Birdlife International

BirdLife International is a global partnership of over 100 national conservation organisations working to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, and to promote sustainability in the use of natural resources. 

The African-Eurasian Flyway stretches from the Arctic to southern Africa and is one of four major global migration routes for birds. Often described as ‘avian superhighways’, these pathways are traversed by hundreds of millions of birds each year, including species like Barnacle Geese, Dunlin, and Wigeon. But key sites along the flyway are under threat from habitat loss, illegal hunting, and climate change. Losing these places would have serious consequences for the birds that rely on them to rest, refuel, and breed. 

ERF’s grant supports habitat restoration and protection work in Romania, Bulgaria, Iraq, Jordan, Uganda, Malawi and Zimbabwe, alongside efforts to grow nature-based economies and jobs. It will also strengthen rapid-response action against harmful developments, and help operationalise the ground-breaking collaboration between BirdLife and the World Bank. 

ERF granted Birdlife International with £3m in 2023, which helped the organisation strengthen protection at key sites, secure UNESCO World Heritage status for Sierra Leone’s Gola Rainforest National Park, mobilise €19 million for habitat restoration, and establish a major long-term flyway-scale investment initiative with the World Bank.