YEAR OF THE BIRD - Green Drinks Kigali, October 9, 2018

On this evening, BirdLife International collaborated with National Geographic Society - Rwanda offices, to spread the word about ''why birds matter'', and highlighting the origin of the Year of the Bird:

This 2018, marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treat Act, the most powerful and important bird-protection law ever passed. In honor of this milestone, nature lovers around the world are joining forces to celebrate 2018 as the ''Year of the Bird''.

In Kigali - Rwanda, participants of the Green Drinks could well understand what is the work done by both National Geographic, BirdLife International, partner NGOs, researchers and conservationists - to save the birds from extinction. Birds matter because they are indicators of a healthy environment, they contribute to pollination and seed dispersal. More importantly, you can find some birds like vultures which clean the environment when they clean carcasses bare before disease spore can form. But not everyone on this planet understand such small roles by birds, and humans will keep harming these birds through killing and poisoning. There is need to continuously advocate, educate and increase efforts to conserve important bird areas, and hence contribute to the good breeding of birds.

The whole year of 2018 was basically reserved to focus on birds: more bird watching excursions, take photos and record in databases, note new sights, education and awareness activities. More stories about the Year of the Bird (YoB) have been documented by Nat Geo on this link.