Oryx, a sub-Saharan antelope with some of its species endangered, was the name chosen for a project that born in January 1996. Several circumstances pointed at Bigai Street, in Barcelona, an a very small shop, ORYX The Nature Lover’s Shop, started. There were only three bookshelves and the binoculars filled a single show-window, but the stuff we wanted to have was huge even though seemed difficult to acquire. We only had one computer and of course there was no internet connection!

Thinking about how to please our own interests, we believed that we could gather in a single place everything we needed for enjoying nature but usually was difficult to get. The opening in June, with coca and cava, brought together friends and colleagues who encouraged us to continue with the project: create a place where knowledge and advice for nature lovers felt comfortable.

Since then, we work for an idea that has become a reality over the years: offer a careful selection of optics, wildlife equipment and a natural history bookshop with books from all over the world with the aim to become the leaders in our country. Later we add the section of nest boxes and feeders. They were very popular in northern Europe but here we only heard from magazines and above all we saw them at the obligatory event every year: the BirdFair, an event of undisputed relevance in our learning and where we have been weaving great alliances for Oryx future.

The arrival of the 21st century gave us a new opportunity and we migrated into a better and larger space located at Barcelona city centre. When we open this new habitat on Balmes Street, the Sant Jordi festivity 2002, among roses and books, we were clear that customers, friends, and acquaintances kept trusting and shelve happy with us and the project, a fact that gave us a lot of push to continue to get ahead with the same enthusiasm.

Obviously, internet and social media have been a great innovator also in the naturalistic field and in these 25 years Oryx has also made us change very substantially many aspects of the way we do. Every new advancement in technologies has also meant a step forward in our activity. Photographic hides, ultrasonic detectors, rewilding and sustainability books have arrived, and so many other things that have gradually been added in the more traditional articles. We have always wanted to be attentive to the new needs of our audience and on many occasions, it has been thanks to our customers that we have searched for new items and books that we did not yet know.

Oryx's successive websites -the last one launched just a year ago- book presentations, participations in fairs and conferences around the territory many times with some personal and family sacrifice, and multiple collaborations on other events, have been happening in all those areas where we could contribute something.

As a culmination, in 2014, for a confluence of synergies between the Institut Català d'Ornitologia, the Fundació Catalunya - La Pedrera and Oryx, we began to organize the first Delta Birding Festival. And we have celebrated already six years! Bringing together the Ebro Delta, while bird migration, ornithologists from all over Catalonia and beyond, a wide range of products and services and a program full of nature conferences and activities is a dream come true.

Despite the success of this adventure, obviously not everything had gone smoothly, and we have had obstacles that we have had to be overcome. Colleagues who are no longer here, the 2008 crisis, headless projects, COVID19 and Brexit. We have always tried to anticipate changes and use our resilience to find imaginative solutions and adapt to new challenges. And we have also tried to take advantage of the opportunities for collaboration, such as the incorporation that has recently made us manufacturers and distributors of nest boxes and feeders. Or to be co-editors of the popular nature miniguides!

Now, as we celebrate these 25 years, we want to thank all those who have trusted us and share our passion for nature. We have undergone great changes, but the initial goals that brought Oryx to birth remain intact and very present, and we always hope that them will be give us the strength and success to move forward.

Thank you!