Atlas data documents changes to bird populations in Cape Town's southern peninsula 

Here is a link to an article that I wrote for one of our local community newspapers in Cape Town, the 'Constantiaberg Bulletin'. The article deals with describing changes between SABAP1 and SABAP2 in the quarter-degree grid that falls just south of Cape Town and makes up most of the southern peninsula.

The grid encompasses large parts of the Constantia Valley but a large proportion is taken up by residential suburbs, a few local nature reserves, mountains, some wetland areas and a spread of greenbelts and open spaces.

It had a strong local focus and looked at species that had become more common ('increasers'), those that have become less common ('decreasers') and those species that have been recorded for the first time. Over 20 years there had been a notable shift in those species that dominated the bird community in the grid. The article highlighted the importance of SABAP2, and the role that citizen scienctists play in contributing to important bird conservation projects.

I'd encourage other atlasers to consider writing similar articles in their local newspapers as a way to promote and profile SABAP2 and show the value of monitoring birds as a tool for bird conservation.

Doug Harebottle
2012-09-18

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