World Migratory Bird & Tree Planting Day 12-5-2018

Saturday 12th of May 2018, Ol Ari Nyiro

Today is World Migratory Bird Day and Tree Planting Day.  Two important days in one for us at the Gallmann Memorial Foundation.
Let’s have a look how we celebrated this day over the last years at Ol Ari Nyiro and how we celebrated it this year:

2006
World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) launched in Africa and around the World!

On the occasion of the first World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD), Kuki Gallmann and The Great Rift Valley Trust together with the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), hosted WINGS, a cultural and artistic show inspired by the phenomenon of bird migration. The event took place on the Laikipia Nature Conservancy, a 350 km2 nature reserve and biodiversity oasis overlooking the Kenyan part of the 7200 km long Great Rift Valley – a bird migration route of global importance. It brought together key individuals from leading organizations such as BirdLife and Wetlands International dedicated to bird conservation and was the heart of a new global initiative initiated by CMS and AEWA to celebrate and inform about the phenomenon of bird migration annually.

A total of 68 (registered) activities to mark this year’s first World Migratory Bird Day took place in over 44 countries and ranged from four additional celebrations throughout Kenya, educational activities in Mongolia and Sri Lanka and others in countries stretching from Norway to Antarctica and from India to Peru. The theme of this year’s WMBD celebration was “Migratory birds need our support now!” It was part of a larger campaign initiated by CMS and AEWA in cooperation with a number of other organizations to try to counter the negative and unbalanced publicity migratory birds have received due to Avian Influenza. The WMBD event in Laikipia was staged one day before a Scientific Seminar on “Avian Influenza, the Environment and Migratory Birds” at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi on 10/11 April.

The central WMBD event took place on the famous estate of Kuki Gallmann and was directed by Monica Maimone of La Compagnia Di Valerio Festi. It included world renowned artists such as Paul Winter and Adrian Brendal and a diverse mix of other artists from Kenya and around the world. The show, which was presented to over 200 international guests, including several ministers, diplomats and conservationists, was preceded by an official ceremony during which the CMS Executive Secretary, Robert Hepworth, presented Kuki Gallmann with the first CMS Ambassadorship for Migratory Animals. On this occasion, Bert Lenten, Executive Secretary of AEWA, who worked closely with Kuki Gallmann to initiate WMBD and stage its main event at Ol Ari Nyiro, also thanked her for hosting this “magical artistic creation to celebrate the launch of World Migratory Bird Day” at her estate, which lies “in the cradle of humankind, on the edge of the Great Rift Valley corridor, where twice each year, millions of birds migrate along a bird migration route of global importance”.

During the event Bert Lenten also highlighted some of the activities that were taking place in other countries and also thanked the many local and international partner organizations that made this event and the launch of WMBD possible. These included the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), BirdLife International (Netherlands) and the BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat, Vogelbescherming Nederland and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality as well as many more. Each of these organizations contributed to making WMBD and the launching event in the heart of Kenya a reality.

http://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/2006/index22a5.html?option=com_content&view=article&id=5%3Aworld-migratory-bird-day-wmbd-launched-in-africa-and-around-the-world&catid=2%3Alatest-news&Itemid=2

Oh every year has its winter
And every year has its rain,
But the day is always coming
When the birds go North again.

When the leaves swell in the forest
And the grass springs green on the plain
And the alder veins turn crimson
And the birds go North again.

Oh every year has its sorrow
And every year has its pain
But the day is always coming
When the birds go North again.

It’s the sweetest thing to remember
If courage be on decline
When the cold dark days are over
Why the birds go North again.

(The children and Head Teacher of Karia-ini Primary School welcoming guests on the Enghelesha Airfield

9th April 2006
On the occasion of the Declaration of  World Migratory Bird Day at Ol Ari Nyiro, Laikipia Nature Conservancy

2014
Kuki Gallmann, author of the bestselling book “I Dreamed Of Africa”, provides a statement to mark World Migratory Bird Day 2014. With the theme “Destination Flyways: Migratory Birds and Tourism”, World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) 2014 will highlight the links between migratory bird conservation, local community development and wildlife watching tourism around the world. Learn more about World Migratory Bird Day!

2018
The students of Ol Moran Day secondary celebrate National Tree planting day by planting 100 indigenous Mutamayo trees we purchased from the Community and donated to the school through the Principal Mr. Kimathi.

 



Please help us fund the rebuilding and maintaining of vital conservation infrastructure on Kuki’s Laikipia Nature Conservancy and equip the outstanding team of rangers with everything they need to continue to protect and monitor the unique Biodiversity of Ol Ari Nyiro, assist our neighbouring communities and support our re-forestation project to combat global warming by planting more indigenous trees.

With your help we can secure Kuki’s vision and legacy in perpetuity.

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