Tackling illegal bird killing in the Middle East

The illegal killing of birds in the OSME region is widespread, rampant and deplorable and must be tackled by a variety of means, both in the short term through emergency enforcement actions, and the longer term through awareness and education. OSME has made it one of its key priorities and has been instrumental in several initiatives, including Bird Camps for young people, survey work in areas affected by poaching and significantly contributing to the comprehensive assessment report from BirdLife International in 2019. Given the reach of social media and the graphic and upsetting nature of many photos, this issue is now starting to attract wider attention.

With an offer of funding from BirdLife Finland in spring 2024, and a request to urgently and tangibly tackle the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, we took it to another level. To the €10,000 graciously donated by BirdLife Finland, OSME added another €5,000 and shaped an application process where qualified and ambitious applicants from a number of countries could apply for parts or the full amount of €15,000. The criteria included an urgent time frame (work to be undertaken primarily during 2024) and with a focus on practical and tangible work in the field rather than studies and research. The applications were carefully reviewed by a panel from OSME, BirdLife Finland and independent experts.

OSME and BirdLife Finland are happy to announce that the Lebanese Association for Migratory Birds (LAMB) were recently awarded the grant, and work is well underway in northern Lebanon.

We would like to thank all of those who responded to the call for proposals. We received many high-quality applications, and we could have funded several projects in a range of countries. Funding permitting we hope to put out another call for proposals in the near future.

During the coming weeks, together with LAMB we will report on the progress of the work in northern Lebanon via our social media channels and website. Some of the images will be heart breaking as birds are illegally killed in big numbers whilst on migration. But there is hope, enforcement activities led by LAMB and the local security forces and communities are having an impact, and some birds are continuing their journey south. Watch this space!