Professors Clive Finlayson of the National Museum, and John Cortes. /
As all keen ornithologists will know, Gibraltar is an important point on the Europe-Africa migratory routes and it was announced on Thursday, the 50th anniversary of a landmark study on Palaearctic-African bird migration by the late Reginald Moreau of Oxford University, that the Rock is now to have its own Migration Observatory Network. This will focus on three common themes: namely interpretation and education, monitoring and research and conservation, rescue and rehabilitation.
The observatories will be on sites owned or managed by different bodies, namely the government, the Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society (GONHS), Gibraltar National Museum and Gibraltar Botanic Gardens.
The locations for the network are: Harding's Observation Post (Europa Point); Marine Interpretation Centre (Europa Point), Europa Foreshore; Gorham's Cave Complex including Europa Advance Battery Viewing Platform; Jacob's Ladder; Jews' Gate Field Centre; Parson's Lodge; Windmill Hill Raptor Rehabilitation Centre; Tovey Cottage and the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens.
Professor John Cortes, the Minister for the Environment and a keen ornithologist himself, said he was very excited by the initiative. "Moreau's seminal work is at the heart of my passion for birds and the study of bird migration and I am delighted to be able to take this step and contribute to the history and development of the study of these vulnerable creatures," he said
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