Actually avitourism may not work as well as some think it does, particularly
where rarities are involved. My nearly three decades experience of guiding,
my PhD research and the published literature demonstrates that, in their
efforts to please twitchers, guides and locals may put the welfare of birds
second to pleasing their clients. And when they do this, they don't
necessarily please all their clients, just the minority.
On the subject of the Queensland floods, may I suggest that birders, instead
of chasing that next new bird for Australia, donate the money to their
fellow human beings. If Michael and I, on our limited income, can afford to
donate over $100 a month (to all causes), then I'm sure those who can afford
to go chasing birds in remote places could come up with a decent sum.
Denise L Goodfellow
on 13/1/11 7:57 AM, Dave Torr at wrote:
> Wildlife conservation is in many cases these days also a matter for private
> individuals etc - not just governments. I know many dedicated individuals
> who do their bit for conservation with little or no government help.
>
> I tend to agree that the presence of a rarity on Christmas I (or wherever)
> does little directly to promote conservation - however the more birders
> visit such places (whether for rarities or the endemics or both) the more
> the local see that there is a value in preserving the eco system and the
> more likely they are to pressure for this to occur. This is not just an
> Aussie phenomenon of course - the local people (and government) need to see
> there is a value in "nature" (because people pay to come and see it and
> provide employment etc) and that perhaps this is a better way to go than
> chopping everything down.
>
> On 13 January 2011 08:56, Julian B <> wrote:
>
>> Greetings David
>>
>>
>>
>> I'd hate to fall out with a fellow birder on so trivial a matter but I
>> still
>> cannot see, or understand, the connection between the two [to me] separate
>> threads.
>>
>>
>>
>> Chasing after rarities, especially new records, is in the realms of
>> TWITCHING; wildlife conservation [be it birds, reptiles or a elongated
>> creepy-crawly] is a Government initiative. The two rarely coincide.
>>
>>
>>
>> Or are we to understand that if the likes of Mike Carter confirm the
>> presence of a Lesser-spotted Oompahloompah on the Cocos Keeling Islands the
>> Australian Government suddenly drops all other business in hand to assure
>> the wellbeing of the creature - [and I have a lot of admiration for both
>> Mike's ability and willingness to drop everything at a moment's notice and
>> shoot off to "find" or verify a rare sighting]?
>>
>>
>>
>>
> ===============================
>
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> send the message:
> unsubscribe
> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to:
>
> http://birding-aus.org
> ===============================
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
|
