Above picture: Outside the front door of BirdLife South Africa’s premises in Cape Town. From left: Camilla Smyth, MFM 2023/24 Research Assistant, Robyn Adams, MFM Communications Officer & Project Assistant, John Cooper, MFM News Correspondent, Guy Preston, Vice-Chair, MFM Non-Profit Company, Michelle Risi, Chris Jones and Peter Ryan, Chair, MFM Scientific and Technical Advisory Group; photograph by Lucy Smyth
During May and June, the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project was visited on two occasions in its office at BirdLife South Africa’s premises in Cape Town by long-term supporters, as described below.
Michelle Risi and Chris Jones
Recently returned from 13 months on Marion Island as ornithological research assistants, husband and wife team, Chris Jones and Michelle Risi, visited the project in BirdLife South Africa’s Cape Town premises on 30 May for afternoon tea and cake. Both Chris and Michelle have been assiduous in supplying photographs from Marion for the project’s use. Michelle also designed the series of MFM Project posters that are being used to illustrate these news posts; several of them using her own photos. They have also contributed illustrations to the Photo Essay series on the albatross and petrel species attacked by mice on the island. Chris and Michelle also helped Camilla Smyth, the MFM Project’s 2023/24 Research Assistant (and fellow M80 team member) with her important field work on the island, integral to the successful planning of the eradication operation.
Chris Jones, John Cooper and Michelle Risi in the BirdLife South Africa Cape Twon boardroom with presented prints of paintings depicting the albatrosses of Marion Island by Namo Niumim and World Albatross Day 2024 by Kitty Harvill
During their visit, the project’s News Correspondent presented them with two framed artwork prints to thank them for their support. They will be able to display the prints once their planned cottage is built in the nearby coastal village of Betty’s Bay. With June being the month when World Albatross Day is held on the 19th, it is worth remarking that it was Michelle’s suggestion and encouragement in 2019 that directly led to the Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) inaugurating the international day on 19 June 2020. Now in its fifth year with the theme of Marine Protected Areas, commemorating World Albatross Day (known as “WAD”) takes place worldwide, with the MFM Project marking the day with social media posts.
Steven Chown
One of the project’s six International Patrons, Professor Steven L. Chown FAA, returned on a working visit during June to his home country from Australia, where he is Director of Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), an Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative.
Following a workshop discussion, members of the MFM Project team gathered with Steven Chown at the entrance to BirdLife South Africa’s Cape Town premises, where the Project has an office, on 04 June 2024. From left: John Cooper, MFM News Correspondent; Robyn Adams, MFM Communications Officer & Project Assistant; Steven Chown, MFM Patron; Angela Firth, Partnerships Manager, SAEF; Sue Tonin, MFM Assistant Project Manager; and Anton Wolfaardt, MFM Project Manager; photograph by Andrea Angel.
During his visit to BirdLife South Africa’s Victorian house in the southern suburb of Claremont on the 4th, he and SAEF’s Angela Firth participated in a half-day workshop with team members that discussed several aspects of the project, including on how best to raise the necessary funds. Following lunch in a nearby restaurant, the opportunity was taken to take photographs of the workshop attendees. Mark Anderson, Chair, MFM Management Committee and CEO BirdLife South Africa, and Guy Preston, Vice-Chair MFM Non-Profit Company, also attended the workshop.
After the visit, Steven made a generous R 1500 contribution to MFM Project Manager Anton Wolfaardt’s online appeal to raise R 55 000 by running a mountain trail run at the end of June. On making his donation, Steven wrote: “The Mouse Free Marion Project will deliver a remarkable biodiversity good. Though small, this island is critical for securing the global seabird estate. The MFM Project is one of those rare chances for everyone to help improve our world.”
At the book launch of “MarionThroughTheLens”. From left: John Cooper, MFM News Correspondent, Ria Olivier, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, authors Tavis Dalton and Sean Evans, MFM International Patron Steven Chown FAA, Sue Tonin, MFM Assistant Project Manager, and Anton Wolfaardt, MFM Project Manager; photograph from Antarctic Legacy of South Africa.
A few days later, at an Antarctic Legacy of South Africa book launch at Stellenbosch University, Steven was asked to say a few words and spoke in support of the MFM Project. Steven Chown is the second Patron to of the MFM Project to pay us a visit, following that of Peter Harrison earlier in the year. The MFM Project will always be pleased to host its supporters. Just get in touch to discuss a date and we will be sure to purchase carrot cake to enjoy with coffee or tea!
John Cooper, News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 25 June 2024
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The five species of breeding albatrosses of the Marion and Prince Edward Islands; artwork and design by Leigh Wolfaardt
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.
