Songbirds at CITES CoP20 – our side event
Text by Tomasz Rusek, EAZA Brussels office On 2 December 2025, EAZA proudly co-hosted a side event at the CITES CoP20 in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), dedicated to the protection of songbirds, again bringing our long-standing Silent Forest work to the global stage. The event presented case studies from across the world on how international trade is […]
Silent Forest at the CITES CoP20 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Silent Forest Group is represented at the CITES CoP20 in Uzbekistan Advocating for better protection of songbirds in international frameworks CITES is one of the most important avenues. Between November 23rd and December 5th 2025 Silent Forest will work hard to support Brazils proposal for theenclusion of the Endangered Great-billed Seed-finch (Sporophila maximiliani) in CITES […]
Beautiful birds risk trade…
Beautiful birds risk trade: Global study reveals how aesthetics drive wild bird exploitation for trade A new global study finds that the visual beauty of birds – their colours and shapes – predicts which wild species are traded by people. By analysing data for over 9000 bird species, researchers discovered that the birds people find […]
CITES APPENDIX III Matters!
New Songbird Trade related publication in the journal Biological Conservation, October 2025 Global trade in bird species monitored by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) declined significantly in the mid-2000s, a trend previously attributed to the 2005 EU import ban on wild birds. However, during 2005-2007 the […]
Addressing the Growing Threat to New Guinea’s Butcherbirds
Text by Loretta Shepherd/Monitor, Images Simon Bruslund/Silent Forest A recent joint Monitor (Monitor Songbird Lab) study published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research highlights a concerning trend: the rapid emergence of a trade in New Guinea’s butcherbirds (Cracticinae) in Indonesia. The research, conducted jointly with Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group, Lincoln Park Zoo, Copenhagen Zoo […]
A new analysis of the trade in songbirds in Bangkok finds trade in physical market declining but online trade is a concern
Text by Chris R. Shepherd and Boyd T. C. Leupen from Monitor All birds native to Thailand are protected under Thai law. However, illegal trade persists. In order to understand current levels of trade and to inform further efforts to end this illegal trade, a study by Monitor, TRAFFIC and the Oxford Wildlife Trade Research […]
New paper on Black-throated Laughingthrush out: global commercialisation, under-reported trade, and the need for increased international regulation of a non-CITES listed songbird
The Black-throated Laughingthrush Pterorhinus chinensis is one of many songbird species impacted by trade. Found in Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, it is sought-after by songbird hobbyists locally and abroad. The number of songbirds negatively affected by unsustainable trade, especially in Asia, continues to grow. Only a few species are protected where […]
Working towards a brighter future for the Crested Jayshrike
Text by Chris R. Shepherd and Boyd T. C. Leupen from the Monitor Conservation Research Society. Both are members of the IUCN SSC Asian Songbird Trade Specialist Group and collaborate with the Silent Forest Group on trade research through the shared Monitor Songbird Lab Through the generous funding from the Silent Forest Campaign, Monitor Conservation Research […]
News from Cikananga…
The Cikananga Conservation Breeding Center (CCBC) have just released their annual report with reviews of activities from January – December 2022. As with most of the world, Indonesia in 2022 entered a post-pandemic period with restrictions and regulations eased and society having evolved. Whilst this was good news for CCBC as we once again gathered […]
Over-exploitation of Songbirds in Vietnam
The exploitation of birds for commercial trade is one of the greatest threats to an ever-increasing number of species around the world, particularly in Asia. Much of this trade is illegal, unregulated, and/or unsustainable and is a major cause of Southeast Asia’s bird declines and extinctions. Experts warn that we are still witnessing the ongoing […]