Washington Wachira: For the love of birds
Washington Wachira: Pelo amor às 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,
mais lindas do Quênia,
quando estiver ao ar livre,
variedade de tamanhos,
of different sizes,
astonishing pieces of technology
mais impressionantes
has helped birds to keep dry,
as aves a permanecerem secas,
can actually make a feather.
pode produzir penas.
who can make something
algo parecido com isto aqui.
gosto de chamá-las de produtoras de penas.
and any other animals we have on earth,
e os demais animais da Terra
you cannot call yourself a bird.
não pode se considerar uma ave.
que somos animais terrestres,
to conquer gravity
vencessem a gravidade
in an extraordinary way.
you could fly like a bird?
de voar como um pássaro?
each one of you thinks about them.
como cada um de vocês pensa sobre elas.
is because they are beautiful.
gosto tanto delas é sua beleza.
is uniquely beautiful.
to all the birds of the world.
a todas as aves do mundo.
part of our lives and cultures
da nossa vida e cultura há séculos,
uma história pra contar sobre elas.
childhood stories of different birds
histórias infantis sobre aves
would follow flocks of vultures
seguiam bandos de abutres
have been dropped by large carnivores,
por grandes carnívoros,
and eat part of that meat.
e comiam parte dessa carne.
and labels all over the world.
e símbolo no mundo inteiro.
emblem for the US
de sua beleza e de sua longevidade.
in virtually all habitats of this earth,
todos os habitats da Terra,
these beautiful penguins
que vivem em calotas polares,
you can imagine.
que você possa imaginar.
have conquered this world.
conquistaram este mundo.
we call the weaverbirds,
chamados tecelões.
como "tecem" seus ninhos.
in which they weave their nests.
just like us humans.
como os humanos.
that males dress to impress the women,
pra impressionar as fêmeas,
e é assim que são normalmente.
just like humans.
e o carinho, como os humanos.
wondering about this one.
to cheat on their spouses.
a trair seus parceiros.
to find other males to mate with
novos machos para acasalar,
to take care of the chicks.
tomando conta dos filhotes.
in our ecosystems each day.
no ecossistema todos os dias.
literalmente digerindo patógenos,
disease-causing pathogens,
that would otherwise cost us lots of money
que nos custariam muito dinheiro
is capable of bringing down a carcass
consegue devorar uma carcaça
deixando apenas os ossos,
the environments of rodents
o ambiente de roedores
because it saves us money --
pois nos poupa dinheiro,
to buy harmful chemicals
comprar produtos químicos
que vemos em nosso ambiente
we see in our environments
de polinização da natureza,
pollinators like insects,
como os insetos,
that we depend on for many years.
de alimentos das quais dependemos há anos.
is by far not perfect.
é de longe nada perfeita.
every day wherever they live.
todos os dias onde quer que vivam.
são a perda de habitat
disponibilidade de alimento.
especially migratory species
especialmente as espécies migratórias,
em lagoas e poças d'água.
vêm sendo envenenados,
to flocks that like to stick together,
como plantações de arroz.
are electrocuting birds
têm eletrocutado pássaros
of climate change
da mudança climática
from better breeding and feeding grounds
bons locais pra comer e acasalar
where they used to live
não serem mais habitáveis.
towards birds was changed
a respeito das aves mudou
of a bird we called the augur buzzard.
da espécie Buteo augur.
in a similar situation,
na mesma situação da ave,
any biologist by then,
exatamente um biólogo na época,
and we decided to house the bird
e decidimos abrigar a ave
and then let it free.
e pudéssemos libertá-la.
to feed on beef from our school kitchen,
da cozinha da nossa escola,
for its dinner every day.
para dar a ela como jantar todos os dias.
sua força e nós a soltamos.
por vê-la bater as asas
changed the way we looked at birds.
nossa visão a respeito das aves.
que havíamos ajudado em nossa escola.
within our own high school.
me tornaram o conservacionista que sou.
made me the conservationist I am today.
should especially matter for Africa
especialmente importante para a África
of the most amazing bird species
de aves mais incríveis
a República Democrática do Congo,
in highest numbers of diversity
à diversidade das espécies de aves.
to provide the continent
services that Africa needs.
cruciais para a África.
in avian tourism.
em turismo de observação de aves.
vai ganhar com isso.
will benefit from groups of tourists
se beneficiarão com grupos de turistas
just to see the endemic birds
só para ver as aves endêmicas,
na contribuição para sua sobrevivência,
to their continued survival,
by becoming a citizen scientist.
se tornando cientistas cidadãos.
around the world,
crescente no mundo todo,
where people are sharing information
as pessoas compartilham informação
about traffic updates,
sinais de alerta e por aí vai.
we realized as bird-watchers,
como observadores de aves,
are found everywhere,
aves em toda parte,
and everyone else in Africa
vocês e todos na África
que encontram onde moram,
they find where they live,
or even where they work,
with a map of every single species,
um mapa de cada espécie,
poderiam, na verdade,
conservation efforts
seus esforços de conservação
in the continent of Africa,
no continente africano,
that occur in my country, Kenya.
endêmicas do meu país, o Quênia.
now have online databases
bases de dados on-line
into very interactive websites
and make decisions from.
para tomar decisões.
encontramos um grande desafio.
there was a big challenge.
from bird-watchers,
de observadores, que diziam:
sem acesso a um computador.
and I cannot access a computer.
what birds live in my home,
vivem em minha casa,
and come up with a sustainable solution.
e criar uma solução sustentável.
cada vez mais comuns na África
common in Africa
could get access to one.
permitia o acesso a um aparelho.
mobile phone applications
and on your Android phone,
enthusiast out there.
que se interessasse.
which is used by the Kenya Bird Map,
usado pelo Kenya Bird Map,
the African Raptor Observations,
o African Raptor Observations,
by the African Raptor DataBank.
pelo African Raptor DataBank.
em nosso trabalho
enormous amounts of data
enormes quantidades de dados
out there in the regions.
that citizen science
é realmente muito poderosa,
citizen science is adaptive.
convert many bird-watchers
muitos observadores de aves
novas informações conosco.
ser uma enorme oportunidade
could be a huge gateway
of other forms of animals.
de outros animais.
in the Virtual Museum for Africa,
no "Virtual Museum for Africa",
and damselflies,
aranhas, escorpiões
we are even mapping mushrooms.
inclusive cogumelos.
we've created a community of people
criamos uma comunidade
do valor que as aves têm
amigos sobre as aves,
to love and care for that which we know.
daquilo que conhecemos bem.
do seu tempo livre
in your free time
at school, or maybe at home,
na escola, ou quem sabe em casa,
and see which beautiful birds are there.
os lindos pássaros presentes no local.
in the places where you visit.
encontrarem nos locais que vistarem.
para os seus filhos ou irmãos,
how beautiful these birds are.
a beleza dessas aves,
they will want to care
daquelas aves que eles conhecem e amam.
to love our feathermakers,
os produtores de penas,
to appreciating all forms of nature.
para a valorização de toda a natureza.
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