A few days ago 10,000 Birds announced that we’d decided to support a conservation programme that quite possibly a good number of even our regular readers don’t know too much about - the BirdLife International ‘Preventing Extinctions Programme’.

Now, fortunately we just happen to know the very person - Jim Lawrence, the ‘Preventing Extinctions Programme’ Development Manager, the man who heads and promotes the project and is therefore responsible for finding the funds that could help save the most-threatened birds on the planet - the 190 Critically Endangered (CR) species designated in the IUCN’s Red Data List. Equally fortunately, Jim is the sort of person who is happy to explain his mission, and the detailed interview that follows should leave no-one in any doubt that BirdLife made a very good decision when they brought him in to lead their flagship project…

Jim Lawrence is Development Manager of the BirdLife ‘Preventing Extinctions Programme’. He joined BirdLife in July 2007.

Prior to joining BirdLife Jim was a freelance Marketing and Management Consultant and has worked in Marketing, Advertising and Brand Management for 30 years. Twenty five years of his career were spent at Ogilvy, one of the world’s leading communications agencies. Here he worked with many Blue Chip clients but for twenty years his focus (sic) was helping the Ford Motor Company develops its brands throughout the world.

Jim has been a keen birder since his early childhood and is a well-known face on the British Birding Scene.

Jim, thanks for talking to 10,000 Birds. I know you’re a busy man so let’s get straight to the heart of things: what are the most serious threats facing the world’s 190 Critically Endangered (CR) bird species, and how does the BirdLife ‘Preventing Extinctions Programme’ (PEP) help mitigate those threats?

• JL: It’s my pleasure Charlie, and thanks too for asking me to tell your readers a little more about BirdLife International’s work.

  We’ve been working flat out since the UK pilot launch in August 2007. Failure really isn’t an option – the meter is running for the world’s Critically Endangered (CR) Species and while there is still time to make a difference we are determined to give it our best shot. We can’t fix this on our own though – the world needs to take action and that’s what my work is all about – developing this BirdLife programme and recruiting support like yours. I’m delighted 10,000 Birds has become the most recent member of our growing community of Species Champions.

  Identifying the main threats is a good place to start. While a broad range of threats affect these birds, humans cause them all. Virtually all CRs are hit by habitat loss and degradation and the majority by direct mortality too. Agriculture, invasive species, logging, hunting and commercial and housing development are the top five threats that have got us in the mess we are in today but the darkening cloud of climate change is now looming over us too.

  The way we tackle conservation for any CR is firstly to carefully analyse what the threats are and then identify the key actions required to address them. The BirdLife International Partnership has actually been working on this for many years. One of the fundamental and ongoing activities undertaken by BirdLife scientists is to establish and continuously update this threats/action analysis for all of the world’s threatened species. Rigorous scientific analysis is the bedrock on which the Preventing Extinctions Programme is built.

  The next stage is to identify which organisations or individuals are best placed to carry out the conservation actions required to address or alleviate the threats. We call these people BirdLife Species Guardians. Appointing Species Guardians and giving them status and recognition in their own countries helps us to jointly develop a cohesive plan of action.

  Once we have Species Guardians with action plans in place, the final part of the jigsaw is to find the money needed to fund the conservation. This is where BirdLife Species Champions like 10,000 Birds step in by providing vital funding and in many cases vital publicity too.

  As the BirdLife Preventing Extinction Programme has been gaining momentum, the number of Species Champions and programme supporters we’ve been able to recruit has been growing steadily too but we still urgently need many more if we are to save all of the world’s most threatened birds.

  If we don’t get proper conservation in place for many of these species by the time the Olympics comes to London in 2012, it’s simply going to be too late.

The aim of the PEP is obviously to ‘prevent extinctions’, in practice though does that mean halting a decline in a species’ population or actually putting that decline into reverse? If the latter, can success for the PEP be thought of as a species being downgraded from Critically Endangered to Endangered or is that too ‘broad brush’?

• JL: In most cases halting a decline and starting to increase populations is a wholly realistic mid-term objective. You’ll appreciate the speed at which this is possible varies from species to species dependent on the nature and number of threats and, of course, the resources available.

  The thing is - birds are remarkably resilient. Take away the threats and populations can and do, recover.

  That said turning around the fortunes of threatened birds is never simple, quick or cheap…

  CR species are categorised ‘Critically Endangered’ for a number of reasons. The designation is either given because a species has a rapidly declining population, or a very small and declining range, or a very small population in the first place. A few Criticals have even got stable or slowly increasing populations but they are still assigned the highest risk level because their absolute number is still tiny. Take Kakapo Strigops habroptila, a Critically Endangered New Zealand parrot. Over the past fourteen years the population has climbed back from a low point of 51 individuals in 1995 to 91 today. The Kakapo Recovery Project is actually a classic example of what we are trying to achieve with the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme. Against extraordinary odds, Kakapo is being saved.

  DOC (the New Zealand Government Department of Conservation) works alongside Royal Forest & Bird (the BirdLife Partner) as Species Guardians and Rio Tinto (the huge global extractions company) provide vital funding and publicity as Kakapo’s Species Champion. Businesses would do well to follow Rio Tinto’s lead. The world loves a success story.

  At the other end of the spectrum is, or perhaps I should say was, White Rumped Vulture Gyps Bengalensis. Until quite recently they were considered the commonest bird of prey in the world with a population in the millions. Not any more. Thanks to the widespread adoption of Diclofenac as a veterinary drug virtually the entire population has disappeared. Its population (along with several other Asian vultures) has crashed by a staggering 99%!

  Many of your readers will probably already be aware the BirdLife International Partnership has had a major success in successfully lobbying government to get the drug banned in India. Now its veterinary use is illegal there, we are all crossing fingers that we can start to rebuild from here. If we can, and that’s a big if, it really will be only just in the nick of time. Of course our vulture recovery work is particularly urgent and desperately needs funding so we are actively looking for Species Champions to support these Asian vultures ASAP.

  Downlisting from one threat category to another is a realistic target too, though this also varies species by species depending on the reason for its CR listing in the first place.

  Our Preventing Extinctions Programme is inspired by the BirdLife Partnerships’ previous conservation successes. Several of these have enabled species once categorised as Critically Endangered to move to a lower threat category. Back in the ‘60s Seychelles Warbler Acrocephalus sechellensis was a Critically Endangered species that really looked like a lost cause. It once had populations on several islands but by 1968 just one tiny population of 30 individuals was left on Cousin Island. With the support of the BirdLife Partnership, Nature Seychelles then pulled off a quite remarkable recovery. Now this flagship species has a steadily increasing population of more than 2,500 individuals, located on four different islands. It steadily moved back from Critical, to Endangered and then Vulnerable and now has a very real chance of moving out of the threatened categorisations and away from the imminent risk of extinction altogether.

  So you see Preventing Extinction is possible and BirdLife is making it happen already. What we are doing now though is tackling the problem en masse! So it requires a step change.

Are you optimistic that the work that the PEP does will numerically reduce the number of Critically Endangered species, or is the situation around the world’s rarest birds so fluid that by the time you’ve put a plan into place for one species there’s always the chance that another will have been upgraded from Endangered to take its place?

• JL: There’s no doubt we are looking straight into the teeth of a mass extinction event but I can’t and won’t achieve much by being pessimistic. Sure things will get worse for some but also better for others. Once we’ve got some real momentum behind the Critically Endangered Species we can start taking strategic preventative action for the Endangered Species too. In fact we already are, though it’s too early to go into details here.

What would you say if someone asked you if it really matters whether a few more bird species go extinct or not?

• JL: Yes it matters, and on a number of levels. You have to really consider this in the round. One of the most powerful rational arguments is that individual species within ecosystems are interdependent and ecosystems can be extremely fragile. Lose one species and nature might find a temporary balance, let several species slip and the knock-on effects could be catastrophic.

  Take honey bees and the dependence the world’s fruit harvest has on them. Earlier in the year I was discussing our work with one of the world’s leading agrochemical companies. If what they believe is true Food Security is going to be the next big world crisis. Remember you heard it here first!

  Birds provide humanity with some vital eco-services. Did you know that Red-winged Blackbirds in NW Kansas feed their young on 4,260 tonnes of insects every year? That’s equivalent to the weight of 17 of your Airbuses!

  When I first joined BirdLife – eighteen months ago - it all suddenly snapped into perspective for me when Dr. Stuart Butchart - Head of Species Science said…
  “Look at it this way Jim. We’re playing a giant game of Jenga with the planet. Six billion people are pulling blocks out of the stack. Sooner or later that huge structure is going to come tumbling down.”

  There is also the moral imperative. When Sir David Attenborough became a BirdLife Species Champion for Araripe ManakinAntilophia bokermanni (photo right copyright Ciro Albano) at the British Birdwatching Fair Celebrity Lecture last August he summed it up by saying “We have no right to exterminate the species that evolved without us. We have the responsibility to do everything we can to preserve their continued existence.”

  All I’d add is this. Birds are brilliant environmental indicators. Remember the canary in the coalmine. They are the best known and most widely studied animals. Everyone reading this can empathise with that. On the face of it we are preventing Bird Extinctions. Fair enough. But, wherever we enact conservation measures for threatened birds other plants and animals benefit too.

  Our best kept secret is that BirdLife International is actually the largest biodiversity conservation organisation in the world. Over half of our 112 Partners and Affiliates are nature conservation organisations. Of course they have strong bird conservation programmes and that’s partially why they joined the BirdLife family. Together we tackle conservation holistically.

  So - birds are actually vital flagships helping biodiversity conservation throughout the world.

  Help the birds you help biodiversity. Help biodiversity and mankind benefits.

You work to convince some very high-value donors of the truth of exactly that message. I’ve always wondered what it’s like persuading people to part with large sums of money. A report has just been released detailing how Government mandarins do all their networking over drinks at Wimbledon, Manchester United’s home games, the Epsom Derby etc etc. Does that sound anything like your average working day?

• JL: Not really, though it certainly has its place. The funny thing is in my former life in the world of advertising I entertained clients at each of those events. Thanks for the suggestion Charlie. I’ll put Government mandarins on my Species Champions hit list.

Seriously, though, how hard are you finding it to attract Species Champions in the current economic conditions?

• JL: Well, it’s clearly very tough out there already and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. A day doesn’t go by without another household name going to the wall, massive redundancies being announced or an apparently secure investment opportunity turning out to be smoke and mirrors. Just this morning General Motors announced they are laying-off 47,000 workers worldwide and shutting another five plants. And they want $30bn from the US taxpayer!

  It would be foolish to think the current financial melt down won’t make our job harder but I’m still optimistic because our proposition is really simple and should have resonance in good times or bad.

  “By becoming a BirdLife Species Champion you (or the organisation you represent) will be taking direct action to help prevent extinctions”.

  Several of our Species Champions have told me it’s really compelling to know they can individually take a stand and collectively make a difference.

  Becoming a Species Champion or supporting the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme with even a small donation has a direct effect and it is one every individual that contributes will be able to see develop as we publish our results. Its early days still but we’ve already posted several Species Guardian action updates on our website detailing conservation actions underway and some early results.

Do you think you can secure Champions for each of the 190 most Critically Endangered species, or is that more of a desire than a likelihood?

• JL: Yes. Why not? Every day since I joined BirdLife I’ve been amazed at the number of willing philanthropists approaching us and businesses are also responding to the groundswell of ethical consumers that are on the march. Even the least environmentally aware members of the public recognise preventing extinction as something at the cutting edge of conservation. Becoming a BirdLife Species Champion is tangible it isn’t ‘greenwash’.

  But it’s not just about finding high level Species Champions that choose a species to support. Like 10,000 Birds, many of our Species Champions aren’t linked to any one bird and support our entire programme of work instead, enabling us to pool resources to put conservation in place where none exists today. Building new conservation capacity where it is needed most is one of our strategic priorities.

I imagine you’re flat out as it is trying to secure Champions for the 190 Critically Endangered species you list now, but earlier you hinted at plans to extend the PEP to cover Endangered Species as well (and if so how many species would that total as of today)?

• JL: Yes, we actually intend to go one stage further. Today we are focussing on the 190 Critically Endangered Birds as our priority but BirdLife also categorises 363 species as Endangered and a further 669 as Vulnerable. All three categories are lumped as ‘threatened’ and recognised as species facing extinction on the IUCN Red List, for which BirdLife International is the authority for birds. As the programme grows we intend embracing them all.

  To put that in context, the proportion of bird species threatened with global extinction is 12%. That’s one in eight of the 10,000 Birds your blog represents.

In terms of donations to the PEP does every penny really count?

• JL: Yes, every penny, dime and yuan. All the money contributed to the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme is ring-fenced and used solely for conservation that prevents extinctions. Collectively pooled, it is building into a significant fund and adds up to make a real difference.

You used to work in advertising and with The Ford Motor Company internationally. Have you found the switch from the corporate to NGO world difficult, or is there little difference between the two when you’re at a senior level?

• JL: There is a significant cultural difference but that’s not an insurmountable barrier and both cultures have plusses and minuses. I joined BirdLife with a brief to bring them something different. If I’m to add value there’s no point in me adopting all the normal NGO behaviours. I just have to be a bit flexible. Both cultures use too many TLAs of course.

TLAs?

• JL: Come on Charlie – Three Letter Acronyms.

Aside from huge quantities of optimism and humour – and a working knowledge of office-jargon - what qualities do you actually need to do a job with so many different facets (fund-raising, organising, talking to politicians and other NGOs etc etc)?

• JL: Well I’d like to think the ones you’ve mentioned are a good start (and I hope I live up to them) but if I had to add to the list I’d say diligence is pretty important - particularly with sound research. If you want to influence people you’d better know your own subject intimately and at least have a working knowledge of theirs too.

I imagine yours would be a job with great highs and great lows. Does anything come specifically to mind as an example of either or both?

• JL: I think I might have let a small expletive slip in delight last month, when the British Birdwatching Fair, our Global Programme Sponsor, revealed the contribution they were handing over from the 2008 fair. It was an enormous 265,000GBP.
  
  
  

  You know Martin Davies & Tim Appleton, the Birdfair co-organisers, are amazing. Without the British Birdwatching Fair we’d never have got the Preventing Extinctions Programme off the ground. As well as providing funding for our central and regional teams, their support is benefitting 29 Critically Endangered species already!

  I guess it’s the bird news that really takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. When we first heard from the Northern Bald Ibis satellite tracking project that three juveniles from the semi-captive population at Birecik in Turkey had migrated south to Palmyra in Syria it was a real boost. This demonstrated they’d retained their migratory instincts and gave us real hope for the colony. Sadly the elation was short-lived. The bubble burst a few days later when we heard they’d flown on from Palmyra and all three had been found poisoned in the Jordanian Desert.

  So highs and lows do come in quick succession. Still tragic as this seems – vital lessons have been learned and one more piece in the conservation jigsaw has fallen in to place.

You probably know more than almost anyone about the world’s rarest birds. How do you turn off and stop thinking about them and the threats they face? Are you able to leave the job in the office before you go home at night?

• JL: If I’ve given that impression I’ve done a real number on you Charlie. I’ve been a birder since I was a tiny child, so of course I can talk the language and I am learning the subject but the real experts are the guys behind the scenes at BirdLife that have dedicated their whole lives to protecting birds and biodiversity.

  Leaving the job in the office has never been how I’ve worked. I spend a lot of time meeting people and a fair amount working wherever a desk is available. So turning off isn’t easy. Rare birds were once just my recreational raison d’etre, now they are my job too. There is a plus side though – stimulating others to do the right thing is a source of pride and fulfilment.

  The real irony is I’ve missed more British lifers since I’ve been at BirdLife than I ever did working in advertising. Perhaps most galling was to learn a Cretzschmar’s Bunting Emberiza caesia had been found on Orkney as I switched my phone on to get my messages on arrival in Buenos Aires last September. I had just arrived to launch the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme globally at our World Conference. Still BirdLife world conferences only take place every four years…

You’ve already signed up some very big hitters to the PEP - Sir David Attenborough, Rio Tinto, Swarovski Optik, the British Birdwatching Fair etc. 10,000 Birds joined the PEP to ‘make a difference’, but can blogs like this one really bring anything to the table?

• JL: Definitely. Publicity is our lifeblood. Blogs like 10,000 Birds help us reach entirely new audiences and spread the word.

What would you like to see 10,000 Birds do to make our membership more valuable to you?

• JL: Do what you do best – Keep telling it as it is.

Jim, I have no idea whether any conservation-minded millionaires with money to spend are visiting 10,000 Birds today but if they are would you like to make a final pitch to them…?

• JL: Yes actually I would - though this certainly isn’t just aimed at high rollers – every little helps and a small contribution is valued just as much as a large one.

  We have a plan, its working and birds and biodiversity are already benefitting. But time is running out. To make the exponential shift forward that is required we need a serious injection of funding to invest in our human resources and processes as well as the many species recovery projects we are developing today.

  If you’d like to become a BirdLife Species Champion or maybe a Global or Regional Programme Sponsor please get in touch. You can contact me at species.champions@birdlife.org

  If you haven’t done so already please take a look at our web pages. You can also make an online donation there too.

Many thanks for taking so much to answer our questions, Jim, and the best of luck with the PEP!

• JL: Thank you Charlie, Mike and Corey and thanks to 10,000 Birds. May your terrific blog go from success to success.

For more information on BirdLife’s ‘Preventing Extinctions Programme’ please visit the BirdLife website: http://www.birdlife.org/extinction/

To contact Jim Lawrence please email: species.champions@birdlife.org