Center Seeks Protection for 56 Vanishing Birds and Five Imperiled Butterflies Around the World

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Center Seeks Protection for 56 Vanishing Birds and Five Imperiled Butterflies

Around the World

 

November 16, 2006 — By the Center for Biological Diversity

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a

lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for

failing to provide protection for scores of the world's most imperiled bird

species, in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

 

The species include the rare Okinawa Woodpecker in Japan and 55 other vanishing

birds from around the globe. Also at issue is protection for five of the world's

rarest and most beautiful butterfly species.

 

At least 11 additional bird species not included in the lawsuit have already

gone extinct due to long delays in protecting them, according to Peter Galvin,

Conservation Director with the Center.

 

The USFWS first determined that protection is warranted under the Endangered

Species Act (ESA) more than two decades ago for many of these species. Two dozen

of the bird species have been waiting for final action since 1984, and 27 have

been waiting since 1994. It has been more than a decade since the USFWS received

a petition to list the foreign butterflies, despite clear evidence that these

species are imperiled

 

" The U.S. has a responsibility to help protect these magnificent birds for

future generations, " says Galvin. " We can limit trade in these vanishing

species, and better assist with conservation and recovery efforts if they are

listed under the Endangered Species Act. " According to Galvin, listing can also

bring a higher level of scrutiny to projects proposed by the U.S. government and

multilateral lending agencies such as the World Bank.

 

Endangered Species Act protection is particularly relevant for the Okinawa

Woodpecker (Sapheopipo noguchii) due to ongoing destruction of its forest

habitat. A small number of woodpeckers remain in undisturbed subtropical forests

in the northern mountainous region of the island of Okinawa, Japan. A major

threat to woodpecker habitat is a joint U.S. and Japanese military proposal to

construct additional helicopter training landing areas, including roads and

infrastructure.

 

" The Okinawa Woodpecker is an international treasure as well as an ecological

and cultural icon for Okinawans, " says Galvin.

 

The Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in 2003 against the USFWS for

unreasonable delays in responding to Endangered Species Act listing petitions

submitted in 1980 and 1991 for 73 foreign birds. That case forced the agency to

issue a long-overdue finding in 2004 that 51 of the birds warrant ESA listing.

 

The Bush administration has listed fewer species under the ESA than any other

administration since the law was enacted in 1973, to date only listing 56

species compared to 512 under Clinton and 234 under Bush Sr.

 

While awaiting ESA protection, several of the bird species are suffering harm

from trapping and trade (primarily for sale as pets), such as the Uvea Parakeet

(New Caledonia), Salmon-crested Cockatoo (Indonesia) and Blue-throated Macaw

(Bolivia). The macaw likely only numbers between 75 and 150 individual birds in

the wild.

 

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national non-profit conservation

organization with more than 25,000 members dedicated to protecting endangered

species and their habitat.

 

 

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances,

there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in

such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest

we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

William O. Douglas