The Agreement on the Conservation of
African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) is the largest
of its kind developed so far under CMS. It was concluded
on 16 June 1995 in the Hague, the Netherlands and entered
into force on 1 November 1999 after the required number
of at least fourteen Range States, comprising seven from
Africa and seven from Eurasia had ratified. Since then the
Agreement is an independent international treaty.
The AEWA covers 255 species of birds ecologically
dependent on wetlands for at least part of their annual
cycle, including many species of divers, grebes, pelicans,
cormorants, herons, storks, rails, ibises, spoonbills, flamingos,
ducks, swans, geese, cranes, waders, gulls, terns, tropic
birds, auks, frigate birds and even the south African penguin.
The agreement covers 118 countries and the European Community
(EC) from Europe, parts of Asia and Canada, the Middle East
and Africa. In fact, the geographical area covered by the
AEWA stretches from the northern reaches of Canada and the
Russian Federation to the southernmost tip of Africa. The
Agreement provides for coordinated and concerted action
to be taken by the Range States throughout the migration
system of waterbirds to which it applies. Of the
118 Range States and the EC currently
63 countries
(as of 1 February 2010) have become
a Contracting Party to AEWA.
Parties to the Agreement are called upon
to engage in a wide range of conservation actions which
are describes in a comprehensive Action
Plan. This detailed plan addresses such key
issues as: species and habitat conservation, management
of human activities, research and monitoring, education
and information, and implementation.
At the fourth Session of the Meeting of
the Parties, which took place from 15-19 September 2008
in Antananarivo, Madagascar, a number of important decisions
were taken. For more information on Resolutions adopted
at MOP4
click here.
Although the Agreement only entered into force a few years
ago, its implementation is well underway. The European Community,
Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland
and United Kingdom increasingly support the implementation
of AEWA. In addition to this support, the GEF council approved
the African-Eurasian Flyways Project in November 2003 and
its implementation started in July 2006. This project which
is executed by Wetlands International in close cooperation
with BirdLife International especially focuses on: capacity
building, cooperative research and monitoring and communication
activities.
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