Maybe it is just me, but I don't think birding in the UK is quite as rosy a
picture as some are painting. Sure all the benefits you list are real, but
there are a fair few cons too, which I think should be remembered.
If you visit most UK bird watching hotspots at any time of the year you are
pretty much guaranteed to be surrounded by scores of people all talking into
pocket tape-recorders, jostling for position and swinging their scopes
around. If a rarity blows in then the scores of people turn into hundreds
even thousands. Partly this is just a function of the UK generally (too
small and too crowded) and would probably never happen here. But certainly
one of the greatest joys for me of living here is to be able to watch
wildlife in utter solitude, even near major cities. So although I hope
attitiudes to conservation change for the majority, I do think its rather
nice being part of a minority.
cheers
Jon
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Waanders <>
To: Birding Aus <>
Date: 06 July 2000 11:13
Subject: birding etc (was sensitive information)
>Good Morning Birders
>
>I've been thinking about a message that was posted a few days ago, which I
>have unfortunately deleted. The author related to the fact that birding in
>the UK was "almost mainstream", very public, large scale, and quite
>organised, as opposed to Oz birding being a niche activity pursued by only
>few. In the UK and other European countries (Scandinavia, Holland) and also
>the USA, birding/birdwatching has taken a huge flight :-) over the last
>decade.
>Wouldn't it be nice if the same situation could be achieved in Australia?
>Imagine, you could buy Wingspan at the newsagency, there would be
>birdwatching shows on commercial TV, newspapers would run bird related
>stories, Birds Australia would have 10,000s members.
>After all, with birding being a more commonly accepted and pursued
activity,
>the birds can only benefit. More public awareness, more money raised, more
>people doing bird counts of various kinds, even more interest from pollies
>(?!?) all leading to more & better research and conservation efforts.
>The awareness and enthusiastic public uptake of birding in the above
>mentioned countries has not always been so. Only in the late eighties/early
>nineties things started to change and snowballed from then on. General
>awareness of environmental issues started to increase. The Dutch
association
>for bird conservation & research was lucky enough to attract a publicly
>known personality to its committee who started to push their case on TV a
>fair bit. He started appearing in programs comparable to Better Homes &
>Gardens and the like. At the same time, twitching became more popular and
>the media started to become interested in all these "weirdos with
>binoculars" travelling from far & wide to watch rarities. Subsequently to
>these two processes, membership of associations for bird conservation &
>research started to rise, prompting them to - with now increasing funds -
>intensify public campaigns, advertising, and so on. Sponsorship was found
>for TV ads and within a few years birding had become an "almost mainstream"
>activity.
>Could we learn something from these experiences? I think so. Birds
Australia
>has a unique opportunity to tap into a growing public awareness of
>environmental issues. Just remember the outcry about landclearing; the
>recent whaling debates; the "green thumbs" various landcare and natural
>heritage trust schemes have created; etc etc.
>I think BA have taken the first step and that was changing their name. They
>now need to perhaps do a few case studies and apply overseas experiences to
>the Australian situation, with the support and input from all of us. Only
>then can birdwatching truly grow out of its current tiny niche.
>
>Cheers
>
>Peter Waanders
>
>website: www.riverland.net.au/~peterw
>
>The information in this e-mail may be confidential and/or legally
>privileged. Use or disclosure of the information by anyone other than the
>intended recipient is prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received
>this e-mail in error, please advise by return e-mail.
>
>
>Birding-Aus is on the Web at
>www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
>To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
>"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
>to
>
>
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to
|
