Binoculars4charity

Photos: Chantal Guggenbühl

During our recent trip to Colombia, we had the great privilege of personally handing over a donation from Binoculars4charity to Yarumo Blanco. Yarumo Blanco is an NGO active in the «Santuario de Fauna y Flora Otún-Quimbaya» in the coffee zone of the country. 

The organisation brings together local communities to organize ecotourism activities and services in the National Reserve. As such, it offers job opportunities to people in the region, motivating them to stay in their native region while protecting their environment. The work of Yarumo Blanco is a model in Colombia and has been internationally recognized as one of the «Top 100 Sustainable Destinations» in the world. Yarumo Blanco’s activities include environmental education and awareness raising of local children through regular and enjoyable activities. 

We were delighted to hand over eleven binoculars and go on a birdwatching excursion with Viviana Madrid, the coordinator of the group, and the children. Seeing the gratitude of the children and the community and seeing the use of the equipment live in action confirms the value of the work of Binoculars4charity and motivates us to keep going! As always, we would like to thank the generous donors of the optical devices and wish the Yarumitos many interesting and entertaining observations. More information about Yarumo Blanco’s work can be found on their website or on the organisation’s Facebook page.

Photos: MOS

The Mongolian Ornithological Society (MOS) has requested Binoculars4charity for a donation of binoculars and spotting scopes. Founded nearly 20 years ago, the MOS has been committed to ornithological research and bird conservation. The society works closely with the National University in Ulaanbaatar.

Since we would like to support the work of the MOS, we sent 2 spotting scopes including tripod and 4 binoculars to Mongolia. For the logistics we were happy to count on the help of Manuel Schweizer of the Natural History Museum in Bern, who has ongoing collaborations with researchers of the MOS.

The optics have already been used in various projects, including a study on Sand Martins and bird monitoring in a wind farm. In the next few years, the spotting scopes and binoculars will be used in many more projects. Among them are various monitoring schemes, the National Birdwatcher’s Day, which is held annually on 9 September, and the annual World Migratory Bird Day, where schoolchildren in Ulaanbaatar and surrounding townships are learning about the secrets of bird migration. The MOS has sent us a short report with an overview of projects they have planned in the near future (PDF).

We wish the MOS a lot of success in all their activities and would like to pass on their gratitude to the generous donators of the optical devices.

Photos: SPPN

„Societatea Pentru Protecţia Păsărilor şi a Naturii“ (SPPN, in english “Society for Birds and Nature Protection) is a non-profit organization dedicated to bird and nature conservation in Moldova. It is a young and very active society that aims to study the local avifauna and raise the public awareness about birds in the Republic of Moldova. Among other things, the SPPN has coordinated the national data collection for the new European Breeding Bird Atlas, an ambitious biodiversity monitoring project to document changes in the breeding distribution of all European birds and to provide important data for conservation and political decision-making.

The SPPN is also participating in several other monitoring programs, such as the International Waterbird Census, the Winter Raptor Count and the Common Bird Monitoring, and is planning a Moldavian breeding bird atlas follwing the example of Switzerland. In addition, the SPPN organizes public excursions with the aim of arousing the interest of Moldovans in birds and motivating them to actively participate in their monitoring programs.

Binoculars4charity has supported the SPPN with four binoculars and a spotting scope and is pleased to see how many people were able to take a closer look at the local birds at the 3rd International Bird Day in the city of Kishinau. We are sure that the optical devices will be very well used in all future projects and activities of the SPPN and, as always, thank the generous donors who made this possible! You can find a detailed donation report by the SPPN here.

Photos: WINGS

WINGS is an organization based in Cluj Napoca, Romania, which aims to awake the interest of kids, youth and their families in their local natural environment. WINGS organizes workshops, excursions and other indoor and outdoor activities to discover, search and observe birds, amphibians, insects, plants, mushrooms, etc. Binoculars4charity has donated 3 binoculars and one spotting scope to the organization for their birdwatching excursions and is glad to see so many happy faces, both big and small! As always, we wish to pass on the gratitude of WINGS to the donors of the equipment. For more information about the activities of the organization WINGS and additional photos visit their Facebook page.

Photos: Sumit Dookia

Last month, volunteers of the “Ecology and Rural Development Society” (ERDS) received 5 binoculars, a spotting scope and 5 bird identification books that Binoculars4charity provided to support their work in western Rajasthan, India. We are very happy to contribute to the long-term efforts of the ERDS for monitoring and protecting the only remaining population of the fascinating, critically endangered Great Indian Bustard. In addition, the organization is committed to raising awareness among the local community about nature and building capacity for a sustainable ornithological tourism in the Thar Desert and the Desert National Park. We wish the ERDS and their volunteers all the best in their work and extend their gratitude to the donors of the equipment!

Hans Ueli Grütter, donor of equipment for Binoculars4charity and former owner of the spotting scope for ERDS, is as happy as we are to see his devices being used by enthusiastic and committed people in meaningful projects. He wrote two blog entries (> “News Blog” > 26th and 29th January 2018) on his website. Binoculars4charity is happy to be able to mediate such win-win-win arrangements (for receivers of the donations, donors and nature). The positive feedback from all sides and the trust of the many people who send us material or monetary donations motivate us to continue our work.

Photos: Nimesh Ved

Last October we sent a parcel with 3 binoculars, 1 spotting scope, 2 compasses and 2 cameras to Rajgath Besant School, a rural school in Varanasi (India) that has been providing educational opportunities to underprivileged children for over 60 years. The school is located in a biodiversity-rich area alongside the Ganga river with abundant birds and mammals, a nearby turtle sanctuary and a mosaic of different habitats. The teachers at the school aim to awaken the inherent interest the children have in nature and to connect them with the natural values in and around their campus. We encountered some problems importing the equipment to India, but in the end the parcel arrived well at its destination and we are very happy to see that the afternoon birding sessions have already begun! We wish the teachers and the pupils diverting and instructive excursions and extend their gratitude to the donors of the equipment.

Photos: Carlos Mario Wagner, Asoríocali
Asoríocali, the NGO in Colombia we supported recently, is actively using the equipment they received from Binoculars4charity. During the last weeks, voluntary birdwatchers and local residents have been using the 10 binoculars, 2 spotting scopes and the bird identification guide for the Christmas Bird Count around Cali in the west of Colombia. With these counts, they are contributing to one of the biggest long-term efforts for monitoring the birds in the Americas. In the future, the equipment will be used for birdwatching courses, excursions and monitoring activities in the rural areas of Cali organized by Asoríocali and the Colombia Birdfair. We are very happy to provide such a meaningful second life to otherwise unused equipment and extend the gratitude of Asoríocali to the donors that made this possible!

A detailed report by Asoríocali can be found here (in Spanish).

Photos: Anubhav Shukla, Tiger Watch
Binoculars4charity has supplied the “Village Wildlife Watchers” in Ranthambhore, India, with 5 binoculars and a spotting scope with tripod. The highly active group of volunteers monitors the populations of tigers, gharials (a relative of the crocodiles) and other endangered species around the National Park and is under the supervision of the local conservation organization „Tiger Watch“. The material from Binoculars4charity arrived in Ranthambhore in mid-October and facilitates the valuable work of the “Village Wildlife Watchers”. We would like to pass on the thanks of Tiger Watch to our donors!

Binoculars4charity has handed over several bird books and DVDs to the Zurich-based association „Natrix“, which is one of the most active youth groups in Switzerland. It regularly organizes field trips, nature conservation activities and summer camps. Our donation complements the group’s library, where children and young people can borrow books about nature. Further information about Natrix can be found on their website.

Thanks to the equipment that we have received from many generous donors during the last weeks, we are happy to announce that we will support several projects for nature education and conservation. For the time being, we have selected three organisations, which will receive a material supply in the coming weeks. We would like to introduce the three organisations to you.

Asoríocali is an NGO established in 1997 by residents of the rural areas of Cali in Colombia. Through its environmental education program, the organisation is promoting birdwatching as a strategy for recreation, social integration and peace building and to build awareness of the value of biodiversity among rural communities. One of the main activities of Asoríocali is the organisation of the Colombia BirdFair, an annual event in Cali that brings together a vast community of people from Colombia and abroad who share their fascination with the bird world. Binoculars4charity will provide 10 binoculars, 2 telescopes and some bird identification books to Asoríocali and the Colombia BirdFair. These will be used for workshops on bird and nature observation for children in rural areas and for public bird excursions during the Colombia BirdFair. More information can be found on the website and the Facebook page of Colombia BirdFair.

Tiger Watch is a non-profit organisation that is strongly committed to the protection of wildlife and especially tigers at the Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan, India. Among many other projects, Tiger Watch runs the “Village Wildlife Volunteers” program, where local volunteers get involved with the monitoring of tigers, anti-poaching activities, and the prevention of human-animal conflicts in and around the Tiger Reserve. Binoculars4charity donates 5 binoculars and a spotting scope to support the work of this dedicated group. For more information about Tiger Watch, visit the website and the Facebook page of the organisation.

The “Ecology and Rural Development Society” (ERDS), established in 2007, is an organisation in western Rajasthan, India and is committed to the conservation of the local biodiversity. Among the activities of the ERDS is the capacity-building of local communities for ornithological tourism in the Thar Desert and the Desert National Park. The society runs awareness campaigns, bird races and bird identification workshops and supports local initiatives to develop sustainable tourism in the area of the highly endangered Indian Bustard. The 5 binoculars, the telescope and the 5 bird identification books that are provided by Binoculars4charity will be used by volunteers of the ERDS for the activities mentioned. For more information about ERDS, visit the society’s Facebook page.

We are now looking for ways to deliver the material reliably and cost-effectively to their destination. If you can help us, please contact us!