Bonn, 25 November 2019 - With co-funding from the AEWA Small Grants Fund, the Ministry of Water and Forestry (Ministère des Eaux et Forêts - MINEF) of Côte d’Ivoire has successfully implemented a 2-year project aimed at strengthening national capacity for the conservation of waterbirds and their habitats. The project focused, in particular, on enhancing capacity for monitoring and the sustainable management of waterbirds and their key sites, awareness-raising on migratory waterbirds and their habitats, and strengthening the involvement of local communities in the sustainable management of these natural resources.

The project contributed to strengthening collaboration between the three major state agencies responsible for the management of sites of importance for migratory waterbirds, namely MINEF, the national state forest development agency (SODEFOR) and the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves (OIPR). A meeting and a workshop which brought together high-level officials from the three organizations enabled the effective planning of project activities and secured the agencies’ engagement for considering migratory waterbird and wetland issues in site management and development plans. The meeting also resulted in the designation of focal points, within each institution, responsible for issues relating bird conservation as well as the development of guidelines for waterbird monitoring in Côte d’Ivoire.

Two training workshops on waterbird identification and counting, database management and awareness raising methods constituted a main activity under the project. Some 26 forestry officers and volunteers were trained in Adiaké with a practical field excursion in the N’Ganda-N’Ganda Forest Reserve (southeastern Côte d’Ivoire), while another 34 were trained in Daloa, coupled with practical field sessions in the Guessabo wetland (in western Côte d’Ivoire). In all locations, awareness-raising events were organized for various local communities, including a meeting for fishermen and the riverine population at Guessabo, and an outing for some 30 schoolchildren and their teachers to N’Ganda N’Ganda Ramsar Site in commemoration of the 2017 World Migratory Bird Day celebration. Information posters, booklets and flyers as well as t-shirts were also produced and distributed to support the project awareness-raising activities.

Also under the project, and in the framework of the International Waterbird Census, annual waterbird counts were jointly conducted, in 2017 and 2018, by MINEF’s Department of Wildlife and Hunting, IOPR and SODEFOR, in collaboration with the Biosciences Training and Research Unit of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny University in Abidjan, Jean Lorougnon Guédé University in Daloa and Peleforo Gon Coulibaly University of Korhogo. In January 2017, a total of 12,000 birds of some 60 species were counted in 22 coastal and inland sites across the country. In January 2018 over 13,000 birds of 56 species were counted in 20 sites. The latter included four new sites of importance for waterbirds which were identified during the project - the Lake of the Soubré Dam in south-western Côte d’Ivoire, the Sologo and Korhogo Dams in the north of the country and the Guiglo wetland located West of Côte d’Ivoire. Some of these new sites are currently under consideration for designation as Ramsar Sites, in order to promote the sustainable use and management of the natural resources they harbour.

During the waterbird counts, major threats were observed at some sites, including encroachment on waterbird sites from building construction, poaching of birds testified for example by numerous bird traps observed at the Grand-Bassam wetland and invasion of water bodies by aquatic plants, as seen at the Yamoussoukro Lakes. These are to be addressed through continued sensitization of local populations.

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat would like to congratulate the Ministry of Water and Forestry of Côte d’Ivoire and its collaborating partners on the successful completion of this project and the excellent results achieved and wishes them wishes them success in their future activities on waterbird and habitat management.

The AEWA Small Grants Fund has so far benefited some 20 governmental and non-governmental organizations in 17 African countries by funding a wide range of conservation projects promoting AEWA implementation in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The AEWA Small Grants Fund is currently suspended, pending funding. Funding opportunities, when available, will be posted on the AEWA website.