FUNDS NEEDED FOR IBIS SCHEME

The recovery of Morocco’s Northern Bald Ibis population (Bird Watching, April) is certainly a success story, but the team on the ground is short of money. I was there in March with a group from Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays. We met representatives from GREPOM (Birdlife Morocco) and the Souss-massa National Park, the key organisations that collaborate in the wardening effort. Sadly, they are struggling to pay the wardens. Honeyguide’s holidays all support a local conservation project. In this case, we were able to give them £800, which roughly covers two wardens’ costs for two months. That’s a start, but as there are seven wardens covering all the nesting cliffs, there’s still a big shortfall. Funding is often a challenge for long-running conservation projects, and I wonder if the Moroccan authorities have been so used to help from overseas that they haven’t yet grasped the iconic nature of the species. If anyone would like to donate to help Northern Bald Ibises, you can do that via the Honeyguide Wildlife Charitable Trust and we will get the money to GREPOM at the sharp end. Chris Durdin, via email Web: honeyguide.co.uk Email: chris@honeyguide.co.uk