"The Sky's the Limit"

School Outreach Program - Linking Children and Raptors

Aim: Although the diversity of raptors in Southern Africa is richer than most other places in the world, very few South Africans are even aware that these birds live alongside us every day.  The aim of our School Outreach Program is to provide children the opportunity to visit our Sanctuary to experience this exceptional component of our natural heritage first-hand, in a safe, accessible and enriching environment.
Education and awareness are paramount for the effective conservation of our indigenous birds of prey and the habitats that sustain them. To facilitate this, a specially trained group of raptors is flown for visitors in daily flight displays.  For people to want to conserve something, they need to appreciate it, and in order to appreciate anything, they need to know something about it. At the African Bird of Prey Sanctuary, the birds themselves become the teachers.

Why Raptors?

With their power, speed and agility, birds of prey are worthy icons of strength and hope and have the ability to uplift down-trodden hearts - even in difficult socio-economic times. All our raptors are protected species, and 20% of them are already listed in the Red Data Book as being in need of active conservation to ensure their survival. There is amazing variety among the 81 raptor species in South Africa, so there is sure to be something of real interest for everyone.

Why Children?

Most of the factors that today threaten raptors are created by humans. Empowered with firsthand knowledge and appreciation, we believe that young people who visit our Sanctuary will learn to later make informed decisions and choices that will contribute to the preservation of this elusive aspect of our natural heritage. They will also learn to enjoy the raptors in their own home skies and develop a community responsibility.

Project Partners:

Schools in the greater Pietermaritzburg and Durban area which have not yet been able to visit the African Bird of Prey Sanctuary will be targeted and linked to local industries and businesses in their general area. The corporate concerns will then be approached to fund educational excursions to the Sanctuary for local learners.

Program Benefits:

For the learners : the children will experience first-hand the awesome power of an eagle, fascinating ‘squabbly-gobbly’ vultures at feeding times, the stealth of a shy owl or the phenomenal speed of a diving falcon.

For Corporates : Social investment into your immediate community will have a direct and positive impact on your business, as the families your own workforce reap benefits.

The Sanctuary will benefit from the ticket entry support which funds ongoing raptor awareness, research and rehabilitation work. Corporate facilitation of these school visits gives us chance to introduce our raptors to children whom we otherwise could not access.

The Process:

1 Approach various transport companies to provide discounted rates for multiple excursions.

2 Develop lesson plans to prepare for, and reinforce after, the class visits.

3Find sponsor partners to fund the development of learning support materials like posters, fact sheets and teacher’s packs

4 Link targeted schools to suitable corporate supporters.

5 Where suitable, we would aim to provide a sponsored nutritious lunch and fruit juice to round off the children’s day

The Follow-Up:

1 Assessment of project success, could be drawn from workforce feedback directly to the business sponsors.

2 Provision of receipts would be provided by the African Raptor Trust (NPO & PBO status) to the funding corporates for their SARS returns

3 To conclude the thematic focus, educators would assess learner comprehension of environmental raptor issues and their ability to relate their identification knowledge back to local raptors in their home skies.

Join us and make the sky your limit too.

The Bigger Picture

Biologists believe that the current steep decline in the earth's biodiversity - triggered mainly by habitat change, pollution and unsustainable exploitation - is one of th greatest threats affecting our planet today. When species disappear, ecological links become disrupted, and the checks and balances that operate in nature risk being stretched until they finally break. If this happens, the result is ecological instability - a situation that can have grave implications for plant and animal life and therefore human welfare as well. David Burne

Corporate Social Responsibility....

The King Report 2002 defines Corporate Social Responsibility as “Business decision-making linked to ethical values, compliance with legal requirements and respect for people, communities and the environment proved by a comprehensive set of policies, practices and programmes that are integrated throughout business operations and decision-making processes that are supported and rewarded by top management”.