A Conservation Project is born.

In June (2008) I was fortunate enough to be on a short birding trip in Nairobi with Shailesh Patel and George Kamau. Amongst the birds Shailesh and George were able to show me was one that I had never seen before and knew almost nothing about: the Endangered and highly range-restricted endemic Sharpe’s Longclaw Macronyx sharpei (closely related to pipits, longclaws are an exclusively African family and Sharpe’s is one of the most exclusive!). I managed to take a series of photographs of the one bird we saw as it wandered quite close to me through an unusual-looking grassland full of thick tussocks - much to Shailesh’s surprise, as he’d warned me beforehand that the chances of getting good views of such a wary bird were pretty slim!

I posted the photos on 10,000 Birds at Sharpe’s Longclaw: an Endangered Kenyan endemic, and added a postscript (subsequently updated) saying that if any conservation organisation or group wished to use the images for conservation purposes to contact me. To my surprise (and delight) I was contacted both by Nature Kenya (the BirdLife International partner in Kenya) and by Luca Borghesio, a PhD Candidate based at the University of Illinois at Chicago (http://icarus.uic.edu/~lborgh2/) who was in Kenya and (amongst other projects) was setting up a survey to find out what the current population size of Sharpe’s Longclaw really is.

Luca’s description of the work he was doing really intrigued me and co-incided with a post I’d written about Why I still Blog. The answer that I had arrived at was because it gave me - a passionate but otherwise unqualified birder - a chance to become involved in conservation by utilising the reach of what by any measure is a popular and well-visited blog. Luca asked me if 10,000 Birds would be interested in carrying his survey results. Would he, I asked, be interested in 10,000 Birds trying to raise money to help support the surveys themselves as well?

No researcher is going to say “no” to an offer of fund-raising (no matter how tentative), and a flurry of emails began as we sorted out the details to the satisfaction of both of us - ie, how much money should we try to raise, where should the money be sent, who would recieve it, and what would it specifically be used for…

Some six weeks later we are now in a position to properly launch the “Small African Fellowship for Conservation”.

To summarise the project briefly, what we have pledged is to do everything we can to raise 2000 USDollars (or more, of course), which will be combined with money raised by Luca to provide a one-year fellowship for a local researcher, Dominic Kamau Kimani, to a) conduct surveys of suitable longclaw habitat, and b) take an education/awareness programme about the longclaw and the need to conserve its habitat into local schools. Not only are we actively supporting a project that should directly impact on decisions on future conservation measures taken for Sharpe’s Longclaw, we have been officially named as partners to the National Museums of Kenya an institution which manages three World Heritage Sites, twenty-two Museums and over a hundred Sites and Monuments across the country and who are organising and running the surveys (which we are incredibly excited about).

Rather than post all the information I now have on Sharpe’s Longclaw, the surveys, the fundraising, and Dominic himself on one page - it would be incredibly long! - I am going to condense it into paragraphs below which all link to more detailed information on the blog.

Before I do that though, please allow me a moment of sef-indulgence: this project is precisely why I and my colleagues on 10,000 Birds blog so hard, and - hopefully without sounding self-important - we also genuinely hope that our experiences will inspire both other bloggers to get involved in conservation projects, and inspire conservationists to utilise blogs and bloggers when looking to promote and support their work…

• Sharpe’s Longclaw: Endangered and disappearing.

  There are estimated to be between just 10,000 - 19,000 Sharpe’s Longclaw left and the entire world range of this lovely bird is the rapidly disappearing native grasslands of south-western Kenya (at current rates of habitat conversion, no natural grasslands are predicted to persist in the area within just 20 years): according to BirdLife International, the bulk of the population is now centred in just three locations, the most important of which is currently thought to be the Kinangop Plateau.

  For more photos please go to Sharpe’s Longclaw

  For information on habitat requirements and threats to Sharpe’s Longclaw, please go to Sharpe’s Longclaw: Endangered and disappearing

• Dominic Kamau Kimani.

  The “Small African Fellowship for Conservation” has been set up to fund the work of Dominic Kamau Kimani, a twenty-six year-old from North Kinangop Murungaru village. Dominic began birding when he was just ten and his interest has deepened steadily since then.

  Given that he was born and lives in a small countryside village in Kenya, has not had a chance to attend good schools, and has no permanent job, Dominic has already achieved a remarkable amount - including acting as a volunteer Environmental Education officer for the Friends of Kinangop Plateau (FOKP), conducting ornithological research under the supervision of Dr. David Harper (University of Leicester) as a field instructor for the Earthwatch International Lakes of the Rift Valley Project, undertaking a Certificate course on Global Ecology and Wildlife management through distance learning, shadowing Tim Appleton at Rutland Water in the UK, and spending a week at BirdLife International’s Cambridge headquarters! (Next time I hear some deadbeat here in the UK moaning how hard it is ‘to get anything done’ I’m going to point them towards this post). I feel honoured to be trying to help such a hard-working and dedicated man who already has shown such incredible determination…

   

  Does this project really matter to Dominic? I’m proud to say it REALLY does…

   

  “Dear Charlie, thank you very much for your correspondence. i’m really happy for the chance i have been offered and the start of realising my dreams of educating our community. this is the first time i have appeared in the internet and thank you Charlie for putting me in the world map. i assure you of a real commitment and very good work, i am looking forward working with you in creating the awareness of this Beautiful bird and the entire biodiversity. believe me not, this would be the best approach especially to the farmers who may not be aware that their farms is a ‘gold mine’ = Sharpe’s Longclaw. i am already making plans for the proposed education awareness i am sure things will work perfectly, its very good to see that Museums is very supportive in this matter, this will be a chance to reveal to the farmers the findings of the research work done by Dr. Muchai, Kariuki, Luka and myself. i will keep in touch all the time, feel free to contact always, i will only be in field from next week for two weeks. i can’t wait to see see you. welcome again to Kenya and Kinangop in Particular. all the best wishes in your work. Dominic. DOMINIC KAMAU KIMANI” (email, August 2008)

   

  To read Dominic’s CV (in his own words) please go to Dominic Kamau Kimani

• Fundraising (or ‘Small Change = Big Change’).

  We here at 10,000 Birds have set ourselves a target of raising 2000 US Dollars (USD) to support Dominic and the “Small African Fellowship for Conservation”. We have already pledged to donate a minimum of 250USD ourselves and are asking our readers to (please) donate just ONE dollar each through the Chip In widget to the left (though of course we’d be very grateful for more than one dollar - but one will be fine!). Chip In collects money to a PayPal account that we have set up, and the money raised will be forwarded to an existing and secure bank account in Kenya belonging to the National Museums of Kenya, who will be responsible for passing the funds in monthly sums to Dominic.

  2000 USD is not a huge amount to raise (at least in western conservation terms), but in a country like Kenya it goes a long way. We have a number of strategies in mind to promote the project and raise the funds (keep an eye on the blog to see what), though we’re under no illusions that it will be easy: if you’re considering donating but aren’t sure whether to or not please be assured that 10,000 Birds will take absolutely NO MONEY whatsoever from the funds raised, and every cent/penny/euro raised will be going to Dominic.

  Can I also assure anyone thinking of donating that we’re not collecting names for a ‘mailing-list’ or for future campaigns, will not publicise any contact details or donation amounts, and that we will never pass email addresses/contact details to anyone else.

  For more details please go to Fundraising

 

• Fundraising Update 08 September 2008:

  On the night of 07 September we received two donations that together put us over our 2000 USDollar target just a few weeks after launching the project! To say that we’re grateful is a huge understatement, and we would like to thank every single person who donated and/or promoted our fundraising.

  With the target reached Mike, Corey, and I have had to take a decision whether to close the project or keep it open until the end of this month as planned.

  Personally I’m convinced that we should keep it open for several reasons, but in particular:

  • I’m sure that there are visitors to this blog who have thought about donating but haven’t yet - perhaps unsure whether a few dollars really will make a difference (they will, they really will) or whether if the full amount isn’t raised the “Fellowship” will actually go live (I think we’ve answered that).
  • There are of course still many birders and potential donors etc who haven’t yet heard about the project, and closing it now would be counter-productive.
  • I’m extremely proud that 10,000 Birds has shown that a birding blog can organise and promote a project like this, that we can set deliverable targets, and that we - and our wonderful readers - can really make a difference to the conservation of threatened bird species. It’s one heck of an achievement frankly, and I’m not ready to stop shouting from the rooftops about it anytime yet!

   

  So the Chip In widget stays in the sidebar to the right, and if you’d like to donate PLEASE do so.

  Will more money make a difference though? Of course. We’ve acknowledged many times that 2000 USD is not a huge amount to raise in western conservation terms (most campaigns started by eg the RSPB here in the UK aim to raise 250,000 GBP and up) - but for a small community-based project like this EVERY dollar makes a difference, and especially to someone like Dominic who is totally committed to what he does but is not regularly funded from other sources.

• What will the money raised be spent on?

  Luca, Dominic, and their colleagues basically intend to update the distribution map of the Longclaw through intensive surveying, particularly looking to see if there are any populations inside protected areas or in areas that show some potential to become protected in the near future. The survey so far has already received financial support from the British Ecological Society and the Conservation Fund of the African Bird Club. Surveying in such remote and large areas - even in relatively inexpensive country like Kenya - needs to be funded, and they are still actively looking for more funds (which is where 10,000 Birds comes in).

  For an exclusive update on the survey results so far please go to Sharpe’s Longclaw: early survey results

   

  Additionally, Dominic has written an Education Proposal detailing his plans to promote awareness of Sharpe’s Longclaw within Kinangop itself.

  The main objective will be to sensitise the local community towards the importance of Sharpe’s Longclaw as a flagship species in conservation and why people need to save it from the verge of extinction. He proposes to select three working sites in Kinangop, and will conduct awareness raising “…through schools, existing conservation groups, youth groups, community groups, churches and sporting clubs”.

  For more details please go to Sharpe’s Longclaw: Environmental Education Proposal

• National Museums of Kenya

  The surveys (and eventual recommendations coming from them) are being organised and co-ordinated through Dr Muchane Muchai of the National Museums of Kenya. 10,000 Birds (very much the ‘new kids on the block’ of course as far as Sharpe’s Longclaw conservation goes) are very excited to have been accepted as part of the official team working on the longclaw, and we’re very grateful to Dr Muchai for allowing us to post the following mail supporting our efforts:

  “Your proposal to launch a “Small African Fellowship for Conservation” to support the project of Mr. Dominic Kamau Kimani in the Kinangop plateau is extremely interesting and I wholeheartedly support it. This proposal is in agreement with the program of research and conservation that the National Museums of Kenya have been carrying out in the Kinangop plateau of Kenya for many years”. Dr. Muchane Muchai, August 2008.

  For the full text please go to National Museums of Kenya letter.

• Sponsors and supporters:

  We are extremely grateful to Eagle Optics who have generously supplied Dominic with a new pair of binoculars, and to Penguin Books and author Nick Drayson who have donated five copies of the splendid A Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa: a novel to use in a competition we will be holding in a few days.

If you would like to sponsor the project (with eg a 600px width banner advert on this page) please email me at charlie1000birds AT gmail DOT com

We would also like to thank the 10,000 Birds readers who responded immediately to an initial post that went online before this one - your support is gratefully acknowledged and my personal thanks go to you.

• Friends Online:

  Would you like to promote the project but aren’t sure what to say? Here’s a potted summary - please feel free to copy and use it:

  “Sharpe’s Longclaw (Macronyx sharpeii) is an Endangered and highly range-restricted East African endemic species in the Motacillidae (pipits and wagtails) family. As with so many grassland endemics, this attractive bird is threatened by habitat destruction and is in serious trouble. To promote awareness of the plight of the species, and to help raise funds for research and conservation, the popular blog 10000 Birds has set up a project called the “Small African Fellowship for Conservation”. 10,000 Birds aims to raise US2000 (or more!) by a simple - and secure - online fund-raiser system called Chip In. ALL the money raised will go directly towards a one-year fellowship for field surveys and public awareness campaigns on Kenya’s Kinangop Plateau (one of only three sites with viable populations of Sharpe’s Longclaw) conducted by an inspirational local birder called Dominic Kamau Kimani. The entire project and the distribution of funds to Dominic is being coordinated by the National Museums of Kenya. This really is a worthwhile (and achievable) project to help save a rapidly disappearing species. Chip in, or read more about the project and Dominic at http://10000birds.com/sharpes-longclaw-10000-birds-and-the-small-african-fellowship-for-conservation.htm”

   

  Thanks to the following blogs/websites who have supported the “Small African Fellowship for Conservation” with web links:

  The Birders Report Natural Gardening Blog African Bird Club The Nemesis Bird Wrenaissance Reflections Deep Sea News Swakopmund Birding The Birds of South Gloucestershire redzlan.blogspot.com A DC Birding Blog My Favourite Places Osage and Orange

  Great Auk - or Greatest Auk? Global Bird Trekkers Making Waves - the Greenpeace Blog The Drinking Bird Simply Birding Pensecola Daily Photo Life Under a Tin Roof Sky The Oyster’s Garter Birdfreak Pines Above Snow Rambling Woods

  
  And special thanks to both Surfbirds and Birdguides - probably the world’s two most visited birding websites - who have both posted prominent links on their sites to support the project.

   

  (If you have a blog or website and support the aims of the “Small African Fellowship for Conservation” please link to this page and feel free to copy/use any relevant images on this site to promote it. We will of course link back to you.
  NB Despite my very best efforts I do occasionally miss out a link - please email me and I’ll correct the oversight asap. Thanks.)