On 28 June 2013, the European Union published a new Directive on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations in its Official Journal. The Directive represents a significant milestone as this is the first time that oiled wildlife response is specifically mentioned within European legislation. Sea Alarm welcomes the inclusion of protection of oiled wildlife within the scope of this Directive.
Sea Alarm is pleased to introduce Paul Kelway as our new Global Preparedness Coordinator. Paul comes to Sea Alarm with a strong background in international oil spill response work. As Emergency Relief Manager for International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)’s Oiled Wildlife Division and then as Executive Director at International Bird Rescue (IBR), Paul has worked closely with many key organisations and individuals in the oiled wildlife response field.
In March Wildtierstation Hamburg hosted the European Oiled Wildlife Responders’ meeting, which was attended by Sea Alarm, the RSPCA, ProBird and Wildlife Rescue Centre Ostend. A highlight of the meeting was a tour of the new rehabilitation facility outside of Hamburg, which Wildtierstation Hamburg is in the process of refurbishing.
As part of Sea Alarm’s ongoing efforts to enhance collaborative, professional oiled wildlife response, an MOU with Belgium’s Wildlife Rescue Centre Ostend (WRCO) was signed in January. Sea Alarm and WRCO have a long history of working together on preparedness and active response since they first met in the aftermath of the Tricolor oil spill in 2002.
In March, Sea Alarm (Saskia Sessions, Claude Velter) visited two French wildlife rehabilitation centres, Alca Torda Wildlife Recovery Centre and the Wildlife Care Centre (Le Centre Vétérinaire de la Faune Sauvage et des Ecosystèmes (CVFSE)) at Nantes Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering (ONIRIS) to discuss oiled wildlife response in France.
Sea Alarm, in consultation with the Centre Vétérinaire de la Faune Sauvage et des Écosystèmes (CVFSE) and WWF Finland, has developed an Oiled Wildlife Response Manual for the Preparedness for Oil-polluted Shoreline cleanup and Oiled Wildlife Interventions (POSOW) project. POSOW, which will run for 2 years, is coordinated by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) and co-funded by the European Commission.
Saskia Sessions and Paul Kelway will be representing Sea Alarm at the 2013 SPILLCON in Cairns, Australia in April. They will share exhibition space with Oil Spill Response Ltd. (OSRL), showcasing Sea Alarm’s role in oiled wildlife response and explaining the services it can provide to the oil industry and authorities in Australia and Southeast Asia.
Sea Alarm signed important Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with two internationally recognised oiled wildlife preparedness and response groups, Focus Wildlife and the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).
These cooperative agreements increase the effectiveness of all three organisations in preparing for, and responding to, oiled wildlife around the world.
A major part of Sea Alarm’s work is assisting coastal governments, NGOs and other agencies in preparedness for an oiled wildlife response. Regular meetings, trainings and exercises of response plans ensure on-going readiness to respond to wildlife threatened by oil spills.
Sea Alarm is a partner in the launch of new oil spill preparedness website for the Mediterranean and in updating oiled wildlife guidelines to reflect knowledge gained over the last 10 years.
In 2012 Sea Alarm attended conferences in various countries, presenting on the organisation’s activities and learning about advances in oiled wildlife response around the world.
2012 saw changes to the Sea Alarm Board of Directors, while regular meetings with Oil Spill Response Limited, a key Sea Alarm partner, enhanced the two organisations’ cooperative efforts.