kruger to canyons birding route

communities & conservation

Birding Routes contribute to poverty alleviation and local tourism development.

In 2001 BirdLife South Africa launched their local ‘Avi-Career Programme' which was designed to provide local community members with an opportunity to participate in the ever growing avitourism business as well as to create an awareness of the economic benefits that birds and their habitats can have for local communities.

By training bird guides, links are forged between local people and their biodiversity. The more their livelihoods depend upon birds, the greater their need to protect it. Often bird guides become proactive ambassadors for conservation within their local communities.

"People that previously relied on sensitive natural areas for food, firewood and building materials now rely on the survival of birds and their habitats for their income thanks to our Avi-Career Programme", said Brenden Pienaar - Project Manager of the Kruger to Canyons Birding Route.

BirdLife South Africa's Avitourism Division objective is to develop the country into the world's leading birding destination for the benefit of birds, their habitats and communities through responsible avitourism.

The Kruger to Canyons Birding Route boasts ten trained, accredited and active, community bird guides.

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Bird's Eye View Project

Birds are recognised as an important indicator of ecosystem health and play an important ecological role in almost all habitats worldwide. The Kruger to Canyons Birding Route, as a BirdLife South Africa project, recognises this and seeks to become the lead organisation within the Lowveld area regarding the conservation of birds and their habitats.

The Kruger to Canyons Birding Route has established a partnership with South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) www.saeon.ac.za to monitor global climate change. according to bird migration patterns.

Is climate change affecting our birds? Help us find out.

The Ndlovu Node of SAEON is based within the Kruger National Park and is calling for birders to volunteer on their BIRDS EYE VIEW project. SAEON is a research facility of the Department of Science and Technology tasked with monitoring environmental threats and gathering information on the response of the biological world– in this case migrant birds, to climate change. As temperatures around the world continue to climb, studies from Europe are showing that birds are shifting their life-cycles and advancing their migration by almost 7 days each decade. We expect our local birds to respond in a similar manner but do not yet have the data needed to provide a clear picture. In order to help collect the necessary information, SAEON Ndlovu launched the BIRDS EYE VIEW migration monitoring project and is asking interested people – whether back-yard beginners or seasoned experts, to record the arrival dates of common, easily identifiable migratory birds in their gardens, farms, place of work or other favourite birding areas. Simply submit your sightings and let your hobby help us ensure a future that's for the birds.

If you are interested in participating in this project, or if you have been collecting such information, please contact Dr Dave Thompson on birds@saeon.ac.za or telephone +27 (0)13 735 3534 / 40.

Alternatively, download an observer registration form here (Microsoft Word document).

Click and select Save to download to a location on your computer, alternatively, right-click and select "Save Target As" (IE).

Carbon Footprint Management Project

The Carbon Footprint Management Project is a responsible tourism initiative that strives to create a more sustainable tourism industry along the Kruger to Canyons Birding Route through a planned carbon emission sequestration and environmental rehabilitation programme.

The main objectives of the Project can be summarized as follows:

• Stimulate sustainable community development with the creation of employment through a indigenous tree nursery and developing environmental rehabilitation task teams
• Reduce green house gases and minimize climate change contributions by offsetting the carbon footprint of travel created by people visiting the Kruger to Canyons Birding Route region;
• Restore ecologically degraded areas along the Kruger to Canyons Birding Route by rehabilitating habitats for birds and other animals, improving people's living environment, and preventing the expansion of land degradation through growing and replanting trees;

The Carbon Footprint Management Project offers "carbon compensation" to individuals who wish to sequestrate their carbon footprint generated by travel through financial donations. The funds generated go towards planting indigenous trees to help offset the carbon footprint of the traveller and rehabilitate degraded landscapes. The indigenous trees used during the implementation of the project are produced by a local community nursery and tree growing project at Chuchekani Primary School that was set up by the Carbon Footprint Management Project. All financial benefits of direct plant sales to the public go directly back to the primary school.

Vulture Restaurant and Infrastructure Development

The purpose of the Kruger to Canyons infrastructure development project, which also includes three bird viewing hides, is to enhance the bird watching experience of visiting eco-tourists and local birders.

The purpose of the existing vulture restaurant and viewing hide is threefold. Its main attraction is to provide exceptional, close-up views of these magnificent birds creating an eco-tourism attraction, but more importantly it will serve as an educational facility highlighting the plight of vulture populations in southern Africa which are in a drastic state of decline. As well as reaching birders, BirdLife South Africa bring community school groups to the hide to show them the importance of vultures in the ecology of the Lowveld, as well as to dispel the negative myths surrounding the birds. The hide will also be used for conservation purposes by sister organisations, such as the Endangered Wildlife Trust, who play a critical role in monitoring all vulture populations in the Lowveld.