British Birdwatching Fair
| Founded | 1989 |
|---|---|
| Type | Bird Festival |
| Location | |
Area served | birdwatching |
| Website | http://www.birdfair.org.uk/ |
The British Birdwatching Fair or Birdfair is an annual event for birdwatchers, held every August at Rutland Water in England. It is described as the birder's "Glastonbury".[1] A large number of suppliers of binoculars, cameras, books, clothing and other birdwatching equipment, plus artists and tour companies, display and sell their wares. There are also lectures and other attractions.
The first fair was held in 1989. All the organisers' profits are donated to a charity, Birdlife International. Prior to the 2008 fair, visitors had contributed £1,488,000 to international bird conservation. The 2009 event attracted 22,800 people and raised £263,000 for BirdLife's work in saving critically endangered birds around the world.[2] The 2015 fair raised £320,000 making a total of £3,996,152 since the inception.
Other countires are replicating the fair, the most important being the South American Bird Fair, which was first held in 2010.[3]
Themes
Each year the Birdfair has a different fundraising theme; a list of these is as follows, with the approximate amount raised:
- 1989: Stop the massacre campaign, Malta (£3,000)
- 1990: Save Spain's Donana National Park (£10,000)
- 1991: Danube Delta project, Romania (£20,000)
- 1992: Spanish Steppes Appeal (£30,000)
- 1993: Polish Wetlands Project (£40,000)
- 1994: Project Halmahera, Indonesia (£45,000)
- 1995: Moroccan Wetlands Project (£47,000)
- 1996: Ke Go Forest Project, Vietnam (£55,000)
- 1997: Mindo Forest Project, Ecuador (£60,000)
- 1998: Threatened Birds Programme (£120,000)
- 1999: Rescuing Brazil's Atlantic Forests (£130,000)
- 2000: Save the Albatross Campaign (£125,000)
- 2001: Eastern Cuba: a Caribbean Wilderness (£135,000)
- 2002: Sumatra's Lowland Rainforests (£147,000)
- 2003: Madagascar's Fragile Wetlands (£157,000)
- 2004: Saving northern Peru's dry forests (£164,000)
- 2005: Gurney's Pittas and their forest home (£200,000)
- 2006: Saving the Pacific's Parrots (£215,000)
- 2007: Preventing Extinctions programme (£226,000)
- 2008: Preventing Extinctions programme (£265,000)
- 2009: Preventing Extinctions programme (£263,000)
- 2010: Ethiopia (£242,000)
- 2011: Flyways (£227,000)
- 2012: Flyways (£200,152)
- 2013: Flyways (£270,000)
- 2014: Protecting the Worlds Seas and Oceans (£280,000)
- 2015: Protecting Migratory Birds of the Eastern Mediterranean (£320,000)
2016
The fair's theme was Saving Important Areas in Africa: Project Madagascar and the focus was on Tsitongambarika Forest, which was designated as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International in 2001.[4] The forest was designated for its distinct flora and fauna, and is the only area in south-east madagascar which supports significant areas of lowland rainforest. It is still theatened with deforestation, despite the environmental protection given in 2015 by the government.[5]
References
- ↑ "22,000 flock to Birdfair, the Glastonbury of birdwatching". The Guardian. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ↑ "Building up to Birdfair". Rutland & Stamford Mercury. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ↑ "Feria de Aves de Sudamérica South America Bird Fair". Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ↑ "Tsitongambarika NPA". BirdLife International. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ↑ "Birdfair Projects since the start in 1989". Birdfair. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
External links
Coordinates: 52°39′22″N 0°42′07″W / 52.656°N 0.702°W