The Council of Europe’s Bern Convention is launching a social media campaign to raise awareness on illegal bird killing. The launch coincides with a report by the BirdLife Partnership which underlines the extent of this environmental crisis. An estimated 36 million birds are illegally killed every year while migrating in the Mediterranean region, causing some species to decline by up to 30%; and even disappear completely from some regions. This kind of wildlife crime has become one of the largest transnational organised illicit activities, alongside trafficking in drugs, arms, and human beings.
According to the report most European countries have conservation laws, but “despite this strong legal protection, a number of illegal activities continue to threaten birds in Europe, including trapping of passerines for food consumption, shooting of protected species for ‘sport’ and poisoning raptors for ‘predator control”. Moreover, in spite of the scale of this threat to wildlife, most indicators demonstrate that public awareness is relatively low amongst Europeans.
“The Last Tweet” campaign focuses on four different birds who tell their migration stories from four different Twitter accounts, sometimes funny and sometimes poignant, up until their their deaths at the hands of illegal bird killers. Since the last words someone says before they die have always held great importance socially, these birds use their last tweet to send their message: stop illegal bird killing.
