We here at 10,000 Birds launched a new conservation initiative recently, the 10,000 Birds Conservation Club, a new way of raising funds for conservation projects that rewards its members while doing it.

That’s right: we’ll be raising funds for conservation projects (keeping nothing of the money raised ourselves by the way - the idea here is that conservation benefits not myself, Mike, or Corey) AND rewarding our Club members by running member-only ‘give-away’ competitions of as many books, birding products, organisation memberships etc as we can possibly get our hands on!

Not bad for the nowhere-near-princely sum of 25USD a year you have to admit. Yeah, you do, you really do…

As we speak we are already running a competition to win all three books published by the wonderful team at the Sound Approach - ‘The Sound Approach to Birding’, ‘Petrels night and day’, and ‘Birding from the Hip‘ (click on the Conservation Club mainpage and scroll down for the details) - but one competition before Christmas really isn’t enough is it?

‘No, it’s not’ is the answer you’re looking for, because getting hold of quality birding products (donated by conservation-minded folk of course) in the lead up to Christmas is a darn good idea and the more we can offer you the better frankly, because we want more members so that we can give more money to conservation projects.

So, what is this second competition we’re launching?

Well - and as a huge fan of this particular conservation organisation (my first ever job was working for them way back in 1979!) I’m especially excited that they’ve agreed to support the Conservation Club in this way - we have TEN (yes, TEN!) full single adult memberships for the superb Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust (WWT) to give-away to Conservation Club members (that’s one WWT membership to ten different Club Members in case anyone was hoping to have their entire Christmas gift list problems solved in one quick hit - though do please note if you do win your membership can be ‘gifted’ to anyone you nominate)!

• A single adult membership of WWT normally costs £34.00 (approx 56 USDollars) so for a one-off payment of just 25USD/15GBP you stand a fairly good percentage chance - we only launched a fortnight ago remember - of winning a WWT membership that’s worth more than twice as much!

And don’t forget Conservation Club Members can enter (and win) as many competitions as they want to during their twelve month membership…so join now and you can enter the competition to win the three Sound Approach books at the same time!

If you’re not convinced purely by the money-saving aspect of this (IMHO) pretty amazing give-away, how about I give WWT a chance to tell you what their organisation is all about…

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

Half the world’s inland wetlands have been lost over the last century and with them their unique wildlife. Wetlands are being lost and degraded more rapidly than any other ecosystem.

Sadly, wetlands remain highly threatened. Reclaimed for building or agriculture, increasingly polluted and degraded, wetlands and their wildlife are among the first casualties of our drive for growth and development. The wildlife that wetlands support is among the most threatened of all ecosystems: of inland wetland-dependent species, one third of all amphibians, 15% of wetland birds, over 40% of reptiles, 30% of mammals and 6% of fish species are globally threatened with extinction. Along with the wildlife, the many benefits that wetlands provide to people are also at risk.

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is a leading wetland conservation organisation saving wetlands for wildlife and people across the world. With over 60 years experience of wetland conservation, WWT is committed to the protection of wetlands and all that depend on them for survival.

WWT has a network of nine wetland visitor centres (including Martin Mere, photo above), covering 2000 hectares, which include seven Sites of Special Interest (SSSI), five Special Protection Areas and five internationally important Ramsar sites, offering some of the best bird-watching in the UK.

Membership of WWT provides the opportunity to:
- explore the beauty of wild wetland reserves throughout the seasons
- get close to migratory birds, native and international species and threatened and endangered wildlife
- enjoy great days out at the many talks, walks, wildlife safaris and other events and activities at WWT centres.

Benefits of WWT membership include:

• FREE entry to all of WWT’s wetland centres for a year
• FREE quarterly ‘Waterlife’ magazine (£3.75 RRP)
• Discount entry vouchers for family and friends

…and of course the knowledge that you are helping to safeguard wetlands and their wildlife for future generations.

Whooper Swan, Martin Mere, Jan 2005. Photo © Charlie Moores

Need more convincing that this is an organisation worth supporting?

Okay, how about the work (which we posted about just recently) that WWT, Durrell, and The Peregrine Fund has done saving the Critically Endangered Madagascar Pochard, their role in re-introducing the Common Crane to the UK, or a hundred and one other conservation and education projects they’re involved in. Worth being a member don’t you think?

• And if that membership has already been paid for and can be won by answering a simple question (and by joining the 10,000 Birds Conservation Club of course)…excellent!

So, to enter the competition to win one of TEN Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust single adult memberships, 10,000 Birds Conservation Club Members (using the email address they joined with) need to answer the following question by 24:00 GMT WEDNESDAY 23RD DECEMBER (NB: Please note that WWT have said to us that this offer is not available to anyone who is currently a WWT member, or who has been a member of WWT in the last 3 months):

• Send your answer to Charlie at charlie10000birds-AT-gmail.com - please use the subject line CC Competition: WWT (we already have overlapping competitions and it will make sorting entries out that much easier).
• The winners will be notified by email no later than THREE days after the closing date.

And thanks again to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust - and to all our members of course - for supporting this initiative of ours!