MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Islands represented at Brazil ACAP meeting

THE Environmental Planning Officer says she was proud to represent the Falkland Islands at a conference in Brasilia this month.

Dominique Giudicelli attended a meeting of the ACAP (Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) advisory committee, an event for all countries and territories which have breeding and foraging albatrosses and petrels.

Ms Giudicelli attended the conference as part of the UK delegation, and says it was important for the Islands to be represented as places like the Falklands and Tristan da Cunha, whilst only tiny territories, are the only places in which people live and work next to or even among the breeding birds, "....and they need to be involved in decision making."

The meeting discussed the management of breeding sites, an area which, Ms Giudicelli said, the Falklands have made progress since the ACAP meeting hosted in Stanley in March: "Some of the landowners have been really helpful with this."

The conference heard that ACAP is to lobby the world's fishing organisations to work on mitigation measures for reducing seabird deaths on the high seas, an area in which Ms Giudicelli said the Falklands and South Georgia's progress record is "impeccable".

However she added that it was "invaluable" for the other ACAP countries to see, "...how the really positive contribution the Falklands make fits in with the global picture." She added, "We're doing well and it's great to be able to participate in this international effort."

Ms Giudicelli also met with the French delegation to discuss possible joint future funding bids from the EU for projects such as rat eradication, funding which she said could be "really useful." (PN)