ETC-Africa have amongst the best skills and experience in the world when it comes to developing community based ecotourism projects. The Zululand Birding Route is a shining example of what can be achieved in terms of integrating environmental objectives with socio-economic objectives.

The Zululand Birding Route is in short giving birds direct economic value through community based tourism.

Zululand Birding Route has a spectacular 605 bird species and a wonderful range of destinations where they occur. It is a treasure trove of specials such as Green Barbet, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Pink-Throated Twinspot, Neergard’s Sunbird and Palmnut Vulture. The Zululand Birding Route lights this jewel, marketing a service for birder, a natural evolution in response to the rapidly-increasing demand for birding tourism in South Africa by both domestic and international clients.

The Zululand Birding Route makes sure you get your birds and go far beyond the Big Five. But this is one part of a rich story. The Zululand Birding Route is much more than a convenient information and booking system - the Zululand Birding Route is a conservation programme, proving that birding can generate income for local communities - in this way, birding tourism adds real value to wild birds and habitats in which they occur; it provides tangible reason to conserve natural habitats and the birds that occur in them.

The Zululand Birding Route is helping create a new career path for young South Africans from disadvantaged communities through training as birding guides. Individuals are selected from communities neighboring the birding spots for training, and through ongoing follow up assistance and mentorship this sharpens and assesses their skills and empowers them to make a success of their career