New dates set for 4^th Meeting of the Parties

The 4th session of the Meeting of the Parties was initially scheduled to take place from 23 to 27 November 2008. However, due to the agendas of other international biodiversity meetings also taking place in 2008, the dates for MOP4 have been reconsidered in order to give delegates more time between meetings. In close cooperation with the Government of Madagascar, the new dates for MOP4 have been set for 7-11 September 2008. The venue will be the Hilton Hotel in Antananarivo, Madagascar. [read on]

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Possible impacts of planned wind farms in Bulgaria on migratory species

On the request of BirdLife International, the Standing Committee (StC) of the Bern Convention opened a so-called case file (Recommendation no. 117 (2005)) against the Government of Bulgaria concerning the construction of wind farms in the vicinity of Balchik and Kaliakra along the Black Sea coast. Governments confronted with such case files are expected to fully implement the recommendations made by the StC and to inform the StC of the progress made. Bulgaria's report to the StC in 2006 raised serious concerns. The StC decided to send an appraisal mission consisting of representatives of the Bern Convention Secretariat and an independent expert. On behalf of the CMS Family, Bert Lenten, the Executive Secretary of AEWA, participated in this mission which took place from 20-22 June 2007. [read on]

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Avian Influenza & Wildlife Workshop on 'Practical Lessons Learned'

Bird flu experts from 15 countries have been sharing their experiences in the two-day Avian Influenza workshop ‘Practical Lessons Learned’ on how to monitor and contain the deadly H5N1 virus in both wild and domestic bird populations. The meeting was convened by the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and held by the Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds in Aviemore, Scotland, from 26 to 27 June 2007. [read on]

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Sociable Lapwing targeted by the world's most ambitious bird conservation campaign

In cooperation with BirdLife International, AEWA is trying to prevent the extinction of the Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarius) - one of the most threatened bird species. This small migratory wader is one out of 189 bird species that are part of the world’s most ambitious bird conservation project launched by BirdLife International. The project called “Preventing Extinctions: Saving the World’s Most Threatened Birds” was launched in August 2007 and aims to save 189 bird species that are critically endangered. This status describes species that have reached the highest category of extinction risk on the IUCN Red List. [read on]

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AEWA Technical Series No. 13 & 14 now available

The AEWA Secretariat is pleased to announce the release of its 13th and 14th Technical Series publications. Both publications can be downloaded from the AEWA website and hardcopies will in due course be available from the Secretariat. [read on]

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Newsletter on lead poisoning in waterbirds now available in Russian

The Newsletter on lead poisoning in waterbirds through the ingestion of spent lead shot summarises the issue of lead poisoning in waterbirds and evaluates possible difficulties that arise when addressing the issue. Most importantly it aims to provide policy-makers and hunters' organisations with practical solutions and ideas through experiences of people around the world who are involved in and concerned about the issue of lead poisoning in waterbirds. [read on]

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And the 12 nominees for the WMBD Painting Competition are...

The 12 nominees of the 2007 World Migratory Bird Day Painting Competition have now been selected. During the course of summer this year, the AEWA Secretariat received 157 drawings from children from all over the world, who took part in the Drawing Competition. The children up to the age of 16 years were requested to portray their thoughts on this year's WMBD theme “migratory birds in a changing climate” and to express their fears and visions on paper. [read on]

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