The Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project aims to restore the ecological integrity of sub-Antarctic Marion Island and protect its globally significant biodiversity by removing the island’s invasive House Mice. By successfully eradicating the mice, the project will catalyse a cascade of ecological recovery, allowing seabird and invertebrate populations to rebound, native vegetation to regenerate and the island’s natural balance to be restored.
In an exciting new development, the MFM Project has become an Official Nonprofit Partner of GlobalGiving, the first and largest worldwide fundraising community for nonprofits, donors and companies. Crucially, GlobalGiving allows UK and USA tax residents to choose from several secure and easy payment options and to receive tax benefits for their donations to the MFM Project.
Payments may be made in US dollars (USD), and also in Australian dollars (AUD), Canadian dollars (CAN), Euros (EUR) and the UK’s pound sterling (GBP). Various options exist to make donations, including via credit/debit cards and PayPal. GlobalGiving can also accept checks/cheques in any currency for donations equivalent to US$200 or more. The direct link to the MFM Project’s GlobalGiving donation page can be found here and also via the MFM Project’s website’s Donor Page. The facility exists to make single or monthly donations in amounts named after eight seabird species that breed on Marion Island, where they are threatened by the invasive mice. The donation categories range from US$10 (Soft-plumaged Petrel) to US$2500 (Grey-headed Albatross), as well as an “Other Amount”.
Donations equivalent to at least 1000 South African Rands (ZAR), or multiples thereof, can be registered as hectares as part of the MFM Project’s Sponsor a Hectare initiative, with your name included on the MFM Honour Roll. You will then receive a Certificate of Appreciation, co-signed by Mark Anderson, CEO of BirdLife South Africa and Chair of the MFM Management Committee, and Dr Anton Wolfaardt, MFM Project Manager. For this option, please contact donations@mousefreemarion.org
Since 2002, the GlobalGiving community has raised more than US$826 million from more than 1.7 million donors for 34 000 projects in over 175 countries. Prospective donors can read a summary of the MFM Project on the project’s GlobalGiving donation page. Links are also provided to the project’s five-page illustrated 2025 Annual Report and to photos and a descriptive seven-minute video. Those wishing to make a donation of over US$2500 may if they wish first have a confidential discussion with Tarryn Havemann, the Mouse-Free Marion Project Development Officer at tarryn.havemann@mousefreemarion.org.
John Cooper. News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 14 July 2026
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A male Wandering Albatross guards its downy chick on Marion Island. Both are at risk of predation by mice; photograph by Sean Evans
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.
