Washington Wachira: For the love of birds
וושינגטון ואצ'ירה: בשם האהבה לציפורים
Birder and ecologist Washington Wachira started the Youth Conservation Awareness Programme to nurture young environmental enthusiasts in Kenya. Full bio
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beautiful birds we have in Kenya,
שיש אצלינו בקניה
of different sizes,
astonishing pieces of technology
המדהימות ביותר
has helped birds to keep dry,
שימשו את הציפורים להשאר יבשות,
ואף נתנו להן את יכולת המעוף.
can actually make a feather.
יכול למעשה ליצור נוצות.
who can make something
and any other animals we have on earth,
לשאר בעלי החיים על פני כדור הארץ,
you cannot call yourself a bird.
אתה לא ראוי לקרוא לעצמך ציפור.
to conquer gravity
in an extraordinary way.
you could fly like a bird?
each one of you thinks about them.
שבה כל אחד מכם חושב עליהן.
is because they are beautiful.
היא היופי שלהן.
is uniquely beautiful.
to all the birds of the world.
part of our lives and cultures
הציפורים תמיד היו חלק מחיינו
במשך ההיסטוריה האנושית
הקשורים לציפורים.
childhood stories of different birds
על ציפורים שונות
would follow flocks of vultures
בלהקות של נשרים כדי לשרוד
have been dropped by large carnivores,
שהושארו על ידי טורפים
and eat part of that meat.
משאריות הבשר.
and labels all over the world.
וסמלי ייצוג בכל העולם
emblem for the US
in virtually all habitats of this earth,
ותנאי מחיה על פני כדור הארץ
these beautiful penguins
you can imagine.
have conquered this world.
we call the weaverbirds,
in which they weave their nests.
just like us humans.
בדיוק כמונו בני האדם.
that males dress to impress the women,
מתגנדרים כדי להרשים את הנקבות,
just like humans.
wondering about this one.
to cheat on their spouses.
to find other males to mate with
to take care of the chicks.
in our ecosystems each day.
disease-causing pathogens,
שהם חיידקים גורמי מחלות,
that would otherwise cost us lots of money
שבלעדיהם, היה לנו עולה ביוקר
is capable of bringing down a carcass
עד העצם פגר שלם
the environments of rodents
because it saves us money --
to buy harmful chemicals
בכימיקלים מזיקים
we see in our environments
שאנו רואים בסביבה שלנו
pollinators like insects,
that we depend on for many years.
במשך שנים רבות.
is by far not perfect.
רחוק מלהיות מושלם
every day wherever they live.
בכל בתי הגידול שלהן ברחבי העולם.
especially migratory species
ובעיקר מינים נודדים
to flocks that like to stick together,
במיני ציפורים שנודדות בלהקות
are electrocuting birds
מקווי חשמל תלויים
of climate change
על קיומן של הציפורים
from better breeding and feeding grounds
להגר לאזורי מחיה טובים יותר
where they used to live
towards birds was changed
of a bird we called the augur buzzard.
עקב אוגור.
in a similar situation,
any biologist by then,
and we decided to house the bird
החלטנו לשכן את הציפור
and then let it free.
to feed on beef from our school kitchen,
מהמטבח של הבית ספר שלנו
for its dinner every day.
לארוחות הערב שלה.
changed the way we looked at birds.
within our own high school.
made me the conservationist I am today.
לדוגל בשימור הטבע שאני היום.
should especially matter for Africa
לאהבה לאומית של אפריקה כולה
of the most amazing bird species
לזני ציפורים מהיחודיים ביותר
in highest numbers of diversity
to provide the continent
services that Africa needs.
in avian tourism.
will benefit from groups of tourists
לקהילות המקומיות מקבוצות התיירים
just to see the endemic birds
to their continued survival,
by becoming a citizen scientist.
שתהיו ל"תושבים מדענים"
around the world,
where people are sharing information
about traffic updates,
we realized as bird-watchers,
are found everywhere,
and everyone else in Africa
של האנשים החיים באפריקה
they find where they live,
or even where they work,
with a map of every single species,
conservation efforts
in the continent of Africa,
ביבשת אפריקה,
that occur in my country, Kenya.
now have online databases
into very interactive websites
and make decisions from.
there was a big challenge.
from bird-watchers,
ברחבי היבשת
and I cannot access a computer.
על ציפורים שהם רואים,
what birds live in my home,
and come up with a sustainable solution.
ולמצוא פתרון יצירתי.
common in Africa
could get access to one.
mobile phone applications
and on your Android phone,
enthusiast out there.
שרוצה לשתף את הממצאים שלו.
which is used by the Kenya Bird Map,
שבשימוש על ידי מיפוי הציפורים של קניה,
the African Raptor Observations,
by the African Raptor DataBank.
מאגר המידע של הדורסים באפריקה.
enormous amounts of data
out there in the regions.
אשר חלק איתנו את ממצאיו.
that citizen science
citizen science is adaptive.
convert many bird-watchers
could be a huge gateway
of other forms of animals.
in the Virtual Museum for Africa,
and damselflies,
כגון סחלבים,
we are even mapping mushrooms.
we've created a community of people
קהילה של אנשים
על חשיבותן של הציפורים
תחלקו איתם את הידע שלכם
to love and care for that which we know.
לאהוב ולדאוג למה שמוכר להם.
in your free time
at school, or maybe at home,
and see which beautiful birds are there.
של ציפורים שחיות סביבכם.
in the places where you visit.
במקומות אותם אתם מבקרים.
how beautiful these birds are.
את עולמם המרהיב של ציפורים.
they will want to care
to love our feathermakers,
to appreciating all forms of nature.
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