The overarching objective of this project was to bring together European marine wildlife responders from all coastal Member States, Norway and Iceland, with the view of discussing marine wildlife assistance at European level, focusing in particular on methodologies and approaches to clean and rehabilitate oiled birds and other animals. Moreover, the project aimed to develop a set of guidelines on the collection, cleaning, rehabilitation of oiled sea animals as an integrated part of an oil spill response.

This project was lead by Zoomarine, and included a Workshop on Best Practices for Oiled Wildlife Cleaning and Rehabilitation which took place on 21-23 October 2006 in Albueira, Portugal. The workshop explored the principles of cleaning and rehabilitation of oiled wildlife in the aftermath of an oil spill incident and tried to identify good practices that could be made available to wildlife responders throughout Europe. The workshop programme included a series of lectures, sub-group discussions and a table top exercise. Discussions focused on defining animal welfare principles and translating these principles into the practice of oiled wildlife rehabilitation. The decision making process of a typical oiled wildlife rehab centre in the early days of an oil spill incident was simulated during a table top exercise. A total of 41 participants attended the workshop including regulators, scientists and rehabilitators.

The main product of the workshop was a Handbook for the Rehabilitation of Oiled Birds, published in May 2007, which contains guidance for wildlife rehabilitators and governmental authorities on best practices with regards to the rescue, cleaning and rehabilitation of oiled birds, especially in large incidents. The Handbook, which was deliberately restricted to only 20 pages, provides principles rather than detailed methodologies on a number of important issues, including search and rescue, transportation, setting up facilities, health and safety, the involvement of volunteers, compensation of costs and how to deal with animal welfare issues. Useful contact addresses and references to other sources of information are also provided.

Partners:

• ZooMarine (lead)
• Sea Alarm
• International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
• Istituto centrale per la ricerca scientifica e tecnologica applicata al mare (ICRAM)

Duration: february 2006 - february 2007

Specific objectives:

• Work towards a common view on matters of animal welfare in relation to oiled bird cleaning and rehabilitation;
• Initiate a process to increase professionalism amongst expert European groups with regards to their future involvement in a major spill;
• Create closer bonds and collegiality between organisations which together form the core group of European experts in the field of cleaning and rehabilitation of oiled animals in order to create a basis for effective cooperation in future oiled wildlife incidents;
• Identify a series of structural activities by which oiled wildlife responders could exchange and improve methodologies;
• Create professional contacts between European groups, some globally operating oiled wildlife responders and some key groups in the field of oil spill response;
• Develop a set of guidelines on best practices regarding principles, methodologies and cooperative efforts to be used for cleaning and rehabilitating oiled wildlife under the conditions of an oil spill incident, based on the workshop results.

Results :

• Development of a common understanding and awareness of the principles, methodologies and approaches used for cleaning and rehabilitating oiled wildlife under the conditions of an oiled wildlife incident
• Increased capacity of marine wildlife responders in Europe to deal effectively with the cleaning and rehabilitation of oiled birds and other animals
• Increased structural networking and sharing of experiences between European marine wildlife responders, particularly NGOs in order to facilitate cooperation and mutual assistance in the case of an accident
• A better basis for coordinated and concerted behaviour of volunteer wildlife rehabilitation groups under the circumstances of a future oil spill response in Europe.