The Northern Bald Ibis (Waldrapp) is a migratory bird with a historic habitat in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa and a rich cultural history dating back to ancient Egypt. Its current global status on the ICUN’s Red List is “endangered”.
In medieval Europe, the bird bred north of the Alps (in Switzerland, Southern Germany, and Austria) and spent winters in the south. It became extinct around 1621 due to over-hunting and adverse climate conditions (“little ice age”). In 2013 a project led by Johannes Fritz began to rewild the Northern Bald Ibis in Europe. Most of the birds have been equipped with GPS trackers and are monitored in real-time. In the first nine years, the number of rewilded birds rose from zero to almost 200.
According to current models, at least 357 birds are necessary for the population to be self-sustainable. This number is projected to be reached by 2028, at which point the infrastructure mapped here is expected to be transformed significantly. This map represents the extent of the infrastructure in the early 2020s.
This diagram consists of a relational graph and three scales. The graph shows relationships between social, technological, informational and ecological elements which make up the anthropogenic ecosystem in which the bird is becoming wild again. The scales show the spatial, monetary and temporal dimensions of many of the elements that make up the relational graph.
Infrastructure of a Migratory Bird / Vladan Joler (RS), Felix Stalder (CH), Gordan Savičić (AT), Photo: Katerina Sedy
Credits
Presented with the kind support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.
