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Every year for the past three decades, the proceeds from Birdfair have gone to a conservation project, selected and managed by the conservation charity BirdLife International. Through your support, these projects have helped to secure a future for some of the world’s most threatened bird species and habitats – here are the highlights …

Year: 1989

Project name: ICBP Stop the Massacre Campaign

Birds that benefit: Migratory birds in the Mediterranean, focusing on the European Robin Erithacus rubecula

Amount raised: £3,000 ICBP (rebranded BirdLife in 1993) aimed to tackle hunting and trapping with the first Birdfair project. Birdfair supported an education programme lead by BirdLife Malta, which generated a huge amount of publicity and media coverage in Malta. However, the battle to end illegal bird killing is ongoing.

Year: 1990

Project name: Helping Save Spain’s Doñana National Park

Birds that benefit: Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus, Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus

Amount raised: £10,000

Already beleaguered by agriculture and tourism, Doñana wetlands faced its biggest threat with the proposal of a huge tourist development: ‘Costa Doñana’. Birdfair funded a concerted campaign led by SEO/BirdLife (BirdLife in Spain) which successfully halted the development, and financed a visitor centre to promote ecotourism.

Year: 1991

Project name: Danube Delta

Birds that benefit: Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus (NT), White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocepala (EN), Pygmy Cormorant Microcarbo pygmaeus

Amount raised: £20,000 The Danube Delta’s incredible wetlands suddenly escaped the threat of drainage when the new administration declared it a World Heritage Site and a Ramsar Site. However, new wardens lacked basic equipment. Birdfair funded the provision of binoculars, boat engines, bird hides and other essential kit.

Year: 1992

Project name: ICBP Spanish Steppes Appeal

Birds that benefit: Great Bustard Otis tarda (VU), Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax (NT), Dupont’s Lark Chersophilus duponti (NT)

Amount raised: £30,000 Despite supporting three-quarters of the world’s Little Bustards, Spain’s sweeping grasslands faced destruction by large-scale irrigation schemes funded by the EU. The Spanish Steppes campaign was one of the first truly effective examples of European-level collaborative conservation across the newly remodelled BirdLife International partnership.

Year: 1993

Project name: BirdLife International Polish Wetlands

Birds that benefit: Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola (VU), Corncrake Crex crex

Amount raised: £40,000 Birdfair funded the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (OTOP, BirdLife partner) to update its directory of wetland IBAs (Important Bird and Biodiversity Area) and seek effective protection for these areas. Funds also went towards Poland’s first reserve in the Swina Estuary to protect Aquatic Warblers. Such efforts have slowed this species’ decline in central Europe.

Year: 1994

Project name: Project Halmahera

Birds that benefit: Standardwing Bird-of-paradise Semioptera wallacii

Amount raised: £41,000 In 1994, Halmahera was the largest Indonesian island not to possess any National Parks or other protected areas. Focusing on this little-known tropical paradise raised much-needed awareness. Birdfair funded research to pinpoint priority areas for protection. Sadly, civil unrest in the area disrupted the process, but BirdLife clung on, and the first National Park was declared in 2004.

Year: 1995

Project name: Moroccan Wetlands Project

Birds that benefit: Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris (CR), Marbled Teal Marmaronetta angustirostris (VU), Audouin’s Gull Larus audouinii (NT)

Amount raised: £45,000 Sandwiched between sea and desert, the wetlands along the Moroccan coast are a lifeline for migrating waterbirds. But they are also under pressure from human use. Birdfair funded the better management of key sites along this route, including school and community engagement programmes.

Year: 1996

Project name: Ke Go Forest Project

Birds that benefit: Edwards’s Pheasant Lophura edwardsi (CR), Crested Argus Rheinardia ocellata (NT), Red-collared Woodpecker Picus rabieri (NT)

Amount raised: £50,000 Ke Go is the last remaining block of lowland forest in central Vietnam. In 1996, with the publicity and financial backing of Birdfair, the site was declared a nature reserve. BirdLife continues to work in this area to combat the ever-present threat of illegal logging.

Year: 1997

Project name: Mindo Important Bird Area Project

Birds that benefit: Black-breasted Puffleg Eriocnemis nigrivestis (CR), Andean Cock-of-the-rock Rupicola peruvianus

Amount raised: £60,000 In 1997, with the help of Birdfair, Ecuador’s incredibly species-rich Mindo cloud-forest was declared the first IBA in the whole of South America, launching BirdLife’s IBA programme in that continent. BirdLife worked with the local community, developing ecotourism as an alternative livelihood to destructive agriculture.

Year: 1998

Project name: BirdLife International Threatened Birds Programme

Birds that benefit: Blue-throated Macaw Ara glaucogularis (CR), Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea (CR), Whooping Crane Grus americana (EN)

Amount raised: £120,000 With one in eight bird species threatened with extinction, Birdfair funded research to gather up-to-date information on their populations, creating the landmark book Threatened Birds of the World. This sparked public and political awareness and established BirdLife as the avian authority for the IUCN Red List.

Year: 1999

Project name: Rescuing Brazil’s Atlantic Forests

Birds that benefit: Seven-coloured Tanager Tangara fastuosa (VU), Alagoas Antwren Myrmotherula snowi (CR), Bahia Tyrannulet Phylloscartes beckeri (EN)

Amount raised: £130,000 43 of Brazil’s 103 threatened bird species depend on its dwindling Atlantic forests. The 1999 Birdfair project aimed to preserve them. Successes included Murici Forest being declared an Ecological Station. BirdLife’s activity in this country eventually led to the formation of the NGO SAVE Brazil, now a BirdLife partner.

Year: 2000

Project name: Save the Albatross Campaign – Keeping the World’s Seabirds off the Hook

Birds that benefit: Seabirds including the Wandering Albatross Diomeda exulans (VU)

Amount raised: £122,000 Albatrosses are the most threatened group of seabird, and one of the biggest threats is death on the baited hooks of long-line fisheries. Birdfair funded the launch of the Global Seabird Programme, which paved the way for BirdLife’s highly successful Albatross Task Force.

Year: 2001

Project name: Eastern Cuba – Saving a Unique Caribbean Wilderness

Birds that benefit: Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis (CR – possibly still present in Cuba), Bee Hummingbird Mellisuga helenae (NT)

Amount raised: £135,000 Cuba hosts 350 bird species, including the world’s smallest bird, the Bee Hummingbird (weighing only 2 grams). Birdfair funded vital research, providing field equipment and setting up Cuba’s IBA network, which went on to attract conservation funding for the whole Caribbean.

Year: 2002

Project name: Saving the Last Lowland Rainforests in Sumatra

Birds that benefit: Red-naped Trogon Harpactes kasumba (NT)

Amount raised: £147,000 Birdfair funded the then newly formed BirdLife partner Burung Indonesia to identify priority areas of Sumatra’s dwindling lowland rainforest for protection. After intense lobbying, the government issued the very first forest restoration licence to preserve one such forest from logging and monoculture. This paved the way for BirdLife’s Harapan (‘hope’) Rainforest Project.

Year: 2003

Project name: Saving Madagascar’s Fragile Wetlands

Birds that benefit: Madagascar Fish-eagle Haliaeetus vociferoides (CR), Sakalava Rail Zapornia olivieri (EN), Madagascar Heron Ardea humbloti (EN)

Amount raised: £157,000 The plight of Madagascar’s forests is well publicised, but its wetlands are also of huge conservation importance. This project engaged local people who use the wetlands, working with governments, communities and businesses to draw up legal agreements. These have now expanded into two Protected Areas.

Year: 2004

Project name: Saving Northern Peru’s Dry Forests

Birds that benefit: White-winged Guan Penelope albipennis (CR), Marvelous Spatuletail Loddigesia mirabilis (EN), Long-whiskered Owlet Xenoglaux loweryi (EN)

Sandwiched between the Andes, the Sechura Desert and the Pacific Ocean, this isolated, enigmatic region is one of the top ten most biologically unique areas of the planet. Sadly, only 5% of its original range survives. Birdfair funded several successful, locally targeted community-based conservation projects.

Year: 2005

Project name: Saving Gurney’s Pittas and their Forest Home

Birds that benefit: Gurney’s Pitta Pitta gurneyi (EN)

Amount raised: £200,000 For much of the last century, Gurney’s Pitta was thought to be lost. The discovery of a population several hundred strong in Myanmar’s lowland forests was a fantastic event – but also an urgent one, with the forest threatened by clearance for oil palm plantations. Despite political unrest in the area, Birdfair-funded fieldwork greatly advanced our understanding of this bird.

Year: 2006

Project name: Saving the Pacific’s Parrots

Birds that benefit: New Caledonian Lorikeet Charmosyna diadema (CR), Rimatara Lorikeet Vini kuhlii (EN), Ouvea Parakeet Eunymphicus uvaeensis (EN)

Amount raised: £215,000 Islandbirds are at greater risk from extinction, especially from invasive species. Birdfair funded conservation across the Pacific region, focusing on six threatened parrot species. A major success involved Rima Lorikeets being reintroduced to their original home island of Aitu, where they now thrive.

Year: 2007

Project name: BirdLife International Preventing Extinctions Programme (PEP)

Birds that benefit: Bengal Florican Houbaropsis bengalensis (CR), Djibouti Francolin Pternistis ochropectus (CR), Belding’s Yellowthroat Geothlypis beldingi (now VU)

Amount raised: £226,000 Birdfair helped to kick-start BirdLife’s ambitious initiative to prevent Critically Endangered birds from slipping away. A highly effective network linked Species Champions (companies, organisations or individuals providing vital funds to save a species) with Species Guardians (leading targeted action on the ground).

Year: 2008

Project name: BirdLife International Preventing Extinctions Programme

Birds that benefit: Araripe Manakin Antilophia bokermanni (CR), Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarious (CR), Azores Bullfinch Pyrrhula murina (now VU)

Amount raised: £265,000 Building on the previous year’s success, a further six Critically Endangered birds were highlighted, and the search for Species Champions to ‘adopt’ them proved very successful. Birdwatch magazine devoted itself to the Azores Bullfinch, and Sir David Attenborough himself took on the Araripe Manakin.

Year: 2009

Project name: BirdLife International PEP: ‘Lost and Found’

Birds that benefit: Fiji Petrel Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi (CR), Makira Moorhen Pareudiastes silvestris (CR)

Amount raised: £263,000 Birdfair funded the PEP to establish whether 15 ‘lost’ species survived in the wild – thus informing conservation decisions. A successful example was the search for the Fiji Petrel, which uncovered 8 individuals. The PEP programme has gone on to appoint 46 Species Guardians, protecting 59 Critically Endangered birds.

Year: 2010

Project name: Southern Ethiopian Endemics

Birds that benefit: Liben Lark Heteromirafra archeri (CR), Ethiopian Bushcrow Zavattariornis stresemanni (EN), White-tailed Swallow Hirundo megaensis (VU)

Amount raised: £243,000 Ethiopia’s endemic birds are increasingly threatened. Birdfair funded the Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society (BirdLife partner) to work with locals to preserve the Liben Lark’s tiny grassland range. Furthermore, Yavello Protected Area was upgraded to National Park status, aiding the White-tailed Swallow and Ethiopian Bushcrow.

Year: 2011

Project name: BirdLife International Flyways Programme – African–Eurasian Flyway

Birds that benefit: Eurasian Cuckoo Cuculus canorus, Common Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos, European Turtledove Streptopelia turtur (Now VU)

Amount raised: £227,000 In the first year of Birdfair support for BirdLife’s Flyways Programme, the project focused on well-known birds breeding in Europe but overwintering in sub-Saharan Africa. Birdfair helped the Ghana Wildlife Society to raise awareness, and a new flyway action plan was spearheaded by the Ghanaian government.

Year: 2012

Project name: BirdLife International Flyways Programme – East Asia–Australasian Flyway

Birds that benefit: Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea (CR), Spotted Greenshank Tringa guttifer (EN), Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor (EN)

Amount raised: £200,000 This year’s project empowered partners across East Asia to protect key wetlands, used by 50 million migratory waterbirds but encroached upon by human expansion. The Gulf of Martaban in Myanmar – used by half of all Spoon-billed Sandpipers – was declared a Ramsar site.

Year: 2013

Project name: BirdLife International Flyways Programme – Americas Flyway (Prairies to Pampas)

Birds that benefit: Bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus, Swainson’s Hawk Buteo swainsoni, Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis (now NT)

Amount raised: £270,000 Across the Americas’ grasslands, traditional ranching is giving way to intensive livestock rearing. Birdfair 2013 focused on supporting partners in South America’s Southern Cone, with initiatives such as ‘bird-friendly’ beef certification, and protecting sites of importance for grassland-dependent birds.

Year: 2014

Project name: Saving the Seas and Oceans

Birds that benefit: Macaroni Penguin Eudyptes chrysolophus, Audouin’s Gull Larus audouinii, Pycroft’s petrel Pteodroma pycrofti

Amount raised: £280,000 Oceans cover 70 percent of the earth’s surface, yet conservation actions for marine areas lag far behind those for other environments. Birdfair funded efforts by BirdLife partners’ policy staff looking to increase marine conservation. The project was based in Europe and Africa but also included efforts to protect Antarctica and the High Seas.

Year: 2015

Project name: Protecting Migratory Birds in the Eastern Mediterranean

Birds that benefit: White stork Ciconia ciconia, Red Knot Calidris canutus, Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica

Amount raised: £320,000 Roughly 25 million migratory birds are killed illegally each year as they cross the Mediterranean. In order to combat this problem, BirdLife International worked to reduce the scale and impact of the illegal killing by advocating for the strengthening of protective laws throughout the region.

Year: 2016

Project name: Saving Africa’s Important Bird/Biodiversity Areas in Africa

Birds that benefit: Brown Mesite Mesitornis unicolor, Madagascar Blue-pigeon Alectroenas madagascariensis, Red-fronted Coua Coua reynaudii

Amount raised: £350,000 Forest loss is a severe problem across the African continent, and one that is hugely detrimental to birds, as more than two-thirds of species can be found in forests. In order to protect these crucial habitats, the 2016 Birdfair project focused on Tsitongambarika Forest. The area features many endemic species, which makes it biologically extraordinary, even by Madagascar’s lofty standards.

Year: 2017

Project name: Saving Paradise in the Pacific

Birds that benefit: Rapa Fruit-dove Ptilinopus huttoni, Newell’s Shearwater Puffinus newelli Polynesian Storm Petrel Nesofregetta fuliginosa

Amount raised: 333,000 On the French Polynesian island of Rapa Iti, invasive non-native species are decimating populations of native birds. Money from Birdfair will help BirdLife to remove invasive species in order to restore the islands to their former glory.

Year: 2018

Project name: A Haven for Argentina’s Flamingos

Birds that benefit: Andean Flamingo Phoenicoparrus andinus, Chilean Flamingo Phoenicopterus chilensis, Puna Flamingo Phoenicoparrus jamesi

Amount raised: TBC This year, we’re turning Birdfair pink – to celebrate plans to create what will become Argentina’s largest National Park, and a safe haven for over a million waterbirds, including three species of flamingos.