The political birder: Mark Avery
For the second year running there will be no Birdfair in August. What this means for the future of the event remains to be seen.
For the second year running there will be no Birdfair in August. What this means for the future of the event remains to be seen, writes Mark Avery.
❝The strength of Birdfair was that it was the brainchild of a small number of people who had the vision to set up the fair in 1989 and develop it into a much bigger event, year by year❞
Will we ever see a Birdfair (BF) again? That is a live question as we face a second year with no gathering of the clans in late August. To compare Birdfair with Glastonbury has always seemed a bit of a stretch to me, and possibly doesn’t flatter either event, but I’ve been an attendee, usually for all three days, for well over 25 years and it has been automatically written into my mental calendar in the same way that Cheltenham Races and Hen Harrier Day have been.
Large gatherings of people have been hit hard by COVID-19, and BF has, let’s be clear about it, an age range of attendees that tends towards the more vulnerable groups, some challenges with organising social distancing (unless all the talks are going to be about bird moult) and relies on an international audience jetting in from every continent.
But it also seems that the writing has been on the wall for quite some time, with a diminution in attendees and in the amount of money raised and handed over to BirdLife International. A Birdfair refresh has been needed for some time and the present circumstances will make that an inevitability. You can’t design an event to suit everyone, and you can’t easily do it by committee.
Wonder vision
The strength of BF was that it was the brainchild of a small number of people
– Tim Appleton and Martin Davies (aided by others) – who had the vision to set up the fair in 1989 and develop it into a much bigger event, year by year. It has been not just a success but a massive success. Perhaps the problem has been that the world has changed around BF without the event changing quite enough to respond and to develop.
Behind the scenes there have been some fallings out over the last two years, with letters to the Charity Commission, questions about the commitment of Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust to the event and questioning of the RSPB commitment, too. BF is at a critical point, precipitated by coronavirus, but perhaps we would have got here anyway.
Here are just a few questions that could be addressed. Should BF be at the same site every year? Should that site be Rutland Water? Is the ‘pay to get in and then all events are free’ model a good one? Is the emphasis on international birding right? Should BirdLife International always be the beneficiary of the event? There are many more.
Who will make these decisions? It won’t be you and me. BF is ‘owned’ not by a collective group of bodies, but by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust and it will have the major say. It seems a little odd to me that the future of an international event, which has provided millions to global conservation, is in the hands of a small county wildlife charity. I hope it rises to the challenge, and that it recruits the right partners to ensure success. I’d be sad if it ‘Whither Birdfair?’ were to become ‘Wither Birdfair!’ ■