one more try _____
From: gordon andersson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, March 01, 2009 11:33 PM To: [email protected] Subject: ICF "Bugle" article about birds and birding in China I read this short article in the latest newsletter of International Crane Foundation newsletter The Bugle (vol.35, no.1). It is by Ximin Wang about birds in China and peoples attitudes and the new minority of birders. He started a bird magazine in China. I thought I would add it to the recent messages of Mark Alt and Fred Lesher. The issue is not available in the archives of The Bugle (too recent) so I called the ICF librarian who sent me an e-copy of the whole issue. I tried for a long time to only select the 2 pp.article with photos and all, but I could not. As it turns out, one cannot send attached files to mou.list anyway. Today a computer friend of mine copied the text. The original article includes photos of cranes of China black-necked, red-crowned, & Siberian--- as well as a website where Chinese birders have posted photos of birds (in text below.) Additional photos can be viewed on ICF website at www.savingcranes.org/china-crane-gallery.html GAndersson St Paul _____ Subject: RE: Feb Bugle The Way to My Dream In the summer of 2007, while studying for my masters degree in environmental education at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, I worked as an intern in the Education Department at ICF for three months. It was such an amazing experience that I will never forget. Everyday, I was busy giving tours introducing the world of cranes to people from all over the U.S and worldwide. I also talked about the status of cranes, other birds and wildlife and the problems we are facing and the dream I have. I want to create a national bird watching society in mainland China for bird conservation and education with other birders. Visitors enjoyed hearing my story and gave me so much encouragement.With the knowledge of bird education which I have learned in the U.S, I returned to China in 2008 and am now trying to make my dream a reality. In China, if you call somebody a birder, they might be very angry because in Chinese, birder means someone who is odd and unpopular. However, recently, more and more people are beginning to call themselves birders, which means someone who likes to watch wild birds, just like its meaning in English. If you ask me how many people watch birds outdoors in China, I have to admit that probably no more than 5000 out of 1.3 billion of the population. If you want to know how many people raise birds in cages or eat birds as food, I dont know the exact number but I am pretty sure that the number of bird-raisers and bird-eaters is much more than that of bird watcher. There is a saying about the people of southern China that they eat anything with four limbs except tables, anything that flies except airplanes and anything that swims except ships. That saying is not entirely true, but traditionally, most Chinese people see birds as food, pets, potential medicine or agricultural pests. People used to enjoy birds in cages instead of in nature. Bird-watching as a hobby was introduced into mainland China in the 1990's. Although the number of birders is small, these pioneers are beginning to make a difference.Many interesting things happened after my return. For example, we have a professional bird photo website www.birdnet.cn <http://www.birdnet.cn/> . Many Chinese bird photographers upload their beautiful bird photos to the website and some of these birds have never been photographed before! I posted my story there and it was so popular and thousands of people read it and had comments for me.Most surprising was one photographer, who posted old photos of George Archibald, the Co-founder of ICF, which were taken more than 20 years ago. It was on May 9th, 1987. He remembered the exact day when George visited that area, which was a very important wetland for breeding Red-crowned Cranes. Because of Georges visit all those years ago, he became a bird-lover and bird-photographer.What a small world! So far, there are only 15 local bird-related organizations in mainland China. Outdoor bird watching is a good way to improve peoples awareness.More and more people are concerned about the environment. In 2008, The New Yorker and The Economist happened to both publish articles about Chinese birders, introducing the efforts we have made and the problems we were facing. As the editor of Chinas only birding magazine, China BirdWatch, I decided to use China Bird Conservation and theWorld as the theme of the first issue in 2009. I know its impossible to do bird conservation successfully without the help from people and organizations in other countries, including ICF. Birds dont know countries boundaries.We do bird conservation and education without boundaries, also. Enjoying the beautiful wildlife, including fabulous birds is human nature. Now, I work with Rare, a U.S based international conservation organization, in Kunming, Yunnan province, which is far away from my hometown.We focus on building support for conservation at the local level.We have a model campaign called Pride, and it inspires people to take pride in the natural assets that make their communities valuable and take action to protect them. Everything is just beginning and I know the dream will be reality in the end. I am on the way. The ICF Bugle - Vol . 2. 35, No. 1 - Februar y 2009 _____ From: Betsy Didrickson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 10:05 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Feb Bugle Gordon: Nice talking with you! Heres the Bugle let me know if you need anything else. Betsy Didrickson Information Services Manager INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION E11376 Shady Lane Rd., P.O. Box 447 Baraboo, WI 53913 USA 608.356.9462 x.124/fax: 608.356.9465 <http://www.savingcranes.org/> www.savingcranes.org ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
