PEOPLE POWERING CHANGE
Estonian advocator Heiki Hanso, has proven how adding your voice to a cause can create permanent positive change for wildlife. Read on t find out how Heiki helped to convince a power company to remove half of its power lines alongside adding bird diverters to protect migratory birds.
In 2017, our Founder and CEO, Sacha Dench, embarked on her incredible Flight of the Swans expedition with WWT – a 7000km journey from Russia to the UK with migrating Bewick’s swan, trying to find out why almost half the population had disappeared. During the expedition, she was alerted by locals in Estonia about dangerous power lines which were killing hundreds of swans and thousands of other migratory birds every year. The power lines – 6 lines high - are located right in the flightpath, over a bridge and directly in the centre of two important patches of wetlands, which are a stopover site on migration and crucial for the survival of all kinds of migratory birds.
Generating media coverage from national and international television in support for local advocator and now friend Heiki Hanso, and getting our expedition film on television the following year, we were able to get the attention of the power company. After a couple of years, due to the dangerous nature of these power lines and the visual evidence Heiki and others had collected, the power company eventually agreed to remove half of the lines and add bird diverters. Bird diverters are reflective and/or noise-generating attachments which are clipped on to power lines to alert birds of their presence and encourage them to change course.
People power shapes industry change
Although good news, the diverters and reduction in lines make a difference but some birds continue to hit the lines. And so Heiki and the local community have continued to record the carnage which has disrupted and ended the lives of birds over the past five years.
Now, in 2022, we are able to bring even better news to our followers and supporters!
Due to the valiant efforts of Heiki and Estonian community, the entire set of power lines will be buried in 2024, 6 years earlier than we had been told was possible!
While this decision will save thousands of birds every year, it also shows us the power of ordinary people and how coming together across borders and bringing international attention for a cause can encourage and inspire real change. With enough support, our voices can have real impact and we are never too small to make a difference. It all shows that industry will engage if together we can find the right ways to reach them.
We can’t wait to bring you more inspiring stories such as this as we embark on our Flight of the Osprey expedition!
