Local scientists contribute to global aviation safety

A team of researchers from The Wildlife and Aircraft Research Namibia (WARN) will attend the International Bird Strike Committee Conference which will be held in Stavanger, Norway at the end of June.
The committee was established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to research and manage risks that birds pose to aircraft safety. The organisation holds a bi-annual conference where scientists and aviation experts converge to discuss bird strike issues and present research results.
According to WARN, the team will not only learn a great deal from this global think tank, but will also take the opportunity to share their unique research with the world.
“With four years of research at Eros and Hosea Kutako, we have some interesting and scientifically sound observations which will hopefully make a contribution to aviation safety worldwide, and not just at our local airports,” said Morgan Hauptfleisch, principal scientist.
Two research papers have been submitted to be presented at the conference. The first presentation will look at ecosystem factors at two Namibian airports and their influence on the risk of aircraft-wildlife collisions. It will look at insects, small mammals and plant interactions at Eros and Hosea Kutako, and how they affect bird populations.
The other presentation will look at a multi-stakeholder approach to mitigate the risk of aircraft-wildlife collisions at Namibian airports which is a case study about the involvement of scientific, academic and conservation institutions as well as airport neighbours and aviation experts in collaboratively finding solutions to aircraft-wildlife collisions.
The trip to Stavanger is sponsored by the Namibia Airports Company.