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BIRDING IN LIMPOPO and THE BEN DE BOER TRUST
Ben de Boer had passion – he loved snakes
and bugs, rocks and creatures, trees and mountains...... but most of all, he was assionate about birds. Whether they were big and showy like the Knysna Turaco or small and dowdy like the cisticolas, he wanted to see them, photograph them and ‘tick’ them. He would happily crawl through the undergrowth or endure a morning at the sewerage works or climb up a cliff to see these birds and was known to do a little jig and click his heels together after a particularly good sighting of some lesser-spotted-greater-chested-buffy-spotty- something.
The only thing he could get more passionate
about would be the people behind the birds, the local bird guides. Ben spent days tracking down potential guides in remote villages, training these enthusiasts in the classroom and out in the field and then getting them out there into the world of twitchers and other lunatics who had caught the fever of bird-spotting.
Ben was the manager of the Greater Limpopo Birding Routes and he loved his job. He developed routes, maintained important Bird Areas, researched birding hotspots, built up community campsites and put birders together with local guides. He ran events showcasing Limpopo’s secret places and avian treasures as well as the people who spotted these birds and protected them.
When Ben died on the 1st of August 2009 of a brain aneurysm, there was such an outpouring of grief and loss, family and friends wanted to honour his memory in a positive way and continue his good work. The Ben de Boer Trust was formed and many
generous donations were received from all around the world. Our vision is to assist and support the Limpopo Bird Guides whom Ben loved and admired so much, and to provide
opportunities for these talented young men and women to receive further training and mentoring, get logistical support, develop business skills and ultimately be able to spread their wings and fly.
To date, thanks to the generosity of those who loved and respected Ben and his work, the Ben de Boer Trust has sent guides on various specialist courses to develop their skills, has successfully run training workshops with local experts, experienced bird-ringing and atlassing, begun research projects and assisted guides with the logistics of their profession. We would like to be able to broaden the scope of the bird guides’ experience by giving them periences in different habitats and even on pelagic trips along South Africa’s coasts. Given the opportunity, we would love to see them ravel to neighbouring countries too. The sky is the limit for these talented young people.
Thank you for your generous donations which have enabled the Limpopo Bird Guides to create a future for themselves, a dream
envisaged by their mentor and friend Ben de Boer.
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