RFCG to conserve the world’s finches in their natural wild habitat.

The Rare Finch Conservation Group (RFCG) was founded in August 2005 by a group of South African and Australian finch enthusiasts who each wish to play a meaningful role in ensuring the ongoing survival in the wild of the world's finch species.

Here at justjavas.co.uk we are more than happy to assist in promoting anything that is working hard to assist in saving the Java sparrow in particular, obviously justjavas.co.uk supports types of work like this covering all species but a special place here is all about the wondrous Java.

The founding RFCG members are all experienced in the field of finch husbandry and wish to utilise these skills to the benefit of wild finches.

Finches (from the families Fringillidae, Estrildidae, Emberizidae, Ploceidae and Viduanae) are coming under increasing pressure in the wild, mainly due to the ongoing loss of suitable habitat and to a lesser extent the trapping of wild birds for the caged bird and scientific research markets. Sadly these minute birds are not high-profile and marketable enough to attract sufficient conservation funding and so many finch populations are simply sliding downhill while conservation entities focus their limited resources on issues like climate change, tigers and gorillas. Many of the world's finches are now under some form of immediate or medium-term threat of extinction while others are heading that way, and yet there is no cohesive plan of action to reverse that trend.

Ongoing habitat loss is something that is in the hands of governments, corporates and private landowners and hopefully humankind will reverse that process during the next decade. In the meantime though the RFCG is working away at aspects of finch conservation that can be addressed at a more practical level.

Visitors to this site are encouraged to look at the rare finch listing page and find out more about the 77 finch species that have been classified as threatened by Birdlife International.

The main aims and objectives of the RFCG are to:

To conserve the world’s finches in their natural wild habitat.
Encourage sound and improved methods of aviculture of the world's finch species.
Provide expertise into research projects that focus on understanding more about finches in the wild.
Provide expertise into the care and breeding of finches in captivity with the aim of:
i) Increasing scientific knowledge of finches
ii) Creating an insurance policy of healthy captive-bred populations of genetically pure finches that could one day be used to repopulate wild areas when habitat loss is brought under control.
iii) Creating a sustainable supply of captive-bred finches for the caged bird industry and in so doing reduce the need for the trapping of wild birds.
Educate the public and interested parties about wild and captive finches.

The website comprehensively covers many aspects that have brought the sad threat of extension to a total 77 species of bird they are concerned about, on the website you can read about the following: list of rare finches / current field projects / watch lists / donor lists / finch news / what is cities?. Please visit the RFCG website to learn more and support the worthwhile work all concerned are doing.

visit the rare finch conservation group @ www.rarefinch.co.za today!

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