Conservation organisations throughout the Caribbean have launched a month-long celebration of the unique birds found in the region.
The Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival runs from April 22, “Earth Day,” until May 22, “International Biodiversity Day,” and is coordinated by the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB). Activities will range from exhibitions of drawings and paintings by local schoolchildren, public lectures, church services, bird-watching excursions, and theatrical productions in celebration of the region’s rich bird life.
In launching the Festival, Andrew Dobson President of SCSCB, said, “This Festival is a celebration of the magnificence and diversity of life found throughout the Caribbean, and an acknowledgement of the region as an irreplaceable repository of global biodiversity. More than one in five Caribbean bird species are found nowhere else on the earth. Thanks to this annual Festival, people will learn to appreciate the value and global significance of our region’s birds and other wildlife and join us to help conserve them for future generations to enjoy.”
In the first three years of the annual Festival, more than 17,000 persons have participated directly, while thousands of others have learned about the bird life and overall biodiversity of the Caribbean through regional media houses.
In The Bahamas the celebrations will be led by members of the Bahamas National Trust Ornithology Group , who organised presentations for schoolchildren May 3 οΎ– 5 at The Retreat on Village Road, a lecture on Birds at Friends of the Environment in Marsh Harbour, Abaco on April 28, and a birdwatching expedition at The Retreat on Village Road on May 7.
Mrs. Carolyn Wardle, Coordinator of the BNT’s ornithology group said “In The Bahamas we are blessed with three species that are unique to our island nation, and festival provides a first time opportunity for many nationals to learn the facts and observe these birds in the wild. This is an unprecedented opportunity for education and the generation of pride in what is uniquely ours. It is also an important call for greater responsibility to safeguard our unique species and valuable national asset. Our birds are an irreplaceable part of our natural heritage and given the global trends in species extinction we must ensure the education of everyone to ensure their survival.”
The month-long annual Festival is highlighting the fact that the Caribbean islands are recognised as one of the top three areas on the planet for biodiversity conservation, because of the high number of endemic plant and animal species. But according to BirdLife International, the birds of the Caribbean are today more threatened than they have ever been in their history primarily due to destruction of their habitats.
From: The Nassau Guardian
