Saving our Seabirds
South Africa’s marine waters host a wealth of seabird diversity including many migratory pelagic species and seven species that are endemic to the Benguela Ecosystem. They face a myriad of threats including incidental bycatch with fisheries, invasive mice on Marion Island and other human-induced threats. The Seabird Conservation Programme is focused on implementing solution-based conservation projects based on sound scientific principles to improve the status of threatened seabirds in South African waters.
Since 2006 we have prioritised our work on the mitigation of the the most serious threats to seabirds in our waters including fisheries bycatch mitigation, efforts to recover the Critically Endangered African Penguin population and advocating for an ecosystem approach to fisheries management including the sustainable harvesting of important prey for Benguela endemic species.
