We often mention the Ramsar Convention (Ramsar) on 10,000 Birds (most often in the failure of South Korea - a Ramsar signatory - to recognise the Saemangeum wetlands as a Ramsar site, and most recently in our Latest News post about BirdLife’s “Think Pink” campaign to protect Tanzania’s Lake Natron), but I would guess that [...]

 
Organisation: Buglife - Conserving the small things that run the world
 
Who are we? Buglife -The Invertebrate Conservation Trust is a registered UK charity and the first organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates. Buglife was first registered in December 2000 and its formation was announced with widespread support from the [...]

Will at The Nightjar, who enjoys the coveted status of official friend of 10,000 Birds, just completed an excellent series analyzing how American farms have historically affected avifauna. While he concerns himself primarily with agricultural ecosystems prevalent from the nation’s bread-basket to our mid-Atlantic coast, Will’s treatment of grassland birds and the role [...]

In mid-October, the Cape May City Council voted unanimously to amend a beach management plan keep their Trap, Neuter and Release (TNR) program for cats operating despite pressure by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to adopt a plan that would have eliminated TNR. The USFWS had proposed a plan to protect endangered birds like [...]

It’s hardly a stretch to say that the American commons encompasses a massive wealth of natural resources that accrue incalculable benefits not just to the citizenry of the United States but possibly to the entire human race. The challenge in protecting said commons lies in the adjective “incalculable,” a dilemma rooted in the [...]

According to The Drinking Bird, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, who you can contact via email here, hasn’t yet signed (and will probably veto) a bill to ban lead bullets, which are accidentally eaten by critically-endangered California Condors. More information at the Center for Biological Diversity.

I don’t often make “birding statements” claiming absolute certainty as there are just too many variables and (thankfully) too many different people birding to be sure of anything really - but I think I can say without fear of correction that every birder has a “wish list” of birds they’d really, really like to see [...]

Rats are responsible for more extinctions than any creature except humans. Biologists in Alaska are trying to extirpate rats from the soon-to-be-inaptly-named Rat Island, in the Aleutians. Good news for seabirds!

An important anniversary passed quietly by recently. It was 93 years ago this month that the last individual of what had been estimated to be the world’s most abundant bird died. On September 1st 1914 ‘Martha’, the last surviving Passenger Pigeon in existence, was found dead in her cage in the Cincinatti Zoo. The following [...]

Mike’s post in the “Latest News” section on the homepage (which basically was about the drowning of 36 albatrosses on the hooks of a single long-line fishing vessel) reminded me of a post I wrote on my old blog last May that made a connection between tuna sandwiches and the severe collapse in the world’s [...]

A very brief update on Saemangeum, East Asia’s most important known shorebird staging site until 2006 when it was ‘reclaimed’ (for posts on Saemangeum on 10,000 Birds please go The best place I’ve ever been birding, Will this be the last year anyone can post a report like this?, and Miles of Muck), and the [...]

Life on Earth is disappearing fast and will continue to do so unless urgent action is taken. Such is the considered assessment of the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This respected index, produced by an international network of species experts and partner organizations, analyzes global factors contributing to extinction risk such as rate [...]

Today, we’re excited to introduce a new feature called Welcome Wednesday. Wednesday is the one day of the week where we invite you to share your insight, excitement, and angst about issues pertaining to wild birds and birding. If you’ve got something important to say, 10,000 Birds can be your soapbox. Contact us for [...]

The US Fish & Wildlife Service has published a draft Recovery Plan for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Furthermore, the organization seeks public review and comment:
A draft recovery plan outlining habitat needs and future conservation efforts aimed at preventing the extinction of the Ivory-billed woodpecker was made available for public comment today.
Interested citizens, conservation organizations, state [...]

We the people own in common all sorts of physical resources, valuable commodities that certain business entities or organizations would love to get their greedy talons on. Since you and I lack the time, infrastructure, or, frankly, the expertise to manage our massive portfolio, we appoint agents to manage them for us. Actually, we elect [...]

Of course there is much more to the American commons portfolio than mineral wealth waiting to be extracted, air and water resources eager to be bent to man’s will. Our dominion, as some describe it, extends over countless flora and fauna. Many of these species serve as commercial goods as components of textiles, construction, or [...]

Real estate comprises a substantial portion of what we consider the American commons, but as important as land is, we can’t forget about those assets that lie beneath, grow upon, or billow above it. Clean air, for example, is a priceless commodity. Those who believe otherwise have never seen smog settle like a [...]

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from off the goose.
The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who take things that are yours and mine.
The poor and wretched [...]

The Cato Institute is far from the only organization spinning the snake-oil salesman line about how the commons are best preserved by being sold off and exploited. It is no coincidence that the advocates of privatization are also rampant opponents of conservation. Consumerism all the way, baby!
Who opposes the protection of the commons? I [...]

For many, the idea of assets and ecosystems is too abstract. Commodities like timber are too dry (sometimes literally) and boring to care about. Let’s get to the good stuff. What are some of the really cool things we the American people own? How about these:
Acadia National Park
Arches National Park
Big Bend National Park
Denali National [...]