Silent Forest Campaign

What is going on with the EAZA "Silent Forest / Asian Songbird Crisis Campaign" in zoos in Europe ?

I heard fairly recently from a zoochatter that this program may be in trouble and is being discontinued in and across European zoos.

 

I really have no Idea what this is, but it sounds interesting.

 

It is very interesting indeed and a very pertinent campaign too, check it out in the link and video below.



Silent Forest – To address and mitigate the ongoing songbird extinction crisis in Asia

 

Thanks for sharing. Were there any reports of this taking place, and do you think this would have been successful?

 

You mean about the program being discontinued ?

I only heard about it from a zoochatter and I have no idea if or why it would be being discontinued.

It seems like a brilliant campaign / initiative that combines ex-situ and in-situ conservation and public awareness raising / environmental education.

This is why I am asking the question to find out if anyone knows more about this.

 

Yes, I mean about the program being discontinued, sorry for not being that clear. Where on zoochat did you hear this may I ask? And it does sound very brilliant, I too have no Idea why the program was stopped. I am sorry but I only just googled it when I first saw this thread, so I have pretty much no Idea about this.

 

Yes, I gathered from your first comment that you hadn't heard about it before.

I heard it from @ThylacineAlive I believe in a comment in the zoochat media gallery.

This was probably over a month ago and it just came to mind now so I wanted to see if anyone knows any more about this.

 

Well now that you mentioned him, he will probably see this and hopefully provide a little more insight towards this canceled campaign.

 

I hope so, as I would really like to know what is going on with it and why it may be in trouble.

 

And it is truly a shame, since many of Asia's songbirds are endangered, and are precious and and visually stunning, and I would hate to have any of these marvelous animals to be wiped out.

 

Yes, it is, I agree.

If the campaign is being discontinued (and I'll wait for someone better informed than I am about if this is indeed what is happening) then it is also more than a little irritating and disappointing too.

 

Yes, there is a possibility it is still taking place, and I do sure hope that it isn't discontinued.

 

Unfortunately the campaign was discontinued in December 2019. About Silent Forest – Silent Forest

 

But, as it says at the end of the link, they are still supporting in-situ projects for the conservation of these songbirds, in a lesser extent. It is now a project entirely managed by the songbird TAG, with them still fundraising to donate to in-situ NGOs in Southeast Asia.

 

If I understand correctly it was always supposed to be a time limited conservation campaign focussing on specific issues.

EDIT: this is the current campaign

According to the website

Silent Forest was the first EAZA conservation campaign focused primarily on birds, particularly songbirds of Southeast Asia. Songbirds have become the subject of an excessive and strong culturally rooted consumption for trade, singing competitions, pet trade, export traditional medicine and food. The Campaign ran from 2017-2019


What we do now
The Silent Forest Group is a working group of the EAZA Songbird Taxon Advisory Group collecting and sharing information on the Asian Songbird Crisis caused by unsustainable and illegal trade. Actively fundraising, providing project management and technical support services for in-situ PROJECTS. Overseeing and linking relevant ex-situ PROGRAMS sharing resources. Promoting songbirds, increasing knowledge, awareness, and commitment to action with educational ACTIVITIES within and beyond the zoo community.

 

My bad guys.

I should have read through the page more thoroughly as I just assumed it was a long term project by zoos rather than one with a set end date.

 

Thank you for your comment @Jungle Man

Great to hear that it will continue to support in-situ projects and fundraising for NGOs in South-East Asia !

That is very encouraging !

 

No worries, I had no idea either, we all make mistakes.

 

Not worried about it at all.

I'm actually just relieved that efforts continue to try to bolster ex-situ populations, support in-situ work and raise awareness.

 

Found this paper "The elephant in the room: addressing the Asian songbird crisis".

It was written before the beginning of the campaign and discusses in depth the crisis of capture of wild birds for the caged songbird trade in Asia and the inspiration for the "silent forest" initiative in zoos.

Very interesting, well worth a read for anyone interested and it is free with no paywall so I'll post a link to it below :

https://www.silentforest.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Elephant-in-Room.pdf