Birdlife South Africa

Birdlife South Africa (BLSA) is ‘the leading organisation in South Africa for everyone interested in birds and their survival.' Formerly the South African Ornithological Society, BLSA has gone from strength to strength since becoming a partner of Birdlife International, a British-based umbrella of global partners all working towards bird conservation in their respective regions.

Lofty ideals

Birdlife International's stated aims are to: 1) prevent the extinction of any bird species, 2) maintain, and where possible improve, the conservation status of all bird species, 3) conserve and, where appropriate, improve and enlarge sites and habitats important for birds, 4) help, through birds, to conserve biodiversity and to improve the quality of people's lives, and 5) integrate bird conservation into sustaining people's livelihoods. Lofty ideals indeed, but aims that have inspired some high profile success stories in recent years, and which are of course adopted by the Birdlife partners in over 100 countries and territories around the world. Birdlife South Africa in turn has a network of 8000 members in 40 branches and affiliates in all corners of South Africa, all espousing the philosophy that as flagships and environmental indicators, birds and their habitats can be used to used to improve life, both for themselves as well as for other organisms including people.

BLSA in action

Accordingly, BLSA runs both national and branch programs in conservation, education, training and awareness. The six national programs are the Important Bird Area Conservation Program, the Global Seabird Project, the Sappi-WWFSA Wakkerstroom Project, the Sasol Guide-training Program, the development of Avi-Tourism and Education for Sustainability Project. The annual Birding Big Day fundraiser and numerous, more specific censuses in conjunction with the University of Cape Town's Avian Demography Unit, are also run, as are several locally-based initiatives.

The Important Bird Areas (IBA) project is an important project that has identified and aims to protect a number of sites in South Africa that are important to globally threatened species, range restricted species, biome restricted species or which regularly hold massive concentrations of specific birds. The concept is part of the broader Birdlife International Global IBA Conservation Program and has revolutionised the focus for conserving areas important to bird (and other organism) conservation. BLSA and Birdlife International have published guides to IBAs in South Africa and Africa respectively (reviews of both can be accessed in our archives). The Global Seabird Project is another Birdlife International Initiative that has been implemented in South Africa by BLSA and aims to reduce, through public and corporate awareness, the plight of the more than 300 000 albatrosses that drown as a result of long-line fishing every year.

The Wakkerstroom project is perhaps the most exciting run by BLSA and involves a 4 square kilometre wetland owned by BLSA, situated in the Grassland Biosphere Reserve in Mpumalanga Province and home to several globally threatened species. The area is the core of the global range of species such as Rudd's and Botha's Lark and as such holds the key to their survival. It is also of huge significance to species such as the Grey Crowned Crane, Bald Ibis and White-winged Flufftail. Aside from protecting habitat, the BLSA centre at Wakkerstroom is also the site of the hugely successful guide-training program. This program aims to identify local residents in rural areas that show potential for bird guiding. These individuals are then trained and evaluated at Wakkerstroom before returning to their homes to set up small businesses that enable visitors to see highly sought after species such as Pel's Fishing Owl, Rosy-throated Longclaw, Blue Swallow, Taita Falcon and Black-fronted Bushshrike. This guide-training program has enabled the development of community-run, nature-based tourism in areas without local economies and has given birds and natural habitats a value that they did not have before. This latter tenet is central to the development if Avi-Tourism in South Africa and BLSA is in the process of developing several community-based birding routes in the country. The first of these are the Zululand Birding Route (http://www.zbr.co.za/) and the Soutpansberg-Limpopo Birding Route (http://www.limpopobirding.com/), both of which offer some exceptional birds and bird guides to the visitor that, critically, ensure community participation and transformation.

A key element of BLSA's approach has been co-operation with industry and in line with the above principles, the NGO has formed a partnership with Rio Tinto (parent company of Richard's Bay Minerals) that as well as striving to protect and provide facilities and infrastructure to important natural areas in the area of Richard's Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal has also enabled a network of twenty local guides at these sites, all of whom benefit from BLSA backup and ongoing training. BLSA's strengthened presence in the region has also enabled the local implementation of its Education for Sustainability Project. Here, and elsewhere in South Africa, this project aims at providing environmental education to all sectors of the community.

Aside from publications such as The Important Bird Areas of Southern Africa, BLSA publishes a quarterly newsletter entitled Indaba Inyoni as well as the respected scientific journal Ostrich. You can read more about Birdlife South Africa at http://www.birdlife.org.za/ and about Birdlife International at http://www.birdlife.org/.

- Chris Roche-

Posted: Birds by CC Africa, Date: 21 November 2006