A quarter of threatened bird species thought to be in the Pacific

7:49 am on 8 August 2016 

The conservation agency Birdlife says about a quarter of the world's globally threatened bird species are in the Pacific.

The agency says the threat is particularly great in Vanuatu and it wants to help turn this around.

Birdlife says Vanuatu is home to nine globally endangered bird species plus another nine that are endemic to the country.

The agency says there are several factors causing the decline, including environmental degradation and natural disasters such as Cyclone Pam, which caused widespread destruction across the country last year.

Another factor is people living in rural communities hunting the birds.

Birdlife says it wants to form partnerships with them in communities to try and bring this hunting within sustainable levels.

It says for conservation to work it has to be driven by the people who are directly affected by it.

Source