Marsh Owl at Merja Zerga in the breeding season - ethics (1 Viewer)

[Piqa]

Hello,

Birders here in BF probably have something to say about one of the issues raised in this blog post: visiting the breeding area to see the Marsh Owl at Merja Zerga with or without the help of birding guides (local/visitors):

Moroccan Marsh Owl: what can we do to prevent the extinction?

 

[Piqa]

If you notice that this is similar to issues discussed in this forum years ago about the Northern Bald Ibis which is a globally threatened species. Shouldn’t we care like this about the Marsh Owl because it is not globally threatened? It is regionally rare, localised and threatened and that’s probably enough to care about it.

We want to note that this is done only by a minority as Chris Bowden (then from RSPB) and other BF members put it clear in the case of Northern Bald Ibis in this thread: Disgraceful birders - Plea to help protection of Northern Bald Ibis, Morocco. Bowden wrote:

"I want to thank the 95+% of birders and bird tour leaders who visit southern Morocco each year and respect the importance of the last colony of the Critically Endangered Northern Bald Ibis, by searching for the birds away from the main breeding colony at Tamri"

 

[lostinjapan]

Hi Abdelhak

I just returned from a visit to Morocco where I was lucky enough to see Marsh Owl at three sites. We made sure that no breeding sites were disturbed during our visit to Sidi Bouharba & Merja Zerga. The last sighting was made at the migration watchpoint of Cap Blanc during exceptional weather.

At Sidi Bouharba it is possible to view the owls distantly from the edge of the protected area of the reserve & in many ways it was gratifying to see that at least one area in Morocco had protection in more than just name only.

Merja Zerga on the other hand was rather worrying, not really because of the pressure of irresponsible visiting birders, but rather because of other factors.

The trees at the famous Moulay Boussalem site were cut down in 2010 and it would seem some trees were cut down in the area around the Nador Channel too.

Moreover, when we visited the Nador site, we intended ( & did) view from a distance any owls coming from their roosts. Local people though told me they knew where to see the owls & their young & wanted to show us for a fee. I refused & tried to explain in my poor French we wanted to view all birds from a distance.

Eventually a 'guardian' turned up - Hamor Rhadia who wanted us to stay & had business cards of many tour leaders. If we had more time or knew of him earlier we might have got him to guide us. However, we wished to return to Zaer & I also felt that because they knew where the nests were it might mean they would have led us to them & further disturbed the birds.

I feel that perhaps the main issue for the owls is not so much pressure from visiting birders, but rather a lack of education on disturbance to the birds diring the breeding season & their importance as a relict species among the local guides & people in general. If a code of conduct were in place for both birders & guides it might help stop disturbance during the breeding season.

If birders can view from a distance, the disturbance should be minimal. However, the guides should also know this & not take visitors to nest sites or too close to birds. I also heard some local boatmen have guided foreign birders by boat, which may be a better way to view the birds, although ultimately cause more disturbance to resting or breeding waterbirds & so perhaps shouldn't be permitted in the breeding season.

The general pressure on the use of water, pollution from various sources, overgrazing, marsh drying out & being used to cultivate are all further & perhaps much greater pressures on these birds that urgently need to be addressed.

Sean Minns
EMU Seabird & Marine mammal surveyor

 

[Mohamed Amezian]

Sean,

I am glad you have seen the Marsh Owl and in three occasions.
As everyone can see, Merja Zerga as site has a lot of problems and by the way has no legal protection. It is a SIBE (Site of Biological and Ecological Importance) and a Ramsar site, but both statuses have no legal obligation here in Morocco. The only legal status for protected sites is “National Parks” which also have their problems, but a least the sites are protected legally and people can use this legal framework.

What can be said about the site is applicable to the Marsh Owl (I can see it here as a flagship species) and pressure from tourists isn’t the only cause of decline but there are other causes such as habitat loss as you have said and also highlighted in the blog post in the OP. Something really needs to be done, if we want our children and grandchildren to see these beautiful birds here in the comings years.

On the other hand, I hope you enjoyed your trip to the Sahara and you have managed to see you target species. I hope also that your seawatching experience with the Association Nature Initiative is a success. Looking forward to reading the trip report. Your friend have already uploaded some photographs from the trip (M. Mediani forwarded me this link): http://rongbuk.squarespace.com/morroco-2012/morocco-2012/

regards,

 

[Paul Chapman]

I wish Sean had shared some of his luck.

We visited between 22nd and 27th March flying into and out of Cassablanca and confining ourselves to the coastal strip between Oualidia in the south and Merja Zerga in the north.

We failed to see Marsh Owl despite visiting Lac de Sidi Bourhaba on 23rd and Merja Zerga on 24th. I hope to put together a bit of a short report and I'll post the link when I have done so. That said you'll be better off reading Sean's by the look of it!

(A friend has put some of his photos on Flickr:- http://www.flickr.com/photos/clevedonbirds/sets/72157629710446843/)

All the best

 

[lostinjapan]

Maybe I should start a new thread...bu as you asked on here I guess I should reply on here about our trip.

We did have a great time in the W Sahara and Morocco. The Association Nature Initiative ( ANI):

http://www.nature-initiative.com/

were really great. They helped us to camp two nights in the desert along the Aousserd Rd and have use of their 4x4 to spotlight in areas that would otherwise have been inaccessible to us. Our guide Mohammed Lamine Semlali was very knowledgeable about the fauna, people & geography of the region & showed us some potentially exciting new spots in the Dahkla & Aousserd area.

We were also able to go out on the ANI Zodiac. Alas the weather was too poor for seawatching at the entrance to the bay & to see cetaceans. Maybe a return in autumn or early winter might be better.

Dahkla Bay has perhaps the only three Atlantic Humpbacked Dolphin in Morocco & hugely important numbers of waders & needs to be protected to prevent the fragile ecosytem being destroyed by over-exploitation of natural resources & industrialization through sustainable development.

I am hoping to help the ANi with translations of information into English, help with raising funds, set up some voluntary projects such as wader counts in the bay or surveys of their reserve for reintroduced gazelle & ostrich.

Most importantly the group wants to establish links with British Conservation groups like the RSPB or Scientific study groups like the BTO or the Whale & Dolphin Society and would be willing to help with research projects on fauna or flora in the region.

They also urgently need professional veterinary advice to help with their ongoing reintroduction scheme for Dorcas and Cuvier's Gazelle, as they have limited knowledge in this area.

I published a short list of sightings on the Go South website:

http://www.go-south.org/

A full trip report should be available from the end of May.

Lastly here is a link to some of my shots from the trip on Facebook:

https://m.facebook.com/connect.php?...76886137702.256091.637462702&__user=637462702

I'll shortly post some of these shots on the ANI Facebook page too.

Regards

Sean