The Namibia Airports Company (NAC) held a Wildlife Hazard Management workshop at the beginning of the year which was attended by airport stakeholders, namely the airlines, fuel providers, law enforcement agencies (police, immigration, customs) as well as NAC operational staff. The workshop was presented by Morgan Hauptfleisch, coordinator of the WARN (Wildlife and Aircraft Research Namibia) project for NAC.

Hauptfleisch said that according to international law as well as the Namibian Civil Aviation Regulations birdstrike risk needed to be managed at the airport. He added: “This requires a team effort from airport personnel as well as airlines, pilots, air traffic control, neighbours of the airport and wildlife scientists. The sensitization training was important to get all these partners to understand the birdstrike problem, as well as pro-active measures they can take to minimise the risk. How airlines manage waste, or how vigilant pilots and air traffic control are of birdstrike risks - and how these risks are communicated to NAC are important to reducing risk.”

He went on to say that the group also tested visual and auditory bird repellents and discussed their effectiveness. “They recommended their use to reduce birdstrike risk while considering the impact of the measures on bird populations.” According to Hauptfleisch the workshop was a great success and stakeholders were grateful for the opportunity to learn more and to become more aware of the risk involved.