Belgium: June 7 marks World Swifts Day. This day was created in January 2019 by Swifts Without Frontiers, an association specifically dedicated to the protection of swifts.
More and more associations, individuals, those involved in the construction industry and local authorities are aware of swifts and contribute to their protection. Despite this, the needs of swifts are still not well understood enough, particularly in the face of serious threats to their nest sites. World Swifts Day aims to address this issue.
Also, in Belgium, the safety of swifts is precarious. That is why experts such as the Belgian Martine Wauters work tirelessly to educate people on how to best protect them. She works with working groups focused on the protection of swifts. They count swifts and report breeding colonies found in public buildings or monuments to prevent them from harm.
They also promote swift-friendly buildings to private individuals, architects, building owners, as well as municipal and regional authorities. She is actually also the founder of Swifts Without Frontiers.
The Embassy of Belgium in Beijing recently also learned more about the protection of birds during a workshop on biodiversity for gardeners of diplomatic compounds organized in collaboration with the Beijing University Shan Shui Conservation Center.
This workshop was part of awareness-raising efforts by the Ambassadors for Nature network, created in July 2022 at the initiative of the Ambassador of New Zealand to China.
Since the inception of World Swifts Day, Dr Jane Goodall, an ethologist and conservationist famous for her work with chimpanzees, has been an enthusiastic supporter of this cause. Below you’ll find a video message she recorded for this special occasion, in which she also pays tribute to the Belgian expert Ms Martine Wauters.
