BirdLife South Africa relies on volunteer support to achieve many of our goals – your time and inputs could have an extremely valuable outcome for the conservation of birds and their habitats. You can get involved in all areas of our work from data collection to "citizen science" or become a membership campaigner or even volunteer your time or services on one of our projects.

Corporate Membership Drive

Sign up a Corporate for BirdLife South Africa membership and win one of two luxuary bird-watching weekends at a Thornybush Collection Game Lodge for you and a companion!

To find out more, click here

Bird monitoring projects

As a birder, one of the most valuable contributions you can make is to ensure that the information you collect whilst birding is recorded and put to good use. Most of what we know about our birds, their behaviour and their movements is a result of information from ordinary birders. Getting involved in projects such as the Southern Africa Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2) or the Coordinated Waterbird Counts (CWAC) are ideal projects to put your birding to good use.  Click here to find out more about how you can get involved.

Important Bird Areas monitoring

The Important Bird Areas(IBA) Programme depends largely on the assistance and support from volunteers and the general public to make the IBA programme a success. As a person that might visit an IBA on a regular basis or even live in or near an IBA, you can play a very valuable role in making sure that the IBA and its key species is protected as it should be. Read more

Submit a rarity

From time to time, birders across Southern Africa report sightings of very exciting, rare and unusual bird. In order to ensure the accuracy of these sightings, as well as to ensure the sighting is not being confused with a potentially more common species, the BirdLife South Africa Rarities Committee was set up to adjudicate sightings of rare birds in the region.  Read more

Bird clubs

BirdLife South Africa has many bird clubs across South Africa. Many of these clubs run their own projects, provide opportunities to learn more about birds, go on outings and make a difference at a local level. Bird clubs also provide a great social scene for birders and conservation minded individuals to interact and have fun!

For information on a bird club in your area, click here.

Volunteer campaigns

From time to time, BirdLife South Africa needs volunteers to assist in various campaigns - from saving the Wakkerstroom grasslands from mining, to assisting in active membership drives.

Some projects also require volunteer support for specific tasks. This ranges from mentorship of community bird guides to assisting with projects at schools during our annual national bird week. If you want to make a difference and get involved in one of our campaigns, please click here.