The Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) sponsors up to US$ 250,000 per year in support of research necessary for improving oiled wildlife spill response and the understanding of the short- and long-term effects of oil on wildlife. The OWCN is currently seeking research proposals from wildlife professionals interested in furthering OWCN goals.
Sea Alarm is pleased to announce that together with the Estonian Fund for Nature and Oil Spill Response, it will host the 10th edition of the Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference (EOW) in 2009. The Conference will be organised in close cooperation with the founders of the Conference series, the International Bird Rescue and Research Centre and Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research Centre, and will be held in Tallinn, Estonia from the 5th to 9th October, 2009.
In November 2008, Sea Alarm, together with eight partner organisations, founded the EMPOWER (European Management Programme for Oiled Wildlife and other marine Emergency Responses) Network. Represented by Sea Alarm, the EMPOWER Network, develops and supports the implementation of policies and activities that promote a professional preparedness to marine wildlife emergency response in all coastal European countries.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has recently announced that it will again make four places available for external participants on the 2-day introductory course on oiled birds course, which will take place in February 2009.
Oil Spill Response will work together with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Ostend to test the filtering system of the newly developed wildlife fastanks. Three fastanks, which run on one filter system, will be transported to Ostend, where they will be used for several months in the rehabilitation of oiled birds.
The Irish Seal Sanctuary (ISS) is a professional marine wildlife rescue organisation entirely run by volunteers from a private back garden. To carry on and expand their rescue and rehabilitation work, a purpose built facility is urgently needed. Funding for the new Marine Conservation and Education Centre has been identified, the site and planning permission have been approved and the plans have been drawn up. Now all that remains is for Fingal County Council to confirm their financial contribution to the project. Recent signals however suggest that the Council is reconsidering to withdraw from their former commitments, which would blow the project.
The oiled wildlife response equipment that is stockpiled at the Oil Spill Response‘s warehouse in Southampton (UK) was recently inspected by leading European responders, including Sea Alarm.
Sea Alarm is pleased to have joined EuroSpill in November 2008 as a founding member.
The Reducing the Impact of Oil Spills (RIOS project), which is funded by DG Research and started in April 2007, is in its final stage of completion. The main objective of the project is the development of an action plan for future research in the area of rehabilitation of oiled animals.
Leading environmental groups and rehabilitation centres in Portugal have joined forces to be better prepared for an oil spill incident. Cooperation between these organisations was first explored at a meeting that was held immediately following the RIOS workshop in April. Since then, two further meetings, in June and October, have taken place. Sea Alarm moderated all three meetings.
Bill Dwyer, the technical expert of the New Zealand Wildlife Health Centre recently visited the Sea Alarm offices as part of a fact-finding mission taking him to Switzerland, Belgium, France, Finland, and San Francisco. The purpose of Bill’s tour of several weeks was to identify outstanding features of other oiled wildlife response facilities, to assess the relative standard of preparedness in New Zealand and to pick up new ideas and insights.
Sea Alarm is pleased to announce that it joined the International Spill Control Organization (ISCO) in 2008.
ISCO is a non-profit-making organisation incorporated in London in 1984 that is dedicated to improving world-wide preparedness for response to oil and chemical spills.