We are really excited to share with you the three projects we have selected to fund with the proceeds from ‘A Guide to the Birdsong of Western Africa’! This part of the project is so important to us and we take our time to carefully research and select the project we feel will have the most impact on the ground, projects which are reputable and also exciting.

To date “A Guide to the Birdsong” has managed to raise more than $50,000 USD, donated to six conservation organisations working across Latin America. To select the projects this time around we have been working very closely with the team from Birdlife Africa and its national partner organisations along with the African Bird Club to identify organisations working on the ground in Western Africa to protect bird species and their habitats. 

We are thrilled to announce that this volume of the Birdsong Project will be making donations to:

The Nigerian Bird Atlas Project (NIBAP)

The Nigerian Bird Atlas Project (NiBAP) is a citizen science initiative of the A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute (APLORI) aimed at promoting public participation in bird and biodiversity conservation through bird watching and atlasing. NiBAP recruits, trains and organizes nature enthusiasts into bird and nature clubs.  Through this project, over 1,000 young Nigerians have been recruited into bird clubs that the project has helped establish across the country.

Funding from the Birdsong Project will help fund field expeditions to survey local bird species, training for additional citizen volunteers, and the purchase of binoculars and other field equipment. You can find out more about NiBAP here.

Association Nature Koussabel (ANAK)

The rare and beautiful Black Crowned Crane is the crane species that we know least about of the world’s 15 species. Most of its range is under insurgent control or has high levels of civil unrest, rendering these areas closed to researchers and conservationists. The Association Nature Koussabel (ANAK) is a fledgling NGO in Senegal, developed in partnership with the International Crane Foundation and the Endangered Wildlife Trust. The organization focuses on monitoring the Black crowned crane in the Casamance region of south-west Senegal. The work of ANAK is doubly important: not only is it yielding a better understanding of the threats facing Black Crowned Cranes in Senegal’s Casamance area, but the increased understanding the team is gaining of the cranes’ overall ecology and threats will be of great assistance to the ICF and other conservationists as and when circumstances allow them to increase their protection of the Black Crowned Cranes in the rest of their range.

The Birdsong Project funding will subsidize ongoing crane monitoring to identify threats to the species, as well as training of local communities in climate-smart farming practices that support crane conservation. You can find our more about the International Crane Foundation here (ANAK does not yet have a website)

Gulf of Guinea Biodiversity Center (GGBC)

The Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, Africa’s second smallest country, is home to 27 bird species found nowhere else on the planet.  Composed of two main volcanic islands in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, the archipelago, often nicknamed the African Galapagos, possesses large and lush areas of native rainforest rich in endemic species and varied biodiversity like the bird São Tomé Grosbeak, the smallest of its kind in the world. The Gulf of Guinea Biodiversity Center facilitates research, education and conservation of the unique diversity of plants and animals on the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe in close collaboration with Birdlife Africa, the world’s largest nature conservation partnership.

The Birdsong Project donation will support the training of additional full-time “guardians of the forest”, who carry out important species monitoring and law enforcement in the natural park of São Tomé, which is home to many bird species that occur nowhere else in the world. You can find out more about the GGBC here.

This volume was made possible thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, which raised £19,329 in September 2021. All net proceeds from the crowdfunding campaign, together with 100% of profits from the sales of the record, music streaming, poster and t-shirt will be donated to three organisations working on the ground to protect these and other bird species. 

A huge thank you to everyone that supported the project on Kickstarter, we can’t wait to find out how much we are able to donate to these three inspiring organisations!!