Urban Bird Public Forum - what an event!

A huge thank you to the 120 passionate Sydney-siders who joined the Birds in Backyards Program at our Urban Bird Public Forum in February. Designed to introduce people early in the planning stages of the Urban Bird Conservation Action Plan, the forum allowed us at Birds in Backyards to tell them about what the CAP is and why it is so important. We also heard from Dr Beth Mott (BirdLife Australia Powerful Owl Project Officer) who spoke about the power of community and citizen science data for the Powerful Owl Project, Dr Amy Hahs (University of Melbourne) speaking about managing urban greenspaces for wildlife and Oisín Sweeny (National Parks Association of NSW) talking about the policy barriers that arise when trying to create and manage our urban spaces for wildlife.

Most importantly - everyone who came along to the forum also got to have their say. We are still compiling all the feedback we received but some highlights were that:

• People are concerned about species like Gang Gang Cockatoos, Powerful Owls and a range of small birds like the Superb Fairy-wren and Grey Fantail
• Land clearing for development was a particular concern. Participants want sustainable urban design
• People want to help - they highlighted that they want to know how to talk to their local council, how to advocate for birds and their local wildife and wanted to help monitor the birds in their spaces and contribute to scientific projects

This feedback will help shape our Conservation Action Plan and how we, and other partners, design projects and work in Sydney. Thank you again to everyone who came along. There will be more opportunity fto learn about the CAP, provide your feedback and get involved in the coming months. 

This process is also not limited to Sydney - we will be developing a CAP for other cities as well.