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Petitioning the United Kingdom Government via its Prime Minister is a long tradition, now brought up-to-date by the use of an on-line facility.

In 2009 Phil Bateman MBE e-petitioned No. 10: "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to make the appropriate arrangements to ensure that rare birds and animals in British Overseas Territories and British Protectorates receive enough financial resources to protect and enhance their survival." 

The full text of the petition called attention to the serious plight of the Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena of Gough Island in the South Atlantic (part of the UK Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha) whose chicks are ravaged every winter by introduced House Mice.

The UK Government's response to the petition, which received 983 signatures by closing date, was released on 22 January (click here).  In it, attention is drawn to the funding already made available to investigate methods of eradicating the island's mice (work which is currently underway).  In addition the reply draws attention to activities taken to forward conservation measures for albatrosses and petrels and implement the UK's commitments in the South Atlantic under the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.

However, the reply says the UK Government is unable meet all the funding requirements to address biodiversity conservation challenges in its Overseas Territories.  As a consequence it has commissioned a report looking at potential additional funding sources for OT biodiversity conservation - such as saving the Tristan Albatross by eradicating Gough's killer mice.

See also http://www.ukotcf.org/news/recentItems.cfm.

Search on Tristan Albatross on this web site to read earlier news stories about the threats facing the Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross and progress attained so far towards enhancing its conservation status.

The ACAP Species Assessment for the Tristan Albatross may be found on this web site.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 31 January 2010