I hope some of you have been able to see the excellent 'Endemic Bird Areas
of the World: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation' that BirdLife
International has recently produced. Of the 218 areas (EBAs) 8 are in
Australia (numbers 181-188). It is an excellent reference for all global
birders who ought to know where best to go looking for restricted range
birds and at the same time make a contribution to the knowledge of the
distributions of some of the poorly known species.
I have a particular interest in the Philippines and the Sulu archipelago in
particular (EBA155). This is categorised at the highest level of biological
importance and threat level. Out of the other 218 only 5 others rate this
high.
It seems Australia is involved in boosting the development of this area so
I would urge any of you with connections to emphasise the importance of
biodiversity conservation in Tawi Tawi in particular.
Development is bound to occur quite rapidly in this group of islands and it
is essential that aid organisations take account of the ecological impact
that their projects may have.
Des Allen
Tokyo
>Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 15:51:34 -0100
>From: "Phil. News Agency" <>
>Subject: pn: Australian-SPCPD officials to sign assistance package
> COTABATO CITY, Feb. 02 (PNA) - Senior officials of the Australian
>Embassy in Manila arrived in this city today, the administrative seat of
>the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD), to
>boost socio-economic ties with the 14-province, nine-city Special Zone
>of Peace and Development.
> SPCPD Executive Director Muslimin Sema, also secretary-general of
>the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), said the visit of the
>Australian officials in the SZOPAD "comes at a time when foreign donor
>countries have started an exodus to the peace zone in search for
>business opportunities.
> The visit will also mark the signing ceremony of the Philippine -
>Australian Special Community Assistance for SZOPAD (PASCATS), a package
>of education, health and agriculture assistance for Muslims, Christians
>and native inhabitants of Mindanao.
|
