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AfriBiRds Monitoring toolbox

You count birds – birds count on you

The AfriBiRds monitoring toolbox is a free available module online. The documents will help you to understand why counting birds is an important activity for nature conservation, how to set a bird monitoring scheme, how to use other supportive tools and more.

AfriBiRds monitoring workshop at Comoé National Park, Côte d'Ivoire.

AfriBiRds monitoring workshop at Comoé National Park, Côte d'Ivoire. - Photo: NABU


The AfriBiRds monitoring toolbox is an online freely available module teaching:

• Why considering and counting birds?
• How to set an “AfriBiRds” Common Bird Monitoring Scheme compatible with other on-going operational bird monitoring initiatives?
• How to use observation.org and Obsmapp as supportive monitoring and biodiversity assessment tool?
• How to use monitoring equipments in the field to identify birds and to correctly report observations with a bird monitoring app or field record sheet?
• How to develop a bird monitoring and conservation programme and share the experiences among African Biosphere Reserves?


The AfriBiRds is made for you if you are:


A volunteering bird watcher

You would like to start bird watching as a nice hobby with the potentialities to share your local ornithological findings with our dedicated BirdLife International community? You would like to engage proactively as volunteer citizen scientist to increase the scientific knowledge on birds regionally?

A professional ornithologist

You are an experienced bird watcher or professional ornithologists? You would like to ensure that your regular bird monitoring work is contributing to draw a continental trend assessment for common birds?

An ecological monitoring officer

You are an ecological monitoring manager in African protected areas (e.g. biosphere reserves, national parks, forest reserves, Ramsar site, Natura 2000, IBAs, ...) and looking for

  • 1. flexible guidelines to implement a regular bird population assessment with associated conservation programmes,
  • 2. a free supportive off-line mobile application for your rangers to collect observations in the field on birds, mammals, insects, plants species for any biodiversity assessment,
  • 3. a free online platform to archive and analyse your observations with the support of a devoted bird community?

A coordinator of biodiversity monitoring programmes

You are coordinating biodiversity monitoring programmes under the authority of an environment Ministry or of associated environmental agencies? You are looking for guidelines to set a national bird monitoring scheme compatible with other running initiatives (e.g Waterbird counts, IBAs, the Southern Bird Atlas Project, ...).


  • Teacher explaining methods at AfriBiRds monitoring workshop at Comoé, Côte d'Ivoire.
  • Hippolais polyglotta, picture from bird monitoring at Comoé, Côte d'Ivoire.
  • A monitoring group working together at Omo, Nigeria.

The AfriBiRds monitoring toolbox was conceived for


Supporting the assessment of environmental conservation strategies

Over the last 30 years, many environmental changes, such as those in land use and climate, have impacted on populations of birds across Africa and Europe. For effective conservation and informed decision making, we need the most up-to-date information on these impacts. The knowledge about the birds’ (changing) occurrences is a crucial part in targeting conservation actions. Moreover, it tells us much about the state of the wider environment. It also provides valuable data for scientific analyses and for assessing if and how projected changes are materialising.

Filling the knowledge gap on birds in Africa

The lack of bird watchers and consistent monitoring schemes in Africa creates a large information gap for: understanding the population trends of Afro-Palearctic migrant birds; weighing the different factors of decline operating either on birds’ wintering grounds, breeding grounds or on migration routes; and, consequently, for identifying ways to reverse the decreasing trends. As a result, it is hard for ornithologists to combine these inconsistent information and schemes to a global and standardised overview about the avian diversity in different African localities.

Initiating an African monitoring scheme as a standardised baseline for common birds

With a monitoring scheme, the AfriBiRds monitoring toolbox modestly aims to propose standards on manufacturing compatible pieces to complete an ambitious single puzzle. With that, bird observations are better structured and easier to communicate in order to get a more robust pan-African overview.

The AfriBiRds monitoring toolbox was developed for Africa, but not only

The project AfriBiRds is originally dedicated to develop bird monitoring in Africa, but you are welcome to use our materials for replicating it somewhere else.

The AfriBiRds monitoring toolbox is mainly inspired from teaching materials of two AfriBiRds monitoring and conservation workshops that took place at the Comoé National Park (Côte d’ Ivoire) and at the Omo Forest Reserve (Nigeria) in January – February 2018.



  • AfriBiRds monitoring workshop at Comoé, Côte d'Ivoire.
  • Oral presentation during AfriBiRds monitoring workshop at Comoé, Côte d'Ivoire.
  • AfriBiRds monitoring workshop at Omo, Nigeria.

Do not wait anymore and start right away

Learn how to cover new bird monitoring segments in Africa by downloading the AfriBiRds monitoring toolbox here (from September 2020):

Download AfriBiRds monitoring toolbox


The AfriBiRds is wishing you a successful bird watching experience and is pleased to receive your feedback

You can send your feedback to afribirds-survey@NABU.de

The AfriBiRds team is also looking forward to collect information on the replications and expansions of the monitoring scheme developed as a toolbox. Please do not hesitate to send us an email (afribirds-survey@NABU.de) mentioning your names, surnames, affiliated organizations, monitoring implementing partners, planned monitoring objectives and locations (place, country).


project overview

Vögel am Tanasee - Foto: Bruno D/'Amicis
Project AfriBiRds

NABU and BirdLife International have joined to implement the AfriBiRds project that will support African biosphere reserves in establishing an effective long-term monitoring and raise the awareness on birds’ conservation. more →

related topics

Lake Tana Tisisat falls along the Blue Nile - photo: Bruno D'Amicis
Protected Areas

NABU supports the creation, establishment and effective management of protected areas as part of our international activities, not exclusively but with special emphasis to UNESCO biosphere reserves, which are characterised by integrative and segregative approaches. more →

Malachite Kingfisher in Ethiopia - photo: Bruno D/'Amicis
Biodiversity

Ecosystem functioning needs to be seen as a global task: Therefore NABU is active in biodiversity hotspots and beyond. As part of the BirdLife network bird conservation has a long tradition for us. It’s efforts are directed to the whole biodiversity.
more →

AfriBiRds Toys. - Photo: NABU

AfriBiRds – Toolbox

Monitoring Toolbox

Cranes in the sky.

Download the toolbox here (from September 2019)

Give feedbacks on: afribirds-survey@NABU.de

a project of

NABU and BirdLife International

Implemented by

SOS forêt and NCF

With involvement of

OIPR and FRIN

supported by

BfN and BMU

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phone +49 (0)30.28 49 84-0 |
fax +49 (0)30.28 49 84-20 00
NABU@NABU.de

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