Above Picture: Jim Rankin holds his Owl Award statuette and certificate with Yvonne Pennington, Chairperson, BirdLife South Africa Board of Directors, at the annual award ceremony last month
The Rotary Club of Knights Pendragon, based in Gauteng, has sponsored the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project with 100 hectares, placing it in the top-tier category on the website’s Donor Honour Roll. Named after Marion Island’s iconic (and imperiled) Wandering Albatrosses, there are currently only 11 other members who have sponsored a 100 hectares or more – so an exclusive group indeed.
The Rotary Club’s generous support has been due to the steady, but unobtrusive, work via a golf day and from weekly club meetings by its Past Executive Secretary, Jim Rankin, who – since arranging an initial sponsorship of 10 hectares in 2022 – has steadily increased the numbers of hectares sponsored by his club to 100 this year, towards seeing Marion Island free of its albatross-killing, alien House Mice.
The MFM Project is delighted that Jim’s hard work has now been recognized by his being awarded an Owl Award by BirdLife South Africa (BLSA). The presentation was made to Jim at the 2024 ceremony held at CIRCA, the Everard Read Gallery, in Johannesburg on 25 September. BirdLife South Africa recognizes the valuable contributions that people and organisations make to the conservation of South Africa’s birds and their habitats. This recognition comes in the form of the presentation of the annual BLSA Owl Awards to deserving recipients. His citation follows:
“Jim Rankin is a proud supporter of the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project and is one of the project’s earliest donors, having first sponsored a hectare of Marion Island at Flock at Sea Again! 2017 in the then newly launched MFM Sponsor-a-Hectare initiative. He has championed the MFM Project in both his personal capacity and through his work with the Rotary Clubs of South Africa.
As secretary of the Rotary Club of Knights Pendragon in Gauteng’s East Rand, Jim has orchestrated the club sponsoring 100 hectares of Marion Island. Through the club, he has advocated for the MFM Project by inviting its staff to present talks at Rotary clubs and conferences.
In addition to his donations through the Rotary Club, Jim has facilitated contributions through his company AGFACTS, which specialises in agricultural machinery data reporting.
As a much-appreciated MFM Project supporter and advocate, Jim is recognised for the exceptional work he has done in creating awareness about the project and the critical need to restore Marion Island for its seabirds.”

From left: Zen (holding the Owl statuette) and Jim Rankin, with Past Club President Andrew Connold and Desrae Connold
Jim, who has been a BLSA Conservation League Donor for several years, writes to MFM News: “My sincere thanks to BirdLife South Africa for considering and awarding me an Owl Award. It was really unexpected, but certainly made me proud that we, together with the Rotary Club of Knights Pendragon, could help in our small way with the Mouse-Free Marion Project. We follow the excellent publicity on the project closely and sincerely hope that in three years’ time the island will be mouse free!” He adds that it was a very pleasant evening at a stunning venue.
Previously, two other supporters of the MFM Project have received Owl Awards, Carol Jacobs, a representative of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment who serves on several project committees, and then 10-year-old Romario Valentine, who has raised funds equivalent to 57 ha for the project via repeated online appeals, to receive his well-deserved Owlet Award. Both Carol and Romario were honoured at the 2022 Awards Ceremony. The MFM Project team is pleased that three of its valued supporters have been recognized with an Owl Award by BirdLife South Africa.
John Cooper, News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 08 October 2024
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The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels has recently released the latest poster in its ACAP Species Infographic series for the White-chinned Petrel, a species at risk from Marion Island’s House Mice
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.