• You are a birder, a lister, a twitcher, a watcher, a naturalist
• You are increasingly conscious of the effect the pursuit of your interests has on the environment – you know you drive too much and too far for example
• You want to get to know better the birds of your local patch, close to home or work
• You know how to walk, cycle, paddle, row or ride
• Then, ipso facto, you are a GreenBirder

In our understandable desire to see far away wild creatures in their natural habitats we have all expended energy and added to greenhouse gas emissions over the years. Many of us now find that this is no longer as acceptable as it once was and that, by wildlifing locally and travelling by human-power alone, we can minimise our contribution to climate change while really coming to know and appreciate the birds and other lives we live with and amongst.

This was the basic idea behind the original Bigby challenge, an exercise in carbon-neutral birding. BIGBY is a handy acronym derived from Big Green Big Year but now is simply a shorthand word for GreenBirding. Some hundreds of birders from countries all over ther world have been exercising their muscles in recent years doing their self-propelled Big Green Big Years ....

Many Bigbyers share their experiences, by blogs and emails and a lot of them have made it abundantly clear that while everyone is having a lot of fun and some excellent birding keeping their annual Bigby lists, they are also discovering that, despite some initial scepticism, there is a lot more fascinating birding (and wildlife watching in general) to be done on our own doorsteps than many of us had suspected. We so easily overlook what is under our noses while we were heading over the hills and far away in a cloud of exhaust fumes.

So far local, carbon-neutral birding hasn't solved the planet's climate problems but it has served to focus us on something practical that we can all do to help. It has unveiled a wealth of unsuspectedly good birding on our home patches ... in at least fifteen different countries and on five continents. After this initial years of enthusiasm we need to continue to share experiences, work to spread the word and try to draw other birders into the community.

GreenBirding is NOT a membership organisation, nor does it have any pretences to grow into one. Rather, it is somewhere for people with similar interests and an urge to minimise their impact on the planet, to keep in touch with each other. No memberships, no fees, no pressure. We keep a register of GreenBirders and of your growing carbon-neutral bird lists and act as a clearing house for information and ideas and perhaps help to put you in touch with other like-minded wildlifers.

GreenBirding has two themes:

· Green Listing – keeping annual and life lists of birds seen near where we live/work without resorting to the internal combustion engine in seeking them out

· Promoting the idea of birding and wildlifing in general on our local "patches". Helping people get to know what is under their noses. Many such people may well later take to listing as well.

We do hope you will want to join us and keep on GreenBirding in future years. We look forward to sharing experiences and helping other birders to join us in doing our little bit for the planet – and its birds.

I