How you can contribute to the FitzPatrick Institute’s activities and vision

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Projects requiring funding

Click on the links below to download the project 'fact files'

• Taking the heat: desert birds and global warming
• Fynbos endemic birds: Vulnerability and adaptation to land use and climate change
• Cape Parrot – SA’s most endangered bird?
• Where do all the Black Harriers go?
• African Peregrines: a population under the microscope
• Southern Ground-Hornbills in trouble
• Connecting the dwindling dots: migrations of Blue Swallows
• Bird on a wire: Ludwig’s Bustard
• Where do young birds go? Conserving the Tristan Albatrosses
• African Penguins: a looming crisis
• African Black Oystercatchers: problems for youngsters?

Teaching and building intellectual capacity

• R1 000 000 will provide a bursary into perpetuity carrying any name requested by the donor.
• R100 000 will provide a postgraduate bursary for one student for one year. Any bursary guaranteed for five or more years will carry the donor’s name (or a name specified by the donor).
• Donations of R250 and upwards can be made towards the African Students’ Bursary Fund.
• Names of donors contributing R10 000 or more will be listed on the Institute’s website and will be reflected in the Institute’s annual report, unless wishing to remain anonymous.
• R10 000 will purchase a desk-top computer for one student: such computers have an average lifespan of four years.
• R15 000 will purchase a laptop computer which can be used in the field.
• The Niven Library is one of the most comprehensive ornithological collections in the world, and probably the premier library for African Ornithological literature. It is, however, expensive to maintain (purchase of books and journals, binding etc). Salaries aside, running costs of the library amount to around R50 000 annually.

Research: the building blocks of knowledge and understanding

At any one time, the Institute runs literally dozens of research projects in sites ranging from the forests of tropical Africa to the oceanic islands of the sub-Antarctic. Many of these involve cutting-edge laboratory work, some of which is done in collaboration with affiliates elsewhere in the world, for example at the University of California at Berkeley. These projects, many carried out by postgraduate students, are expensive to run: some carry price tags in the hundreds of thousands of Rands annually. Broadly, they can be divided into the following themes: 1) Evolution of biodiversity; 2) Biology and behaviour; and 3) Conservation. You could donate money to any one of these individual themes or to a more generic ‘Projects Fund’. The latter would benefit, among others, Conservation Biology students, all of whom have to complete a research project with a conservation focus. Names of donors contributing R10 000 or more will be acknowledged in all publications (scientific and semi-popular) stemming from projects for which that money has been used and will also be listed on the Institute’s website and reflected in the Institute’s annual report, unless wishing to remain anonymous.

Donations in kind

There are certain resources that are always required for good ornithological/conservation teaching and research. These include:

• Binoculars, telescopes and tripods
• Digital cameras/video equipment
• Digital photographs of birds, habitats and land use
• Camping equipment
• Serviceable field and off-road vehicles

Leave a Bequest

“Make a difference to ensuring even greater contributions to science, conservation, education and outreach in the future”

Why should I leave a bequest?

Drafting your will is one of the most responsible things you can do to ensure that the people you love are provided for, and to support causes close to your heart. By leaving a bequest to the FitzPatrick Institute, you are investing in building future capacity for conservation and education.

How do I make a bequest?

If you already have a will it is easy to add a section called a codicil which names the FitzPatrick Institute as a beneficiary. A codicil is prepared and signed just like a will and can add a specific bequest.

Your bequest can be contributed in three ways:

• The balance of your estate after caring for your loved ones
• A specific portion of the balance of your estate
• A specific amount of money

When drafting your will or adding a codicil, we recommend the following wording: I (name) bequeath (the residue of my estate, or percentage of my estate, or a certain amount, etc.) to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, domicilium citandi et executandi Upper Campus, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa, to be used at the sole discretion of the Institute for the work of the said Institute.

If you are considering a bequest to the FitzPatrick Institute, or if you have drawn up your bequest benefiting us, please inform us. This will help us to acknowledge you if you so wish and to assist us to plan for the future.

The good news

A bequest to the FitzPatrick Institute is exempt from estate duty.

If you would like to discuss your thoughts about leaving a bequest to the FitzPatrick Institute please contact:

Dr Rob Little
Tel: +27 (0)21 650-4026 / 3291
Cell: +27 (0)82 329 0246
Email: rob.little@uct.ac.za