implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with funding from the Italian Cooperation program, since 1996. The main goal of Palmyra project was the assistance of Syrian authorities in implementing the ecological rehabilitation of part of the Palmyra rangelands, and the development of (Al Talila Reserve), the first Syrian protected area accessible to visitors and managed according to international standards. Since its inception, six years ago, the project has developed a model for promoting biodiversity conservation in the country, through intensive training of government staff, involvement of local community, promoting programs for conservation education, and raising of public awareness. The experience of this pioneer project (methods, practices and learned lessons) will be extended in the future to other comparable locations in Syria, within the framework of a national strategy of biodiversity conservation. The main activities of the Wildlife Team of the Palmyra project include intensive surveying, inventorying and photo-documenting of fauna occurring within Al Talila Reserve and the surrounding Palmyra desert. This contributed to the development of the reserve and to the production of material required for conservation, education, and raising public awareness. On Bald Ibis, Taher indicated that this bird is originally a waterbird like all the other ibises (relatives of storks). However, the Bald Ibis, during its "aberrant" evolution, has adapted to semi-arid habitats. This bird, not exactly a champion of beauty (bald head with naked reddish face, long straggly hind neck feathers, sturdy legs), has nonetheless always fascinated man probably just due to its weird "look" and also to the iridescent sheen on the wing. The scientific name of the bird, Geronticus eremite, refers to its resemblance to an old man, bald and wrinkled, and to the fact that it nests in remote places like a hermit. Few avian species have as colorful a history and as uncertain future as this bird. Before its discovery in Syria, the Bald Ibis was globally regarded to still occur only in Morocco, with 2 resident colonies totaling only 220 birds, and in the famous colony of Birecik, Turkey, along the upper Euphrates, which numbered 1000-1300 birds during the 50s. Unfortunately, the latter colony completely vanished in 1989, despite considerable conservation efforts. In a long struggle during the period 1960-80s, the bald ibises of Birecik were backed to the wall by the pressure of massive pesticides use (DDT) and the population growth in the country. Despite having been one of the world's first officially protected animal -- it was named in a decree by Archbishop Leonhard of Salzburg in 1504 -- the Bald Ibis disappeared from Central and Eastern Europe by the 17th century, and thought to have become extinct after that. It was afterwards spotted and "re-discovered" in the Middle East and North Africa during the 19-20th centuries by European travelers. Two ornithological surveys done in 1910 and 1928 within Syrian Al Badia resulted in the discovery of several major colonies, two of them the same size of the one of Birecik, located within Qarietin and Palmyra surroundings. These colonies were regarded as disappeared somewhere after 1929 and several authoritative ornithological surveys done from the 70s through the 90s confirmed this. However, due to sporadic sightings of ibises in Yemen (80's), Saudi Arabia (90's) and Palestine (1995), there were rumors and suspects of a small "undiscovered colony" still occurring somewhere within the Middle East. During spring 2002, the Wildlife Team of the FAO project in Palmyra lead by Mr. Gianluca Serra, met with around 70 Bedouins, nomadic shepherds, and villages' hunters to dig into the memory of the local community, from recent years back to the 30-40s. This kind of natural history "archeological" work, combined with systematic searching within suitable habitats, enabled the Wildlife Team of the project to unveil the presence of Bald Ibis in Syria. This search eventually brought to the discovery of a small relict breeding colony of Bald Ibis in April 2002 within Al Talila surroundings. Interestingly, the true story about the occurrence of the Bald Ibis within Syrian Al Badia was "reconstructed." Not only had it never become extinct within Al Badia, but its decline was actually significantly delayed in time than reported in official scripts. Apparently, the Bald Ibis used to be still common within Palmyra desert up to 20 years ago, and even abundant up to 30 years ago, according to interviewed people from local community. Contrary to what was published early, elder Bedouins and Palmyra hunters still use a specific local name for this bird "an-nuq." In other words, an "early funeral" had been set up for Syrian bald ibises based on scant and non-conclusive information. However, the seven Bald Ibis birds discovered may well be the last "survivors" of what is called the Eastern population of the Bald Ibis, distinct from the western population still occurring in Morocco. On the causes of Bald Ibis decline within Al Badia, Taher said that the dramatic decline of the Bald Ibis within Al Badia, started 20-30 years ago as reported by Bedouin herders and hunters today, well matches with the timing of the starting of the unsustainable exploitation of rangelands and consequent decline of the whole ecosystem productivity. In fact, the Wildlife Team direct observations of bald ibises feeding during spring 2002 confirmed that they use the same rangelands where sheep are found. While sheep feed on the grasses, bald ibises feed on invertebrates and small reptiles found among vegetation. Thus differently from the Birecik's colony, the disappearance of the Bald Ibis from Syria was most probably due to habitat destruction and uncontrolled hunting, including chicks capturing at nests for food. We asked why these 7 last survivors are so important, Taher replied that the difference between the present 60 Turkish semi-captive birds and the 7 Syrian wild ones is very simple but dramatically crucial: the Syrian ones still know the migration route, while the Turkish ones, being all born in captivity, have lost this cultural-transmitted knowledge. The fact is that juvenile ibises learn the migration route from the adult individuals. In other words, the 7 recently-found ibis "survivors" are unique and invaluable from a genetically point of view. That's why, the three nests have been guarded 24-hrs throughout the whole breeding cycle of about 14 weeks, in order to avoid killings by hunters and chicks capturing. Three chicks have successfully fledged, out of three breeding pairs, after about 40 days from hatching. The discovery of these last 7 individuals in Syria switch on again the hopes of conservationists for saving the Eastern population of Bald Ibises. Syria is thus suddenly entrusted with this remarkable responsibility . Dealing with such a small number of individuals, caution is a must, especially considering the negative experience of the conservation efforts in Birecik. The spreading of the news of this discovery have also a dangerous effect among local hunters, who are starting to believe that the bird, being rare, has a high commercial value. This might trigger deleterious hunting efforts against these last surviving birds. It is thus very important to deliver the message that this bird is very valuable only when alive and wild in its habitat. There is already plenty of captive Bald Ibis in zoos around the world kept in captivity or dead and stuffed. When Taher was asked on the importance of this discovery to Syria, he said that Bald Ibises are very important for Al Badia range-lands because they feed on insects, scorpions and also snakes. The story of the dramatic decline of the Bald Ibis is paradigmatically of the conservation status of bio-diversity of Syrian Al Badia. All the bio-diversity of Syrian Badia can be regarded as currently highly threatened, mainly due to over-exploitation of natural resources and consequent destruction of ecosystems and habitats, combined by a lack of ecological awareness of people. Due to its singleness and international relevance, the Bald Ibis could stimulate a sense of responsibility and proudness of Syrian people toward their unique natural (and cultural) heritage. An-nuq could well become in the future a symbol or messenger of a new-born awareness of Syrian people about the need to protect their threatened flora and fauna. Finally, we asked Taher about the international reaction to this discovery. He replied that the news about this discovery spread out quickly on international media and suddenly Syria became a new focus of international conservation attention due to the worldwide interest in this bird. Last week a delegation from the "Birdlife International" and "Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSP," two regional and international NGOs leading conservation of birds and nature wildlife, were received by Palmyra project and Ministries of Agriculture and Environment. During this visit an action plan aimed at protecting the Bald Ibis was discussed. Options : Repondre à ce message | Citer ce Message
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