November 2017

The first International Workshop on Glossy ibis has been organized by the Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD) under the auspices of the IUCN Stork Ibis and Spoonbill Specialist Group (IUCN SIS SG) and in collaboration with the Tour du Valat (TdV), which has provided funding and organizational support. From 27^th to 29^th November 30 researchers and technicians proceeding from 14 different countries have met at Reserva Biologica de Doñana. The 21 talks in the workshop have provided updated and novel information on the status of the species in different areas from Europe, North Africa, Asia and Australia.

The workshop has settled the basis for the creation of the International Research Network on Glossy ibis that will be soon officially hosted within the IUCN SIS SG and that already counts with collaborators from the entire distribution range of the species. The participants at the workshop have delineated a first draft of the route map of the research network. Among these aims, it has been established the creation of a common monitoring system and of a shared database. Also, it will be promoted the establishment of new local programs, including ringing with PVC rings, that will developed under the coordination and advice of the research network. An ongoing project, partially funded by the Waterbird Society (Kushlan Award), will be made possible by the research network and will study the gene flow at the entire scale of its distribution range of this cosmopolitan bird species present in five continents (America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania). As a further outcome of this event, at the beginning of 2018 a launching issue of the new journal, Stork Ibis and Spoonbill Conservation (SIS-Conservation), will be published in form of short articles focusing on different aspects of the Glossy ibis and authored from all the components of the research network.

For more information contact: Simone Santoro ( ssantoro@upo.es ).