NEWS
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David Jeggo
Chair
David retired in October 2016 after 46 years with Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT). For much of that time he was head of their Bird Department, responsible for the bird conservation breeding programmes at the Trust’s headquarters in Jersey. Many of the species involved were highly threatened, including the Bali myna with which he worked from its arrival at the Trust in 1971.
During his time with DWCT he also carried out fieldwork, principally in the Caribbean with the threatened Amazon parrots of the Lesser Antilles.
In the 1990s when the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) was establishing its Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs) David along with Theo Pagel of Koln Zoo, assumed responsibility for the Passeriformes TAG, an involvement which continues to this day steering it as its chair and vice-chair.
Recognition that the most threatened and conservation relevant breeding programmes overseen by the Passeriformes TAG were all Asian species and all threatened to a large degree by the cage bird trade led to the formation of a sub-group of the TAG, the aim of which was to better connect these EAZA breeding programmes with in-situ conservation efforts. Formerly referred to as the Threatened Asian Songbird Working Group it has now been renamed the Threatened Asian Songbird Alliance (TASA), with David as its chair.
In May 2017, with IUCN approval of the formation of the SSC Asian Songbird Trade Specialist Group, David also took on the role as its chair.
Stuart Marsden
Field Research Vice-chair
Stuart is Professor of Conservation Biology at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. His work seeks to find solutions to problems of biodiversity loss in the tropics. This means identifying and dealing with threats to endangered wildlife, but also requires addressing poverty and development issues faced by local communities and governments. Stuart works on a range of taxonomic groups but have a particular focus on parrots and other tropical birds. A major theme of his work is building conservation science capacity within developing countries, especially through doctoral training. He is currently working on various aspects of ecology and human behaviour to address challenges in supply and demand for the cagebird trade in Indonesia.
Frank Rheindt
Genetics Vice-chair
Frank is a passionate world birder in his free time, and an evolutionary and conservation biologist by trade. He and the students in his lab at the National University of Singapore employ a spectrum of approaches, ranging from field research to contemporaneous genomic analysis, to inform conservation efforts. Some of his field work takes him to remote corners of Indonesia for the discovery and rediscovery of avian diversity, which is supported by bioacoustic and genetic work once back in the lab. Recently, his lab has become involved in providing counsel to conservation-breeding programs of terminally endangered species in the region.
Andrew Owen
Conservation Breeding Vice-chair
Andrew is the Curator of Birds at Chester Zoo in the UK. Responsible for the large and varied bird collection, and the zoo’s bird conservation-breeding programmes. With active involvement in the recovery programmes of a number of highly threatened bird species. Previous conservation programmes have included the Mauritius fody, Mauritius Olive white-eye, Montserrat oriole and Gurney’s pitta. Development of breeding and reintroduction programmes in Indonesia for threatened songbirds and providing technical support to Cikananga Wildlife Centre in Java has been paramount. He manages the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) EEP studbooks for Javan green magpie and Sumatran laughingthrush. An active member of a number of EAZA’s Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs), including the Passeriformes TAG and its sub-group TASA, the Threatened Asian Songbird Alliance which focuses on the conservation of species primarily threatened by illegal trade. He is also a member of the Bali myna International Advisory Board.
Luis Neves
Conservation Breeding Vice-chair
Dr Luis Carlos Neves is the current Director of Zoology for the Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) zoological parks, which include the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari and River Safari. Altogether he is responsible for the management of close to 1000 species under human care out of which 420 are birds, which are his primary passion.
Before his current role in WRS Luis was the Assistant Director of the Bird Department at Jurong bird park for 3 years and the lead veterinarian at Loro Parque, Tenerife from 2003 to 2005. In between he was an assistant Professor of Avian Medicine and Clinical Pathology and consulting avian veterinarian in Lisbon, Portugal.
Luis has been involved in aviculture for close to 20 years and has been involved mostly with Psittacines as well as Passerines and Columbiformes. Ever since he started working for WRS in 2010, he also had the privilege of managing the world’s largest collection of Hornbills, with 20 species and over 80 birds. In recent years he has dedicated increasing amount of time to threatened Asian species, in particular songbirds, and has taken the position of co-vice chair for Ex-situ Programs and Reintroduction in the IUCN SSC Asian Songbird Trade Specialist Group. In parallel, Luis is a member of the Bali Myna International Advisory Board. He is also a member of the EAZA TAGs for Passeriformes, Hornbills, Pigeon & Dove and Psittaciformes and is the MON-P for Blue-eyed Cockatoo. Luis is also the WRS liaison for the ZAA Bird TAG.
Luis is a firm believer on conservation aviculture and in the role that welfare-based, scientifically-managed and sustainability-driven captive breeding of birds can be used as an important part of species recovery.
CORE TEAM
David Jeggo
Chair
David retired in October 2016 after 46 years with Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT). For much of that time he was head of their Bird Department, responsible for the bird conservation breeding programmes at the Trust’s headquarters in Jersey. Many of the species involved were highly threatened, including the Bali myna with which he worked from its arrival at the Trust in 1971. During his time with DWCT he also carried out fieldwork, principally in the Caribbean with the threatened Amazon parrots of the Lesser Antilles.
In the 1990s when the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) was establishing its Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs) David along with Theo Pagel of Koln Zoo, assumed responsibility for the Passeriformes TAG, recently renamed the Songbird TAG, an involvement which continues to this day steering it as its chair. Recognition that the most threatened and conservation relevant breeding programmes overseen by the Songbird TAG were all Asian species and all threatened to a large degree by the cage bird trade led to the formation of a sub-group of the TAG, the aim of which was to better connect these EAZA breeding programmes with in-situ conservation efforts. Formerly referred to as the Threatened Asian Songbird Working Group it was first renamed the Threatened Asian Songbird Alliance (TASA) and has now reformed into the EAZA Silent Forest Group, with David as its chair.
In May 2017, with IUCN approval of the formation of the SSC Asian Songbird Trade Specialist Group, David also took on the role as its chair.
Stuart Marsden
Field Research Vice-chair
Stuart is Professor of Conservation Biology at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. His work seeks to find solutions to problems of biodiversity loss in the tropics. This means identifying and dealing with threats to endangered wildlife, but also requires addressing poverty and development issues faced by local communities and governments. Stuart works on a range of taxonomic groups but have a particular focus on parrots and other tropical birds. A major theme of his work is building conservation science capacity within developing countries, especially through doctoral training. He is currently working on various aspects of ecology and human behaviour to address challenges in supply and demand for the cagebird trade in Indonesia.
Frank Rheindt
Genetic Research Vice-chair
Frank is a passionate world birder in his free time, and an evolutionary and conservation biologist by trade. He and the students in his lab at the National University of Singapore employ a spectrum of approaches, ranging from field research to contemporaneous genomic analysis, to inform conservation efforts. Some of his field work takes him to remote corners of Indonesia for the discovery and rediscovery of avian diversity, which is supported by bioacoustic and genetic work once back in the lab. Recently, his lab has become involved in providing counsel to conservation-breeding programs of terminally endangered species in the region.
Andrew Owen
Conservation Breeding and Reintroduction Vice-chair
Andrew is the Curator of Birds at Chester Zoo in the UK. Responsible for the large and varied bird collection, and the zoo’s bird conservation-breeding programmes. With active involvement in the recovery programmes of a number of highly threatened bird species. Previous conservation programmes have included the Mauritius fody, Mauritius Olive white-eye, Montserrat oriole and Gurney’s pitta. Development of breeding and reintroduction programmes in Indonesia for threatened songbirds and providing technical support to Cikananga Wildlife Centre in Java has been paramount. He manages the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) EEP studbooks for Javan green magpie and Sumatran laughingthrush. An active member of a number of EAZA’s Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs), including the Passeriformes TAG and its sub-group TASA, the Threatened Asian Songbird Alliance which focuses on the conservation of species primarily threatened by illegal trade. He is also a member of the Bali myna International Advisory Board.
Anais Tritto
Conservation Breeding and Reintroduction Vice-chair
Anais holds MSc in Animal Behaviour and MSc in Zoo Conservation Biology. From 2013 to 2018, she worked in Cikananga Conservation Breeding Centre as Field Biologist and Reintroduction Programme Manager for the Black-winged Myna before taking over the management of the breeding centre. This experience enlightened her on the plight of the Asian songbirds. In 2015, she helped to kick start the creation of the Songbird Crisis Summit, which later led to forming of the IUCN SSC ASTSG. In 2018, Anais started working as a Curator of Birds in Jurong Bird Park and got even more involved in the work of the IUCN SSC ASTSG's Conservation Breeding and Reintroduction sub-group.
Anais is also the EEP Coordinator for the Black-winged Myna complex that focuses on safeguarding a healthy population under human care for future reintroduction. In addition to ASTSG, she is involved in the IUCN SSC Pigeon and Dove Specialist Group.
Dr Chris R. Shepherd
Trade and Legislation Vice-chair
Chris has spent over two decades investigating and researching the illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade and motivating solutions to this growing crisis. He has worked on a wide range of species threatened by trade, including the Critically Endangered Ploughshare Tortoises, Asian Elephants, Sun Bears and Straw-headed Bulbuls – and a multitude of other songbird species. Chris played a major role in catalysing many of the conservation interventions for newly emerging threats to Asia's wildlife, putting the spotlight on urgent issues, such as the growing songbird trade crisis. Chris has a PhD from Oxford Brookes University and is an active member of many IUCN SSC specialist groups, and has published numerous papers on the songbird trade, and on solutions to mitigate this threat. As Executive Director of Monitor (Monitor Conservation Research Society), Chris is committed to delivering evidence-based research, enforcement support and advocacy results to ensure no songbird species are lost due to the illegal ad unsustainable trade.
Anuj Jain
Education and Community Engagement Vice-chair
Anuj divides his time coordinating BirdLife International (Asia)'s Preventing Species Extinctions and the Illegal Bird Trade program. He is particularly interested in field-based conservation of species that are impacted by wildlife trade working closely with field teams to monitor the populations and ecology of hornbills, parrots, songbirds and butterflies and with local communities to understand how socio-economic conditions drive poaching and demand for wildlife.
Anuj co-coordinates the IUCN SSC Helmeted Hornbill Working Group and is working on a regional project as a National Geographic Explorer to identify population strongholds for the Helmeted Hornbill in Southeast Asia. Anuj’s interests also span biomimicry, landscape ecology and ecosystem service assessments.
Novia Sagita
Education and Community Engagement Vice-chair
Novia Sagita is a highly passionate woman activist working at the nexus of social, economic, and environmental justice to create better opportunities for Indigenous and local communities living across at-risk ecosystems in West Kalimantan. As a Dayak herself, she has worked alongside local Dayak communities, who are the Indigenous people of Borneo, for more than 20 years to revitalise their traditional textiles and cultural heritage thereby improving their socioeconomic status.
In 2014, she established Yayasan Planet Indonesia (YPI) in West Kalimantan with a mission to protect at-risk ecosystems through village-led partnerships. She used her extensive experience of working alongside local Dayak weavers and adapted a Weaving Cooperative model that she co-created in the early 2000s to develop a holistic approach for YPI. This novel approach integrates local livelihoods, community health, local governance to reduce socio-economic hardships and open the door for communities to engage in conservation.
Since its inception, her organisation has empowered thousands of local community members living across at-risk marine, coastal, and terrestrial ecosystems to become stewards of their surrounding natural environment. With her organisation’s support, these communities are playing a crucial role in safeguarding more than 1.2 million hectares of marine and terrestrial habitat in West Kalimantan. In 2018, she led her organisation to win the UNDP Equator Prize in which over 1,000 nominations were received.
Novia is a strong believer that the well-being of Indigenous and local communities underpins conservation and sustainable resource management. In her work, she utilises a rights-based approach with a focus on putting communities back behind the wheel in determining their social-ecological trajectory. At the heart of her work is a dedication to listening, remaining agile and adapting to challenges, and engaging community-led solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems.
Jess Lee
Coordination Vice-chair
Jess heads avian programmes and partnerships under Mandai Nature, a conservation organisation based in Singapore. In this role, she oversees and helps coordinate avian conservation projects across Singapore as well as wider Southeast Asia. She has specific interests around conservation planning for critical Asian bird species, the rescue, rehabilitation and release of birds confiscated from the trade, as well as how advanced tools such as genomics may be applied for conservation purposes. Jess also helps to coordinate conservation activities under the ASTSG, with a specific focus in Southeast Asia.
Serene Chng
Coordination Vice-chair
Serene is the Programme Officer for TRAFFIC, currently leading TRAFFIC’s regional programme in Southeast Asia on the trade of wildlife for pets. She manages and implements multi-year projects in multiple countries relating to tackling illegal and unsustainable international and domestic trade in birds and reptiles, particularly focusing on the Southeast Asia region.
Sofiya Shukhova
Communications Coordinator Vice-chair
Sofiya is our Singapore-based Communications Coordinator. She holds an MSc in Conservation and International Wildlife Trade and has working experience in conservation, visual art and communication. Her previous work includes research on the illegal wildlife trade, communications and fundraising, network coordination, design of educational programmes and materials.