It’s a season of giving – even for little birds in the desert

THERE is a little seabird at the coast that has had huge media attention, giving it almost celebrity status.

Although the Damara Tern is now a household name in Namibia with many people siding with its plight, this rare bird needs more public support and understanding. While the festive season is a time when thousands of people look forward to a relaxing holiday at the coast, it is a vitally important time for the Damara Tern too: peak breeding season.The challenge is that this little bird has to compete with great numbers of holidaymakers intent on having fun in the dune belt between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay – the exact place where the highest densities of nests occur, cleverly camouflaged on the gravel plains.Great strides in the protection of the species have been made with the erection of a low fence around the most important breeding areas of the tern to keep out off-road traffic.Scientists have found that hatching success has increased from 56 per cent to 80 per cent since the erection of these fences and information boards in November 2000.But, says Rod Braby, co-ordinator of the Damara Tern Monitoring Project: “Every year more people and more off-road vehicles descend on the coast, while more developments are approved.This means there is less and less space left and everybody becomes more squeezed in.”There doesn’t have to be conflict, says Braby.All that is asked from holidaymakers is to remember the giving and sharing spirit of Christmas when it comes to the environment too.It is very simple: “Be observant and take care.Read the information displays; respect the fences; stay out of fenced-off areas; only drive on well-used tracks; stay on the tracks; no wheelies; never, ever venture over virgin land; and keep your eyes wide open for eggs or chicks.”The most important breeding areas, which Braby calls the “breeding factories”, are at Caution Reef (also known as Patrysberg), where the old railway bridge used to be, and at the Horses’ Graveyard in the dune belt.The third important colony at Dolphin Beach has almost disappeared as a result of the disturbance caused by the development of a residential area at Guns.Braby says the monitoring project recorded 32 nests in that area in 2005, but only seven could be found so far this year.He says it would be interesting to see what happens to this colony and how high their level of tolerance is.”That is why it is so important to focus on protecting the two remaining colonies to ensure a high hatching success rate for the breeding season.”The tern only lays one egg per season.If the bird is continuously disturbed by traffic and stays off the nest, the egg will be a dud.Another danger of human movement is that eggs could be squashed or chicks run over.The availability of food plays a vital part in the survival of chicks.The parents need a safe corridor to the sea to feed their young.The Swakop River mouth is an important feeding area for Damara Terns, which means it is important to stay on existing tracks when driving on beaches as well.Terns are also threatened by predators, especially jackals and crows.The daily monitoring of identified nests by officials of the project is carried out with a vehicle, as it was found that jackals follow human footprints, but not vehicle tracks.One of the main functions of the monitoring project is to ring new birds and chicks.Ringing of Damara Tern has been done since 1982 when it started in the Skeleton Coast Park.Since 1992 the effort has been more focused on the central coast and since 1994 on the dune belt, where the biggest colony has been found.The project is funded by the West Coast Environment Fund with contributions from the Namibian Nature Foundation (NNF) and Namib Film.Roessing mine and the Namib 4×4 Club were also contributors in the past.The ringing of the birds, using a different colour every year, is important for scientific research on the movement of the species.This year astonishing discoveries were made when two birds were spotted in Gabon and Benin.The bird seen on a beach in Gabon, 3 000 km from Namibia, had a yellow ring indicating that it dates from 2002.The second bird was caught at Grand Popo in Benin by a French bird-ringing group.The white ring dating from 2001 indicated it was ringed at the Horses’ Graveyard, more than 7 000 km from Benin.”We knew Damara Terns spent winter flying up the west coast of Africa, but never had an idea how far they would go,” says Braby.He says they normally have about 50 re-traps (ringed birds caught again) per season from between 500 and 600 birds spotted.The tern is one of 13 bird species endemic to Namibia, meaning 95 per cent of the global population of 13 000 occurs in the country.The bird has an endangered status in South Africa, and near-threatened status in Namibia.The “breeding factory” in the dune belt is therefore the largest breeding colony in the world of the Damara Tern.It is not only this seabird that makes the central coast one of the country’s most important bird areas.The area is internationally recognised as a migratory flyway and staging post, and can host up to 770 birds from 50 species per kilometre in the summer months.The Minister of Environment and Tourism, Willem Konjore, recently urged everyone to strike a balance between development and environmental protection.He said his Ministry had identified environmental degradation and disturbance to the dunes and beach as a result of increased recreational and tourist activities on the central coast.A paper by the United Nations Environment Programme states that deserts have become favoured destinations for tourism and outdoor recreation.”Conservation of deserts has gone hand-in-hand with desert tourism.However, desert tourism can be seen on a continuum with desert recreation and the mix is not always a happy one.Nevertheless, tourism is growing and expected to be the main means of generating income in many desert areas of the world.”Minister Konjore said the beauty and natural wealth of the Namib need to be protected and respected, otherwise “our people would have nowhere to go, and tourists would have nowhere to come to”.So remember to include respect and care for the “desert celebrity” in your Christmas stocking this holiday!While the festive season is a time when thousands of people look forward to a relaxing holiday at the coast, it is a vitally important time for the Damara Tern too: peak breeding season.The challenge is that this little bird has to compete with great numbers of holidaymakers intent on having fun in the dune belt between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay – the exact place where the highest densities of nests occur, cleverly camouflaged on the gravel plains.Great strides in the protection of the species have been made with the erection of a low fence around the most important breeding areas of the tern to keep out off-road traffic.Scientists have found that hatching success has increased from 56 per cent to 80 per cent since the erection of these fences and information boards in November 2000.But, says Rod Braby, co-ordinator of the Damara Tern Monitoring Project: “Every year more people and more off-road vehicles descend on the coast, while more developments are approved.This means there is less and less space left and everybody becomes more squeezed in.”There doesn’t have to be conflict, says Braby.All that is asked from holidaymakers is to remember the giving and sharing spirit of Christmas when it comes to the environment too.It is very simple: “Be observant and take care.Read the information displays; respect the fences; stay out of fenced-off areas; only drive on well-used tracks; stay on the tracks; no wheelies; never, ever venture over virgin land; and keep your eyes wide open for eggs or chicks.”The most important breeding areas, which Braby calls the “breeding factories”, are at Caution Reef (also known as Patrysberg), where the old railway bridge used to be, and at the Horses’ Graveyard in the dune belt.The third important colony at Dolphin Beach has almost disappeared as a result of the disturbance caused by the development of a residential area at Guns.Braby says the monitoring project recorded 32 nests in that area in 2005, but only seven could be found so far this year.He says it would be interesting to see what happens to this colony and how high their level of tolerance is.”That is why it is so important to focus on protecting the two remaining colonies to ensure a high hatching success rate for the breeding season.”The tern only lays one egg per season.If the bird is continuously disturbed by traffic and stays off the nest, the egg will be a dud.Another danger of human movement is that eggs could be squashed or chicks run over.The availability of food plays a vital part in the survival of chicks.The parents need a safe corridor to the sea to feed their young.The Swakop River mouth is an important feeding area for Damara Terns, which means it is important to stay on existing tracks when driving on beaches as well.Terns are also threatened by predators, especially jackals and crows.The daily monitoring of identified nests by officials of the project is carried out with a vehicle, as it was found that jackals follow human footprints, but not vehicle tracks.One of the main functions of the monitoring project is to ring new birds and chicks.Ringing of Damara Tern has been done since 1982 when it started in the Skeleton Coast Park.Since 1992 the effort has been more focused on the central coast and since 1994 on the dune belt, where the biggest colony has been found.The project is funded by the West Coast Environment Fund with contributions from the Namibian Nature Foundation (NNF) and Namib Film.Roessing mine and the Namib 4×4 Club were also contributors in the past.The ringing of the birds, using a different colour every year, is important for scientific research on the movement of the species.This year astonishing discoveries were made when two birds were spotted in Gabon and Benin.The bird seen on a beach in Gabon, 3 000 km from Namibia, had a yellow ring indicating that it dates from 2002.The second bird was caught at Grand Popo in Benin by a French bird-ringing group.The white ring dating from 2001 indicated it was ringed at the Horses’ Graveyard, more than 7 000 km from Benin.”We knew Damara Terns spent winter flying up the west coast of Africa, but never had an idea how far they would go,” says Braby.He says they normally have about 50 re-traps (ringed birds caught again) per season from between 500 and 600 birds spotted.The tern is one of 13 bird species endemic to Namibia, meaning 95 per cent of the global population of 13 000 occurs in the country.The bird has an endangered status in South Africa, and near-threatened status in Namibia.The “breeding factory” in the dune belt is therefore the largest breeding colony in the world of the Damara Tern.It is not only this seabird that makes the central coast one of the country’s most important bird areas.The area is internationally recognised as a migratory flyway and staging post, and can host up to 770 birds from 50 species per kilometre in the summer months.The Minister of Environment and Tourism, Willem Konjore, recently urged everyone to strike a balance between development and environmental protection.He said his Ministry had identified environmental degradation and disturbance to the dunes and beach as a result of increased recreational and tourist activities on the central coast.A paper by the United Nations Environment Programme states that deserts have become favoured destinations for tourism and outdoor recreation.”Conservation of deserts has gone hand-in-hand with desert tourism.However, desert tourism can be seen on a continuum with desert recreation and the mix is not always a happy one.Nevertheless, tourism is growing and expected to be the main means of generating income in many desert areas of the world.”Minister Konjore said the beauty and natural wealth of the Namib need to be protected and respected, otherwise “our people would have nowhere to go, and tourists would have nowhere to come to”.So remember to include respect and care for the “desert celebrity” in your Christmas stocking this holiday!