Every year we choose an international conservation issue to support. The projects are suggested to us and managed through the BirdLife International partnership. The support from the Birdfair has enabled BirdLife to make some remarkable conservation achievements, including the creation of several new national parks. We’ve helped birds under real threat of extinction, from albatrosses to white-winged guans.
The total raised since Birdfair started is now over £4,679,152. Such funds are raised in various ways, including sponsorship, exhibitors fees, merchandising, and fantastic volunteer help. Two-thirds of the money raised comes from visitors’ entrance fees. We guarantee that every year every penny of the visitors entrance fee goes to the BirdLife projects. Here are the details of just some of those projects, starting from 1989, all the way to present day.
Look what we’ve achieved!
Amounts raised by Birdfair for conservation projects:
|Bird Killing in Malta||1989||£3,000|
|Danube Delta, Romania||1991||£20,000|
|Ke Go Forest, Vietnam||1996||£55,000|
|Mindo Forest, Ecuador||1997||£60,000|
|Atlantic Forest, Brazil||1999||£130,000|
|Peruvian Dry Forests||2004||£164,000|
|Saving Gurney’s pitta||2005||£200,000|
|Total for Preventing Extinctions||£754,000|
|Total for Flyways||£697,152|
|Saving the seas and oceans||2014||£280,000|
|Protecting Migratory Birds in Eastern Mediterranean||2015||£320,000|
|Saving IBA’s in Africa||2016||£350,000|
|Saving Paradise in the Pacific||2017||£333,000|
2017: Saving Paradise in the Pacific
In 2017, Birdfair’s theme was Saving Paradise in the Pacific. The event raised funds for work on the French Polynesian island of Rapa Iti. Here, invasive non native rats and goats are decimating populations of native birds. These include the Endangered Rapa fruit dove, along with eleven threatened seabirds like the Rapa shearwater and the local form of white-bellied storm petrel. Money from Birdfair will help BirdLife International organise the removal of goats and rats from nine Rapa islets.
Birdfair raised a fantastic £333,000 for this project.
For more information about the project : click here!
2016: Saving Important Areas in Africa
In Africa, forests are under severe threat across the continent. Rainforest loss and degradation has been most severe in Madagascar and West Africa, but other forests such as those of East Africa are also under threat, as are the more widespread woodlands. The project focussed on Tsitongambarika Forest, the only remaining area in south-east Madagascar that supports significant areas of lowland rainforest. Tsitongambarika is biologically extraordinary (even by Madagascar’s standards) but threatened by very high rates of deforestation. These forests are unique even within Madagascar, with flora and fauna quite distinct from lowland forests elsewhere: many species of plant and animal at Tsitongambarika are endemic to south-east Madagascar, some being known only from this site.
Birdfair 2016 raised £350,000 for the project.
2015: Protecting Migratory Birds of the Eastern Mediterranean
The Eastern Mediterranean is used by hundreds of millions of migratory birds twice yearly on their migration between Europe and Africa, each spring and autumn. These birds face many threats on their epic journey including illegal killing, with a recent BirdLife International report revealing 25 million migratory birds are illegally killed each year.
The record amount raised will go towards a project aimed at reducing the scale and impact of illegal killing of migratory birds, and to improve protection and laws throughout the region.
A fantastic total of £320,000 was raised for this years project!
2014: Protecting the World’s Seas and Oceans
The oceans cover 70% of the earth’s surface yet conservation actions for the marine environment lag far behind those of terrestrial systems. Globally, only 1.6% of the oceans have any form of legal protection, compared with 12.9% of the world’s land surface.
However, much of the conservation action needed to address this will happen initially not on the open seas but in international policy meetings and workshops. Birdfair will fund the vital input by BirdLife marine policy staff and BirdLife partners to these gatherings, notably in Europe and Africa but also seeking to protect the oceans around Antarctica and on the High Seas.
To help inform this process, Birdfair funding will support the completion of the Important Bird Areas Inventory for Antarctica and the production of practical guidance for managing Marine Protected Areas. It will also support steps to increase awareness of marine conservation issues amongst policy makers and other stakeholders, with particular focus on the Mediterranean, the West Indian Ocean and the NE Atlantic.
This project will potentially benefit all seabird species; however, it is likely to be focused on the most threatened including:
Europe: Fea’s Petrel, Zino’s Petrel, Cory’s Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater, Audouin’s Gull
Africa: African Penguin, Bank Cormorant, Barau’s Petrel, Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Antarctica: Macaroni and King Penguins, other penguin species, Snow Petrel, Imperial Cormorant
High Seas: Grey Petrel, Sooty Shearwater, Pycroft’s Petrel, albatross species
It will also help develop partnerships with other conservationist groups and working together will help advance protection for marine areas also used by cetaceans, sharks and turtles.
Birdfair raised £280,000 for this project.
2011- 2013: Flyways Programme
Every year, migratory birds brave mountains, oceans, deserts and storms on their journeys to survive. Their epic flights connect us all – crossing our borders, cultures and lives. An estimated 1,855 (19%) of all known birds species make regular cyclical movements beyond their breeding grounds with predictable timing and destinations.
Analysis of the main threats shows that there are two key pressures which affect nearly 80% of migratory species. These pressures are agriculture which results in habitat degradation and loss, and biological resource use which includes threats such as deforestation and unsustainable hunting. Other important threats include collisions with wind turbines, electrocution by power lines, deliberate persecution, poisoning, pollution and disturbance during the breeding period, and. Many existing threats are likely to be exacerbated by climate change.
BirdLife’s best placed to help – The BirdLife Partnership is extremely well placed to undertake action for migratory birds. BirdLife Partners operate in over one hundred countries and territories worldwide, and work together to raise awareness about migratory birds and implement conservation projects. International collaboration is the only way to conserve migratory birds as they pass along their flyways.
Three major global flyways – BirdLife Partners are working in the three main global flyways to conserve migratory birds. Click to find out more about our work in the:
Born to Travel – The BirdLife Flyways Campaign
The Born to Travel campaign is aiming to improve the conservation status of migratory birds and their habitats along the African-Eurasian Flyway.
Birdfair raised £697,152 over three years for the Flyways project.
2010: Saving southern Ethiopia’s endemic birds
Having raised an incredible £754,000 over the last three years for BirdLife International’s ‘Preventing Extinctions’ project, 2010 saw the Birdfair supporting a new, one-year project entitled ‘Saving southern Ethiopia’s endemic birds’. The project focused, in particular, on a group of five bird species which are entirely confined to the southern region of this extraordinarily diverse and beautiful country. Prince Ruspoli’s turaco, Ethiopian bush-crow, white-tailed swallow, Nechisar nightjar and Sidamo lark are all globally threatened species but the lark is in danger of soon becoming continental Africa’s first recorded bird extinction if action is not taken quickly. Birdfair funding will make a really positive difference for bird and wildlife conservation and the people of this region.
We are delighted that the 2010 Birdfair raised a £242,000 for southern Ethiopia’s endemics. A cheque was presented to BirdLife CEO, Dr Marco Lambertini, at the Ethiopian Embassy on 4th March 2011.
2007/08/09: Preventing Extinctions: Saving the World’s Critically Endangered Birds
Currently 189 bird species are Critically Endangered (CR) – on the brink of extinction. Sadly, many CR species have severely restricted ranges and some have global populations below 50 individuals.
BirdLife International has identified the required actions to protect these species but needs to provide the BirdLife Partners with greater financial resources and technical support to ensure that these CR species do not follow the Dodo or Passenger Pigeon into extinction.
Because this is such an important initiative the British Birdwatching Fair has agreed to support it for three years, in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The money raised will be used to support the ‘Species Guardians’ and ‘Species Champions’ initiative, with the aim of seeing many birds come off the Critically Endangered list and have a more secure future.
‘Species Guardians’ will be individuals or institutions committed to doing everything in their power to protect ‘their’ species.
‘Species Champions’ will be individuals, companies or institutions willing to make a regular donation to provide the funds required by the ‘Species Guardians’ and will have the benefit of knowing that their donations are helping to protect some of the world’s most threatened species.
Over the three years Birdfair raised an impressive £754,000 towards Preventing Extinctions.
2009: Preventing Extinctions
The Birdfair focussed on ‘Lost & Found’ species including the ‘lost’ Dodo and the ‘found’ Cebu Flowerpecker.
An amazing £263,000 was raised by the 2009 Birdfair!
2008: Preventing Extinctions
The 2008 Birdfair supported a suite of species including Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius, Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus, Dwarf Olive Ibis Bostrychia bocagei, Azores Bullfinch Pyrrhula murina, Tuamotu Kingfisher Todiramphus gambieri and Araripe Manakin Antilophia bokermanni by profiling them in the hope that many new Species Champions will step forward to provide further vital funding.
The 2008 Birdfair raised a record-breaking £265,000!
2007: Preventing Extinctions
Bengal Florican (Allan Michaud)Four flagship Critically Endangered species were chosen for the 2007 Bird Fair. These were: the Belding’s Yellowthroat from Mexico, the Bengal Florican from Cambodia, the Restinga Antrwren from Brazil, and the Djibouti Francolin.
The 2007 Birdfair raised £226,000!