IOU Working Group
Birds as Peacemakers
The IOU Working Group Birds as Peacemakers is an international initiative that uses bird conservation as a tool for biodiversity protection, sustainable farming, improved livelihoods, human cooperation, and constructive dialogue. Through our logo, we celebrate the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) as the emblematic bird in this endeavor.
The Barn Owl is a nocturnal raptor with a near-global distribution, occurring wherever temperatures are sufficiently high and open hunting habitats are available. This bird captures rodents that would otherwise reduce agricultural yields and, therefore, offers a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable alternative to chemical rodenticides. To realize this, the full potential of Barn Owls as a biological rodent management solution requires several key conditions to be met.
1) Adequate breeding opportunities, ideally in the form of appropriately designed nesting boxes.
2) Neighboring landowners must collectively agree on the Barn Owl approach. Barn owls do not recognize human-defined property boundaries and fly wherever food is available. Hence, the use of rodenticides by a single farmer could result in the secondary poisoning and death of owls.
3) People living in areas inhabited by Barn Owls must be patient as Barn Owls will colonize areas gradually while searching for nesting opportunities. Evidence suggests that Barn Owls may favor appropriately constructed nest boxes over naturally occurring cavities in trees or buildings. Finally, community education and awareness will help counter superstitions that associate the presence of Barn Owls with death and misfortune. Where such perceptions persist, Barn Owls, may be hunted and killed.
In Birds as Peacemakers, we give the Owls for Peace initiative a central home. The same is true for any other similar initiative that may focus on another bird species. At Birds as Peacemakers, we can coordinate our activities, enhance our visibility, and communicate our shared values. These initiatives require international and national recognition in the form of hands-on or financial support.
Hands-on support: In the case of Owls for Peace, we assist existing and aspiring local groups with the necessary knowledge on the birds, nesting box construction, placement of the nesting boxes, and monitoring. We invite every colleague to contribute to data collection and data sharing for scientific means as well as data needed for contemporary policy making. Humans will continue to battle biodiversity threats, search for solutions towards sustainable farming and opportunities for constructive human dialogue and action. In this regard, information on educational activities and educational material will also be shared.
Financial support: We are part of the IOU and, thus, of its foundation. As such, we benefit from IOU’s standing, reputation, and credibility, as well as their network to benefit our Working Group. The IOU stands behind fundraising activities to further the working group.
We are confident that Birds as Peacemakers is necessary, because we draw on 40 years of experience in the Middle East. There, neighboring farmers in Israel started to fix nest boxes back in the 1980s. They encouraged the presence of Barn Owls instead of rodenticides. Being a small country, they needed to get their Palestinian and Jordanian neighbors involved, because the birds also flew over their land. And it worked, all communities reduced their rodenticide use, favoring nest boxes instead. This transformation is not trivial: The shared action flourished despite the ongoing regional conflict and despite the traditional fear of owls among the local population. This success is based on patience and trust.
Under the umbrella of Birds as Peacemakers, the Owls for Peace initiative combines the owl conservation activities conducted (in alphabetical order) in Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United States, and Zimbabwe. In all instances, local teams fix and monitor nest boxes, ring the birds, and collect data on the breeding pair and their offspring. Data and knowledge are increasingly shared among all participants.
In Birds as Peacemakers, our vision is twofold:
1) Extend the network of the Owls for Peace initiative to further local and national groups.
2) Adding initiatives that use bird conservation as a tool for biodiversity protection, sustainable farming, human cooperation, and constructive dialogue.
Core team:
Prof. Alexandre Roulin, Biologist, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Chair Prof. Christine Mohr, Psychologist, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Co-chair Prof. Vasileios A. Bontzorlos, Biologist, University of Thessaly, Greece. Finance Dr. Lovelater Sebele, Bird Life International, Harare, Zimbabwe. Communication
Advisory team:
Prof. Yossi Lesham, Biologist, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. Project Strategy
Ivan Tymofeiev, Deputy Team Leader of Asia and Eastern Europe Program at Germany’s NABU (Naturschutzbund Deutschland) e.V. Networking and Fundraising
Prof. Matthew Johnson, Humboldt University, United States. Agricultural and Ecological Consulting