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Put garden birds in spotlight, tourism chiefs urged
Last modified: 23 January 2012
The RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch is something all businesses can easily do, either in their garden, around the workplace or in the local park.
Tourism businesses across Yorkshire are being urged to take part in one of the biggest wildlife events of the year.
Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, is encouraging the county’s tourism industry to join in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch this coming weekend (28 and 29 January).
Businesses are being asked to spend just one hour recording how many garden birds they see at any one time for Big Garden Birdwatch.
Gary said: “Yorkshire has amazing wildlife, which every year attracts huge numbers of people to visit the county. Garden birds are an important part of that mix and the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is something all businesses can easily do, either in their garden, around the workplace or in the local park.
“For last year’s Big Garden Birdwatch, more than 600,000 people across the UK counted more than 10 million garden birds. The information helps the RSPB build a picture of how well – or not so well - each species is doing.
“We need to do all we can to provide the information needed to ensure Yorkshire’s garden birds thrive into the future and continue to provide enjoyment for us all.”
RSPB regional director Peter Robertson added: “From the breath-taking spectacle of hundreds of thousands of seabirds on the Yorkshire coast, to magnificent red kites soaring effortlessly through the sky, Yorkshire should be proud of its wildlife.
“But it’s not just the spectacular birds that make us burst with pride – the little guys in the garden are just as important. If every tourism business in the county, no matter how big or how small, spent just one hour taking part in Big Garden Birdwatch and stepping up for nature, the information we collected would be staggering.
“It would help us build an even more detailed picture of what’s happening to those all-important garden birds which people love to watch, whether they are at home or on holiday.”
Big Garden Birdwatchers can request a free Big Garden Birdwatch pack over the phone by calling 0300 456 8330, or visit www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch for more information and to submit results online.
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