Hi Jegede,

Just to follow up with what's Bob written, here are a few practical thing to do
(see below), some of which may be more practical than others (i.e. determined by
the available resources). If you have any questions please let me know.

Cheers,

Tim Dolby

. Organise a regional Birdline. This encourages people to be proactive,
reporting rare and unusual sighting. It can be part of a newsletter, or on a
website. There are a few online birdline web sites that could support this.

. Organise education session in field i.e. birding for beginners, or advance
birding techniques.

. Keep regular survey dates - create local survey work with local monitoring.
Emphasis that this part of a national survye program.

. Target particular species as part of survey and activity work. In Victoria
(Australia) these are species such as Orange-bellied Parrot, Swift Parrot,
Regent Honeyeater and Grey-crowned Babbler, and waders. Activities vary, from
survey work, to replanting vegetation. It is often worth linking into marquee
species, such as a large dynamic birds, or birds of prey.

. Create an activity list - and try and find someone to co-ordinate this. They
need not actually organise activities themselves, simply promote existing ones
and co-ordinate the list.

. Organise social night/days with guest speakers. Remember it doesn't matter how
many people turn up - this varies greatly, and usually without much logic. At
the speaker night you can mention activities such as survey.

. Organise a newsletter, with articles from birders. Target people that you are
keen to encourage to participate in your birding activities. It needs to be
regular, but need not be too big. If monthly it could be a newsletter, which a
few A4 sheets, if quarterly it can be a bit bigger. (What ever suits your
budget.) In the newsletter you encourage activities.

. If you Internet access it is important to set up a web page - with an
activities section. The web sites acts as an easy way to talk about activities -
you can simple point people to the websites when anybody asks about activities.

. Have a logo using a marquee bird species - one that's important to your
conservation program.

. It is also good to set up an email distribution list. Have a regular email
messages, acting like a short newsletter.

. One recent development in the ability to text people via there mobile
(assuming people have them) - set up a text message list, texting people a
reminder message about upcoming events and survey. Don't over text.

. Organise an Annual bird race or 'birdathon' (in Australia we call this a
Twitchathon). Apealling to people's competitive side, these can also be very
valuable indicators of the state of birds in your areas (essentially a 'day in
the life' type survey), and you can also use the event to raise money for
conservation through sponsorship.See:
http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/the-organisation/vic-twitchathon.html
and
http://tim-dolby.blogspot.com/search/label/Victorian%20Twitchathon%3A%20Racing%2\
0for%20Ornithological%20Conservation

. Link in as much as you can with other conservation, natural history, research
and science groups. Ask them to promote you activities and surveys through there
publicity. In these case organise joint activities i.e. national parks often
have good social networks and activities. Organise bird survey as part of their
activities.

Finally it's important to get a few people involved in the process and formalise
it in someway (i.e. link into a formal birding organisation, such as Birdline
International etc). Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Tim Dolby






-----Original Message-----
From: Ethnoornithology@... on behalf of robert_gosford
Sent: Mon 24/08/2009 09:42
To: Ethnoornithology@...
Subject: [Ethnoornithology] Re: Motivating bird watchers - reply to Jegede

Dear Jegede,

Thanks for your interest in birds and culture - there is a great interest
throughout the African continent in this emerging and increasingly important
area of bird study.

At last year's Pan African Ornithological Congress the following papers relevant
to ethnoornithology were presented in 2 sessions:

Cultural and economic value of flamingos
Oliver Nasirwa
c/o BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat, P.O. Box 3502, 00100, Nairobi,
Kenya. oliver.nasirwa@...

Opportunities, prospects and developments in African ethno-ornithology - an
outsider's perspective
Robert Gosford
Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University,
Australia. robertgosford@...

The knowledge-base of, and attitudes to, some large birds among herdsmen in the
Lesotho Maloti Mountains
Steven Piper
School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal,
Private Bag X01, Scottsville 3209, KwaZulu-
Natal, South Africa. vulture@...

Hornbills for heroes: Compromising biodiversity for traditional knowledge?
Yilma Dellelegn Abebe
NatureConcern Research and Promotion Agency, P.O. Box 18112, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia. ornithopia@...

The inspiration of birds in the proverbs and sayings of the Agikuyu people of
Kenya
Wanyoike Wamiti1 and Francis Muigai
Department of Zoology (Ornithology Section), National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box
40658-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
wamsnarina@... 2Friends of Kinangop Plateau, Njabini Sub-branch, P.O. Box
174 - 20319, South Kinangop,
Kenya

Bird behaviour as depicted in Lepcha folklores
Vanya Jha
Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Majitar, Rangpo, Sikkim 737 132, India.
vanyanegia@...

Pitfalls in ethno-ornithological research
Fleur Ng'weno
Nature Kenya, the East Africa Natural History Society, P.O. Box 44486, Nairobi
00100, Kenya. fleur@...

Ethno-ornithology: a key to the cultural and socio-economic development and bird
conservation of
the Natta people of the Serengeti
John M. Wambura1, Omary A. Chambegga2 and Mokiti T.C. Tarimo1
1
Department of Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation,
Sokoine University of Agriculture,
P.O. Box 3073, Morogoro. wamburaj@... or mugaboh@... 2College
of African Wildlife Management,
Mweka, P.O. Box 3031, Moshi

Is indigenous conservation a science? - an examination of the bird naming system
in Luhyia of the
Western Province, Kenya
George Amutete
Kenya Airports Authority, Box 19087 00501 Nairobi, Kenya. gamutete@...

Kori Bustard conservation in central and western Botswana: how serious is the
threat of
poaching?
Kabelo J. Senyatso1,2
1
BirdLife Botswana, Private Bag 003, Suite 348, Mogoditshane. Botswana. 2School
of Environmental Sciences, University
of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom. k.senyatso@...

Indigenous knowledge of birds as indicators of changes in seasonal and global
weather patterns
Mercy N. Muiruri and Patrick Maundu
Ornithology Dept, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, 00100, Nairobi,
Kenya. mercyc07@...

We also held a very interesting round table:

Round-table discussion: Ethno-ornithology in Africa
Robert Gosford
Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University,
Australia. bgosford@...

You can read the full abstracts here: http://paoc12.adu.org.za/

And in 2012 the PAOC will be held in your country - at the A P Leventis
Institute - (APLORI) at the University of Jos, Nigeria - there is not much info
on the site yet but keep and eye on: http://www.aplori.org/default.htm

Cheers and I hop this helps - we all look forward to catching up in 2012 - but I
may be able to get to APLORI in 2010.

Best,

Bob Gosford
ERSH moderator

--- In Ethnoornithology@..., Jegede Oluwabunmi
<jegedeoluwabunmi@...> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
> Please I have problems motivating members of our local bird club. Any idea on
how i can motivate these people?
> Secondly, i need some information about birds and their cultural, economic,
social and environmental importance. your assistance would suffice.
>
> thanks
>
>
> 'Bunmi JEGEDE
>






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