Bonn, 2 September 2010 - A new documentary film entitled "Bird Migration on the Bihar Plain" has been produced by the WOW demonstration project team in Hungary. The film documents the importance of the Bihar Plains as a breeding, wintering and stop-over area for hundreds of thousands of migratory waterbirds, highlighting the role played by the fishponds found in the area as a source of food and as an important place for the birds to rest during their often long and arduous journeys. [Read the full WOW story]

Bonn, 31 August 2010 - A recent Arctic expedition by an international research team has confirmed that polar bears are increasingly found depredating the nests of Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis) on a number of small offshore islands along the western coast of Svalbard. The islands are host to an array of bird species and until recently have been considered a relatively safe place for the birds to breed.

While the sea has been an effective barrier to keep Arctic Foxes from the islands, it has not discouraged another potential predator - the polar bear - to turn to the eggs and newly hatched chicks of Barnacle Geese and other birds found breeding on the islands. [read on]

24 August 2010 - BirdLife International in collaboration with their partners – RSPB and Swarovski Optik – has created a website which gives you the chance to follow the migration route of the Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarius).

Nine Critically Endangered Sociable Lapwings were tagged with state-of-the-art satellite transmitters in order to follow their migration route from their breeding grounds in Kazakhstan to their wintering areas in tropical Africa. [Read the full BLI story]

22 August 2010 - Waterbirds In the UK 2008/09" - the new Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) annual report for the UK has just been released, highlighting contrasting trends for the UK's wintering waterbirds.

The report shows that the UK’s estuaries and other wetlands have seen several notable changes in the birds using them in recent years. Little Egret and Avocet are now present in higher numbers in the UK than ever before, but familiar species such as Ringed Plover and Dunlin are at all-time lows, and other coastal waders such as Redshank, Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit have also experienced recent declines. [Read on]

Nairobi, 12 August 2010 - It was a simple game of building blocks that inspired Coco Tin Chi Ting's world-beating painting. Today, on the United Nations International Youth Day, the 14-year-old from Hong Kong, China was announced the global winner of the 19th UNEP International Children's Painting Competition, beating off stiff competition from hundreds of thousands of other children from across the world.

Coco said her winning painting was a warning about pollution and its effect on animals. [Read the full UNEP story]

Bonn, 6 August 2010 - A presentation on the Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) Project's Critical Site Network (CSN) Tool is now available on the video-sharing website YouTube. The presentation was given during the official launch of the CSN Tool on 14 June 2010 at the 15th Anniversary of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Mr. Ward Hagemeijer (Wetlands International) and Dr. Lincoln Fishpool (BirdLife International) presented the CSN Tool on behalf of the WOW Partnership, highlighting the website's main features and multiple uses to the international guests attending the event. [Read the full WOW story]

Bonn, 5 August 2010 - The UK's Food and Environment Research Agency (fera) has just circulated an update on the UK Ruddy Duck Eradication Programme. Since the start of the eradication programme in September 2005, the UK Ruddy Duck population continues to fall, from an estimated 4,400 to around 200 adults by July 2010.

The Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) is a North American bird introduced to the UK over 50 years ago. A small number escaped from captivity and formed a feral population which numbered around 6,000 by January 2000. [read on]

On 2 February 2011, on World Wetlands Day, the international community will also be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Over the past 40 years the Ramsar Convention has contributed greatly to the conservation and wise use of wetlands around the world through local and national action and international cooperation.

With the launch of the 40th anniversary campaign logo in Oman on 7 June 2010, the Ramsar Secretariat is inviting all who care about wetlands - governments, NGOs and civil society – to begin planning their contribution to next year’s festivities in celebration of 40 years of wetland action. [read on]

Cambridge, 13 July 2010 - In the time of the pharaohs, Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita was highly revered as of special significance and even had its own hieroglyphic symbol. But now this bird has become the rarest in the Middle East – with just three wild individuals in Syria, plus one juvenile reared this year.

Formerly thought to be extinct in the wild in the Middle East, in 2002 researchers were delighted when they discovered a tiny population near the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria, their last known refuge in the region. [Read the full BLI story]

The 13th Session and 25th Anniversary of The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), was hosted by the Government of Mali and took place in Bamako, 21 - 25 June 2010. The CMS and AEWA Secretariats were represented at this Session, by Ms. Evelyn Moloko, the Coordinator of the African Initiative at the AEWA Secretariat.

AMCEN, established in 1985, is a permanent forum through which the Ministers of Environment from the 53 African States advocate environmental protection, sustainable livelihood and socioeconomic development in Africa. [read on]

Bonn, 12 July 2010 - The UNEP/CMS Thesis Award on Migratory Species Conservation, sponsored by Lufthansa, is now open for applications until April 2011.

The award of €10,000 (c. US$ 12,850) will be presented at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to CMS (COP10) in Norway in November 2011, in affiliation with the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK) in Bonn. The Secretariat of the Bonn Convention on Migratory Species advertises this award to promote scientific research and conservation of migratory species, as defined by the Convention. [read on]

Bonn, 23 June 2010 - The Interregional Meeting on the Optimization of the Use of Waterfowl at the Kumo-Manych stopover site in Kalmykia Republic, Stavropol Krai and Rostov Oblast took place on 15 of June in Elista, in the south-western Russian Republic of Kalmykia. Participants included representatives from the local governments of the three regions mentioned above, hunters’ organizations, scientists and conservationists as well as other stakeholders. [read on]

The Hague, 14 June 2010 - Key organisations from the Wings Over Wetlands project partnership, representing the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), Wetlands International and BirdLife International signed a historic collaborative agreement to redouble their efforts to conserve migratory waterbird species and their critical habitats in Africa and Eurasia.

The agreement was signed on 14 June 2010 at an International Waterbird Conservation Symposium taking place in The Hague, The Netherlands, to mark the 15th Anniversary of AEWA. It aims to consolidate and progress a programmatic partnership for flyway-scale conservation of migratory waterbirds and the wise-use of wetlands. This marks an important milestone for all four organizations, while further developing the added value of cooperation between conservation organisations, international conventions and agreements.
[Read the full WOW story]

The Hague, 14 June 2010 - The 15^th Anniversary of AEWA was celebrated on 14-15 June at a special Symposium hosted by the Government of the Netherlands in The Hague, where AEWA was concluded on 16 June 1995 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The sixth meeting of the AEWA Standing Committee was held directly after the Symposium in the Hague on the 16 and 17 of June.

• Symposium Programme
• 15th Anniversary Website
• The Hague Action Statement
• AEWA Press Release (14 June 2010)
• WOW Project Press Release (14 June 2010)
• Photo Gallery
• Partcipants List

8 June 2010 - Fishing gear in EU waters is estimated by BirdLife International and the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) to have killed two million seabirds in the past ten years, more than the toll recorded from all the European oil tanker disasters put together as far back as the Torrey Canyon in 1967.

Today, World Oceans Day, this bleak statistic injects new urgency into a 23,000-strong petition being presented in Brussels by the RSPB and BirdLife International to Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Maritime affairs and fisheries. The petition calls for the urgent delivery of the EU's disastrously overdue Seabird Action Plan to protect Europe's seabirds from their fatal attraction to baited hooks and fishing nets. The Commissioner is also being alerted to the situation in her native Greece where seabirds are being killed in fishing gear. [Read the full BLI story]

Bonn, 22 May 2010 - The German actor and conservationist, Hannes Jaenicke, has released a message on the International Day of Biodiversity (22 May) to highlight the plight of endangered migratory species worldwide.

He started a series of documentaries on endangered animals as a public appeal for active commitment towards conservation. Following his films on orang utans and polar bears, his most recent one “Wildlife Underground Sharks” was launched at the Berlin Film Festival in February. At the same time, CMS concluded the first global agreement on sharks. Jaenicke’s environmental credentials include winning the DIVA Earth Award. Hannes Jaenicke is also supporting the Convention on Migratory Species in his capacity as chair of the German charity “Friends of CMS”.
[click here to view the video in English] [click here to view the video in German]

Bonn, 17 May 2010 - Government officials from states across Europe and Africa as well as experts and conservationists came together in Biebrza National Park, Poland to discuss the survival of mainland Europe’s rarest songbird, the Aquatic Warbler. The UNEP Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) convened this meeting to enhance the future of this bird species managed and protected under the auspices of the CMS agreement on the Aquatic Warbler.
[Read full Press Release]

On May 10, the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO) was formally launched at the opening of the 14th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nairobi, Kenya.

A parallel launching event held at the UN Campus in Bonn, organized by the Secretariat of the CBD, presented the report and addressed in a panel discussion its alarming content regarding the status and trends of biodiversity, both at global and regional levels: the report confirms that the world has failed to meet its target to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
[Read the full CBD story] | [Read the full BLI story]

On 8-9 May 2010 thousands of people around the world will be attending World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) events which will celebrate bird migration and highlight migratory birds in crisis.

Events to mark World Migratory Bird Day will include bird festivals, educational programmes, presentations and birdwatching trips organised by hundreds of dedicated groups and organisations around the world. An international photo competition – The World's Rarest Bird Photo Competition is also linked to WMBD this year and is focusing on the world's most threatened birds.
Save migratory birds in crisis – every species counts!” - is this year's central WMBD theme and aims to raise awareness about Globally Threatened migratory birds, with a particular focus on those birds on the very edge of extinction - the Critically Endangered.

PRESS RELEASE: [ english ] [ français ] [ spanish ]

Nairobi, 6 May 2010 - The Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) project - the largest international wetland and waterbird conservation initiative to take place in the African-Eurasian region - is launching an innovative Flyway Training Kit for waterbird conservation at a side event presentation on the fringes of the fourteenth meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity's Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-14) at the UNEP Premises in Nairobi, Kenya. [ Read the full WOW story ]

It is a truly remarkable story to tell. While air travel across large parts of Europe came to a complete standstill as a result of the volcanic eruption in Iceland on 14 April 2010, a single satellite tagged Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) made headlines as it braved the volcanic ash cloud and made it safely to its breeding grounds in Iceland.

Background to the story is the Whooper swan satellite-tracking project, being conducted by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), which aims to describe the migration routes and flight heights of Whooper swans in relation to offshore wind farm sites. [read on]

Bonn/Wakkerstroom, 31 March 2010 – A Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) Project Team and Steering Committee Meeting took place in Wakkerstroom, South Africa from 8-12 March 2010.

With the WOW project currently in its final year of implementation, the two meetings brought together key international staff involved in the project and gave participants the opportunity to present the many achievements made in the context of this unique international flyway conservation initiative to date. The meetings were jointly organised by the WOW Project Coordination Unit (PCU) and the WOW Demonstration Project team at BirdLife South Africa. [ Read the full WOW story ]

Bonn, 24 March 2010 – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Secretariats of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (UNEP/AEWA) and the Convention on Migratory Species (UNEP/CMS) are pleased to announce the countdown for World Migratory Bird Day 2010.

This two-day awareness raising campaign will take place globally for the fifth consecutive year from 8-9 May 2010. World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) aims to inspire people to take action for the conservation of migratory birds and encourages national authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), clubs and societies, universities, schools and individuals around the world to organize events and programmes, which help draw attention to migratory birds around a central theme each year. [read on]

It is with great sadness that the AEWA Secretariat has learned of the passing away of Professor Heribert Kalchreuter on 14 March 2010. “‘Herby’, as many people who knew him well used to call him, played an instrumental role in the development and negotiation of the Agreement on the Conservation of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA). Although a passionate hunter, he was able to bridge the gap between hunters and nature conservationists through his pragmatic and diplomatic approach. By doing this, he paved the way for reaching a consensus between hunters and conservationists during the AEWA Negotiation Meeting in June 1995 in The Hague, the Netherlands, which resulted in the conclusion of AEWA on 16th of June.” said Dr. Gerard C. Boere, Honorary Patron and one of the founding fathers of AEWA. [read on]

On the 15 and 16 March 2010 the Third Meeting of the Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds took place at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy. The meeting was convened by FAO and UNEP’s Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).

The Task Force was established in 2005 to create a liaison mechanism between those international organisations and multi-lateral environment agreements (MEAs) engaged in activities related to the spread of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) of Asian lineage. It comprises representatives and observers from 14 international organizations, including four UN agencies. [ Read the full CMS Announcement ]

NABU has recently released a report on the status of birds in the German Wadden Sea. The publication with the title “Status, threats and conservation of birds in the German Wadden Sea” contains an analysis of the conservation and ecological status of the area, describes threats for birds, and identifies gaps in knowledge and topics for future action.

It is one of a series of three, which similar reports have also been published by the BirdLife partners Vogelbescherming Nederland (VBN) for the Dutch Wadden Sea and Dansk Ornitologisk Forening (DOF) for the Danish Wadden Sea. [read on]

Bonn, 22 March 2010 – Representatives from Greece, Finland, Norway, Bulgaria and the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat met for a two-day workshop in Tichero, Greece on the 11th and 12th of March to discuss the application for a new EU LIFE+ project for the conservation of the Fennoscandian population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) along its European flyway.

The new project proposal will build on the results and recommendations of the previous LWfG EU LIFE project lead by WWF Finland which ended last year. In addition it will follow the general guidelines of the AEWA International Single Species Action Plan for the LWfG. [read on]

A new website dedicated to the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), containing a wealth of background information, maps and photos on the species, has recently been launched.

The main goal of the website is to present the research results of an international study conducted in 2009 which successfully mapped the impressive migratory movements of the Arctic tern, using geolocators - tiny tracking devices mounted on the back of the birds.

The research has confirmed that the Arctic tern has by far the longest regular migration of any know animal in the world. It migrates from the most northern parts of the AEWA Agreement Area in Greenland to the most southern part and further on to the Weddell Sea, an average of around 71,000 km roundtrip each year! [read on]

Cambridge, 19 March 2010 - BirdLife Partners from across Africa have just completed a meeting in Botswana, organised to deliberate on progress with their shared conservation vision, and to develop plans for the coming two years. Delegates from 23 African countries have been discussing a wide range of issues under the theme: 'BirdLife: Champions for birds and people in Africa'.
[ Read the full BLI story ]

Bonn, 18 March 2010 – The Governments of Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands have identified activities to protect the Wadden Sea ecosystem. The Ministerial Council Declaration was adopted today at the 11th Trilateral Ministerial Conference on the protection of the Wadden Sea in Westerland, Island of Sylt, Germany.

The Wadden Sea is one of the largest unbroken systems of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world It hosts 10,000 different species and it is an important stop over site for up to 12 million migratory waterbirds every year.
[ Read the full CMS Press Release ]

Cambridge, 17 March 2010 - Three BirdLife Partners - DOF, NABU and Vogelbescherming Nederland (BirdLife Partners in Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands respectively) - have joined forces to fight for the conservation of the Wadden Sea and have published an ambitious new report entitled the: ‘Wadden Sea Vision - A vision for the conservation of a Natural Heritage' at the 11th trilateral Wadden Sea conference taking place 17-18 March 2010 on the island of Sylt in Germany.

The report calls for the implementation of seven conservation measures, to ensure a biologically rich Wadden Sea, where birds and people can prosper together. For more information please see:

[ The BLI Announcement | The full Wadden Sea Vision (Report in PDF Format) ]

3 March 2010 - On 23rd and 24th February 2010 the 4th MOP of the EAAFP took place in Songdo, Republic of Korea. Within the reporting period from the close of the 3rd MOP in November 2008 to January 2010 a new Secretariat was established as of 1st July 2009 in Songdo, Incheon City, with funding provided by the Incheon City Government under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Partnership and the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea.

The Secretariat staff, seven in total, are all of Korean nationality apart from the Chief Executive, Mr Roger P. Jaensch, who is Australian. Mr Jaensch entered on duty on 2nd November 2009. With the recruitment of the Science Officer, the Secretariat is now fully staffed and meanwhile based in a brand new office, which was officially opened on 23rd February 2010 during a ceremony, which allowed all Partners to visit the premises. [read on]

3 March 2010 - One man's quest to prevent one of the world's most threatened families of birds from slipping ever closer towards oblivion has been recognised with the award of a major international honour.

Dr Ben Sullivan, the Tasmanian-based coordinator for BirdLife International's Global Seabird Program, has been awarded a 2010 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation for his project to reduce seabird 'bycatch'. or the catching and killing of non-target species, in open-ocean longline and trawl fisheries.

The Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation is a prestigious program that gives recipients US$150,000 for a three-year scientific research or conservation project designed to address critical challenges facing our oceans. Dr Sullivan's fellowship will utilize the existing Albatross Task Force to conduct research and develop best practices for reducing the killing of seabirds in many of the bycatch 'hot spots' around the world. [ Read the full BLI story ]

25 February 2010 - The book An Atlas of Wader Populations in Africa and Western Eurasia published by Wetlands International was awarded third prize in the 2009 Best British Bird Book of the Year Competition. This book - also known as the Wader Atlas - was produced jointly with the International Wader Study Group.

The Wader Atlas aims to support the conservation of waders and their habitats in Africa, South-west and Central Asia and Europe. The 90 wader species in the region rely heavily on a network of healthy wetlands for their survival. Many of these sites are however critically endangered. [ Read the full WI story ]

Bali, 24 February 2010 - The future of the iconic Siberian Crane (Grus leucogeranus), a Critically Endangered species, is looking brighter thanks to an international effort by China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia, four countries along the bird's dramatic migratory routes.

The conservation project, supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the International Crane Foundation through the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), is the first of its kind to use a 'flyway' approach to stabilize and to sustain the remaining 3,000-3,500 Siberian Cranes and millions of other migratory waterbirds. A flyway is a flight path used in annual bird migration from breeding grounds to non-breeding areas, which often span continents and oceans. [ Read the full UNEP Press Release ]

Gland, 23 February 2010 - The final report of the Ramsar Advisory Mission No. 62 to the Marromeu Complex Ramsar Site, Mozambique’s only Ramsar Site is now available.

The Ramsar Advisory Mission (RAM) is a technical assistance mechanism operated by the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, which aims to offer assistance to Ramsar member states for the management and conservation of Wetlands of International Importance. In 2008, the Ramsar Convention Secretariat was informed of potential threats to the Marromeu Complex in the Zambezi Delta, from oil and gas prospecting activities. [read on]

The report "Waterbirds in the UK 2007/08" produced by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), in association with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) highlights trends for wintering waterbirds in Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the last decade.

The report covering 50 waterbirds (excluding gulls) shows there have been some very dramatic changes over the last decade. The birds faring the worst in the UK, compared with a decade ago, include: Ringed plover; Pochard; Bar-tailed Godwit; and the Greenland White-fronted Goose. [read on]

Recently the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK) and the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) for the protection of the Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarius).

The purpose of this MoC is to provide a framework for cooperation and understanding and to facilitate collaboration between the two organisations to further their shared goals and objectives with regard to the conservation of the Sociable Lapwing. [read on]

19 February 2010 - During a consultative meeting, organised by the National Wetlands Working Group led by the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST) and the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute with support from the Wetlands Unit of Tanzania's Wildlife Division, participants agreed on a new National Single Species Action Plan for the Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) for Tanzania. The National Action Plan is based on the International Single Species Action Plan for the conservation of the Lesser Flamingo which was finalized under the auspices of AEWA and CMS. [read on]

Bonn, 18 February 2010 - A small scale field survey is currently underway in the Syrian Arab Republic with the goal of identifying possible key wintering sites of the Lesser White-fronted Goose (LWfG), Anser erythropus.

First reports from the team involved confirm that LWfG winter in Syria – potentially in larger numbers than previously suspected. On Tuesday the 16th of February 72 LWfG were spotted in a flock of 700 geese at Lake Al-Jabbul. This is the highest number of LWfG ever counted in the area. [read on]