Mr. Abdoulaye Ndiaye (Deputy Director, Wetlands International Dakar Office) welcomed delegates to the meeting. Standing Committee Chair Mr. Emmanuel Severre (Tanzania) thanked the Government of Senegal for hosting this event. Noting that the meeting takes place at a moment when waterbirds are at the centre of the world’s attention due to the rapid spreading of the avian flu, he underlined that knowledge is still lacking on its causes and mechanisms, and identified an important role for AEWA in generating and disseminating accurate information.

Mr. Bert Lenten, Executive Secretary of AEWA, highlighted that with the recent ratification of Tunisia, membership now stands at 52 Contracting Parties. Reiterating Mr. Severre’s remarks on the lack of knowledge about avian flu, he stressed that this is an issue that concerns all countries, and said this opportunity should be used to pay more attention to Africa's needs, and to increase cooperation within the AEWA family.

The MOP then elected Senegal as Chair of the meeting and Germany as Vice-Chair. Latvia and Chad noted their recent ratifications, while Algeria and Burundi reported on progress towards accession, which will hopefully take place next year. MOP3 Chair Professor Amadou Tidiane Ba (Senegal) said AEWA’s continuous expansion shows its dynamic nature, and encouraged non-Contracting Parties to ratify.

Mr. Emmanuel Severre (Tanzania), Chair of the Standing Committee (StC), presented the StC’s report. He noted that since the StC was established at MOP2 in 2002, this is the Committee's first report back to the MOP. He outlined the StC’s main activities, including contributing to the development of the Draft Communication Strategy for the Agreement, and reviewing progress made with regard to the recruitment of new Contracting Parties and the implementation of the AEWA International Implementation Priorities 2003-2007.

Technical Committee (TC) Chair Mr. Yousoof Mungroo (Mauritius) introduced the TC report. He summarised the TC’s record of completed tasks, including: improvement of the format for national reporting; extending the taxonomic scope of the Agreement; and producing guidance on the definition of the term “long-term decline”. Mr. Mungroo said some tasks were still pending, including: signing off guidance on avoidance of introduction of alien species, on national legislation, on protection of waterbirds and their habitats and on good practise policies on phasing out use of lead shot from wetlands.

Executive Secretary Bert Lenten presented the report of the Secretariat, outlining activities concerning general matters, information management, cooperation with other organisations, and technical and/or scientific matters. One of the highlights he described was a workshop that took place in Madagascar in May 2005 to promote the accession of this country to CMS and AEWA. Mr. Lenten also reported on activities surrounding the 10th anniversary of AEWA

Dr. Moussa Séga Diop (Senegal, FAO/CERES) presented a review of agrochemical use in Africa and impacts on migratory waterbirds. He noted that a wide range of agrochemicals is being used in Africa for agriculture and pest control purposes. Many of them are highly toxic for wetland flora and fauna, including migratory waterbirds.

Mr. David Stroud (UK), member of the TC, presented the TC’s definition of the term “long-term decline”: a population in “significant long-term decline” is one where the best available data, information or assessments indicate that it has declined by at least 25% in numbers or range over a period of 25 years or 7.5 generations.

A report on the UNEP/GEF Flyways project was presented by Mr. Ward Hagemeijer (Wetlands International). He said the main objective of the project is to develop the transboundary strategic measures necessary to conserve the network of critical wetland areas on which migratory waterbirds depend throughout the African-Eurasian flyway.

Mr. Sergey Dereliev (AEWA Secretariat Technical Officer) gave a presentation on implementation of the Agreement and the Action Plan, containing a synthesis of national reports and a synthesis of reports on the phasing out of lead shot in wetlands.

Snapshots of the day:

Snapshots of the MOP3 Team "behind the scenes"