Mark your calendars for October Big Day—17 October 2020! Big Days are a 24 hour opportunity to celebrate the birds both near you and around the world.

In addition, this year’s October Big Day 2020 is happening during the first Global Bird Weekend. The goal of Global Bird Weekend is to make October 17-18 the biggest ever birding weekend and support BirdLife International’s appeal to end illegal bird trade. One of Global Bird Weekend’s aims is to have more than 25,000 people submit eBird checklists on 17 October—will you be one of them?

We recognize that COVID-19 continues to impact our communities. Even if your local conditions have improved, we always encourage everyone to put safety first, follow local health guidelines, and bird mindfully. You can bird from home and still participate in October Big Day!

How to participate

  • Get an eBird account: eBird is a worldwide bird checklist program used by millions of birders. It’s what allows us to compile everyone’s sightings into a single massive October Big Day list—while at the same time collecting the data for scientists to use to better understand birds. Sign up here. It’s 100% free.
  • Watch birds on 17 October. It’s that simple! October Big Day runs from midnight to midnight in your local time zone. You don’t need to be a bird expert, or go out all day long. You can report birds from anywhere in the world—even 10 minutes in your backyard will help.
  • Enter what you see and hear on eBird: You can enter your sightings via our website or—even easier—download the free eBird Mobile app. The app allows you to keep and submit lists while you’re still out birding, explore nearby Hotspots, and will even track of how far you’ve walked so you can focus on watching birds. Please submit your eBird checklists before 21 October to be included in our initial results announcement.
  • Watch the sightings roll in: During the day, keep an eye on how the lists are growing in different parts of the world. Follow along with reports from more than 150 countries. Stats will be updated in real-time on our October Big Day page

Watch the sightings roll in

Finding birds and keeping checklists is easy with the free eBird Mobile app. Download for iOS or Android.

Global Big Day Pro Tips

On October Big Day 2019, more than 20,000 participants submitted 42,700 checklists with 6,709 species. How many checklists and participants will we have this year? No matter where you bird, have fun, stay safe, enjoy the birds you find, and share your sightings on eBird. Your observations will help us better understand global bird populations through products like these animated abundance maps brought to you by eBird Science.

For more instructions; https: //docs.google.com/document/d/1Uq7mJQMz0k9XvBTRgrw-MN888-NxdGk7Vp7e6ha2mxM/edit#

Whenever theres a Youth forum in active conservation there are some few names that will eventually pop up, Peter Moll is definately top on the list. We met way back in 2014 during one these forums and up to date Peter is still pushing on wildlife advocay. If youre looking for an inspirational wildlife worriors story to motivate you and better yet get a way forward on how you too can get involved , Got to have an interview with him and this is his conservation success story.

I am Peter Fredrick Moll, 28-year-old Kenyan (mixed race, mostly Kenyan (Maasai and Kikuyu) and British) Founder & CEO of the global youth movement, and International Non-Government Organization World Leaders of Today whose main program is Stand Up Shout Out (SUSO) based in over 20 countries and 60 cities (35+ counties in Kenya with 7000 plus members in Kenya alone) WLT deals with good governance, poverty reduction, conservation, youth inclusion, youth empowerment&engagement. I am also Chairman of Africa Conservation Youth Council, WWF Africa ND4NP Youth rep, one of the Africa Youth For Nature leaders, the Vice Chairman of the National Conservation Education Forum which is chaired by KWS, Global March For Elephants and Rhino Youth Rep, and former head of Youth section and outreach of the #HandsOffOurElephants campaign and now behind the developing of the National Youth Platform “Mabingwa” in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife through the National Wildlife Strategy 2030 that I helped develop.

I recently won the Kenyan National Diversity and Inclusion award for Youth in Leadership 2019 and this organization was overall 1st Runners up Kenyan National Diversity and Inclusion award Best Youth Employment and Engagement Strategy, I was also recognized for my mentorship of youth and youth work by H.E First Lady of Kenya Margaret Kenyatta in 2017.

Last year I went to Geneva Switzerland for the CITES CoP18 with the Kenya government as the youth rep. I was the second rep in the history of that UN convention, and SUSO was the first official Youth run NGO at that UN convention.

I was recently appointed as the UNITED NATIONS Youth Representative for World Wildlife Day 2020 where I also gave an address at the UN HQ New York in March 2020, 

I got a one-second final stage nomination in health services and two individual categories finalist nominee in environment and youth champion/advocate/practitioner in this year’s 2020 Top 35 under 35 national awards in and two organizational categories. In the individual category, I won the top 35 under 35 YOUTH OF THE YEAR 2020 – ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION /ADVOCACY. 

PETER MOLL AND PART OF HIS TEAM

I’m a dreamer doer and I know we youth in Africa are the biggest asset to our continent, so I dream to put Kenyan Youth and African Youth at the table from creation, planning, implantation, and management as well as benefit sharing in order to secure a sustainable future. For how dare they create the future without us when we shall live in that future without them.  

WALKING THE TALK

How did you end up in wildlife advocacy?

In 2013 when I started Stand Up Shout Out which was a movement at the time, which was about standing up for what you believe in, your values, your morals and then Shouting Out not just noise but action, and due to the high poaching at the time, wildlife conservation and elephants was our first official project and I started with conservation education in high schools and universities doing workshops and calls to action, I then organized Jim Nyamus first walk and then was taken on board the Hands off our elephants campaign when it started as the youth leader of the campaign.

How can one join SUSO?

 There are three ways to join SUSO:

 1. If you are in a High school or university that has a SUSO Club, you can join the club or create one

2. If there is a SUSO Division in your county or city you can reach out us via social media and we link you to the executive team or if you do not have a division in your county or city you can propose to start one via info@suso.world

3. Through online application on our website www.suso.world

 Peter I must applaud you for your zeal and determination in wildlife advocacy where do you get the energy from?

It’s simple, once I realized the deeper connection between nature and our futures, between wildlife and my tomorrow, it did not matter whether we love wildlife or not, our destinies are interconnected. If you have a dream, be it to be a doctor, engineer, research, make money, etc, no matter what dream you have that dream needs tomorrow to exist, and for tomorrow to exist, we must protect, mitigate and restore our habitats and wildlife for a healthy planet with a healthy population. So the work we do is to secure tomorrow for our dreams, and this for me keeps my zeal at the highest level.

What plans do you have for the future? 

Create Government-led and backed National, regional, and contently youth platforms for wildlife conservation (AU, CITES, Governments), There is a lot of space for Biodiversity and Climate Change but not enough for wildlife conservation yet it’s all interlinked. I shall lobby for Youth engagement in wildlife conservation to be included in National Strategies and or policies, creating structured space and engagement for youth to bring needed capacity. I want to also push for youth mainstreaming within the county and national governments in general in order to utilize our number one asset in Africa. 

You have been recently appointed GMFER Youth lead with over 100 countries under your lead, how does that make you feel?

God is good! I started organising workshops and marches for Global March For Elephants, Rhinos and Lions (GMFER) in 2014, the marches happen in 111 countries every year. This Global organization deals with wildlife advocacy and conservation. looking forward to working with you all on pushing the youth engagement on wildlife conservation, youth action on wildlife conservation, and wildlife advocacy!

Showing the links between wildlife conservation, biodiversity work, climate action is key on my agenda.

Pushing for international and national youth platform for conservation spearheaded by youth and government together, opening the door for all types of youth with different social-economic backgrounds, genders, and educational backgrounds to know what role they can play in wildlife conservation.

I am living in the tomorrow I created, and we need to create an army of ready youth Who are well equipped, trained, experienced, and empowered to take up the mantel across all fields in conservation; in order to restore, mitigate and protect fauna and flora for our future and well beings.

 Advice to anyone interested in wildlife advocacy and  conservation

Do it differently, do not be stuck in ways of conservation that have been tried and arent working, so dare to be you and bring your different approaches to the table, your innovation, creativity, and how you see the world differently is your greatest power. Also, ensure that you know why you are doing what you are doing, ensure your why is strong because conservation isn’t for the faint of heart, your why should allow you to be resilient and determined. Lastly do not be afraid to start or go alone, but make sure after you start, along the way you create a community that shares the same values and goals as you, and be open to partner with other youth, there is enough space for all of us if we work together to create it! #Ubuntu.