UNEP/AEWA Secretariat and BirdLife Botswana Embark on a New Partnership for the Implementation of the AEWA Slaty Egret International Species Action Plan

 

Bonn, 11 June 2014 – In May 2014 a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat and BirdLife Botswana was signed to address the urgently needed international conservation measures for the globally threatened Slaty Egret (Egretta vinaceigula).

The priority activities under the MoU relate to the servicing and coordination of the AEWA Slaty Egret International Working Group (SEIWG) and the overall coordination of the international implementation of the AEWA International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Slaty Egret, which is due for revision in 2022.

Dr Kabelo Kenyatso, the new coordinator of the SEIWG

Dr Kabelo Kenyatso will be taking up the role of Coordinator for the SEIWG. After working briefly at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2001, he became Projects Officer at the Thusano Lefatsheng Trust in Botswana before joining BirdLife Botswana in 2004 as Conservation Officer; he has been Director of BirdLife Botswana since June 2007. In 2011, he completed his PhD on the conservation ecology (with emphasis on protected areas and their efficacy to conserve wildlife species with large geographic ranges), at the University of East Anglia, UK.

Throughout his career he has gained widespread experience in numerous conservation-related activities including ecological field methodologies, spatial data analysis and satellite telemetry, as well as contributing to numerous scientific publications and reports.  

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat is currently making preparations to convene the SEIWG. The working group will comprise designated national focal points and experts from six key range states, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as other stakeholders from the international conservation community.

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat welcomes Kabelo in his new role as Coordinator of the SEIWG and looks forward to working closely with him in achieving the goal and purpose of the IWG, which is:

  • to downgrade the species/population from the globally threatened categories in the IUCN Red List and remove the species from AEWA Column A, Category 1; and
  • to improve the current conservation status and knowledge base of the Slaty Egret within the next 10 years.

For more information on the Slaty Egret International Working Group, please contact AEWA Technical Officer, Mr Sergey Dereliev.

 

By Jolanta Kremer.

Last updated on 09 October 2014

Type: 
News item
Species: 
Egretta vinaceigula
Species group: 
Birds