I am a member of both, although my membership of BOCA is more to support a
worthwhile organisation. BOCA has almost no presence in Western Australia.
Birds Australia has the recognition and trust to run significant national
projects. HANZAB, Atlas, IBAs, etc are some of these. BA has run or been
significantly involved in projects for Hooded Plover, Orange-bellied
Parrot, Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo, (Western) Ground Parrot, Painted Snipe,
among others. There are special interest groups (SIGs) associated with BA
for waders, seabirds, parrots and raptors. BA operates two bird
observatories at Broome and Eyre, and a reserve at Gluepot. Although BA
does have a number of full time staff, it is still largely a volunteer
organisation, and so this does place some limitations on how it can respond
to issues.
In Western Australia, BA (WA) helps with projects for Carnaby's, Ground
Parrot, Hooded Plover, wader counts, IBAs, Starling searches, etc. We have
more than 70 excursions a year for our members (some allow the general
public) from half day walks to extended camp outs. We survey a number of
pastoral stations that have been bought by DEC as part of the state's
reserve system. We publish WABN quarterly, and plan to publish a new
scientific journal Amytornis annually. We run public bird identification
workshops. We visit schools and community groups to give talks and lead
walks. We prepare displays in public libraries. We provide leaders for
bird walks at the Stirling Range Retreat each spring. We have an extensive
image library of 35mm slides, digital images and laminated pictures for use
in presentations and for use by our members. We have a good library for
our members to use. Members may borrow binoculars, GPS, data projector,
slide projector, etc. Members can purchase books at a discount. We have
produced an outstanding series of more than 50 bird guide brochures
throughout the state (many of which are available on our web site at
birdswa.com.au). We have monthly meetings. We have a state database of
records for national parks, shires and other locations which augments the
Atlas records. BAWA assists with the management of the Eyre Bird
Observatory. We would love to do more, especially in the areas of
education and conservation, but we are limited by the interests of our
volunteers. We recorded more than 40,000 volunteer hours in WA last year
with a membership that has just surpassed 1,000. BAWA is completely run by
volunteers, except for two project officers to run the Carnaby's projects.
In many ways, it would seem sensible to only have one national bird
organisation. But with the memorandum of understanding between the two
organisations, they work very cooperatively together where it is important.
So I encourage all of you throughout Australia (and your friends and
family) to join BA and BOCA. It is fantastic when you contribute your time
also, but simply paying the annual subscription is a help. The funds help
to cover running expenses and to purchase equipment, and the increased
membership raises our effectiveness and public clout. In WA, we hope to
increase our membership to 1,500 within the next five years.
_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email :
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www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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