ACTP

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots
(ACTP)
legal form registered association
founding 2006
founder Martin Guth
Seat Hanover , GermanyGermanyGermany 
main emphasis Species protection , parrot breeding
method breed
Action space Global
Website www.act-parrots.org

The Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots e. V. ( ACTP ) is a German non-governmental organization (NGO) that claims to be committed to protecting species in parrots . In 2018, the ACTP, founded in 2006, became the subject of media coverage and criticism from Australian and Dominican politicians and conservationists internationally because of controversial imports of highly endangered parrots .

Foundation, goals and locations

The founder and “man behind the ACTP” has been the private citizen Martin Guth, who lives near Berlin, since 2006. According to the company, ACTP carries out projects around the world with local partners to save endangered parrots and their habitats. This would include both in-situ and ex-situ measures.

Critics of the ACTP see their main activity in the breeding of captive parrots in Germany, which are referred to as "safety populations".

According to its own information (as of 2017), the ACTP operates parrot husbandry at several locations in Germany: a breeding facility in Tasdorf in Brandenburg , a quarantine center in nearby Schöneiche near Berlin and a winter station in Weeze in North Rhine-Westphalia . There is also a veterinary clinic in Achern, Baden-Württemberg . The association had its headquarters in Schöneiche near Berlin until 2018, but moved it to Hanover in 2018.

Participation in the Spix's Macaw project

Until the 1980s and 1990s, Spix's Macaws were poached for the international bird trade until they were extinct. Up to $ 80,000 was made per bird. The last free-range brood in 1987 were also poached. The only hope for the species to survive was a captive breeding program. However, Brazil did not have a suitable portfolio of its own for this purpose. The Brazilian government, advised by the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA), and since 1989 a permanent committee for the rescue of the Spix's Macaw (CPRAA), offered Spix's Macaw keepers to participate in the breeding program in 1990 wanted an amnesty and, in return, refrained from confiscation abroad. Trade in the species was ruled out under all circumstances. In the mid-1990s, the Swiss Roland Messer owned several Spix's Macaws, and there were dubious transactions. According to media reports, Messer was said to have been arrested for one day in Brazil at the end of 2008 for having carried ten parrot eggs in a special vest - apparently intended for smuggling abroad.

The last wild Spix's Macaw, a solitary bird, was observed until 2001; after its disappearance, the species is considered extinct in the wild. In 2005 the ownership of Spix's macaws was unclear. Messer sold Spix's Macaws to Martin Guth and a large number of birds to Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP) in Qatar , although it is unclear how many birds Guth owned for the time afterwards. In 2005 the BfN Guth approved the import of 3 Spix's Macaws. In 2009 the ACTP only had two Spix's Macaws, both females. As a result, it was exchanged or passed on to ACTP. In 2011 there were 7 Spix's Macaws at the ACTP. In 2011, two young animals hatched in the ACTP. In 2015, several participants in the breeding project succeeded in breeding a total of 20 young birds, and in 2016 Qatar reported at least 17 young birds. The ACTP hatched two young animals, two young animals were given to Brazil. In 2016, the owners committed themselves to deliver 70 percent of their offspring to Brazil for five years. On July 12, 2016, the ACTP was one of the signatories of a contract with the state of Brazil, along with AWWP, the operators of the Facenda Cachoeira in Brazil and the Parrots International association , which "is intended to specifically agree and financially secure the cooperation for the next ten years." In 2018, four years after the sudden death of the AWWP founder, their animal population was dissolved. Among other things, a large number of Spix's Macaws were transferred to the ACTP. According to the ACTP, the heirs were forced to take 120 Spix's Macaws out of the country. In 2018, four Spix's Macaws were passed on by the ACTP to the Belgian private zoo Pairi Daiza , which at least partially finances the activities of the ACTP on Dominica.

Experts in Brazil expressed clear concern about a planned reintroduction project for which ACTP's Macaws were transported to Brazil. Half of the Spix's Macaws brought to Brazil by ACTP tested positive for mycoplasma . Serious concerns were also expressed about the genetic diversity of the group. Compliance with quarantine regulations was also questioned. In addition, the experts complained that the animals, as well as the center built for the project, unlike usual, were not owned by the Brazilian state, but belonged to the ACTP association.

As part of its cooperation with Brazil, the ACTP also found another parrot species endemic to Brazil and breeds Lear's macaws .

Halmahera

In 2008 the Loro Parque Fundación (LPF) announced that the ACTP was a project partner on Halmahera alongside the ZGAP . The report can also be found on the ACTP website with an amount of € 50,000 already paid, although the ACTP's share is not shown. This participation can only be found in an archive version of the ACTP website. In a 2016 project report on the Halmahera King Parakeet, there is no reference to the ACTP.

Caribbean

St. Lucia

The ACTP is active on several Caribbean islands. So on St. Lucia, where endemic blue masked amazons ( Amazona versicolor ) live. Long before the ACTP was founded, the first protective measures began, in which international nature conservation organizations also participated. The species has been the national bird since 1979. In 2009 the ACTP presented themselves to the Ministry of Forestry as business people, not as conservationists on St. Lucia. The forest official warned of a contract with the ACTP. In 2009, ACTP donated SUVs to the Saint Lucia Forest Service. Since January 2010 there has been a breeding contract for the blue masked amazon between the ACTP and the government of St. Lucia. In 2018, the ACTP reportedly financed a nature experience center there. Amazons living in the zoo on St. Lucia were examined by the ACTP veterinarian Marcellus Bürkle in January 2018. The ACTP holds a publicly unknown number of these Amazons.

St. Vincent

King Amazon Parrot (Amazona guildingii) in Kingstown Botanical Gardens (Saint Vincent)

The King Amazon (Amazona guildingii), endemic there , lives on St. Vincent . The ACTP also runs a project of this kind, which also includes money and donations in kind. In August 2014, the St. Vincent government confirmed that it had a contract with the ACTP. It is wrong, however, that in return for money and material resources - for example three jeeps - it belongs and that it is planned to export Amazons to Germany. The opposition had placed such an arrangement under the government. ACTP information from 2015 shows three jeeps destined for St. Vincent and the Grenagines. Animals of this type are also owned by the ACTP.

Dominica

Imperial Parrot in the Parrot Conservation and Research Center Botanical Gardens, Roseau, Dominica (2004). Plant from which the import took place.

On the Caribbean island of Dominica two life endemic to: parrots Imperial Amazon ( Amazona imperialis ), which is also the emblem of the island and the blue-headed Amazon ( Amazona arausiaca ). Protection programs for both parrots have existed for decades for which the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF) worked together with local authorities and nature conservationists and the ZGAP (1989, 1990, 1993 and 2017) provided information and financial support. The RSCF and its local partners also succeeded in breeding an imperial parrot worldwide.

On September 18 and 19, 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Dominica. The habitats of the amazon species were also badly hit. As early as 1979, a hurricane Dominica had led to considerable losses also among the Amazons. Presumably only 70 Amazons survived in 1979. By 2017, according to BirdLife International , the populations had recovered to a maximum of 350 imperial and 1000 blue-headed amazons. In 2018, representatives of the ACTP visited the island with the veterinarian Marcellus Bürkle, who was in charge of the project, and took over the entire stock of amazons that lived in aviaries in the capital's botanical garden (two imperial and ten blue-headed amazons) .The parrots were taken out of the aviaries on a Saturday morning without informing the population . The transport took place on March 17, 2018 with a private charter plane via St. Lucia to Germany.

This led to national and international protests. The RSCF distanced itself sharply. The nature conservation organization BirdsCaribbean criticized the export and wanted the amazons to return. She explained that the ACTP had claimed to be providing emergency aid, but was surprisingly exporting to everyone. Two imperial amazons are far too few a number for a breeding program. A program based on this is scientifically doubtful and the protection of the species should be carried out on the island by locals. BirdsCaribbean also questioned the legality of the action. In addition to BirdsCaribbean and RSCF, American Bird Conservancy, City Parrots, Defenders of Wildlife, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Echo Bonaire, NABU , Pro Wildlife and Species Survival Network signed an open letter against this campaign. 40 scientists signed another letter of protest.

The ACTP responded to the criticism by pointing out that the action was legal and approved by the authorities in Dominica and Germany. She continued to publish veterinary reports on the poor health of the Amazons, which the RSCF disagreed with.

Imports from Australia

In the period from 2015 to November 2018, the ACTP imported 232 birds, including Carnaby's Black Cockatoo ( Calyptorhynchus latirostris ) and Baudin's Black Cockatoo ( Calyptorhynchus Baudinii ) Braunkopf cockatoos ( Calyptorhynchus lathami ) and Blauscheitelloris ( Glossopsitta porphyrocephala ) from Australia.

The export of native animals from Australia has been banned since the late 19th century and is only possible with special permits. The only exception is when the species is sent to a registered zoo for conservation, research or exhibition. A possibility that arises from the Cites classification of the Baudin's white-eared black-tailed cockatoo as Appendix II, which supplements this with the non-endangerment of the wild population.

There was criticism even before export. According to a report in the British daily The Guardian, there are still doubts about the legality of the export permits , which essentially stem from two problems: Martin Guth's criminal record was not stated, which would have been mandatory. And the ACTP is not a zoo, but a private collection. Australian conservationists interviewed by the Guardian also indicated that exports included non-threatened Australian species and that mutations continued to be among them. Both contradict the purpose of a "safety population" and point to trade. The Loris have been passed on to a Danish private collector, which does not comply with the export agreements. Animals of this kind were only legally exported to Europe in 2017, and never before, to a Spanish zoo. The ACTP would continue to trade in these protected species. A pair of brown-headed cockatoos costs € 95,000, two pairs € 180,000.

Two Australian politicians, Sarah Hanson-Young (Greens) and Warren Ent (Liberal National Party of Queensland) protested strongly against the export. On December 11, 2018, the Humane Society International Australia condemned exports by the ACTP and called for a tightening of the law.

For the threatened species that have been exported, there are successful Australian conservation plans in which government organizations and NGOs work together. According to a breeding report, Martin Guth already had experience with keeping black cockatoos in 2006. One source of export is the Priam Psittaculture Center.

In Australia, too, the ACTP donated $ 200,000 for a project involving the western parakeet ( Pezoporus wallicus flaviventris ). The project explained that if you had known the background, you would not have accepted this donation.

Origin and connections of Martin Guth

To the vita of Martin Guth

Martin Guth grew up in the GDR , broke off an apprenticeship to keep animals and went to the West in 1989, where he worked in a pet shop for a year . In 1992, he was a full-time nightclub operator at the time and became involved as a private debt collector for one of his suppliers . He was not licensed as a debt collection company . He kidnapped the debtors and threatened them u. a. cut off the fingers. In September 1996 this led to a conviction for hostage-taking , attempted fraud and extortion to five years imprisonment by the Potsdam district court . In 2009, a sentence of 20 months imprisonment followed due to seven extortion cases in the years 1998 and 1999, he according to judgment during the free passage has committed. The court recorded running an organization for endangered parrots as its primary activity in 2009.

Connections to the Abou-Chaker-Clan and Halbwelt in Berlin

When the film biography Bushido's times changing you was produced by Bernd Eichinger in 2010 , according to Bushido a sum was due to Arafat Abou-Chaker , which is said to have been declared as a donation to a parrot club. Abou-Chaker was a business partner of Messer. Martin Guth had close ties to the clan: A photo is said to show Guth and Arafat Abou-Chaker picking up his brother, who was convicted of pimping , from prison after a sentence. A few years ago Guth was traveling for months in a luxury car that was registered on Arafat Abou-Chaker. With an Abou-Chaker car, he and guests went on a shopping spree at European parrot breeders. The Berlin public prosecutor's office counts Guth as part of organized crime. The Frankfurt (Oder) public prosecutor's office investigated Guth and Abou-Chaker in 2015 on suspicion of drug trafficking and money laundering. The case is closed.

Working with illegal animal dealers

An ACTP breeding center in Wisbroek, the Netherlands, is run by a bird trader convicted of illegal animal trade in 2015.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Simon Degenhard: ACTP - a decade of commitment for the parrots . In: Parrots ., No. 2/2017, ISSN  0934-327X , pp 55-57.
  2. ↑ https://www.act-parrots.org/mission-ziel/
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Lisa Cox , Philip Oltermann : 'A legitimate zoo?' How an obscure German group cornered global trade in endangered parrots. In: The Gardian of December 10, 2018.
  4. ↑ Anita Albus : Of rare birds. S. Fischer Verlag 2016
  5. ↑ Species protection: The Loro Parque Fundación brings four more Spix's Macaws back to Brazil. In: Feathered World of June 25, 2013
  6. ^ Noel FR Snyder, Philip McGowan: Parrots: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 2000-2004. IUCN 2000, pp. 130f.
  7. ^ A b Tony Juniper: Spix's Macaw: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird. 2004 e.g. BS 211
  8. ^ A b Timo Nowack, Christian Bütikofer: Bushido and the IV pensioner - bankruptcies and parrots . In: Handelszeitung , May 16, 2013.
  9. ↑ A botched deal. In: Der Spiegel from January 15, 2001
  10. ^ A b Paul Donald, Nigel Collar , Stuart Marsden, Deborah J. Pain: Facing Extinction: The World's Rarest Birds and the Race to Save Them. 2nd edition 2013 A&C Black. Here: p. 207f.
  11. ↑ a b c d BfN press release: Spix's Macaws are expected to return to Brazil soon. from 2016.
  12. ↑ Andrea Weil: The last Spix macaws live in Schöneiche In: Märkische Oderzeitung from 07/10/2011, 5:52 pm - updated 07/11/2011, 10:35 am.
  13. ↑ ACTP: First Spix's Macaws hatched in 2011 ( Memento from January 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Berliner Morgenpost: Offspring of rare Spix's Macaws in Schöneiche
  14. ↑ Spix's Macaws brought from Qatar to the ACTP in Berlin. In: PARROT 07/2018
  15. ↑ Bastian Henrichs, Monika Keiler: Parrots at the Limit In: Greenpeace Magazin issue 5/2018.
  16. ↑ | Spix's Macaws in the Animal Park Pairi Daiza / Belgium In: Gefiederte Welt 11/2018
  17. ↑ Pairi Daiza. Accessed December 31, 2018 .
  18. ↑ a b Heike Kalbus: 22nd meeting of the Fund for Endangered Parrots. In: Parrots 12/2018.
  19. ↑ Cristiane Prizibisczki: Especialistas demonstram preocupação sobre projeto de reintrodução das ararinhas-azuis. (No longer available online.) In: oeco.org.br. March 3, 2020, formerly in the original ; accessed on June 11, 2020 (port).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.oeco.org.br
  20. ↑ News about endemic parrots from Halmahera, Indonesia. In: Cyanopsitta 2008
  21. ↑ Archive version of the ACTP website. Archived from the original on February 28, 2012 ; accessed on January 26, 2019 .
  22. ↑ HANOM BASHARI & IRFAN ROSYADI: Notes on the Halmahera King Parakeet. In: Parrots 7/2016 online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318853144_Anmeränke_zum_Halmahera-Konigssittich
  23. ↑ St Lucia parrot | Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. Retrieved January 1, 2019 .
  24. ↑ a b Parrot conservation in the lesser antilles with some comparison to the Puerto Rican efforts . In: Biological Conservation . tape 77 , no. 2-3 , January 1, 1996, ISSN  0006-3207 , pp. 159-167 , doi : 10.1016 / 0006-3207 (96) 00005-5 ( sciencedirect.com [accessed January 1, 2019]).
  25. ↑ Blue Masked Parrot. In: ACTP. Accessed January 1, 2019 (German).
  26. ↑ ACTP finances nature experience center on Saint Lucia. In: PARROTS 03/2018
  27. ↑ ACTP: News from the Caribbean. Retrieved January 26, 2019 .
  28. ↑ King Parrot. In: ACTP. Accessed January 1, 2019 (German).
  29. ↑ St Vincent government dismisses allegations of trading endangered parrots for aid. In: Caribbean360. August 15, 2014; Retrieved January 1, 2019 (American English).
  30. ↑ January 2015. In: ACTP. Accessed January 1, 2019 (German).
  31. ↑ MIA: St. Vincent Amazons breeding season 2018 started. In: ACTP. June 2, 2018, accessed on January 1, 2019 (German).
  32. ^ A b Gunther Willinger: Zoff about parrots in Germany . In: Spectrum from May 16, 2018.
  33. ↑ Reillo, PR, S. Durand, R. Winston, M. Maximea, and D. Williams. 2002. Flying high with the Jaco and Sisserou: real-time parrot conservation on Dominica, nature island of the Caribbean. Amazona Society UK 11 (4): 7-19. Reillo, PR 2001. Imperial Recovery: Dominica's flagship parrot on the comeback. Psittascene 13: 4-5.
  34. ↑ ZGAP - projects - annual overview. May 14, 2013, archived from the original on February 28, 2012 ; accessed on December 31, 2018 .
  35. ↑ Reillo, PR, Durand, S. and M. Burton. 2011. First captive breeding of the imperial parrot. Zoo Biology 30: 328-341.
  36. ↑ ACTP: News from the Caribbean. Retrieved January 26, 2019 .
  37. ↑ Gov't says rare bird 'transfer' legal; made for breeding purposes - Dominica News Online. Accessed December 31, 2018 .
  38. ↑ BirdsCaribbean questions export of endangered Dominican parrots In: Dominica News Online of April 19, 2018.
  39. ↑ BirdsCaribbean: BirdsCaribbean Speaks Out on Recent Controversial Export of Threatened Parrots from Dominica to Germany from April 3, 2018.
  40. ↑ petchary: Letter to the UN Environment Program express train Concern Over Transfer of Rare Parrots Dominican to Germany. In: Petchary's Blog. April 9, 2018, accessed December 31, 2018 .
  41. ↑ UNEP told Dominica parrots controversy is of grave concern - Dominica News Online. Accessed December 31, 2018 .
  42. ↑ ACTP reacts to allegations from conservationists PARROTS 06/2018
  43. ↑ Linked from the RSCF homepage: Independent review of ACTP's health report on exported Dominican parrots
  44. ↑ ACTP receives Brown-headed Cockatoos from Australia . In: Parrots , No. 11/2015.
  45. ↑ Carly Cassella : Australia Sent Hundreds of Rare Birds to a German Zoo That Might Not Actually Be a Zoo on www.sciencealert.com on December 13, 2018
  46. ↑ Australian Government: Forest Black Cockatoo (Baudin's Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus baudinii and Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus banksii naso) Recovery Plan , (2008) p. 15.
  47. ↑ a b c d e f g Alexander Fröhlich: Abou-Chaker and organized bird breeding. In: Der Tagesspiegel. December 12, 2018, accessed December 30, 2018 .
  48. ↑ Hanson-Young on their verified Twitteraccaunt: https://twitter.com/sarahinthesen8/status/1072707550699634689
  49. ↑ HSI calls for Parliamentary Inquiry after shocking wildlife export revalations
  50. ↑ Example: Calyptorhynchus latirostris
  51. ↑ Example: Calyptorhynchus baudinii
  52. ↑ Guth, M. & Deiner, M .: German first breeding of the Gelbohrer Black Cockatoo. In: PARROTS 04/2006 XY
  53. ↑ Bushido: "If something happens to me, my family will be taken care of". In: Stern 2018
  54. ↑ Peter Rossberg, Axel Lier: An association for the protection of endangered parrots, which is active worldwide and its amalgamation to the Berlin underworld of the clans. Podcast from December 12, 2018.