There are so many challenges facing the youth in our country that the idea of donating to an owl programme in townships may seem frivolous. There are big issues that donor funds are required to tackle – health, education, food security, safety and more. Although rodents in townships impact food security and affect health and the owlproject.org programme is highly educational, a discussion with a headmaster at one of our participating schools was particularly insightful.
“owlproject.org raises the standard of living for kids in these areas in 2 ways”, he said, “It teaches them to nurture, they learn to look after the owls in their care, something not generally experienced by township children, secondly, it teaches them awe and amazement for the world in which they live and the creatures with whom they share that world”.
Thank you for your part in teaching our children awe and amazement for their natural resources. We firmly believe that without education, Africa cannot embrace conservation.
Ndumo Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal
In collaboration with The Ndumo Community Project and the students from Tshwane University of Technology - TUT. We have educated the children about the importance of keeping the area clean and reducing waste pollution by reusing plastic and cardboard boxes. The learners also got to learn why they have owls within their homes and the role they play within the environment.
RECYCLING PROJECTS FOR OWLS AND OTHER BIRDLIFE
DIY owl art decor ideas and hanging bird feeders made of recycled bottles made by our new 78 ambassadors from Thelamama Primary School and St Phillips Primary School in Ndumo.
OWLS IN SCHOOLS
After a great session with the Maphindela Primary School learners, the headmaster told us that they have a lot of owls within the school and the children were afraid of them. But after sitting in for the informative talk now they are aware of why they have owls within their school.
We then decided to go pellet hunting within the school and WOW! what a treasure.
The teacher also showed us their vegetable garden and she was more thankful that the owls are controlling the rats within the school and protecting their vegetables.
These children will be owl ambassadors from today on they have promised to protect, love and care for the owls.
We would like to have 4 owl boxes donated to the school and provide nests for the owls. If anyone would like to help. Please email us on info@owlproject.org.
Without conservation, there can be no conservation.
IMPACT ONE AT A TIME
After educating the children of Ndumo during the school holidays. 60 women from the community also got the chance to learn about owls and dissect owl pellets. It’s always thought to be difficult to educate old people but the response here was impeccable. Education is key and without education, there can be no conservation.
During the course of our programme in Ndumo. It was realised that a lot of children revert to rat poison to solve the rodent issues. The children were advised and educated that they should let nature take its cause. We, therefore, made a prompt visit to the Ndumo Clinic to find out about the issues of children involved in cases of rat poison ingestion within the community.
The nurses were educated about the importance of owls as a perfect eco-friendly rodent control method. They found the information valuable and fascinating. They went on to say that we are running such an important programme and a lot of people need to be aware. These women are going to bring their children to Ndumo Environmental Education Centre during the week to learn more about owls.
BEKABANTU GIVES A HOOT!
32 owl Ambassadors for the day and 12 more schools to go. Most of these children walk about 15 km on a daily basis to attend school and today they woke up very early to meet with us at the Ndumo Environmental Education Centre to learn about the importance of owls and dissecting owl pellets.
An owl talk was delivered by
owlproject.org and the students from
Tshwane University of Technology TUT linked the dangers of using poison within the environment and how it affects owls through a puppet show. The learners thoroughly enjoyed the programme and evidently saw that owls eat rats by dissecting the owl pellets. Indeed without education, there can be no conservation.
"Without education, there can be no conservation"
Levubu, Limpopo
ENRICHING YOUNG MINDS AND CONSERVING OWLS
Together with the
University of Venda. We have touched the lives of 100 grade 7 learners at
Dzondo Primary School in Levubu. The kids have learnt about all sorts of predators that prey on rats such as the likes of Genet Cats, Owls and other raptors. We shared several videos with the kids and dissecting the owl pellets was our favourite part of the programme. These kids know what owls eat and were very happy to have us.
WORTH EVERY MILE IN BETWEEN
Thank you The University of Venda for having us. We had an awesome experience with the school kids in Levubu. 985km travelled with a blazing temperature of 41°C, Tshiphumulo Primary School dissected more owl pellets and guess what! This school has owls and they perch on the door frames and hunt rats! These children aspire to become environmental scientists, and educators and also care for the environment!
Dissecting one pellet can save a lot of owls, the practical experience goes a long way.
Miss Earth South Africa
Thank you for being a part of our initiative. We are very excited to walk this owl awareness Journey with you. We are looking forward to doing more work with you.
Such wonderful people. With the rapid increase in urbanisation and developments that are happening around us, owls play a vital role in controlling the rodent population. At the same time, owls are also losing their habitats to breed. We would like to encourage everyone to service or install an owl box and most importantly, not use poison.
For more information on how you can go about getting any of the two options done, please contact
EcoSolutions Urban Ecology and find out more about the Owl Box Project.
OUTREACH - REHABILITATION CONSERVATION - EDUCATION - PEST CONTROL
We are so proud of the great work our SPCA’s do and their efforts in caring for our owls and the environment. The SPCA’s often have a high rodent problem due to kennels within their premises. We have sponsored owl boxes at various SPCA branches within Gauteng including the
Germiston Bedfordview SPCA to create owl-friendly and Poison Free environments.
After the rehabilitation process on 2 Barn Owls (Tyto alba) by the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital, the owls are now going through a final stage of release and acclimatisation. Upon admission of each, the first owl was extremely lethargic and malnourished and the second one had a suspected injured wing as it was stuck in a building.
The initial purpose of this programme is for education and the continual nurture of human and wildlife co-existence. While we establish poison-free environments.
Our first prize is to educate people and leave the owls in place. Now it’s the 21st year and
owlproject.org has touched the lives of over 200 000 school children in South Africa.
Owlproject.org also puts effort into helping and educating the public member to understand the important role the owls play in our environment. Without education, there can be no conservation.
