Happy New Year Ontario Birders. The following notice has been approved by Mark Cranford, the Ontbirds Co-ordinator.
There is probably nowhere in the world where bird species are more at risk than the Philippines. Habitat destruction for mining, forestry, agriculture and urban sprawl has put 88 species of birds, including 60 endemics, on the endangered list. The Haribon Foundation, www.haribon.org.ph, the major environmental NGO in the Philippines has few resources to turn this situation around, but you can help. Haribon has started a series of birding trips and workshops to educate the residents of the Philippines about the importance of biodiversity and species at risk, including birds. The endangered Philippine Eagle is their symbol. I had the opportunity to lead a group of young Haribon members on an urban birding tour of Manila in August 2002, however, half of them did not even have a pair of binoculars. (After all, the average wage in the Philippines is US$4/day.) I am returning to the Philippines for work in mid-March 2003, and again in August 2003 and I would like to take 10 or 12 pair of used binoculars with me to donate to the Haribon Foundation. They would then loan them out to their members and use them in public education activities throughout the Country. I have a pair that I am donating, and if you have a pair that you are prepared to part with your donation would be very much appreciated. Any quality or condition would be acceptable (one person on the urban birding trip had a pair of Zeiss binoculars that were of World War II vintage with a lens on only one side). As I am President of the Friends of Point Pelee you could send the used binoculars to my attention at: Friends of Point Pelee, 407 Monarch Lane, Leamington, ON, N8H 3V4, or, if you are planning a birding trip to Pelee this Spring then just drop them off at the Nature Nook Bookstore in the Visitor's Centre. Please put your name and address on them so that Haribon and I will know where to send thanks. Thank you. Todd R. Pepper General Manager Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority [EMAIL PROTECTED] NOTICE: Attachments are automatically scanned for Viruses using Guinevere with Norton Antivirus "Todd Pepper" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
