We here at 10,000 Birds do like to talk: especially when we’re talking to the kind of interesting and committed people listed (alphabetically) below - all of whom had plenty to say, and said it with passion and panache:

• Steve Baldwin of Brooklyn Parrots: “To my knowledge, there is no evidence in the U.S.A. of any crop damage caused by monk parakeets, because the birds typically stick to urban/suburban areas. So I think the concept of “anticipatory culling” is absurdly premature…”

 

• Tim Cleeves on the Slender-billed Curlew: “Any loss in biodiversity is, to my mind, the most regretful and sorrowful thing to happen on earth. When we are born we are born into a world where ‘X’ number of species exist…I think we really owe it to the earth to try to maintain that number of species we ‘inherited’.”

 

• David Fox on Kinangop and Sharpe’s Longclaw: “…the primary responsibility for conserving those species…lies with the people who live there. But where they are poor and uneducated, they cannot bear that responsibility alone. They need help…”

 

• Dr Jamie Gilardi, World Parrot Trust on parrot conservation: “CITES…has been an abject failure in the management of traded parrots. Dozens of species have had to be added to their Appendix I after their “sustainable trade” has driven these species closer to the brink of extinction.”

   

• Roelant Jonker, City Parrots on urban parrot populations as a conservation tool: “Where to introduce parrots in cities should be guided by their natural distribution. Although I believe we have very little to fear from the urban parrots now present in Europe and the USA it is just a biologically sound idea to utilise cities within the native range of the species.”

 

• Karen Cheek Justice, Parrot University on working with Spix’s Macaws in Qatar: “Never for a moment did we lose the awe of what we were working with and how enormously fortunate we were….MANY tears were shed as departure day approached and passed.”

   

• Jim Lawrence, BirdLife’s ‘Preventing Extinctions Programme’ Manager on the PEP: “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.”

   

• Jonathan Meiburg, singer/songwriter, founder of ‘Shearwater’ on birding: “Everybody needs birdsong, I think, whether they know it or not. Don’t you find that the more species of birds you can hear, the happier you are?”

 

• Dr Stewart Metz, Indonesian Parrot Project on saving parrots in Indonesia: “For me parrots represent a blend of the scientific and humanistic—of science and of art; of objective study and of subjective fascination and appreciation—of the heart and the mind. As a doctor and animal lover, it’s the perfect combination.”

 

• Nial Moores, Birds Korea on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper: “…the world’s natural systems are ever more obviously threatened, but because people are intrinsically good, I believe that even now things can be done, will be done, to turn things around.”

   

• Tri Prayudhi, ProFauna Indonesia’s Campaign Officer on wildlife smuggling: “…ban the trade in Indonesian endemic species at international market. By doing so, the trade of Indonesian parrots will be closed down. If there is no demand from the international market, there will be no more illegal supply of Indonesian parrots.”

 

• Dr Philip Round, Thailand on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper: “The global Spoon-billed Sandpiper population is so low now that a site with even just one bird regularly present should be regarded as significant in my view.”

   

• Dr Rob Sheldon, RSPB on the Sociable Lapwing: “We are confident that if we can halt the population decline, we will see an increase in both breeding numbers and range within Kazakhstan.”

   

• Pieter Wessels, WildSounds on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper: “Do I believe we’re going to save every bird species – no. Do I think the Spoon-billed Sandpiper stands a chance – I can’t say, but how we tackle this problem will give us a good base for tackling conservation issues for other species.”

   

• Karen Windsor, Foster Parrots on parrots and the pet trade: “Breeders, pet stores and the over-all retail market are responsible for painting an attractive picture of parrot “ownership” that is geared toward generating parrot sales and perpetuating the retail market.”

   

• Christoph Zockler, Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recovery Team on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper: “We do consider the Bay of Martaban to be the most important wintering area…we found birds in both 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 and…even found one of our own birds with a light blue flag from northern Chutotka.”