Working Group: Birds as Peacemakers

Goals and Expectations

Forever, the way humans are living together is challenged by personal interests, polarization and conflict. Thus, initiatives like Birds as Peacemakers provide a refreshing vision for a constructive dialogue and reasons for shared action. And, indeed, the initiative has seen its place in violent conflicts that go well beyond neighbourhood disputes (see for details see Bontzorlos et al. 2024 and Roulin et al. 2017). Today, the war in Ukraine is ongoing, and so is the violence in the Middle East and just right now in South America. During periods of such destructive conflicts, the strongest impose their rules, leaving little room for dialogue or diplomacy. Equally devastating, human conflict claims lives and obliterates the very environments that sustain them. Through deforestation, pollution, and unsustainable exploitation of resources, ecosystems are pushed to the brink. But perhaps most destructively, war leaves deep environmental scars with forests being erased by explosives, fertile lands are poisoned by chemicals and heavy metals, and entire regions become uninhabitable to plants, animals and humans due to radiation or contamination.

Facing conflict of any kind, we need imaginative initiatives that inspire hope for a sustainable and peaceful future. It is, thus, powerful and timely to connect nature conservation with peacebuilding without doing politics. This intersection is both innovative and essential. In this process, symbols matter, hence, the barn owl representing values of protection, harmony, and coexistence. By rallying around this bird, people are naturally drawn to the broader message of environmental stewardship and peace. Our experience with the Birds as Peacemakers initiative has shown that this approach resonates deeply. People are often surprised by the originality of the concept and quickly moved by its beauty and simplicity. From members of the public to diplomats, and even the Pope himself, who has shown genuine interest and readiness to engage with our work. Thus, initiatives like Birds as Peacemakers offer a glimmer of hope as well as a roadmap for a more peaceful and sustainable future.

To successfully launch Birds as Peacemakers, we need a formal organizational framework with antennas in associated countries. IOU offers a very welcome platform to give credibility, light and attract members. We here describe our goals.

The creation of Birds as Peacemakers

We envisage to establish Birds as Peacemakers in Switzerland, a country renowned for its political neutrality. Switzerland would be a natural and symbolic home for an organization dedicated to fostering diplomatic dialogue and shared action. Some members of our organization are working at the University of Lausanne giving Birds as Peacemakers an academic environment. Science is indeed at the heart of our initiative: we need research to build the foundation of a solid organization, and we need teaching and communication to spread the word. IOU will give the international backup.

Mission and Vision

Birds as Peacemakers is a science-based initiative that promotes sustainable agriculture and cross-border cooperation through the use of barn owls as natural predators for rodent control. By reducing reliance on chemical rodenticides, we aim to protect local ecosystems, support biodiversity, and encourage environmentally responsible farming practices. At the same time, Birds as Peacemakers fosters collaboration among communities and nations by uniting them around shared environmental goals. Through these symbolic and captivating birds, we seek to inspire dialogue, education, and cooperation across diverse cultures and sectors. This initiative is non-political and may serve as an inspiration for other bird systems and even other sectors of the society. 

The Birds as Peacemakers initiative is built on five pillars:

1.     Sustainability: By adopting the barn owl as a symbolic ambassador, we promote environmentally friendly farming practices and encourage a more sustainable approach to agriculture.

2.     Biodiversity: Collaborating with farmers enables us to raise awareness and drive tangible actions to preserve biodiversity within agricultural landscapes.

3.     Community Engagement: The symbolic power of the barn owl inspires the public to protect nature and embrace a shared vision of environmental stewardship and peace.

4.     Education and Science: Our collective expertise on the barn owl provides a solid foundation for educational programs aimed at all sections of society, whether thinking of schools, agricultural circles, ornithological and naturalist societies or higher education.

5.     Science diplomacy: To foster cross-party collaborations, researchers transform into ambassadors for constructive dialogue and shared action towards common goals. Here, researchers stay non-political and without national agenda.

Science and Research

Birds as Peacemakers promotes nature conservation through a variety of complementary approaches. One of the core pillars of our initiative is science, firmly aligned with the principles of Scientific Diplomacy—using (cross-border) scientific collaboration as a tool to foster dialogue, trust, and mutual understanding.

Our scientific efforts focus on facilitating high-quality, collaborative research on barn owls in natural and agricultural landscapes. Key activities include:

· Standardized Field Equipment. To ensure consistency in data collection and enable robust comparative studies across regions, we will design and distribute standardized, small-scale equipment. Clear schedules and step-by-step procedures will be provided to support researchers in applying best practices in the field.

· Training of personnel. We plan to conduct field visits both in the participants’ home countries and in Switzerland to ensure consistency and high quality in data collection.

· Collaborative Publishing. We will actively support international research groups—particularly those in economically disadvantaged regions—in publishing their findings. Emphasis will be placed on collaborative authorship to foster inclusivity, increase visibility, and encourage knowledge sharing across borders. Publishing is often one of the most challenging aspects of data valorisation in research and beyond, particularly for early-career scientists and those with limited institutional support. Given our academic background and extensive scientific output, we are well-equipped to mentor and assist in this process. Beyond demonstrating the impact of our initiative, published research is a powerful source of pride and motivation for local scientists, novices and communities.

By grounding our mission in rigorous scientific practice and open, inclusive collaboration, Birds as Peacemakers seeks to build a global community where biodiversity conservation and dialogue go hand in hand. These efforts will be carried out in close partnership with a wide range of academic, civil and governmental societies. By today, key academic collaborators include the University of Lausanne, Tel Aviv University, Mohammed V University, University of Applied Sciences in Athens, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt; agricultural extension services in countries like Israel and Cyprus; local governments, including those in Greece; and the International Ornithological Union (IOU), and the Swiss Ornithological Station.

Education of adults and children

Education should be a cornerstone of every nature conservation initiative, including Birds as Peacemakers. Informing and engaging our young and adult citizens helps fostering lasting awareness, stewardship, and implication within and across generations in the long-term. Our educational initiatives recognize the importance of involving entire communities, from decision-makers to schoolchildren, in building a more sustainable and peaceful future.

• Our primary adult audience includes farmers and key agricultural stakeholders, such as ministries of agriculture, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and similar organisations. Through these relationships, we aim to promote environmentally sustainable farming practices and encourage the adoption of barn owl-based rodent control. To support this outreach, we will develop and distribute targeted educational materials to perform activities in classrooms and organize field trips to see owls and nature in general. This is necessary to communicate our message in accessible and engaging formats. We will organise talks and invite people to fix nest-boxes themselves in their surroundings.

 

• We are developing age-appropriate books and educational leaflets that introduce children to barn owls and their ecological importance. A particularly engaging activity involves teaching children how to identify bones from prey animals found in owl pellets—a hands-on, fascinating way to explore biology, ecology, and the role of predators in ecosystems. Over the past five years, we have been working on a unique educational project that includes over 200 humorous and scientifically accurate illustrations explaining the biology of the barn owl. This creative material—soon to be finalized—will be used to reach children from all backgrounds and cultures, helping to build curiosity, empathy for wildlife, and global environmental awareness. 

 

 

Some examples of illustrations by Alexis Nouailhat with the help of Laurent Willenegger.

 

Bontzorlos V, Cain S, Leshem Y, Spiegel O, Motro Y, Bloch I, Cherkaoui SI, Aviel S, Apostolidou M, Christou A, Nicolaou H, Kassinis N, Abu Rashid M, Bahdouhesh M, Roulin A. 2024. Barn owls as a nature-based solution for pest control: a multinational initiative around the Mediterranean and other regions. Conservation 4, 637-656.

Roulin A, Abu Rashid M, Spiegel B, Dreiss AN, Leshem Y. 2017. Nature knows no boundaries: the role of nature conservation in peacebuilding. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 32, 305-310.

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The successes

Our initiative pursues several interconnected goals:

1. Promote environmentally friendly agriculture
2. Educate the public—especially children—about the importance of nature conservation
3. Foster scientific research and knowledge 
4. Encourage people-to-people interactions across borders, including in conflict-affected regions
5. Build bridges between society and political leadership
6. Maintain a strong media presence to spread the message of Birds as Peacemakers

These successes described below go beyond individual efforts. Our ambition is to replicate this approach on a global scale and extend it to diverse biological system, well beyond the barn owl.

Favour environmentally friendly agriculture

The initiative using barn owls to connect Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians was designed to reduce the regional use of rodenticides. The project raised awareness of the harmful effect of chemical rodent control, highlighting that the use of poison is problematic from both health and conservation perspectives. Over a 30-year monitoring period in Israel, rodenticide use by farmers strongly declined. While we do not claim that this reduction is solely attributable to our initiative, it played an instrumental role by promoting sustainable, nature-based pest control solutions. We replicated this approach in multiple countries such as Cyprus and Greece.

A poster in Arabic to inform farmers about the importance of the barn owl to control rodents instead of spreading rodenticides.

 

Educate the public—especially children—about the importance of nature conservation

Raising awareness about the importance of barn owls—and nature more broadly—has been at the core of our educational activities across multiple countries, including Greece, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Switzerland, and Ukraine. We have developed a wide range of educational materials, such as booklets, documentaries, puppet shows, pellet analysis workshops, art activities, and guided nest visits. These tools support outreach in schools and on farms, making conservation tangible and engaging for diverse audiences. Through continuous engagement with local communities, we foster greater awareness of bird protection and promote a lasting culture of nature conservation.

A drawing representing the danger of using rodenticides to combat rodents. © Alexis Nouailhat

 

Foster scientific research and knowledge 

Science lies at the heart of our initiative. Promoting a species requires not only a deep understanding of the animal itself, but also of the ecosystems in which it lives. Beyond this, our work must be carefully documented, and the resulting knowledge made accessible to a broad audience. Scientific research provides the credibility needed to advocate for the use of barn owls as a sustainable alternative for farmers. To date, we have published dozens of peer-reviewed papers on key topics such as population monitoring, pellet analysis, conservation strategies, and activities directly linked to the Birds as Peacemakers initiative.

Scientific congress in the UN buffer zone in Nicosia, with delegations from Southern and Northern Cyprus,
as well as representatives of Greece (Prof. Vasileios Bontzorlos). December 2025.

Encourage people-to-people interactions across borders, including in conflict-affected regions

We actively foster people-to-people interactions by bringing together ornithologists from diverse countries and background, including Jewish and Muslim communities. We also invite farmers from different regions and nations to share their experiences using barn owls as a biological pest control solution. Our workshops create opportunities for farmers and local leaders to engage with representatives from participating countries, encouraging dialogue, mutual learning, and trust-building. Expanding the number of countries involved in theBirds as Peacemakers initiative is therefore a key priority. By 2025, 13 countries joined our initiative.

Prof Yossi Leshem and Prof Alexandre Roulin with three UN soldiers in the buffer zone in Cyprus.

Build bridges between society and political leadership

To achieve meaningful impact, the Birds as Peacemakers initiative relies on two complementary approaches. First, we adopt a bottom-up, field-based strategy by promoting and supporting the installation of barn owl nest boxes. This has been implemented in several countries, most recently in Greece, Morocco, and Cyprus, directly engaging local communities and farmers. Second, we pursue a top-down approach by maintaining close contact with politic and diplomatic stakeholders. This engagement is essential to ensure that Birds as Peacemakers is recognized and embraced at the highest decision-making levels, with the long-term goal of integrating barn owl-based biological pest control into national agricultural strategies.

Prof Vasileios Bontzorlos (Greece), General Mansour Abu Rashid (Jordan), Prof Alexandre Roulin (Switzerland), his Excellency Ambassador Stefan Estermann and his wife, and Prof Yossi Leshem (Israel) at the Swiss embassy in Athen. January 2025.

Prof Yossi Leshem, Prof Alexandre Roulin and colleagues from Cyprus (Nikos Kassini, Martin Hellicar, Antaia Christou, and Melpo Apostolidou) with the Cyprus minister of Agriculture, Maria Panayiotou. Nicosia, June 2024. 

A Palestinian ornithologist with the President of Switzerland, Alain Berset. June 2018.

General Mansour Abu Rashid (Jordan), Prof Yossi Leshem (Israel), the Pope Francis, Prof Alexandre Roulin (Switzerland)
and a Palestinian ornithologist. Vatican, Mai 2019.

Maintain a strong media presence to spread the message of Birds as Peacemakers

We are regularly featured in the media across all countries where the initiative is active, through television programmes, newspapers articles, and other press coverage. Media engagement is an integral part of our strategy, and we proactively seek visibility whenever we organise workshops or reach significant milestones, such as our visit to Ukraine, and the UN-controlled buffer zone in Cyprus with delegations from both southern (Greek) and northern (Turkey) Cyprus. As a result of this sustained presence, the public increasingly associate barn owls with the Birds as Peacemakers initiative, reinforcing the project’s identity and amplifying its message of conservation, cooperation, and peace.

Prof Alexandre Roulin, General Mansour Abu Rashid and Prof Yossi Leshem giving
a lecture at a congress about innovation in Munich. January 2025.

Event organized at the Swiss embassy at Tel Aviv in December 2024. 

 

Roulin A, Abu Rashid M, Spiegel B, Dreiss AN, Leshem Y. 2017. « Nature knows no boundaries »: the role of nature conservation in peacebuilding. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 32, 305-310.

Bontzorlos V, Cain S, Leshem Y, Spiegel O, Motro Y, Bloch I, Cherkaoui SI, Aviel S, Apostolidou M, Christou A, Nicolaou H, Kassinis N, Abu Rashid M, Bahdouhesh M, Roulin A. 2024. Barn owls as a nature-based solution for pest control: a multinational initiative around the Mediterranean and other regions. Conservation 4, 637-656.

 

Current Committee Members:

Chair: Prof. Alexandre Roulin, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Email: Alexandre.Roulin@unil.ch

Co-chair: Prof. Yossi Leshem, Tel Aviv University, Israel, Email: yossile@tauex.tau.ac.il, https://www.chouette-effraie.ch/en

Co-chair: Prof. Sidi Imad Cherkaoui, University of Ibn Tofail, Email: imad.cherkaoui@gmail.com

Secretary: Dr. Vasileios Bontzorlos, TYTO - Association for the Management and Biodiversity of Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems, Email: vasilibon@gmail.com, https://www.tyto.org.gr

Treasurer: Dr. Antaia Christou, Birdlife Cyprus, Email: antaia.christou@birdlifecyprus.org.cy

 

Interested individuals may contact Alexandre.Roulin@unil.ch