Above picture: Stephan Terblanche aboard the MSC Orchestra on the Flock to Marion 2022 voyage

Stephan Terblanche holds a Doctorate in Law and is an honorary Professor of Law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.  Now retired, he describes himself as an amateur birdwatcher of 37 years’ standing and an active participant in the Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2).  Hailing from Pretoria in South Africa’s landlocked Gauteng Province, he took the opportunity to join BirdLife South Africa’s Flock to Marion 2022 voyage to view Southern Ocean seabirds, including the four albatross species that breed on Marion Island.  While aboard he first heard of the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project.

The albatrosses of Marion Island; artwork for the MFM Project by Namasri Niumim

Stephan has twice contributed to the MFM Project, first sponsoring five hectares during the voyage, and then increasing his overall total to 25 ha last month, two years later.   He writes to MFM News: “I was inspired by an email from the Mouse-Free-Marion Project, and the mere idea that it might be possible to rid Marion of the mice that are wreaking such havoc on the birds entrusted to South Africa’s care, and in this manner have made a small contribution to reverse some of the detrimental effects that humans often have on the planet.”

The MFM Project team warmly thanks Stephan, and all the other 2050 sponsors to date who have contributed to ridding Marion Island of its albatross-killing mice.  You are all heroes in our eyes!

 

John Cooper, News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 12 March 2024

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Wandering Albatrosses on Marion Island, with mouse-free Prince Edward Island on the horizon; photograph 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.