Above picture: Each exposed rectangle denotes 100 hectares sponsored: getting there but still a long way to go!
This month, the Mouse Free Marion (MFM) Project’s Sponsor a Hectare scheme has reached an important milestone by raising a quarter of its target of 30 million Rands. The scheme’s Honour Roll reveals that, by 4 March 2024, 7570 hectares have been sponsored, at R 1000/ha (or USD 70/ha), representing 25.2% of the total required.
The sum raised to date has come from 2052 sponsorships, most of whom are from people who have recognized the necessity of supporting theeradication of Marion Island’s introduced House Mice that are killing many seabirds in all the island’s vegetated habitats. They are “putting their money where their mouths are” and the MFM Project Team is deeply grateful for the support from each and every one of our hectare sponsors.
This Wandering Albatross being examined by field researchers died last year following attacks by mice. In the background a chick and its attending male Wanderer remain at risk; photograph by Chris Jones
Many sponsors have come back with repeat sponsorships, some even increasing their original contribution more than once. Several, who have recently added to their sponsored hectares, have been instrumental in helping the scheme reach a quarter of its target. Generous repeat sponsors who now fall into the prestigious Wandering Albatross category by having sponsored 100 hectares or more include George and Cathy Ledec, Nick and Jane Prentice, Michael and Tom Riffel, and Shaun Schneier. Many others have also made repeat sponsorships in other hectare categories this year, including Janine and Friedrich Müller (25 ha+ Grey Petrel category). In addition, this year 12-year-old Romario Valentine’s online appeal more than doubled the 21 hectares it raised the previous summer, to an overall total of 55 hectares, placing his appeal firmly in the Giant Petrel category.
The MFM Project is now calling on its over two thousand sponsors to consider adding one or more hectares to their total, perhaps on the month anniversary of their original contribution, or by marking their own “significant milestones” such as their birthdays. If they could all fund one more hectare, we would raise a little over two million Rands and jump the proportion covered from a quarter to a third!
Sponsors can also help by spreading the word to their colleagues, friends and families. Go for it, the island’s seabirds will thank you!
John Cooper, News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 19 March 2024
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A Southern Giant Petrel pair in the snow on Marion Island; photograph by Janine Schoombie 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
