Flocking Together – BirdLife launches Ukraine appeal

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the BirdLife family, its global partners and many of our supporters, have stepped up to make financial resources available to support the Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds (USPB), our Ukrainian BirdLife partner.

The Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (OTOP), BirdLife’s partner in Poland, is already offering an immediate welcome to USPB team members and their family members fleeing the war zone. Other regional partners have also opened their arms to provide housing, food, and maintenance support. BirdLife’s emergency appeal resources are designed to support these efforts in a firm commitment to preserve and ensure the future invaluable conservation capacity of our Partners.

While the humanitarian and aid community clearly lead international efforts to provide support, we believe there is a specific role and need for BirdLife to provide support for the affected conservation community. We are determined that beyond the immediate crisis, we enable them to hit the ground running to restore nature and rebuild their proven capacity to do so as effectively as they have.

BirdLife has previously enabled this type of solidarity spending for its conservation Partners with efforts that go back to the Syrian crisis and COVID relief among many others.

“Hopefully these nightmares and daymares will end very soon and we will watch sky not awaiting bombs and rockets, but only watching migrating birds.” 

Oleg Dudkin, CEO – Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds (USPB), our Ukrainian BirdLife partner.

Additionally, as many of you know, BirdLife Belarus (APB), our Belarusian partner, was recently dissolved by the government.

BirdLife thanks its many Partners and supporters who wrote letters to the Belarussian government on behalf of APB. These letters WERE heard if not heeded. 

We are working to preserve some operating maneuverability for our APB colleagues going forward to continue their incredible work in another form. In this still fluid and vulnerable environment, we will do everything possible to enable and support that. 

Thank you for helping us help the conservation community of Ukraine and Belarus so we can continue to protect people and nature now and in the long run by donating here.

“The judge read, but did not include in the case, 51 letters of support from various organizations (mainly from BLI partners), including three from Belarusian state organizations (one from the Ministry of forestry). Tears rolled in those present, and the judge was astonished with letters.” 

Alexandre Vitchenvski, CEO of APB, our now dissolved Partner in Belarus