Ornithologists and dancers unite to protect Prague’s birds
A campaign simply called ‘Bird Traps’ (Pasti na ptáky) has been launched to raise public awareness and improve the protection of Prague’s birdlife. The centrepiece of the campaign is a powerful video, featuring professional dancers and filmed in the Czech countryside.
The Birds Traps project is the brainchild of two naturalist organisations: the Czech Coalition for the Protection of Biodiversity and the Czech Ornithological Society. Their goal is to alert the general public to the traps and dangers that people inadvertently create for birds. The new campaign is a cooperation with Prague city council, which has contributed 150,000 crowns to the campaign. Jana Komrsková, deputy mayor, commented on the necessity of the mission:
"Last year, the city’s rescue station, which I am in charge of, received a record 5,740 animal patients. Of these, a total of 692 birds were injured by an impact in flight. Injury from hitting glass barriers is the most common reason for the admission of feathered patients. I clearly support not only the campaign, but I also like its form. I believe that in this way it will be informative even for people who normally do not seek out such information themselves.”
Kristýna Nováková, director of the Czech Coalition for the Protection of Biodiversity and leader of the campaign, also spoke about the current problems:
"Hundreds of thousands of birds die every year in Czechia due to man's actions, and with them the diversity of our landscape is being lost. Often, just small changes would be enough and deaths could be prevented … Through art, we want to remind Czech society how each of us can help birds, either by covering pools in which birds often drown, by sticking reflective stickers against hitting the glass, or by feeding them correctly."
At the heart of the campaign is an eye-catching one-minute video clip, created especially for the project, which shows professional dancers acting out the behaviour of birds in the wild, and even in the moment of their death. Directed by Radim Vaňous, Jan Kodet created the choreography for the leading dancers, while Beata Hlavenková composed the music, which incorporates real birdsong. The dancers are Markéta Jandová, Jaroslava Rameš Janečková, Kristína Tukan, Michal Heriban, František Vlček and Jindřich Panského, wearing striking bird-like costumes from the workshop of Jana Smetanová.
Věra Sychrová, head of communications of the Czech Ornithological Society, welcomed the final product of the campaign:
"We are trying to draw attention to the problem of bird fatalities and contribute to solving it. Public education, working on the ground and cooperation with the state are key. That is why we very much welcome this campaign, which will show that each of us can contribute to ensuring that the birds in our surroundings no longer needlessly die.”
