Southern Giant Petrels nesting at Harmony Point, Nelson Island in maritime Antarctica; photograph by Julia Finger. Giant petrels were identified in the risk assessment published by the SCAR Antarctic Wildlife Health Network (AWHN) as at risk of becoming infected by HPAI, and transporting the virus.

Protocols and guidance documents for H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) have been released by the Governments of the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas* (FIG) and South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands/Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur* (GSGSSI).

There were no reports of HPAI over the 2022/2023 season, however, with wide-spread outbreaks occurring across South America this year, there is increased concern the virus will arrive in the region in the 2023/2024 season. 

The Falkland Islands’ Avian influenza Guidance Booklet and the Government of South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands’ Biosecurity Handbook provide detailed information on HPAI for a range of stakeholders. Such information includes, signs and symptoms, assessing the risk of HPAI and detecting its presence, reporting requirements, biosecurity procedures, and more.

The documents are available here:

• South Georgia/Islas Georgias del Sur*: https://www.gov.gs/biosecurity-handbook-update-released/ and here: https://www.gov.gs/docsarchive/environment/#tab-3)
• Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas*: https://falklands.gov.fk/agriculture/avian-influenza 

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP), the Committee for Environment Protection (CEP) and the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) stated on the SCAR website of their “[concern] about the heightened risk of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreaks in Antarctica in the 2023/24 season and the devastating impacts it could have on the region’s unique wildlife.” 

The SCAR Antarctic Wildlife Health Network (AWHN) also published a paper, Biological Risk Assessment of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in the Southern Ocean, describing this deepening threat. 

ACAP’s Co-convenor of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels’ Population and Conservation Status Working Group (PaCSWG) and Environmental Analyst for Brazil’s National Centre for Research and Conservation of Wild Birds, Patricia Serafini, has co-authored a set of guidelines for working with albatrosses and petrels during an outbreak of HPAI which are available to download at the ACAP website under Conservation Guidelines.

04 October 2023

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

ACAP Parties, Ecuador and Brazil, have both signed the BBNJ Agreement. Pictured (left - right) H.E. Mr. Gustavo Manrique Miranda, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of the Republic of Ecuador and H.E. Mr. Mauro Luiz Iecker Vieira, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federative Republic of Brazil

More than 70 nations including nine ACAP Parties have signed the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction. 

The treaty also known as the agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction or 'BBNJ', opened for signature on Wednesday 20 September at the 78th U.N. General Assembly in New York. 

The BBNJ, which covers the near two-thirds of the ocean lying outside national boundaries, is a legally binding instrument aiming to protect marine biodiversity in international waters. 

It provides a legal framework for governing the vast areas of waters beyond national boundaries by incorporating a number of mechanisms to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of BBNJ. These include, provisions on marine genetic resources, environmental impact assessments, the creation of marine protected areas, and more.

ACAP Parties, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, France, New Zealand, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom have signed the BBNJ. The full list of signatories can be found at the UN site for the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, here.

The BBNJ will remain open for signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York until 20 September 2025 and requires 60 ratifications to enter into force.

02 October 2023

Pink-footed Shearwaters inside the Coastal Marine Protected Area, Mar de Juan Fernández; photograph by Héctor Gutiérrez Guzmán

Applications for the Agreement’s 2023 Secondment Programme are closing soon. 

Applicants are encouraged to develop proposals that progress the Agreement’s objective to achieve and maintain a favourable conservation status for albatrosses and petrels. Emphasis should be placed on tasks outlined in the work programs of the Advisory Committee (see Annex 4, AC13 Report) and Secretariat (see Annex 5, AC13 Report).

Previous successful applications have proposed: an investigation of the social factors behind the adoption or avoidance of seabird bycatch mitigation measures in fisheries, knowledge-sharing between Parties on mitigation techniques and outreach approaches to fishers, addressing gaps in population data of and threats to specific ACAP-listed species, and enhancing dog detection skills for invasive species control and seabird survey capabilities. 

Only applications from ACAP Parties will be considered, and applications should foster cross-Party collaboration, and promote knowledge-sharing and capacity-building within Parties.

Applicants are encouraged to contact the Working Group Convenors, the Advisory Committee Chair or Vice-chair, or the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to help identify ACAP priority areas for their proposal. 

Completed applications (in any of the three Agreement languages – English, French or Spanish) are to be submitted to relevant ACAP National Contact Points, who will then forward them to the ACAP Secretariat by Monday 16 October 2023.

The 2023 application forms, in all three ACAP official languages, are available to download here.

29 September 2023 

A preening Buller’s Albatross, artwork by Virginia Nicol of Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature for ACAP, after a photograph by Laurie Johnson

Its Bird of the Year time again in Australia and New Zealand. Could an ACAP-listed species win for the first time this year?

In New Zealand the annual Bird of the Year competition, organized by the national BirdLife partner, Forest & Bird, writes:

“In 2023, we’re searching for our Bird of the Century. Aotearoa New Zealand’s favourite election is back, and the stakes are higher than ever before. This year marks a whole century of Forest & Bird speaking up for nature. Join us in celebrating our 100th birthday by sharing the love for our fantastic feathered friends. But vote carefully, this year the winner is not just Bird of the Year, but Bird of the Century!”

This year two ACAP-listed species are included: the globally Endangered and Nationally Critical Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis and the globally Near Threatened and nationally Declining Buller’s Albatross Thalassarche bulleri, both endemic to New Zealand. ACAP has recognized the parlous state of the Antipodean Albatross by producing an infographic poster featuring it, sponsored by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation and freely available for downloading from this website. An ACAP infographic for Buller’s Albatross is intended to be produced in the first half of next year.

Two other pelagic seabirds are included: Cook’s Petrel Pterodroma cookii and Hutton’s Shearwater Puffinus huttoni.

ACAP Infographic for the Antipodean Albatross, artwork by Namo Niumim

Voting for New Zealand’s Bird of the Century opens at 09h00 NZST on Monday 30 October.

A Wandering Albatross on Australia’s Macquarie Island, photograph by Melanie Wells

Meanwhile, the globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatross D. exulans, the sole ACAP-listed species included in Australia’s Bird of the Year competition for 2023, currently ongoing, was eliminated yesterday after surviving the first two rounds of voting. No other pelagic seabird has been included. The competition is run by BirdLife Australia.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 28 September 2023