Dear Birding Ausers
Since last year I have had a friend who lives in Mongolia
photographing huge trains taking whole trees from Russia to China.
The numbers are increasing & now the BBC have caught up with the
illegal trade. The sad thing is the men in Russia who are paid to
police the forests have little power & few resources to do so!
The White-throated Needletail nests in hollows of old trees from five
species of these conifers that are being taken illegally even from
the World Heritage listed National Park.
From my friends photos taken last year we counted 2400 trees going
to China per day. This year he has recorded that many trees on a
single train going to China.
I am working flat out entering into my computer the historical
records of the WTNT from Australia to show statistically that this
species is already declining. The decline I believe is most
noticeable in Tassie & Vic. This I believe is because few birds fly
further south than they need to and these leads to the feeding areas
further north still with the appearance of maintaining normal numbers.
Have a look at the photos and listen to the BBC's sound recording at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/
2009/10/091001_outlook_siberialogs.shtml?s
Sorry to bring such a gloomy topic to your notice but facts appear to
be facts.
Cheers
Mike
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Michael Tarburton
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www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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