BIRDS ARE THREATENED CREATURE IN CITIES.

More than 30 kinds of birds and their cry!!
More than 30 species of birds within Mbeya city but it keeps decreasing yearly. The species include Sunbirds, Pied crow, Hammerkop, Black Kite, Olive Pigeon, African Mourning Dove, Common bulbul, White Browned Robin Chat, Variable Sunbird, Black and White Mannin,Yellow White-Eye, Amethyst Sunbird, Eastern Double Collared Sunbird, Tawny-Flanked Prinnia, Schalows Turaco, Barn Swallow and many others. These are found in districts of Mbeya town, Mbeya rural, Chunya, Rungwe, Mbozi, Kyela Ileje and Mbalali.

The decrease in number and even disappearance of some species is accelerated by anthropogenic factors such as deforestation from firewood collection and charcoal production, farming, livestock keeping and other cultural activities.

The birds play a great role in supporting life in Mbeya city and the world at large such as controlling the population of insects and rodents as source of food , they help in pollination process and forest conservation, appreciation for this natural world, help to beautify this natural world as the evidence; Mbeya City is well known as The Green City due to its green nature of the flora surrounding the place; hence the combination of birds and the greenish area make the city to be more attractive and beautiful in nature.

Non Governmental Organization private sectors and other government bodies have engaged in addressing the problem by using different approaches like giving fund to the local communities but still the problem exists. This is because wildlife sector is the sector which integrates many sectors in it like land water and forest. As the result dealing with the wildlife sector is a multi-sectoral issue and there should be capacity building on the importance of birds to reach majority of people in rural and urban areas.

On my visit to the ranges of mount Rungwe; the indigenous people were complaining: Why do these species decrease? This made me to prepare and write the project titled " Capacity building to local communities on the importance of birds in Mbeya city" with the aim of sharing the knowledge on birds conservation and protection. Different species occupy different habitat though some may overlap.

We need to conserve and protect birds so as to save their population which is threatened and might disappear in the very near future.

Written by;
Neema Amon -YET-2011