Sharpe's Longclaw Conservation Project

Today I would like to lend my moral support to a conservation fundraising project being conducted by the bloggers at 10,000 Birds. The project is meant to support the Sharpe's Longclaw, an extremely rare bird found only in eastern Africa. The small size of its population makes the species especially vulnerable to extinction if its habitat changes. Unfortunately little is known about its distribution or needs. That is where the 10,000 Birds project comes in.

Charlie summarizes the project as such:

To summarise the project briefly, what we have pledged is to do everything we can to raise 2000 USDollars (or more, of course), which will be combined with money raised by Luca to provide a one-year fellowship for a local researcher, Dominic Kamau Kimani, to a) conduct surveys of suitable longclaw habitat, and b) take an education/awareness programme about the longclaw and the need to conserve its habitat into local schools. Not only are we actively supporting a project that should directly impact on decisions on future conservation measures taken for Sharpe’s Longclaw, we have been officially named as partners to the National Museums of Kenya an institution which manages three World Heritage Sites, twenty-two Museums and over a hundred Sites and Monuments across the country and who are organising and running the surveys (which we are incredibly excited about).

Charlie and Mike are proposing that individuals give small donations of $1-$5 apiece. If enough readers donate, that should cover the cost of the project. This seems like a worthy goal; if it succeeds, it could spur similar initiatives in the future. You can read more about the project and how to donate here.

Blogs have already become a vehicle for funding in other niches, such as the political world. It would be useful indeed if we bird bloggers could become a source for conservation funding.