About | FlyFree

WPT FlyFree Campaign Going Strong

FlyFree is a global initiative from the World Parrot Trust to return parrots to the wild help end the trade in wild caught birds.

FlyFree is:

• Helping rescue, rehabilitate and release birds caught in the trade
• Furthering confiscation efforts for illegal shipments of parrots
• Encouraging the enforcement of laws that protect parrots
• Supporting global awareness and education programs
• Funding research into better understanding the trade region by region

Why?
Over the past several decades the trade in wild caught birds has caused the suffering and loss of millions of birds, and hundreds of thousands of parrots. The practice is unsustainable because:

• Trapping techniques used are inhumane
• Many birds die during capture and transportation
• Disease may be introduced from wild-caught birds into captive ones
• Wild populations are reduced, genetic diversity lost, and nest sites destroyed

Thanks to a coalition of over 200 organizations led by WPT in the EU in 2005 to ban the importation of wild-caught birds, much of the international trade has now ceased, but countries in Asia and the Middle East actively import wild-caught birds.

Who?
FlyFree supports the front-line efforts of dozens of partner agencies in India, Indonesia, Nepal, Cameroon, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica and Brazil -- all committed to ending the wild bird trade. Read more about their individual efforts on our Partners Page ».

Where?

View Fly Free Projects in a larger map

Learn more »

How?
Working with our partners, the WPT provides logistical and operating support for these groups and their efforts to enforce wildlife laws to protect parrots. The WPT fulfills the needs of parrots confiscated from traders by helping these groups to rescue, rehabilitate and release individual birds caught in the trade.