ACAP funds seven projects from its 2019 Small Grants Programme – and makes a call for 2020 applications

Balearic Shearwater Pep Arcos 

Balearic Shearwater at sea, photograph by Pep Arcos

The Small Grants Programme aims to assist ACAP meet its objective of achieving and maintaining a favourable conservation status for albatrosses and petrels.

Sixteen applications were received from seven Parties in response to the 2019 call by the ACAP Small Grants Programme made in September last year.  Of these, seven projects from six Parties were approved for funding, as set out below. Notable are three funded projects to study aspects of the Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus.  Funding disbursed totalled AUS$ 134 296.

It is expected that execution of at least some of the funded projects may be delayed to a greater or lesser extent by travel or other restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Party

Project Title

Project Manager

CHILE

Examining the efficacy of the ‘snatch block’ in reducing seabird bycatch in Southern Cone trawl fisheries

Cristián Suazo
Albatross Task Force-Chile/ BirdLife International-CODEFF

ECUADOR

Complete population survey of Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata on Española Island, Galapagos

Washington Tapia Aguiler
Galapagos Conservancy

FRANCE

Estimating encounter with fisheries and mortality risks of juvenile Wandering and Amsterdam Albatrosses

Henri Weimerskirch
Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC-CNRS)

SOUTH AFRICA

Development of a bird-scaring line compliance monitoring device

Andrea Angel
BirdLife South Africa

SPAIN

Colaborando para el desarrollo de medidas de mitigación de las capturas accidentales de pardela balear y otras aves marinas en el Mediterráneo español [Working together to develop measures to mitigate bycatch of Balearic Shearwater and other seabirds in the Spanish Mediterranean]

José Manuel 'Pep' Arcos
SEO/BirdLife

SPAIN

Factores influyentes en la mortalidad de la pardela balear Puffinus mauretanicus por la contaminación lumínica [Factors influencing the mortality of the Balearic Shearwater due to light pollution]

Airam Rodríguez Martín
Islands Biodiversity Research Initiative (IRBI)

UK

Demographic monitoring, at-sea movements, and scavenging behaviour in the Balearic Shearwater

Tim Guilford
Department of Zoology
Oxford University

Applications are now sought to the 2020 round of the Small Grants Programme for project funding in 2021.  Total funding of approximately AUD 86 000 is available for allocation. Applicants are encouraged to develop proposals that account for the practical challenges and limitations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applications close on 30 October 2020.  Applications will only be accepted from ACAP Parties, and may be submitted in English, French or Spanish.  Applicants will be advised of the outcome of their applications by 28 February 2021.  Click here to access detailed  information and the 2020 application form available in all three ACAP official languages..

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 September 2020

The Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

ACAP is a multilateral agreement which seeks to conserve listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters by coordinating international activity to mitigate known threats to their populations.

About ACAP

ACAP Secretariat

119 Macquarie St
Hobart TAS 7000
Australia

Tel: +61 3 6165 6674