The Charitable Objectives of the Planet Birdsong Foundation are:

• To advance the education of the public in the subject of birdsong and biophony through music, technology and creative activities;
• To advance education and training of the public, including conservation biology students, in birdsong and bird sound, and biophonic recording, with field work and tutoring in sound processing; and
• The advancement of science by promoting study and research into birdsong and biophony, alongside other organisations, and working with those other organisations to publish the useful results of such research.

Faced with the economic challenges caused by COVID-19, and the need to protect natural capital in the face of climate change, Planet Birdsong Foundation promotes rigorous and enthusiastic technical capacity-building to encourage sustainable development. ​We are currently supporting citizen science and education initiatives in the UK and Rwanda.

The mobile devices people carry every day offer widespread potential for non-specialist field-recording, which can provide valuable data for conservationists worldwide. We are collaborating with Time and Space Learning to produce an affordable parabolic reflector that can be attached to any smartphone to enable high-quality recording.

Planet Birdsong trains citizen scientists in audio-data collection, verification, preparation and storage. Recordings can then be uploaded to local and global datasets such as the Cornell University eBird database, and used across the Planet Birdsong suite of education and music tools.

Click here to see how we are delivering this programme in the field in Rwanda, and to watch bioacoustic recording tutorials by our trustee Hilary MacBean.

We intend to expand our work into other regions of Africa, and extend this programme along migration routes between Europe and Africa, creating and exploring appropriate connections with partners at strategic points along the way. Once this is accomplished, we will shift from our current focus on creating bespoke local versions of products and initiatives to disseminating global products and initiatives which can be adapted anywhere in the world for local use.

“Planet Birdsong fits beautifully into the entire BirdLife area of work that encompasses birds, culture and society, embracing every aspect from the simple delight that people have in birds and their songs, through to challenging the increasing disconnect from nature that children (and adults) face in an urbanising world.” -John Fanshawe, Head of Development, Birdlife International

“What a wonderful way of introducing children - and adults - to one of the magical wonders of our planet. I will certainly want to e ncourage my Middle East conservation colleagues to use it, especially in Iraq, Kuwait and Yemen.” - Richard Porter, Environmental Co-ordinator, Nature Iraq, Birdlife International