South Africa, named one of the world’s 17 megadiverse nations, harbours a huge proportion of the world’s biodiversity, with the tourism industry heavily reliant on eco-tourism and birding tours across their national parks.
Along with being famous for its flora and fauna, South Africa is also renowned for its bird watching, hailed as the “birding continent” and boasting the largest number of regionally endemic bird species of any African country.
With 846 bird species nationally, husband and wife duo John and Natalie White saw an opportunity to elevate the birdwatching experience in South Africa and internationally, transforming it from an individual hobby to an inclusive community activity. Their birdwatching app and social media platform, Birda is aimed at curious people who want to deepen their connection with nature.
John, from Durban, is the son of a British father and Afrikaans mother and has spent a childhood and more in the bush. Now, with his MBA and several years of banking and consultancy experience under his belt, he is following his entrepreneurial heart, which has an indisputable passion for Africa – especially the continent’s wildlife.
Natalie is originally from the UK and since moving to Cape Town in 2011, has been easily persuaded to love Africa as much as her husband John. Since her first safari trip to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in 2010, her knowledge and enthusiasm for Africa’s wildlife have grown and evolved.
Now, in collaboration with BirdLife South Africa, Birda is hosting a nationwide challenge for its users to raise money for the conservation charity’s initiative, South African Names for South African Birds (SANSABs).
SANSABs has been established to produce a list of bird names in traditional South African languages. The taxonomy of indigenous bird species is mostly undocumented and unavailable in most South African languages, making the mandate of this new committee an urgent one. To take part, you can participate Birda’s challenges by logging the birds for a Kruger National Park and also regional challenges for South Africa and Southern Africa Big Year.
In Birda, you can also earn individual badges for specific goals and species, compete with your followers to see who can stay at the top of the leaderboard, and participate in local and national birdwatching challenges.
All the while, you’ll be helping conservationists protect a myriad of bird species. Anonymous combined logs from the app can be used by scientists and environmental protection organisations to create a picture of species’ movement. This will help to put the proper measures in place to support and safeguard them.
You’ll also find local conservation activities to join and projects to donate to through the app.
“Having worked for two large multinationals, I realised that corporate life was not what I wanted,” said John.
“Together, Natalie and I had an idea to turn our passion for wildlife and the outdoors into a business. We launched our first website and mobile app in 2013 for users to share their wildlife sightings from parks and reserves across Southern Africa. Life’s been an epic adventure ever since, and I look forward to continuing it with Birda.”
Natalie added: “The healing power of nature was paramount in getting me through my struggles with cancer. It’s motivated me to do more to protect our natural world, inspire others to do the same, and leave a legacy for my daughters.”
