{"id":809975,"date":"2016-02-22T06:05:57","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T05:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=809975"},"modified":"2024-08-07T14:26:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T13:26:41","slug":"champions-of-the-flyway-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/champions-of-the-flyway-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions of the Flyway 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dutch Knights are back at the Champions of the Flyway 2016!<\/p>\n

After having received the much coveted title \u2018Knights of the Flyway\u2019 in 2014, for being the most helpful team during the race and generating the greatest exposure, we succeeded in raising (even more) significant funds \u2013 as well as awareness \u2013 during last year\u2019s event!<\/p>\n

And once again team captain\u00a0Marc Guyt\u00a0managed to convince his fellow knights\u00a0Gert\u00a0Ottens\u00a0and\u00a0Martijn Verdoes\u00a0to dust off their shining armour, as well as their binoculars, and to give it another go: one for all, and all for one!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it: we\u2019re not the most gifted birders on the planet. But nonetheless, during the hilarious race day we managed to tick a very decent 158 species last year!<\/p>\n

So here we are, back in the arena (and with the help of major sponsors\u00a0Leica Optics), to raise even more funds and awareness for the protection of migrating birds! The editions of 2014 and 2015 were mere dress rehearsals: this year we\u2019re in it to win it!<\/p>\n

Support us in our quest to stop the widespread, illegal killing of migrating birds in Southern Europe, in Greece specifically, by raising awareness and funds for the protection of migrating birds along their amazing flyways.<\/p>\n

\"Turtle<\/a>
Turtle Dove \/ Marc Guyt (www.agami.nl)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Champions<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Donate<\/a>
Support the\u00a0Dutch Knights in their quest to protect the migrant birds!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Tackling the illegal killing of birds on the Greek mainland and its Islands<\/h5>\n
\n
\n

Sadly, recent reports highlight a very grim picture for migratory birds in Greece, where more than\u00a0one\u00a0million are illegally killed every year.\u00a0The problem is widespread throughout\u00a0the Greek Islands and on the mainland.<\/p>\n

There is a lot to be done on the ground in Greece and through\u00a0the Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS) \u2013 BirdLife in Greece \u2013\u00a0we will focus on 2 major projects:<\/p>\n

Illegal shooting and trapping of birds passing through\u00a0the Greek Islands<\/h5>\n

The Greek Islands are known for their pristine beaches and breathtaking scenery. Hundreds of thousands of tourists choose to vacation here every year. Little do they know that just above the modern resorts and beaches lies\u00a0a\u00a0killing zone for thousands of birds.<\/p>\n

Together with HOS,\u00a0Champions of the Flyway 2016\u00a0will highlight the situation on two\u00a0of the biggest tourist islands \u2013\u00a0Santorini\u00a0and\u00a0Zakynthos.\u00a0These islands host thousands of tourists at any given moment.<\/p>\n

Large numbers of Turtle Doves and Quail are harvested as they migrate through these islands. The Turtle Dove was once a common breeding species in Greece, but sadly it has declined so rapidly\u00a0only a few breeding pairs now remain.<\/p>\n

The islanders use a variety of methods to shoot birds and trap them, all illegal and with utter disregard to any laws. One of the most common methods is called \u201cThe lakes\u201d; where a bait bird in a cage is placed in the middle of a puddle of water, attracting other birds to run the gauntlet.<\/p>\n

Illegal trapping of small songbirds for the cage bird black market<\/h5>\n

Cage birds are a big deal in Greece. Many finches and other small birds are regularly collected in great numbers by poachers all over Greece. There are many methods used to catch them and all are gruesome and illegal!<\/p>\n

Wild birds are regularly sold online and in markets all over Greece, including the\u00a0famous \u201cunderground\u201d market in Athens and even more openly in pet shops in Athens too. As part of the conservation action we will target the poachers on the ground but we also aim to\u00a0work with the city of Athens to stop the illegal trade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Please follow us o<\/span>n\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0to stay tuned with the Knight\u2019s quest. \u00a0If you want to make a donation to help the cause, please do it\u00a0here.<\/a>\u00a0Every euro\/dollar\/pound\/ruble helps!<\/span><\/p>\n

Marc Guyt, Gert Ottens & Martijn Verdoes<\/p>\n

Dutch Knights<\/p>\n

Racing for conservation!<\/p>\n

\"Donate<\/a>
Help us helping the birds!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Support<\/a>
Support the Dutch Knights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dutch Knights are back at the Champions of the Flyway 2016! After having received the much coveted title \u2018Knights of the Flyway\u2019 in 2014, for being the most helpful team during the race and generating the greatest exposure, we succeeded in raising (even more) significant funds \u2013 as well as awareness \u2013 during last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":2196398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/AGAMI-Zomertortel-Turtle-Dove-Streptopelia-turtur-Marc-Guyt-55502_DB.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Champions of the Flyway 2016","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7143,4276,6966,4188,6682],"class_list":["post-809975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wildlife","tag-champions-of-the-flyway","tag-hellenic-ornithological-society","tag-killing","tag-migrating-birds","tag-protection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2196398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}