Yes, being on the WA Committee of BA I have been aware of this proposal for
a year or two. There has been a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between
the two organisations for a while.
I certainly support it, although it is not quite as big a deal for WA as
BOCA does not have a direct presence in WA. I have been a member of both
for quite some time. It would be interesting to know what percentage of BA
members are members of BOCA, and vice versa. Maybe the percentage for each
state and territory, as WA may skew the figures.
I am sure they are talking through a number of issues. I like getting both
magazines. Wingspan and The Bird Observer. I don't know whether they would
publish them alternately, or continue both, or whatever. I like getting
both, although I admit that I don't read The Bird Observer as completely as
I used to. I still get Australian Field Ornithology but I haven't got Emu
for a while. There are the conservation funds set up by each
organisation. These are just a few of the obvious issues. I am sure that
there are many more issues. Hopefully solutions can be found.
BOCA is structured quite differently to BA. Many regional bird groups
affiliate to BOCA, which is different to BA where you join BA itself and
are also a member of a regional group. BA is coming to grips with
promoting its RGs, but it is still struggling with the concept of branches
within a group. We have recently established 3 to 4 in the south west.
I have heard that they are targeting 2012 for the merge if everything can
be worked out to the satisfaction of the members of each organisation.
_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email :
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