Washington Wachira: For the love of birds
Washington Wachira: Por amor a las aves
Birder and ecologist Washington Wachira started the Youth Conservation Awareness Programme to nurture young environmental enthusiasts in Kenya. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
beautiful birds we have in Kenya,
más hermosos que tenemos en Kenia,
calle te tomas el tiempo
of different sizes,
astonishing pieces of technology
tecnologías más asombrosas
has helped birds to keep dry,
ayudado a las aves a estar secas,
can actually make a feather.
puede crear una pluma.
who can make something
and any other animals we have on earth,
y cualquier otro animal en la tierra,
you cannot call yourself a bird.
no puedes decir que eres un ave.
to conquer gravity
conquisten la gravedad
in an extraordinary way.
you could fly like a bird?
each one of you thinks about them.
de pensar en cuanto a ellas.
is because they are beautiful.
las amo es porque son hermosas.
is uniquely beautiful.
hermosa a su manera.
to all the birds of the world.
a todas las aves del mundo.
part of our lives and cultures
parte de nuestras vidas y culturas
su historia con las aves.
childhood stories of different birds
historias infantiles de diferentes aves
would follow flocks of vultures
seguían bandadas de buitres
have been dropped by large carnivores,
arrojaban los cadáveres,
and eat part of that meat.
y comían parte de esa carne.
and labels all over the world.
y etiquetas en todo el mundo.
emblem for the US
emblema nacional de EE. UU.
in virtually all habitats of this earth,
en todos los hábitats de esta tierra,
these beautiful penguins
you can imagine.
más tórridos que existen.
have conquered this world.
han conquistado este mundo.
casas como nosotros.
we call the weaverbirds,
llamados aves tejedoras,
in which they weave their nests.
just like us humans.
tener citas como los humanos.
that males dress to impress the women,
se visten para impresionar a las hembras.
de la reproducción,
just like humans.
abrazarse, tal como a los humanos.
wondering about this one.
to cheat on their spouses.
engañar a sus cónyuges.
con diferentes machos
to find other males to mate with
otros machos para aparearse,
to take care of the chicks.
cuidar de sus polluelos.
in our ecosystems each day.
importantes en nuestros ecosistemas.
disease-causing pathogens,
causan enfermedades,
that would otherwise cost us lots of money
que tanto dinero nos costara
is capable of bringing down a carcass
es capaz de dejar un cadáver
completamente limpio.
the environments of rodents
los roedores del medioambiente
because it saves us money --
porque nos ahorra dinero --
to buy harmful chemicals
que comprar productos nocivos
we see in our environments
vemos en nuestro medioambiente
polinización de la naturaleza,
plantas den frutos.
pollinators like insects,
como insectos,
that we depend on for many years.
hemos dependido durante muchos años.
is by far not perfect.
historia de las aves no es perfecta.
every day wherever they live.
todos los días, donde sea que vivan.
que enfrentas las aves
especially migratory species
especialmente las especies migratorias
to flocks that like to stick together,
se están envenenando,
are electrocuting birds
electrocutan las aves
of climate change
sobre el cambio climático
from better breeding and feeding grounds
lugares de cría a campos de alimentación
where they used to live
los lugares donde solían vivir
towards birds was changed
las aves cambió
estaba en bachillerato,
of a bird we called the augur buzzard.
una ave llamada busardo augur.
in a similar situation,
en una situación similar,
ayudarse a ella misma.
any biologist by then,
un biólogo en aquel entonces,
and we decided to house the bird
y decidimos alojar al pájaro
and then let it free.
para ser libre.
to feed on beef from our school kitchen,
carne de la cocina de nuestra escuela,
for its dinner every day.
para su cena todos los días.
batir sus alas
changed the way we looked at birds.
la forma en que miramos pájaros.
within our own high school.
dentro de nuestra escuela.
made me the conservationist I am today.
hicieron el conservacionista que soy.
should especially matter for Africa
debería ser importante para África
of the most amazing bird species
de las especies más increíbles
in highest numbers of diversity
el mayor número de diversidad
to provide the continent
services that Africa needs.
tanto necesita.
in avian tourism.
el mundo del turismo aviar.
will benefit from groups of tourists
beneficiarán de los grupos de turistas
just to see the endemic birds
para ver las aves endémicas
to their continued survival,
supervivencia continua,
by becoming a citizen scientist.
interesan en la ciencia ciudadana.
around the world,
creciente alrededor del mundo,
where people are sharing information
donde las personas comparten información
about traffic updates,
sobre actualizaciones de tráfico,
we realized as bird-watchers,
como observadores de aves,
are found everywhere,
se encuentran en todas partes,
and everyone else in Africa
they find where they live,
que ven de dónde viven,
or even where they work,
incluso dónde trabajan,
with a map of every single species,
un mapa de cada especie,
conservation efforts
(ARDB, por sus siglas en inglés)
in the continent of Africa,
en el continente de África,
that occur in my country, Kenya.
que viven en mi país, Kenia.
now have online databases
tienen bases de datos en línea
into very interactive websites
en sitios web muy interactivos
and make decisions from.
there was a big challenge.
hubo un gran desafío.
from bird-watchers,
observadores de aves,
and I cannot access a computer.
y no tengo una computadora.
what birds live in my home,
qué pájaros viven en mi casa
and come up with a sustainable solution.
estrategia y crear un solución sostenible
teléfonos móbiles
common in Africa
could get access to one.
tenían acceso a uno.
mobile phone applications
aplicaciones móviles
and on your Android phone,
o Android,
enthusiast out there.
que observan aves.
which is used by the Kenya Bird Map,
que es usado por el Kenya Bird Map,
the African Raptor Observations,
African Raptor Observations,
by the African Raptor DataBank.
el Banco de datos African Raptor
enormous amounts of data
enormes cantidades de datos
out there in the regions.
en las regiones.
that citizen science
de que la ciencia ciudadana
citizen science is adaptive.
convert many bird-watchers
observadores de aves
con nosotros.
could be a huge gateway
podrían ser el camino
of other forms of animals.
de otras formas de animales.
in the Virtual Museum for Africa,
en el Museo Virtual para África,
and damselflies,
y caballitos del diablo,
we are even mapping mushrooms.
incluso estamos mapeando setas.
we've created a community of people
creamos una comunidad de personas
por la naturaleza en África.
de las aves,
to love and care for that which we know.
amar y cuidar lo que conocemos.
in your free time
minutos de su tiempo
at school, or maybe at home,
en la escuela o quizás en casa,
and see which beautiful birds are there.
y ver las hermosas aves que hay.
la ciencia ciudadana
in the places where you visit.
en los lugares que visitan.
a su hijo o su hermano
how beautiful these birds are.
que son las aves.
they will want to care
ellos querrán cuidar
to love our feathermakers,
a nuestros fabricantes de plumas,
to appreciating all forms of nature.
todas las formas de la naturaleza.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Washington Wachira - Wildlife ecologist, nature photographer and safari guideBirder and ecologist Washington Wachira started the Youth Conservation Awareness Programme to nurture young environmental enthusiasts in Kenya.
Why you should listen
If you take a walk, the animals you're most likely see are birds. Birds are some of the most fascinating creatures on earth. We wake up to their songs in the morning; they're in our cities, farms and even schools. They are, however, facing many challenges, and we should do something to help them.
By age 14, Washington Wachira was already on a career path towards nature interpretation and conservation. Wachira holds a BSc in environmental science and is currently taking an MSc animal ecology from Kenyatta University. Washington founded Youth Conservation Awareness Programme (YCAP) to nurture young environmental enthusiasts in Kenya. He is a keen writer and has published multiple articles in a variety of local and international publications. As a result of his conservation passion, he has won many awards including Mr. Environment and Ambassador for Nairobi Province in 2012 and The Daisy Rothschild Award in 2015. He is a passionate and talented nature photographer featured in many publications worldwide. He has won multiple photo awards including the first position in the underwater category of the 2016 East African Wild Life Photo Competition and Honourable Mention in the Best of Nikon Kenya 2016 Photography Competition.
Wachira is an experienced safari guide and has led many expeditions and research projects across Kenya. He founded Cisticola Tours, a tour company that leads professional birding and nature tours across Kenya and the rest of East Africa. Through Cisticola Tours, he has been leading multiple sustainability projects to support bird conservation and help communities to appreciate birds and nature. He is also a member of the Bird Committee of Nature Kenya, Chair of the National Bird of Kenya Sub-committee, the Country Representative for Kenya at Youth Africa Birding and Manager for the Kenya Bird Map Project. He is a National Geographic Explorer for his work with African Crowned Eagles, and he is a birds of prey graduate student with The Peregrine Fund.
Washington Wachira | Speaker | TED.com