Coming soon to your bookshelf – Red Sixty Seven

A new creative collaboration, bringing together two of Britain’s wild bird charities and leading writers and artists, has just been launched. Titled ‘Red Sixty Seven’, the project seeks to raise awareness of our most at-risk birds and secure additional funds for BTO and RSPB scientists to carry out important research, work that should help to secure a future for these species. 

Launched on 16 January 2020, ‘Red Sixty Seven’ takes its name from the UK Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern, which currently contains 67 species. An artwork has been produced for each species, together with a piece by some of the UK’s leading writers, including Ann Cleeves, Patrick Barkham, Mark Cocker and Adam Nicolson. The artworks, which include pieces by Chris Packham, Daily Mail political cartoonist Paul Thomas, Carry Akroyd and a host of other renowned wildlife artists, are being sold to raise funds. A book combining the artwork and texts will be published by BTO on 14th February.

The project was the brainchild of Kit Jewitt, a birder and part-time conservationist from Northumberland who has made something of a name delivering engaging fundraising projects to support conservation work on birds, both as an individual and through the Probable Bird Society. 

Kit Jewitt commented ‘The idea was simple; a book featuring the 67 Red-listed birds, each illustrated by a different artist with a personal story from a diverse collection of writers. And every penny from sales donated directly to Red-listed species conservation projects run by BTO and RSPB. All that remained was the small task of persuading 134 people to contribute, and to give their work for free. Red Sixty Seven is the result; 67 love letters to our most vulnerable species, each beautifully illustrated by some of the best wildlife artists around, showcasing a range of styles as varied as the birds in these pages. My hope is that the book will bring the Red List to a wider audience whilst raising funds for the charities working to help the birds most at need.’.

Mike Toms, BTO, commented ‘The artworks and texts really bring these 67 birds to life, providing us with a unique opportunity to raise the profile of these birds and to engage new audiences with the work that is being done to conserve them. You only need to look at the artwork, or read the texts, to gain new insight into these species and to discover what they mean for this very diverse community of creatives voices.’.

More information on the project can be viewed at http://bit.ly/RedSixtySeven

Mark writes: which species do you think I got?

View the artworks, together with details of the artists and writers behind each of the 67 species

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