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I am proud to confirm, without hesitation or fear of contradiction, that this has been the Cape Bird Club’s busiest year to date. We set ourselves clear goals, all of which we have achieved. We now look confidently into the future with a great deal of excitement, as our club continues to expand on its status as an innovator and as the premier bird club in the country. Professional era; Bird watching in South Africa has evolved into a large and thriving business. The days of our hobby being tenuously associated with a new, niche, boutique, eco-tourism industry are over. The projections of the value of birding to our economy now exceed R100 000 000.00 per annum. How does this impact on our bird club, you might ask? The answer is that it is having a huge and significant influence on the fundamental nature of all the bird clubs. Our committee meetings are now run in a manner not dissimilar to those of the corporate world. We have had to register for VAT, which was a process I might add, that was rigorous in the extreme and for which we deeply thank our Honorary Treasurer, Jack Ragsdale. Allied to this process, we have had to apply for registration as a Public Benefit Organisation, in order that we comply with stringent SARS requirements for N.G.O. groupings of our nature. The corporate governance and competencies of your committee has been overhauled, making sure that we are in compliance with government requirements and that our operating procedures and protocols are satisfactory. In addition to this, we have had to project manage an account of nearly R 500 000.00, where we were directly responsible for overseeing the construction of the W.W.F. funded new bird hide near Geelbek, in the West Coast National Park. This total process took over four years, culminating in an intensive five-month stretch involving laborious site meetings and consultations with sub-contractors, SanParks officials and others parties. For this, we are forever indebted to Anne Gray, as she was tireless in her determination to bring this flagship hide to fruition. I am proud to announce that the Elisabeth Harding Bird Hide (named after a long-standing Cape Bird Club member, who’s substantial donation was instrumental in the formation of W.C.N.P.) now stands elegantly on the shoreline of the lagoon. As a branch of Birdlife South Africa (B.L.S.A.), we are part of a collective. Birdlife S A; has been successfully embarking on a process of re-positioning itself as a cutting-edge conservation organization. Fund raising and revenue generating activities are essential to empower the societies’ many conservation initiatives. The consequent development of Birdlife Travel and the Bird Route Concept are vivid examples of the necessity for the “business of birding”, as a weapon in the fight for the protection and sustainability of our natural world. Through the establishment of the bird routes, the allied Birder –Friendly Establishments and the development of site guides, B.L.S.A. is directly tying into the birding, eco-tourism industry, in a very fundamental and structural way. When one combines the network of Important Bird Areas into this strategy one clearly sees the influence the society will have on birding. Western Cape; In the next two years, we will see new bird routes emerge on the West Coast, the Overberg, the Garden Route, the Cape Peninsula and the hinterland of the Western Cape. Birder-Friendly Establishments are presently being identified, site guides are being trained and our club, amongst others will be tasked with assisting and promoting this process. The “business of birding” has arrived and we hope that along with this development of a sustainable natural environment, there will emerge a wonderful resource for our members with direct benefits on the ground. BLSA expanding; Through successful funding initiatives this year, B.L.S.A. has embarked on an expansion of their staff compliment. In particular, we welcome Neil Smith as the new head of the Conservation Division, Doug Newman, the head of the Membership Division and Caroline Ah Shene, who will head up the new Policy and Advocacy Division. Caroline is a very experienced environmental lawyer and her arsenal is proving invaluable, as we carefully monitor E.I.A. processes across the country and lobby government on key issues. Sadly, we say good-bye to Karen Marx as she moves on to pursue new challenges. Karen was the backbone of the Secretariat during some difficult times of transition and she will be sorely missed. Rarities Committees; I am glad to announce that this year has finally seen the establishment of a new National Rarities Committee and a National Lists Committee. Allied to this has seen the development of our own Regional Rarities Committee under the stewardship of Mike Buckham and his team. We thank them for their hard work. The Western Cape Birding Forum (W.C.B.F.); continues to grow and do good work. From our initial W.C.B.F. meeting in March 2002, where four clubs met for the first time, I am delighted to say that we now actively comprise 12 clubs, which represents over 2000 members. This is a formidable grouping and we are growing from strength to strength, with new bird clubs planning to join in the near future. For the first time this year, the clubs of the W.C.B.F. took part in the S.A.A. / Cape Town Flower Show at the prestigious Lourensford Wine Estate. We created a bird-friendly garden exhibit, to inform the public about gardening with birds. The show attracted over 24 000 visitors and we were able to hand out over 2500 pamphlets. Anne Gary was at the helm of this project and she was richly rewarded with a Silver Medal. The Forum diligently monitors commercial property developments across our region and is quick to register as an official objector or be involved in public participation processes, in order to contribute and assist with environmental issues. Of particular concern to us has been the threat to the tern roost at the Lourens River Estuary. Dirk van Driel is intimately monitoring the process and is keeping us informed. The Forum thanks Birdlife South Africa for its continued moral, financial and professional support as we move into a new challenging year ahead. I would also like to personally thank Sylvia Ledgard, the W.C.B.F.Honorary Secretary, for all her guidance and hard work over the last twelve months. Remembering; This year has had many highlights, but on a more solemn note, we remember those friends who have passed away. We think of Ken Newman, the doyen of birding in Southern Africa. His contribution to our enjoyment of birds will live into the distant future. We also mourn the loss of Dorothy Greenshields, Manfred Waltner, Norah Williams and Rudolph Schmidt. Rudolph was one of the last of the pioneers of the Cape Bird Club, he was a past Vice – Chairman of the club and contributed as editor of our newsletter for 18 years. However, he has left us a legacy in his son Otto. Promerops; I would now like to turn your attention to Promerops. As you all know Jo Hobbs and Otto have done an incredible job editing our magazine. The
last issue was in fact the 41st that they have edited together!, 39 of them in an unbroken run! Well done Jo and Otto and thank you.
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