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"The livelihood security of millions of rural people all over Africa is inextricably linked with biodiversity and the use of biological resources, either through the direct use of the goods which they supply to people, or indirectly through the wider environmental and cultural services", said Dr Hazell Shokellu Thompson, BirdLife Director for Africa and Secretariat Head. "This is what BirdLife in Africa has been showcasing through this project and it's satisfying to see results".

Site Support Groups (SSGs) like KENVO are key to BirdLife's work and one of the most practical ways of achieving conservation by local communities. They work to protect the most threatened biodiversity sites, whilst ensuring benefits from the wise use of the natural resources. SSGs are valuable tools for the future, due to their intricate relationships with the wider community and to the resources within IBAs.

Pink Pigeons grabbed the attention of conservationists world-wide when a few of the birds - thought to be extinct like the Dodo - were discovered in a tiny section of the forest in the 1970s. Efforts to save the bird have been fairly successful, despite the danger posed by rats, cats and monkeys brought to the island by settlers 400 hundred years ago.

Thanks to institutions like the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation there are now Pink Pigeon sanctuaries in Mauritius and the numbers have increased to some 400 birds - enough to suggest the bird will survive into the future.

“Global change in biodiversity is hard to measure and effective indicators are still in short supply”, said Alison Stattersfield, BirdLife’s Head of Science and lead editor on the State of the Worlds Birds report. “This is where birds can really help, as we know much more about them than for most other animals and plants. Birds provide an accurate and easy to read environmental barometer, allowing us to see clearly the pressures our current way of life are putting on the world’s biodiversity.”