Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

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The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is Europe's largest non-profit organization dedicated to wildlife protection. It has more than a million members, which is more than the membership of the three main British political parties.

History

The origins of the RSPB lie in two women's groups, both formed in 1889:

The Penge League was founded by Emily Williamson in her house of Didsbury, Manchester, as a protest group that campaigned against the use of skins and lavender somormujo feathers and tridactyl seagulls on skin garments. The house is now in the Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden.[7]
People of Piel, fins and feathers (in English: Fur, Fin and Feather Folk) was founded in Croydon by Eliza Phillips, Etta Lemon, Catherine Hall, Hannah Poland and others.

The groups gained popularity and merged in 1891 to form the Society for the Protection of Birds in London.[8] The Society obtained its Royal Charter in 1904.[9]

The original members of the SPB were all women[10] who fought against the fashion of the time for women to wear exotic feathers in hats and the subsequent encouragement of 'feather hunting'. To this end, the Society had two simple rules:[8]

May the members discourage the unbridled destruction of the birds and become generally interested in their protection.
That female members will refrain from carrying feathers of any bird that is not sacrificed for food purposes, except only for the ostrich.

At the time of founding, the trade in hat plumage was very large: in the first quarter of 1884, almost 7,000 skins of birds of paradise were imported into Britain, along with 400,000 birds from the West Indies and Brazil, and 360,000 birds from eastern India.[11]

In 1890, the society published its first pamphlet, titled Destruction of Plumaged Ornamental Birds, [12] with the goal of saving the egret population by informing wealthy women of the environmental damage caused by the use of feathers in the fashion. A later 1897 publication, Bird Food in Winter, [13] aimed to address the use of berries as winter decoration and encouraged the use of synthetic berries to preserve the food source of birds. the birds. In 1897, the SPB distributed more than 16,000 letters and 50,000 pamphlets and by 1898 it had 20,000 members.[14]

The Society attracted the support of some high-status women who belonged to the social classes that popularized the wearing of feather hats, including the Duchess of Portland (who became the Society's first president) and Ranee of Sarawak. As the organization began to attract the support of many other influential figures, both male and female, such as the ornithologist Professor Alfred Newton, it gained popularity and attracted many new members. The society received a Royal Charter in 1904[8] from Edward VII, just 15 years after its founding, and was instrumental in petitioning the UK Parliament to introduce laws banning the use of plumage in clothing.[7]

At the time the Society was founded in Britain, similar societies were also founded in other European countries.[15][Which ones?] In 1961, the society acquired The Lodge in Sandy, Bedfordshire, as its new headquarters.[7] The RSPB logo depicts an avocet. The first version was designed by Robert Gillmor.[16]

It was founded in 1889 in Didsbury, England (United Kingdom) co-founded by the Argentine naturist and writer Guillermo Enrique Hudson. It was initially born to fight against the use of feathers in women's clothing.

Its headquarters are in The Lodge, Bedfordshire, England (United Kingdom).

Activities

Today, the RSPB works with both the civil service and the Government to advise on government policies on conservation and environmentalism.[17] It is one of several organizations that determine the official list of the conservation status of all birds found in the UK.

The RSPB does not run bird hospitals or offer animal rescue services.[18]

Controversially, the RSPB partnered with UK housebuilder Barratt Developments in 2014

Reservations

The RSPB maintains over 200 reserves across the UK, covering a wide range of habitats, from estuaries and marshes to woodland and urban habitats.[19] Reserves often have bird hides for bird watchers and many offer visitor centres, including information about the wildlife that can be seen there.[20]

Prizes

The RSPB awards awards, including the President's Award, to volunteers who make a notable contribution to the society's work.

RSPB Medal

Main article: RSPB Medal

According to the RSPB:

The RSPB Medal is the Society's most prestigious award. It is given to a person in recognition of the protection of wild birds and landscape conservation. It is usually awarded annually to one or occasionally to two people.[21]

Magazines

The RSPB has published a members-only magazine for over a century.

Bird Notes

Bird Notes and News (ISSN 0406-3392) was first published in April 1903.

The title changed to Bird Notes in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year (one for each season, published on the 1st of every third month, March, June, September and December). Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years. For example, volume XXV (25), number one was dated winter 1951 and number eight in the same volume was dated fall 1953.

From the mid-1950s, many of the covers were by Charles Tunnicliffe. Two of the originals are on long-term loan to the Tunnicliffe gallery in Oriel Ynys Môn, but in 1995 the RSPB sold 114 at a Sotheby's auction, raising £210,000, the most expensive being an image of a partridge that It sold for £6,440. [22]

Beginning in January 1964 (vol. 31, no. 1), publication increased to six per year (issued in odd-numbered months, January, March, etc., but dated "January-February" 34;, "March-April", etc.). The volumes again covered two years, so vol. 30, covering 1962-1963, therefore included nine issues, ending with the "Winter 1963-1964" instead of eight. The final edition, vol. 31 no. 12, was published at the end of 1965.

Nature's Home

In the winter of 2013, Birds was replaced by a new magazine, Nature's Home. The editor was Mark Ward. The magazine had an ABC-certified circulation of 600,885.[24]

The RSPB Magazine

With the summer/autumn 2022 issue, the magazine has changed its title.

Youth divisions

The RSPB has two separate groups for children and teenagers: Wildlife Explorers (founded in 1943 as Junior Bird Recorders' Club; from 1965 to 2000, Young Ornithologists' Club or YOC[7]) and RSPB Phoenix. Wildlife Explorers is aimed at children aged 8-12, although it also has some younger members[25] and has two different magazines: Wild Times for children aged 0-7 and Wild Explorer for children aged 8-12. oldies RSPB Phoenix is aimed at teenagers and produces Wingbeat magazine, written primarily by young people for young people.[26] The RSPB is a member of the National Voluntary Youth Services Council.[27]

Bird watching in the large garden

RSPB organizes the collection of bird record data on annual collective birding days in Great Britain. RSPB claims this is the "largest wildlife survey in the world" and helps society gain better knowledge of bird population trends in Britain.[28] This activity was launched in 1979 as an activity for children, although since 2001 it has also been a survey open to adults. In 2011 more than 600,000 people took part, of which only 37% were members of the RSPB. The usual date for this collective bird watching activity is the last weekend of January. Since the beginning of this annual survey, sparrow records show a 60% decline, while starling populations declined by approximately 80% between 1979 and 2012.[28]

In 2022, almost 700,000 people participated in Big Garden Birdwatch, counting more than 11 billion birds.[29]

Bird tracking

BirdTrack is an online citizen science website, operated by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) on behalf of a partnership of the BTO, RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland, Scottish Ornithologists'. Club and Welsh Ornithological Society (Welsh: Cymdeithas Adaryddol Cymru).[30][31]

Finances

The RSPB is funded primarily by its members; In 2006, over 50% of the society's £88 million income came from subscriptions, donations and bequests, worth a total of £53,669 million.[1] As a registered charity, the organization is entitled to receive support worth an additional £0.28 for every £1 donated by income tax taxpayers.[32] The majority of the revenue (£63.757 million in 2006) is spent on conservation projects, reserve maintenance and on education projects, with the remainder going to fundraising efforts and reducing the pension deficit, worth £19.8 million in 2006.

Advertising

It was reported in an article in The Daily Mail on 2 November 2014 that claims that the charity "was spending 90 per cent of its income on conservation" by the UK Advertising Standards Authority were incorrect. The article claimed that the real figure was closer to 26%. The Charity Commission investigated the claims and contacted the RSPB to clarify its web statement. The RSPB complied, with the clarification that 90% of its net income (after expenses, not gross income received) was spent on conservation, and that conservation activities were diverse, not limited to spending on its own natural reserves. This was accepted by the Charity Commission.[33]

Presidents

Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland 1891–1954
Cyril Hurcomb
Colonel Sir Tufton Beamish
Derek Barber, Baron Barber of Tewkesbury
Robert Dougall
Max Nicholson 1980-1985
Magnus Magnusson 1985–1990
Sir Derek Barber 1990–1991
Ian Prestt 1991–1994
Julian Pettifer 1994?
Jonathan Dimbleby 2001?
Julian Pettifer 2004-2009
Kate Humble 2009–2013
Miranda Krestovnikoff 2013–(incumbent)

Principal officers

Over time, the organization's top officials have received different titles.[7][34]

William Henry Hudson - Chairman of the Committee 1894
Sir Montagu Sharpe, KBE DL - Chairman of the Committee 1895-1942
Peter Conder OBE - Secretary 1963. Director 1964-1975
Ian Prestt CBE - Director General 1975–1991
Barbara Young - Executive Director 1991-1998
Sir Graham Wynne - Executive Director 1998–2010 Mike Clarke - Executive Director 2010–2019
Beccy Speight - Executive Director 2019-[37]

Partner organizations

The RSPB is a member of Wildlife and Countryside Link.[38] The RSPB is the UK partner of BirdLife International[39] and manages the South Atlantic Invasive Species Project on behalf of partner governments.

External links

Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

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