What we do
Research
Everything we do is tightly linked to research and science. There have been close collaboration between University of Lund and Falsterbo bird observatory ever since its foundation. Throughout the years many Ph.D students have done most, or parts of, their fieldwork with us. Some of the results from this ecological base research may, for a layman, sound very abstract, but the knowledge generated increase our understanding of the world at large, and of course our understanding of birds. Within this research framework we run a several more tangible and applied projects as seen below.
Global environmental monitoring
Migrating birds cover vast distances. Birds passing by Falsterbo in the autumn have been breeding in Northern Europe. Some of them have still very far to go, when passing Falsterbo, before they reach their winter quarters in tropical Africa. Through systematic studies of the bird migration in Falsterbo we get indications of environment changes (in a wide sense) from the high Arctic to Africa. These changes, human induced or natural, never stop and affect all living organisms including humans. Over the last decades climate and environment has grabbed the attention of all and is now often at the centre of World politics. When climate change really started getting the attention, we had 20 years of data already. All this illustrates the need of long-term environmental monitoring. Birds are excellent indicators for this.
Falsterbo bird observatory has vast experience of this type of research. We have four long-term series with systematically obtained and, thus comparable, data. We have visible migration data from 1973 and ringing data from the light house garden (autumn and spring) and Flommen reed beds since 1980. These series are becoming increasingly valuable by each year being added. To guarantee this, the Bird Observatory needs you support!
Local environmental monitoring
Our work with repeated assessments of breeding and staging birds has also been ongoing for a long time. Also here, changes are detected. The data can be used to showcase the importance of the peninsula as a refuge for bird in an increasingly densely populated and built-up area. The pressure on nature is increasing week by week. To be able to voice the importance of birds and their role in the ecosystem, the bird observatory needs you support.
Awareness building
A very important aspect of bird and nature protection is awareness raising among the general public. Children of all ages are here especially important, them being the future custodians of the environment. We constantly work with this through different means such as guiding of various groups, excursions, exhibitions, and of course our web site and also through various social media. We have good material, inspiring guides and intend to further strengthen this area of work. For this we need you support.