Table Mountain National Park Records Positive Festive Season Numbers
Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) recorded a successful festive season with visitor numbers, crime incidents and fires presenting an overall encoura...
The Sasol BirdLife South Africa National Bird Week launched on 1 May 2006 as a national bird awareness and conservation initiative in South Africa, focusing on birds, their habitats and conservation needs.
On Wednesday, 3rd May, members of the public are asked to count the number of birds in their gardens for 1 hour between 17h00 and 18h00 and to e-mail or fax the total number of birds seen through to BirdLife South Africa on Thursday, 4th May. Birdlife South Africa hopes that this will not only make the public more aware of the birds in their gardens and the need to conserve them, but that by doing the count every year, they will start to collect some valuable information about bird numbers.
The Helmeted Guineafowl, a well known and loved grassveld bird, is the focus of this years Bird Week. It is threatened by human activities. Many other birds also need the conservation efforts of South Africans to be able to sustain healthy populations in the future.
National Bird Week is also a chance to raise awareness and encourage participation in birdwatching as one of the world’s fastest growing sports.
Learners are encouraged to initiate birdwatching and conservation activities, like establishing indigenous plants, putting up bird baths and bird feeders at their schools. They are also asked to send the names of at least five bird species found at their schools to BirdLife South Africa. Sasol have donated some wonderful prizes, including cell phones and libraries of natural history books for the children and schools who participate in this competition.
A national fundraising initiative is also linked to the BirdLife South Africa National Bird Week. Cell phone owners should sms the word “BIRD” to 38110 for a R10 donation to BirdLife South Africa’s conservation funds and stand a chance of winning exciting prizes.
To show thier support for this initiative, SANParks is asking members of the public who are in National Parks on the 3 May, to send thier sightings, between 17h00 and 18h00, to [email protected]
Members of the public are invited to contact BirdLife South Africa during office hours on 011-789-1122 for the contact details of local branches and affiliates, as well as local events.
For further information about the Sasol BirdLife South Africa National Bird Week please call the BirdLife South Africa office at 011-789-1122 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Interesting observation on birds or issues regarding their conservation should be reported to the BLSA-Mazda Wildlife Fund Bird Information Line 082-446-8946.