What would You Do? (1 Viewer)

[michaelboustead]

Suppose you had some money to give each year. Where would you give it to make any difference? Interest in maintaining bird species and habitat.

Mike

 

[dafi]

Suppose you had some money to give each year. Where would you give it to make any difference? Interest in maintaining bird species and habitat.

Mike

i think i would be tempted to spend it localy so i could see it work and feel conected to my local enviroment

 

[Stranger]

Join an organization like the RSPB or The Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust that way your subsription money will be put to good use.

 

[Richard Henry]

Suppose you had some money to give each year. Where would you give it to make any difference? Interest in maintaining bird species and habitat.

I have great respect for The Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org) and the way they work.

 

[Chris Monk]

Think Globally, Act Locally

Give some to my local Peterborough Bird Club so they could buy some land they could manage themselves with help from other interest groups supporting invertebrates and mammals.

 

[cuckooroller]

To anyone interested in financial support for the development of field ornithologists and conservation efforts at the local level in the Philippines, in my view the most threatened of the multitude of threatened biospheres.

 

[John Eaton]

To anyone interested in financial support for the development of field ornithologists and conservation efforts at the local level in the Philippines, in my view the most threatened of the multitude of threatened biospheres.

If not the Phils then Indonesia.

 

[Green Bean]

I would definitely give it to small community based bird groups and conservation groups. This will hopefully increase understanding amongst communities of the value of conserving and enjoying nature. The big organisations will always recruit new members and raise money but its the small groups that struggle and are often more understood and connected to the local community than the large birding organisations.

Green Bean

 

[Jono L]

Suppose you had some money to give each year. Where would you give it to make any difference? Interest in maintaining bird species and habitat.

Mike

If you live in the UK, I would give it to your local Wildlife Trust. They have over 2000 nature reserves in the UK and yet birders seem to forget about them when deciding which charity to support, despite the fact that you are much more likely to go birding at a WT site than a RSPB or WWT one.

(I do work and volunteer for one, so I am a bit biased!)

Internationally, I would go for the World Land Trust, who are doing a fab job supporting projects to buy lots of rainforest etc to protect some cool birds, plus all the other biodiversity that goes with it.



Cheers Jono Leadley
www.indybirder.com
http://nnobs.blogspot.com

 

[ivrit]

Suppose you had some money to give each year. Where would you give it to make any difference? Interest in maintaining bird species and habitat.

Mike

In my humble opinion, it's very important to ensure that the recipient of any donation will make efficient use of the money it has received. Websites like www.charitynavigator.org (".com"?) can be used to evaluate candidates of interest.

My understanding is that the Nature Conservancy has a favorable efficiency rating, and being a donor to that organization myself, I am aware that the organization's philosophy is that by protecting critical habitat, critical ecosystems can be preserved - denizen birds, mammals, insects, and botany included (as I'm sure you know, the fastest way to kill off bird species is to deprive them of critical habitat - thus, this approach is the most effective means for preserving birdlife on a large scale). The success of this approach has been documented by the organization on many occasions.

The Nature Conservancy also has the philosophy that much environmental destruction results from the pressures of poverty and improper land use on natural environments, and that these effects can be mitigated by creating incentives to conserve and financial alternatives to poor residents who might otherwise engage in practices like "slash and burn" forest clearing, indiscriminate hunting for bushmeat, harmful pollution pursuant to making a living, etc.

Needless to say, I believe the Nature Conservancy has a brilliant strategy for confronting environmental degradation and wholeheartedly endorse it.

Local orgs may give you an "immediate, personal connection" to the projects they undertake, but they may be less efficient (it's your $$), have a less sophisticated (and therefore less effectual) approach, and are certainly limited in scope.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for bringing up such an important question.