Thanks to Chris Bowden, our Globally Threatened Species Officer & SAVE Programme Manager, we have an update from warmer climes!
Our 4th annual SAVE meeting was held in Dhaka last month and the inaugural session was pleased to have Mr. Abul Maal A Muhith, Bangladesh’s Honourable Finance Minister as Chief Guest. But we were all delighted by the Minister’s totally supportive speech on the great importance of vultures, on the urgency of removing diclofenac, and even ketoprofen which is also known to be unsafe but popular with vets (a step that none of the neighbouring countries have yet taken). This was a truly memorable moment! All of this in front of five national TV channels and many more press, which since Mr. Abul Maal A Muhith is second only to the Prime Minister is hardly surprising I guess?
The SAVE meeting went very well, and updated the SAVE priorities, and the ‘Blueprint for Recovery of South Asia’s Critically Endangered Gyps vultures’ with all five SAVE countries and the thirteen Partners all reporting and working together. It was especially pleasing to see major progress being made in Bangladesh particularly over the past one year, and there was further excitement during the post-meeting excursion when participants observed the first Bangladesh Slender-billed vulture for thirty years!
We all look forward to seeing progress in Bangladesh, (there are less than 500 vultures left in total, so the urgency is clear) and our sincere thanks to IUCN Bangladesh and the Forest Department for making us all so welcome. Mr Muhith’s support however may be the vultures’ greatest hope for the future. Further updates and report with follow on www.save-vultures.org
Photo credit: Sarowar Alam Dipu/IUCN : The Hon Finance Minister of Bangladesh (right) addressing the 4th SAVE Meeting in Dhaka.