"Best photo of a desert bird" in Uzbekistan awarded by the Succow Foundation

CADI project presents award to raise awareness of the desert ecosystem that needs to be stabilised. The award was a mobile solar panel.

 

The cold winter deserts in Central Asia are vast habitats for migratory ungulate species and migrating birds. More than 300 bird species use the Central Asian ecosystem for their migration. However, these deserts are threatened by overexploitation of their natural resources (such as firewood extraction, inappropriate grazing practices and large-scale infrastructure development). A loss of globally threatened or native desert birds is just one consequence to be mentioned here.

With the photo competition in Uzbekistan, the CADI project, which works for the protection of the winter-cold deserts, draws attention to the threatened diversity of bird species and at the same time shows their vulnerable beauty. This is representative for the general protection of the desert systems in the region, as the ongoing degradation processes already noticeably threaten the livelihood of millions of people.

The winning photo shows the "Asian desert warbler" (Sylvia nana), a small bird, widespread over different desert habitats. The photo of the awarded desert warbler can be found on www.birds.uz, the country's ornithologist website, where birders from all over Uzbekistan come together to contribute voluntarily to the conservation of bird life.

Amateur photographer Mariya Gritsina and scientific employee at the Research Institute of Zoology in Uzbekistan received a mobile solar panel as a prize, which enables her to charge batteries easily and sustainably by sunlight.

The solar energy supply in the cold winter deserts, which are sunny all year round, is an ideal, cost-effective and reliable power supply during expeditions.