Held in Tallinn, Estonia on 5-9 October 2009, the conference was a successful event, being attended by 148 participants from 25 countries. Sea Alarm, Oil Spill Response and the Estonian Fund for Nature hosted the conference in close cooperation with the International Bird Rescue and Research Centre and Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research.Oil Spill Response was represented at this conference by Rob Holland, Gail Nxumalo and Sarah Hall.

It was especially important for us to attend the conference to highlight the services we offer to our clients and to non-members i.e. wildlife organisations under a third party contract and also to continue building relationships with the Sea Alarm Foundation. Improved links were made with various wildlife organisations around the world allowing us to gain a better understanding of the response network, as well as wildlife organisations being made aware that they could mobilise Oil Spill Response under a third party contract. A number of enquiries were also made about training courses at Oil Spill Response.

Along with ITOPF, we held a short course on oil spill response basics providing an introduction to the elements involved in preparing for, responding to and managing an oil spill incident. Presentations were also delivered by Rob and Sarah on the development of our oiled wildlife services and the issues and highlights of establishing an international oiled wildlife response stockpile.

Oil Spill Response holds a wide range of oiled wildlife equipment in conjunction with the Sea Alarm Foundation. This includes equipment at the Southampton base and recently at the Singapore and Bahrain bases. Information on Oil Spill Response’s Oiled Wildlife services can be found here.

For more information, please contact Rob Holland, Gail Nxumalo, Emma Hughes or Sarah Hall.