Fiji’s endangered birds

This video is called Scuba Diving in Viti Levu, Fiji– Coral Nirvana 2.

From BirdLife:

Fiji’s comic-book heroes of conservation

21-04-2010

Children attending schools around Fiji’s Mount Nabukelevu IBA are to become the conservationists of the future, with help of a BirdLife project backed by the local and national government, and supported by the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund.

Mount Nabukelevu is one of two IBAs (Important Bird Areas) on the island of Kadavu, and its montane forest is of critical importance for five Globally Threatened bird species: White-throated Storm-petrel Nesofregetta fuliginosa and Crimson Shining Parrot Prosopeia splendens (both Vulnerable), and Collared Petrel Pterodroma brevipes (Near Threatened), Whistling Dove Ptilinopus layardi and Kadavu Fantail Rhipidura personata (all Near Threatened).

January 2011. Two years after the BirdLife International Fiji Programme implemented an operation to eradicate rats from the Ringgold Islands, all seven islands have been confirmed rodent-free. Early monitoring also shows that the birds, people and wider wildlife of these remote islands are already benefitting from the removal of these invasive pests. BirdLife staff are continuing to work with local people to ensure the rats don’t return: here.

Three staff in the BirdLife Pacific Secretariat recently returned from a two week trip to Kadavu, Fiji in search of the Collared Petrel. Jez Bird (Pacific marine Important Bird Area Co-ordinator) here recounts some of the adventures he had with Mark O’Brien (Senior Technical Advisor) and Mere Tabudravu (Conservation Assistant) during early April 2011: here.

The Fijian Giant Long-horned Beetle, Xixuthrus heros, has not yet been officially evaluated for the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. It is the world’s second largest beetle (length 14-15cm) and is endemic to the Fiji Islands. The larva (locally known as “yavato”) are sacred to several tribes in Fiji’s Namosi province (Viti Levu), and may be eaten only by the village high chief. Destruction of the larva can be taken as an insult to the chief: here.

The number of bird species listed as Critically Endangered has reached an all-time high with the release of this year’s Red List for birds by BirdLife International: here.

Related articles

• Fiji in South Pacific (tropictravel.ecombizcenter.com)
• Tavewa Island, Yasawas, Fiji (victoriahirstdean.wordpress.com)