Above picture: participating in the 5-km Heron Banks Park Run, near Sasolburg, Free State, South Africa
At the start of July, a dream of mine came true – I began working for the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project! To celebrate this milestone and support the organisation, I have embarked on a year-long journey to cover 2300 kilometres on foot through dedicated walking, hiking, and running sessions.
Why exactly 2300 kilometres? This distance symbolises the distance the S.A. Agulhas II, South Africa’s polar research vessel, will undertake on its journey from Cape Town to Marion Island to transport the eradication team. I have chosen to cover this distance on foot to honour those who have worked and walked on the island, where there are no vehicles, and where your feet must take you everywhere.
My goal is to raise R50 per kilometre, totalling R155 000 by the end of June 2025. For every 20 km I cover, the money raised will sponsor a hectare towards the project. Each step brings us closer to a mouse-free Marion Island. By the end of the first month of my journey to help eradicate Marion Island’s albatross-killing mice I have walked a total of 94 km in 15 sessions, in what I am considering just a “warm-up”. So, there are still 2206 km to go over the next 11 months!
Hiking on Marion Island above Macaroni Bay on my birthday on a stormy day in September 2014. I am dressed for the weather; photograph by Low de Vries
John Cooper, the MFM Project’s volunteer News Correspondent, writes: “Like many members of the MFM team, I am addicted to regular outdoor exercise, with cycling and running being my activities of choice. I record the distances of my rides, runs and occasional hikes and walks via the exercise App Strava and will donate the equivalent amount in Rands to Liezl’s Appeal once a month for a full year. For July my kilometre tally came to R 324. Perhaps other members of the MFM Project team who also record their runs, walks or cycles will join me in contributing their monthly distances, at a Rand a kilometre, or at any rate they choose.”
Mark Anderson, CEO of BirdLife South Africa and Chair of the MFM Project Management Project Committee, is an avid walker. He expands: “I will also donate one Rand for every kilometre I record on Strava during my almost daily walks over the 12 months of Liezl’s Appeal. I walk a minimum of six km a day, but usually about 10 km, and some days up to 20 km, especially when hiking in the Magaliesberg mountain range near my home on occasional weekends. In July I covered 165 km on foot”.
Please consider supporting my appeal in any way you can, whether through monetary donations via the GivenGain crowd-funding platform, spreading awareness, or by any other creative idea. Your support can make all the difference for the beautiful creatures, big and small, that call the island home!
Dr Liezl Pretorius, Research & Reporting Officer, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 06 August 2024
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A Wandering Albatross chick near the Swartkop Point field hut on Island’s west coast; photograph by Sean Evans and poster design by Michelle Risi
The Mouse-Free Marion Project is a registered non-profit company (No. 2020/922433/08) in South Africa, established to eradicate the invasive albatross-killing mice on Marion Island in the Southern Ocean. The project was initiated by BirdLife South Africa and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Upon successful completion, the project will restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds, many globally threatened, and improve the island’s resilience to a warming climate. For more information or to support the project please visit mousefreemarion.org.
