Conservation Conversations with BirdLife South Africa

Dr Melissa Whitecross

Melissa is the Manager of the Landscape Conservation Programme at BirdLife South Africa and is responsible for the coordination of the incredible team of conservationists working to preserve South Africa’s most threatened terrestrial (land-based) birds and their ecosystems. Melissa joined BirdLife South Africa as an intern in 2017 after completing her PhD in savanna ecology at the University of the Witwatersrand. After completing her internship, Melissa was offered a full-time position as the Raptor & Large Terrestrial Bird Project Manager where she oversaw projects on the Secretarybird, Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Black Stork and Taita Falcon. Melissa was awarded the Leslie Brown Memorial Grant by the Raptor Research Foundation for her work on the Southern Banded Snake Eagle and remains actively involved in the research and conservation of this elusive forest raptor.

Melissa’s favorite bird is undoubtedly the Secretarybird and she remains actively involved with their conservation and the research into the movements of juvenile Secretarybirds across southern Africa. Melissa is a passionate birdwatcher having seen over 765 birds in sub-region and enjoys taking photographs, as you can see by some of the images in the Conservation Conversations header above. Melissa is a passionate conservationist, who has made it her mission to communicate the incredible conservation work and exciting environmental successes that have been achieved throughout South Africa and the world. Melissa looks forward to hosting you in the next webinar and wishes you happy birding wherever in the world you find yourself.

If you have any questions or comments for Melissa, please email conservations@birdlife.org.za or reach out to her on Twitter (@mwhitecross27) or Instagram (@melissaw27).

Andrew de Blocq

Andrew is the Avitourism Project Manager at BirdLife South Africa. Andrew oversees the Community Bird Guide Project as well as the Birder Friendly Establishment and Tour Operator network. Andrew is more broadly involved with the development of avitourism in South Africa, which includes organizing birding weekends, developing and promoting resources for birders such as the birding routes and the South Africa Listers’ Club, and promoting South Africa as a birding destination through talks, podcasts, interviews, and media engagements. Andrew joined BirdLife South Africa in 2018 as the resident ‘penguinologist’ in the Seabird Conservation Programme in Cape Town before making the move up to Johannesburg in late 2020 to take on his current position.

Andrew is a keen birder, reluctant twitcher, and amateur wildlife photographer in his spare time. He gets especial motivation for his work from the tangible difference that he can make to people’s lives and livelihoods and from sharing his passion for birds with others. Though he now works more on matters around ecotourism and marketing, Andrew still maintains a keen interest in the conservation of birds and their habitats and is known for sticking his nose in his colleagues’ work on a regular basis.

If you have any questions or comments for Andrew, please email andrew.deblocq@birdlife.org.za or reach out to him on Instagram (@andrew_takes_photographs).

Christina Hagen

Christina Hagen, BirdLife South Africa’s Pamela Isdell Fellow of African Penguin Conservation joins the Conservation Conversations team as our latest host. She is responsible for the project to establish an African Penguin breeding colony at the De Hoop Nature Reserve. She has worked at BirdLife South Africa since 2010, on various facets of penguin conservation.

Christina loves hiking, board games (Wingspan is a favorite) and exploring the incredible biodiversity of the Western Cape. Christina is also a volunteer fire fighter.

If you have any questions for Christina please email christina.hagen@birdlife.org.za