ESPO (European Sea Ports Organisation)
Treurenberg 6 B - 1000 Brüssel
Phone: +32-273634-63   Fax: +32-273663-25   e-mail: mail@espo.be   Website: www.espo.be

Subject: Destruction of a Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus) colony at the port of Algeciras, Spain

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

The message of trapped famished chicks and their cruelly perished parent birds due to the irresponsible activities in Algeciras has caught worldwide attention within the last days. This horror is real, as witnesses and video clips prove.

I protest fiercely against this measure of extinction against a threatened (Red List, IUCN 2008) and Europe-wide protected species.

In November 2009, Mr. Manuel Morón Ledro, President of the Port Authority of Algeciras signed a “Declaration of Environmental Policy” stating that the port will “go beyond the normative fulfillment in matter of environment, and to increase the protection levels“. The destruction of the Swift colony contradicts this declaration. The Port Authority’s justification is an empirically not supported threat of air traffic on a helicopter landing pad to be build in close proximity.

If the responsible persons had considered the studies on bird strikes by Professor Ginati (ESA program “FlySafe”, Bird Strike Committee Europe), they had found that „[t]he rarity of serious bird-related accidents to helicopters and 4-engine aircraft is noteworthy“ (International Bird Strike Committee Proceedings and Papers, www.int-birdstrike.org/London_Papers/IBSC23 WP2.pdf). Around the globe, numerous examples demonstrate that safe air traffic and birds can exist jointly.

However, the destruction of nesting places to scare Pallid Swifts away is a total nonsense. Pallid Swifts are site-faithful and will return to their (closed) nesting places every year, circling around the facility and trying to get in. Furthermore, the port of Algeciras provides rich feeding grounds, so that there will always be numerous birds in this area.

Currently the Port Authority of Algeciras has tremendously tightened the problem they wanted to solve: Instead of breeding quietly, hundreds of birds circle around the building that contains their blocked nests.

Most states already realized that the destruction of flora and fauna destroys our livelihood as well. Protecting the environment and saving biodiversity is globally a major issue. All EU member states signed the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. No responsibly acting human being can tolerate that a EU member state trifles with nature!

I appeal to you: Make sure that the barred nesting places of the Pallid Swifts at the Port of Algeciras are reopened immediately! Make it possible for the birds to breed unhamperedly. Stop this disgusting war against a protected species by an EU member state!

I rely on your understanding and your responsible acting.

Sincerely,