Conservation

In 1789 Benjamin Franklin said that “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”. In 2007 we here at 10,000 Birds would like to suggest one more certainty: ‘Without conservation there’ll be no birds’. In Franklin’s time such a statement would have been dismissed out of hand: the world seemed a huge and largely undiscovered place and birds would have appeared to be everywhere in such vast numbers that nothing could impact their numbers. Today, though, birds everywhere are under threat.

Of roughly 10,000 known species BirdLife International estimates that one in eight faces extinction.
The human population is more than six times what it was in 1789, there has been massive habitat destruction (particularly of rainforests), relatively unchecked marine and riverine pollution, and unrestrained hunting and collecting of species with tiny populations (island pigeon and parrot species for example).

The common thread that winds through virtually all bird declines is - unfortunately - us. Having said that, the answer to the problems also lie with us. At 10,000 Birds we’re unashamedly ‘pro-conservation’, and we aim to do all we can to support conservation and conservationists. As well as frequently posting about conservation we are looking for ways we can offer more practical help, such as setting up a conservation award (more news on that to come) and offering free space to conservation organisations of all types to reach out to potential new members (if you have an non-avian/alternative conservation passion you’d like us to promote, please let us know too).

In the meantime, if you’re curious to see what 10,000 Birds has already posted under the umbrella term of “conservation” look no further than the links below.

The Peter Mowday Conservation Fund:

World Wetlands Day The Peter Mowday Conservation Fund Award was created in February 2008 to permanently honour the memory of Charlie’s best friend Peter Mowday, a passionate conservationist and life-long naturalist who died of cancer in November 2007. A Paypal account has been set up as an ‘Award Fund’ with an annual 500GBP (currently 985USD) personal donation from Charlie. Peter’s wife, Jo Mowday, has kindly offered to oversee the Paypal ‘Award Fund’ account as a sort of ‘independent auditor’ into the future, and Charlie and Jo will be jointly deciding where the Award funds will be sent: we’ll be accepting nominations for the Award from June 2008 and donating the money on November 15th 2008 (the anniversary of Peter’s death).
For more details please see The Peter Mowday Conservation Fund Award

To donate via PayPal please click on the button:

The 60 Second Sell:

The ‘60 Second Sell’ is a free, no-strings, and permanent space offered to any conservation/animal welfare organisation or group who would like to promote their work/activities etc to the thousands of visitors to this blog.

Please mail Charlie (charlie10000birds AT gmail DOT com) if you would like to take part. There are no terms or conditions whatsoever other than that we reserve the right to decide what gets posted on 10,000 Birds.

So far we’ve given a free and permanent platform to:

African Bird Club

Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Singapore)

Birds Korea

BirdLife Malta

Buglife

Center for Biological Diversity

Global Response

Neotropical Bird Club

Ornithological Society of the Middle East

Protect the Commons:

Protect the Commons! A series of posts written by Mike looking at “the commons”. The posts mainly reflect on North America, but the truths they contain are global.

In his introduction Mike asks, “What are the commons anyway?” The commons are those physical, informational, electronic, and intellectual assets that we all own. One example would be Lake Erie, while another might be the airwaves, the electromagnetic spectrum on which so much media rides. The commons also include those assets that nobody can lay legitimate claim to, like, for example, the sky or the human genome.

Because the commons encompass so many different holdings, my discussion of the commons deals primarily with the shared natural heritage of the United States of America, our land, water, and air, as well as the organisms that live in those environs. I plan to explain the value of the commons as well as why we should not accept efforts to privatize public assets. But the first and most important reason, the one you must get your head around before you learn more, is this: THEY’RE YOURS!

What exactly do we the people collectively own?
You’d be surprised at the extent of our estate…

The crown jewels
What are some of the really cool things we the American people own?
The preposterous opposition
It is no coincidence that advocates of privatization are also rampant opponents of conservation.
The enclosure movement
In the modern enclosure movement, we’re all peons.
Breathing our birthright
Clean air is a priceless commodity, as those who live without it know.
Foxes managing our henhouse
Believe it or not, some politicians have been known to work against the interests of the American people.
Keep every cog and wheel
To protect the commons, you have to protect every part of it, even the inconvenient or obnoxious parts.