Our work
Migration counts as a vehicle for research & conservation
Since 2008 we monitor the raptor migration in the Batumi bottleneck, where over 1,000,000 migrating raptors pass every autumn. We publish our results and data open access for everyone to read and use.
Volunteer-based migration counts have been at the core of the our project since the start in 2008. The long-term and high-quality counts of BRC offers a unique tool to monitor raptor populations in the East African-Eurasian flyways in the 21st century. In 2019 our sustained count efforts culminated in the peer-reviewed publications of our dataset and a first formal analysis of raptor population trends in the Batumi bottleneck. Despite the comparatively short monitoring period, we can already detect ecologically meaningful trends for 8 key species.
We welcome volunteers from all experience levels, train them to be experienced raptor counters, and make sure they go home with an international group of friends and a life-long interest in raptor migration.
By housing our volunteers in local guesthouses our project is strongly rooted in the villages of Sakhalvasho and Shuamta. We further promote the guesthouses among ecotourists and many families now benefit from the increased tourism directly. As a result, illegal hunting has decreased considerably in our host communities.
Educating future generations
Educational activities have been a core part of the BRC project since the beginning. We are now expanding our education efforts to reach regional youth in a systematic manner by empowering local teachers to cover raptor migration and conservation in an engaging manner.
Over the years we have worked with many conservation and environmental science students from Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and EU countries, several of whom now play key roles in regional conservation organisations. Hundreds of local school children have visited the BRC count stations and experienced the international appreciation for the birds migrating through their home country.
To reach the villages in the bottleneck where tourism has not yet caused a decrease in illegal hunting, we are now scaling up our education activities. In co-creation with local teachers and conservationists, we are setting up an education program to help teachers create ‘bird clubs’ in the local schools, provide them with material about bird ecology and conservation, and to organise trips to the new Sakhalvasho observatory.
Falconers: allies in conservation
Falconry is an age-old tradition in Georgia, practised by hundreds of men, young and old. While our views on the natural world differ, we share a mutual appreciation for raptors.
Although there are some who shoot raptors and other birds (to feed their shrikes and hawks), we consider traditional falconers as our main potential allies to tackle the issue of illegal raptor shooting in Georgia.
In autumn 2021 we aim to start a project that will focus on teaching sustainable feeding techniques to falconers, and incorporating falconers in ringing and tagging of raptors (especially the poorly known Levant Sparrowhawks). By tagging these birds, we hope participants will marvel at their migration, gain a deeper understanding of the species in their nets and perhaps contribute to raptor research and conservation in the long term.