News

Apart from the actual bird race, the main aim of this event is to raise money for conservation and, this year, the selected project is to help to stop the illegal hunting of birds on Cyprus. And that is where they are asking for your help…

The magnitude of illegal hunting on Cyprus is quite staggering. Hundreds of thousands of birds from all groups and families are killed there every migration season. Current estimates suggest as many as 2,500,000 birds are now illegally hunted, trapped and killed there every year. You are probably wondering why you should get involved to support a project on the other side of the world? Well, the very birds that are migrating through Cyprus and being illegally hunted there every year are the same birds that will eventually end up in South Africa at the end of their migration and, the more we let this senseless killing continue, the less of them we will begin to see arriving on our shores every season. This will have a huge impact on the birds seen in SANParks every summer. You can read more about the event and project at http://www.champions-of-the-flyway.com/.

So, how can you get involved? You can help the South African team raise funds for this important project by going to https://www.justgiving.com/COTF-birding-ecotours/ and making your pledge there. As I said earlier, every little bit helps, so please do consider making a donation towards the cause. Whether you make the donation yourself or you get your company to get involved to support the cause or however you end up making the pledge, any and all support will be much appreciated. Of course, it goes without saying that you can share this with all of your bird clubs and birding friends and ask them to get involved as well. Let”s all get behind the South African team and help them to raise a significant amount of money for this important project. And just to clarify, none of this money comes to our team, it all goes towards conservation.

Thanks in advance for your support! The South African team looks forward to having you all behind us and helping us to make a difference with the funds we are able to raise. And a very special thank you to those of you that have already gotten involved and made a donation via our “Just Giving” page!