Five teams of biologists from the non-governmental alliance BirdLife International will spend 30 days in Iraq to evaluate the effects of the war on the environment, with particular attention to the situation of the country's bird populations. Richard Porter, coordinator of BirdLife projects in Iraq, says poor management of reconstruction efforts in the post-war period poses a major threat to biodiversity and local wildlife communities.

The experts will leave for Iraq as soon as minimum security standards can be met. They will work with their counterparts from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and from a network of Iraqi ornithologists and conservationists.

When the United States and Britain launched their attack against Iraq on Mar 20, BirdLife International spokespersons told Tierramérica of their concerns about the fate of bird populations in the area, fearing they would become extinct like the sacred ibis, the African anhinga and the Goliath heron.