Initiative: Threat Assessment

By

After a successful 10-year partnership for Siberian Crane Flyway Conservation, the International Crane Foundation announced the population of Siberian Cranes in the eastern flyway region has increased from less than 3,500 in 2015 to almost 7,000 cranes today. The Foundation held closing ceremonies in China last week to celebrate the Saving Wildlife for Siberian Crane Project, with 110 representatives from government departments, protected areas, scientific research institutions, non-governmental organizations, volunteers, and communities attending the ceremony and workshop.

Initiative: Threat Assessment

By

Captive-rearing programs have successfully bolstered the number of Whooping Cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population (EMP) from the initial releases of captive-reared juveniles in 2001 to the present.

Initiative: Threat Assessment

By

As the human population grows, the demand for energy, especially from renewable resources such as wind and solar, has drastically increased. This has accelerated the construction of wind turbines, solar farms, and power lines in the United States. When new energy infrastructure is placed in or near crane habitats, it can disrupt their movement patterns and reduce available resources.

Initiative: Threat Assessment

By

Whooping Cranes are one of the rarest birds in the world. They are particularly susceptible to collisions with powerlines, many of which are fatal, and this impedes the recovery of the species.

Initiative: Threat Assessment

By

A dead Grey Crowned Crane lies below a transmission line in southwest Uganda.

A sudden movement causes a Grey Crowned Crane pair to flush, leaping upwards until one of the cranes unknowingly collides with a powerline near their roost site. The bird later is found below the line with a wing injury or is killed immediately from the impact or electrocution.

Initiative: Threat Assessment

By

I was working in Zambia when word came that the United States would pull out of the international Paris Agreement on climate change. Listening to this news with a group of Zambian colleagues, I was saddened. In Zambia, and nearly everywhere we work around the world, climate change is treated as a life or death matter. The prospect of intensely prolonged droughts and water shortages, chronic food insecurity, power outages, coastal land loss under rising seas, and extremely violent storms doesn’t bode well for poor countries like Zambia that lack the resources to adapt to these daunting challenges. These countries have contributed little to global warming but face the brunt of its impacts.

Initiative: Threat Assessment

By

ICF President Dr. Rich Beilfuss recently returned from a three-week field visit to advance ICF’s Africa Program in three important “crane countries” — Uganda, Rwanda, and Zambia. Following is part two of Rich’s field notes, highlighting wetland restoration and conservation activities in Rwanda. Read Rich’s field notes from Uganda and Zambia.