The Bern Convention launched on 24^th October a social media campaign to raise awareness on illegal bird killing. The Last Tweet Campaign is a creative social media campaign to inform the public about this kind of wildlife crime, which has become one of the largest transnational organised illicit activities, alongside trafficking in drugs, arms, and human beings. This profitable, well set-up, environmental crime has devastating effects on birds and on biodiversity as a whole. Killed or trapped in huge numbers, some species are being driven to extinction.

In spite of the magnitude of this threat to wildlife, most indicators demonstrate that public awareness is relatively low amongst Europeans. To target large population sectors with little appreciation of this issue, The Last Tweet uses a social media trend that has always existed, but is just now gaining traction: fiction. Four different birds tell their migration stories from four different Twitter accounts, sometimes funny and sometimes poignant, up until their death in the hands of illegal bird killers. In this way, the name of the campaign is a play on words referring both to their last tweet (the equivalent of the human last sigh, or last words) and the last post on their Twitter stories. Since the last words someone says before they die have always held great importance socially, these birds use their last tweet to send their message: stop illegal bird killing.

Read more about the campaign at http://thelasttweet.eu/ and get involved through social media.

The Bern Convention has also adopted an Action Plan aiming to fight illegal bird killing in all of the Contracting Parties (51 to date, including the EU). It is promoting a “zero tolerance” approach towards this phenomenon.

Find out more about Bern Convention activities on its Website or Facebook page.