South Africa’s birds: The price of extinction

South Africa’s iconic birds are disappearing and with them an often-overlooked component of our economic and environmental balance sheet.  

The 2025 Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (RDB-online), launched by BirdLife South Africa, highlights declines for many bird species, with species like the blue crane again listed as “threatened” after a long sojourn as only “near threatened”. Declines are indicative of the status of our national sustainability and a warning call for sectors ranging from tourism to water management. 

According to the latest RDB-online, 147 bird species are now classified as “threatened” or “near threatened”, up from 132 in 2015. That’s not just an ecological crisis; it’s an economic liability. From wetlands compromised by climate change to the direct correlation between avian decline and water quality, the downstream effects on agriculture, urban planning and infrastructure resilience are profound. 

Birds mean business 

Consider avitourism, or bird-based ecotourism. This is a multibillion-rand industry with major potential for South Africa and its neighbours.  

For reference, birders in an established birding economy like the US are estimated to spend $39bn a year on birding-related expenses, generating about $16bn in tax revenue and $96bn in total industry output, Erin Carver writes in “Birding in the United States: A Demographic and Economic Analysis”.   

Kyle Manley and Benis Egoh, writing in the journal Science and the Total Environment, point out that birding tourism across Africa is not only a key cultural ecosystem service, but also one of the continent’s fastest-growing nature-based tourism activities. In countries like South Africa, it accounts for a substantial slice of tourism GDP, estimated at R3.7bn in direct spending back in 2010 – a figure that has only grown with rising global interest in biodiversity-based travel. 

The sector drives rural job creation, foreign exchange earnings, and infrastructure investment in underdeveloped areas. It supports conservation funding through park fees, incentivises habitat protection, and empowers community-led sustainability initiatives. Losing bird diversity doesn’t just thin our skies, it undermines the economic logic of our eco-tourism strategy. 

The hidden health dividend 

Birds also deliver what economists call “non-market benefits”. A recent study in Ibis found birds contribute to human health in multiple pathways: from psychological wellbeing and recreation, to pest control and disease regulation. Their role in the “One Health” framework – a model that integrates human, animal and ecosystem health – makes birds frontline players in public health policy. 

And yet, we are systematically eroding these benefits. Species like the lappet-faced vulture and Botha’s lark are being pushed to the brink due to persecution, habitat loss or degradation, expanding energy infrastructure and agricultural intensification. Waterbirds, already hammered by climate-driven drought and pollution, are suffering cascading population collapses. 

Success is possible 

Not all is lost. The same RDB-online data reveals hopeful stories where targeted interventions have worked. The African penguin, though globally uplisted to “critically endangered”, shows hope within South Africa due to spatial fishing restrictions and colony management. Likewise, the Cape vulture and southern bald ibis have improved thanks to proactive conservation interventions and policy reforms. 

These make the economic case for conservation: strategic investment yields measurable returns, both ecologically and financially. And you’re saving some handsome-looking creatures along the way.  

Policy, not poetry 

The RDB-online isn’t a “birdwatcher’s wish list”; it’s a technical tool guiding national biodiversity strategy, renewable energy placement and land-use planning, with contributions from 137 species experts. Integrating the results into the ongoing national biodiversity assessment could sharpen South Africa’s environmental policymaking edge, if linked to climate-adaptation funding and global biodiversity finance flows. 

It also underscores the role of citizen science. Millions of data points from public contributions via the second Southern African Bird Atlas Project and similar databases made the RDB-online possible. This kind of distributed data-gathering is a cost-effective alternative to top-down monitoring, and it provides real-time intelligence for decision-makers. 

Where to next? 

Regions like Marion Island, where invasive mice threaten 19 of 29 bird species, are next in line for intervention. The Mouse-Free Marion Project, a partnership between BirdLife South Africa and the national government, is as much about saving seabirds as it is about safeguarding South Africa’s global conservation credibility. Letting such projects fail risks international funding, reputational damage, and broader biodiversity loss. 

Final word: biodiversity is not a luxury 

This is the core message to take to heart: biodiversity is balance-sheet business. Ecosystem collapse affects inflation (via food and water prices), investment flows (via environmental, social and governance metrics) and geopolitical stability (via climate migration and disease spread). Bird data is a barometer. Ignoring it could cost us more than we can afford. 

This story was produced in partnership with Standard Bank.

_{Top image: The blue crane has been listed as “threatened”. Picture: supplied.}