Urban development and sprawl has significantly changed city landscapes, especially over the past 50 years. These changes have favoured larger birds, including parrots, fruit-eating & meat-eating birds, exotic birds, and the larger honeyeaters, while populations of most smaller bird species are in decline.

Why Ethnic Communities?

Restoration of the balance of bird species in urban areas requires the involvement of all sectors of the community, including people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. This is most important in capital cities where a significant proportion of the community (31% Sydney & 28 % Melbourne) speak a language other than English at home. (ABS 2006 Census)

Project Foundation

Birds Australia commenced a project aimed at increasing the participation of people from CALD community groups in bird appreciation and conservation in urban areas in July 2007. The project, funded by the NSW Environmental Trust, links the very successful Birds in Backyards project (a partnership between Birds Australia and the Australian Museum) with the Ethnic Communities Sustainable Living Project (ECSLP - a joint project between the NSW Ethnic Communities Council and the NSW Dept of Environment and Climate Change). The ECSLP is based on peer-to-peer education. Twenty bilingual educators from seven different language groups (Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Arabic, Greek, Italian and Spanish) regularly visit community organisations to educate members of their communities on practical ways to live more sustainably.

Workshops & Activities

A workshop program and resource kit has been developed for bilingual and local government environmental educators to use when educating community groups. A ‘train the trainer’ day was held for the ECSLP bilingual educators day in November 2007 at the Birds Australia Discovery Centre. Workshops focus on the positive aspects of having birds in urban areas, and simple actions to take to conserve urban birds and their habitat. Ten community workshops have been presented to date: eight in Chinese and one each in Italian and Korean. An outdoor workshop with an Islamic bush regeneration group has developed into a regular dawn bird-listening survey. Feedback from these workshops has been very positive, with groups and councils requesting additional workshops and bird watching field trips. It is hoped that further funding can be secured to establish ongoing bird surveys and habitat creation projects with CALD community groups, and to train council educators to present workshops to English speaking culturally diverse groups. 

Like to Find Out More?

For more information about this project, contact the BASNA Office on 02 9647 1033 . Resources and support are available to hold your own Urban Bird Conservation workshop for community groups.

Bilingual educators participating in a game aimed at demonstrating the effects of habitat loss on small birds © Judy Harrington

Dawn bird listening with Al-Ghazzali Islamic group © Sue Stevens

Chinese Evergreen Seniors workshop © Sue Stevens

Bilingual educators birdwatching at Sydney Olympic Park © Judy Harrington