Birds massacred in Lebanon - what a disgrace

Does anybody around here know much about the wildlife situation at Lebanon?

See these disturbing images at - wildlife extra and scroll down to see how these mindless hunters seem to boast about their kills.

Seems birds of prey targeted include Griffon Vulture, Sparrowhawks and Lesser Spotted Eagle.

That is truely terrible Chris. I really cant believe the stories on that report they are so disturbing, and the images are horrendous, as you will see I've put it on our home page, to try to raise awareness of whats happening in Lebanon, but trying to pick which image to use was sickening. It really needs one of the Petition sites to get hold of this, and start a petition to get the Lebanese Government to put a stop this.

WS

I will read this when I get in from work, from the picture on the home page it looks and sounds too distressing to read first thing this morning.

littlewid-x-

I'm not sure I can look at that Chris and WS - from our home page it looks too sickening for words.

I know nothing about the wildlife situation in Lebanon so probably should get on and read it but not today.

Lai

Chris that is just so disgusting and sickening and it seems that they are doing it just because they can and it is shocking they are encouraging children to kill the birds as well.
One comment on the article is how ironic it is that one of the little boys in the picture has a jumper on about saving the planet!!!!!
There is a law that is just not being enforced in Lebanon and the minister needs to be setting that straight and why can't other countries laws about protected species apply in other countries......politics I suppose or fear of reprisal.
Those pictures of such beautiful birds are gut wrenchingly sickening and as anothe rposter says, if they want to have their photos taken with the birds why are they so shy about having their faces blocked out, little people with no balls to face up to what they have done.
Surely some of our wildlife groups must be able to step in and try to help this situation and our Government. There must be something that can be done even it it is only for the protected species. Mybe as Wildlife Extra have highlighted this we should be posting on their site and asking what they intend to do with this information in a practical way.

littlewid-x-

I find it difficult to see how to reach a relevant party that can reach an audience to highlight this issue.

The Lebanon Eco Movement website is inactive with no content pages. Their facebook page is also empty.

I know nothing about Lebanon and the rule of law there.

It will be a shame not to do anything about this.

I have contacted the RSPB with the information on this story, asking them if they could suggest any International Organisation we could contact to start a petition to put pressuer on the Lebonese Government to act to stop the killings. I'll let you know if I get anything back
WS

I meant to say I contacted the RSPB on behalf of the Forum. This is a copy of what I sent.
I am a member, of a WildlifeForum called Wild About Animals which has members from all over the World. One of our members has brought to our attention a story from Lebanon about the slaughter of 1,000's of Birds of all species. They are being shot quite openly by not only Adults, but Children as well. This is a link to the story from Wildlife Extra
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/lebanon-bird-hunt.html#cr
The shooting of these Birds is banned in Lebanon, but the Lebonese Government are not taking any action to stop the massacre of these Birds which include White Stork
White Pelican
Common Crane
Griffon Vulture
Hobby
Sparrowhawk
Lesser Spotted Eagle
Steppe Eagle
We wondered if you knew of any International Organisation that we could contact to start a petition to put pressure on the Lebonese Government to act to stop this kiiling.

WS

WS, thats a solid email and lets hope it gets some response, there must be some organisations we can contact to put some pressure on the lebonese government. Looking forward to their response.

Chris thanks for checking the LEM web site and also their FB page, strangehow they alerted the Wildlife Extra group but now have no way of contacting them, I wonder if that is for fear of reprisals?

littlewid-x-

Got this reply from the RSPB today
Hello John, thank you for your email.

The RSPB and our partners in the BirdLife Middle East (BLME) office are
well aware of the hunting situation as are BirdLife Partners in Lebanon
and the wider Middle East region, it is a very sad situation. Illegal
and indiscriminate hunting of birds is one of the major challenges and
priorities the BirdLife Middle East partnership are relentlessly trying
to address.

Although, all the pictures have been seen before and are at least not
showing new carnage the BLME staff have no doubt it is continuing
unabated. BLME have initiated several initiatives through our BirdLife
Partner in Lebanon, the Society for Protection of Nature in Lebanon
(SPNL), in the last few years in attempts to curb this untenable and
unacceptable situation. In 2011, they embarked into a new initiative in
Lebanon in partnership with ministry of Environment, UNDP to address the
hunting threat in Lebanon and to deal with this complicated
Environmental, Economic & Social issue through a well thought out and
agreed plan with all stakeholders. This was made possible through the
Migratory Soaring Bird Project.
http://www.birdlife.org/migratorysoaringbirds/

Since the project inception some milestones have been achieved:

- the activation of the Higher Hunting Council, which plays a
crucial role in the management of the hunting sector by setting the
foundations for the implementation of the new hunting law, and therefore
ensuring that the conservation of soaring birds is firmly integrated and
enforced within the legislation;
- holding several awareness and capacity building workshops with
participation of wide key stakeholders and targeted groups;
- the development of varied communication and awareness materials,
including: Social media tools; Toyourna social media network ( 6 social
media tools: Facebook, twitter, YouTube Channel, goggle, word press,
flicker photo stream) and others please see:
http://toyourna.wordpress.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/#!/toyourna
- the development of technical materials to aid responsible
hunting, including: Sustainable Hunting Educational CD, A guide for the
hunting exam for the hunters and the content for hunting exam to be used
by the hunting clubs, a business plan for sustainable hunting management
in Lebanon, guidance to support Lebanon's ratification to international
agreements not ratified yet, analysis of the existing national policies
and legislation related to hunting in Lebanon to highlight identified
gaps in policies & legislations.

Also, SPNL is supporting a related petition on the issue and BLME are in
the process to spread this petition regionally as well as globally
through a focused campaign developed to address hunting threats in
Lebanon.

I hope this has helped give some indication of what Birdlife is doing in
Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East. The RSPB are assisting
the BLME with funding to help them continue with these projects.

Birdlife International, which the RSPB are the UK members of, should
have further information on work being done in the Middle East. Their
website is http://www.birdlife.org

Yours sincerely


Richard James
Wildlife Advisor
RSPB UK HQ
The Lodge, Sandy, Beds, England
SG19 2DL
01767 693690
http://www.rspb.org.uk

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WS