Getting closer to nature

Spring Alive is a pan-European campaign to promote children’s interest in nature conservation. Photo: Spring AliveConservation organisation BirdLife International is organising Spring Alive, a European-wide campaign to promote children's interest in nature conservation through the celebration of the arrival of spring.

Its core component is a mass-participation website, designed especially for children between 8 and 12 years old. Participants of the Spring Alive Campaign are encouraged to observe and record the arrival of four migratory bird species: White Stork Ciconia ciconia, Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica, Common Swift Apus apus and Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus.

The campaign is not only about evoking interest in birds and nature. “Our campaign is a great tool for informing people, and children in particular, about the threats of climate change and its influence on birds migrations”, explained Magdalena Chrzanowska, European Coordinator of the Spring Alive Campaign

This year, during its migration, a White Stork broke its beak, probably by flying through a wall in Hungary. Thanks to the experts of the Hortobagy Birds' Hospital, a new synthetic resin beak has been built and fixed on the bird. Without the operation the Stork would have needed hand-feeding for the rest of its life and would have been unable to live on its own again. If the bird makes a full recovery, it will be released back into the wild.

Spring Alive and Born to Travel, the BirdLife Flyways Campaign which aims to protect migratory birds on their journeys, recently joined forces to reach an even wider audience, as both campaigns try to increase awareness on the protection of migratory birds.