The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) and the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat have recently signed two Memoranda of Cooperation (MoC) for the White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala) and the Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis). The aim of these MoCs is to ensure complete and effective implementation of the Single Species Action Plans (SSAPs) for both species. The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat and WWT intend to build on their good collaboration in the past to achieve an improved conservation status for both species. The main activities as laid down in these MoCs will focus on the AEWA Species Working Groups for the White-headed Duck and the Red-breasted Goose. [Read on]

Cambridge, 5 February 2010 - BirdLife International has once again launched its annual Spring Alive campaign to celebrate the miracle of bird migration. Now in its fifth year, the campaign gets European children aged between 8 and 12 years old to send in their first sightings of four species of bird, White Stork Ciconia ciconia, Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica, Common Swift Apus apus and Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus, via the Spring Alive website. [Read full BLI story]

For further information, please visit: http://www.springalive.net/

Bonn, 2 February 2010 - World Wetlands Day WWD is being celebrated around the world today under the theme “Wetlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change”. This annual event marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar and represents a unique opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of wetlands around one central theme each year.

This year’s theme, “Wetlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change” and the associated slogan “Caring for Wetlands: an Answer to Climate Change” highlight the impact of climate change on wetland ecosystems and the role wetlands play in climate change mitigation and adaptation. [read on]

Bonn, 26 January 2010 - A temporary legal suspension of the shooting of ducks, geese and waders came into effect in Scotland and Northern Ireland over a period of two weeks in early January due to severe cold weather. In addition, UK hunting organisations called for further voluntary restraint by hunters in all parts of the UK prior to and following the statutory suspension. [read on]

Bonn, 26 January 2010 - The AEWA Secretariat is pleased to announce that it has recruited Ms. Birgit Drerup as new part-time Programme Assistant on a Consultancy basis. Birgit is supporting the African Coordinator & Programme Officer. [read on]

Bonn, 20 January 2010 - The AEWA Secretariat is calling for applications from African countries for the Small Grants Fund cycle 2010. The deadline for submission of project proposals is 30 April 2010. For more information on the Small Grants Fund and to download the Operational Guidelines and necessary application forms, please click here. [read on]

Bonn, 14 January 2010 - The 43rd International Waterbird Census (IWC) - a monitoring initiative to count waterbirds around the world is scheduled to take place in mid-January 2010, with the main recommended dates of the census set for 16 and 17 January 2010.

The IWC scheme, which is coordinated by Wetlands International, is an annual census of waterbirds in more than 100 countries and takes place in mid-January each year. Close to 15,000 voluntary expert observers will be counting between 30 and 40 million waterbirds using a standardized method involving the collection, checking, and importing of national and regional waterbird census data. This makes it easy to compare the gained data of waterbirds from Africa, Asia and Europe. [read on]

Bonn, 12 January 2010 - Dr Borja Heredia has entered on duty as the new Scientific and Technical Officer at the CMS Secretariat. He will also serve as the ASCOBANS Senior Advisor.

Borja is well known to many in CMS circles as he has been Spain’s representative on the Scientific Council, and has participated in several CMS COPs and MOU meetings, as well as being involved in other MEAs such as CBD and CITES. [read on]

Bonn, 12 January 2010 - in October 2008 the Secretariat announced that it had entered a Memorandum of Collaboration with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) concerning the future management of the GROMS (Global Register of Migratory Species) database. GROMS contains information on nearly three thousand vertebrate migratory species, with their status under the IUCN Red Data List. The total number of species that migrate can only be estimated, but it is thought to be in the range of 5,000-10,000 including 1,000 fish. [read on]

Berlin, 11 January 2010 - The International Year of Biodiversity was launched by German chancellor Angela Merkel at a ceremony in the heart of the German capital yesterday.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity among the public and to reignite global efforts to curb the unprecedented loss in biodiversity. Experts believe the world's animal and plant species are disappearing at a rate about 1000 times the natural rate and that human activity, such as the expansion of cities, farming and infrastructure development are causing the accelerated loss in the world's biodiversity. [read on]

Copenhagen, 19 December 2009 - After a marathon all night session, talks aimed at injecting new and more wide-ranging momentum into the international effort to combat climate change ended with a positive outcome.

Countries attending the UN climate convention's summit in the Danish capital agreed to 'take note' of a document entitled the Copenhagen Accord. [ UNEP Press Release | Video Interview with Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP on the "Copenhagen Accord" ]

18 December 2009 - Efforts towards the conservation of migratory waterbirds along the coast of West Africa will hopefully soon be strengthened through a project being developed under the leadership of BirdLife International and funded by the MAVA Foundation.

A four-day project development workshop, jointly organised by BirdLife International and Wetlands International, took place in Dakar, Senegal from 16 - 19 November 2009 to develop a logical framework for the project proposal. [read on]

17 December 2009 - The largest ever attempt to rediscover a possibly extinct species will be mounted this winter with teams of skilled volunteer observers scouring more than 35 countries around the Mediterranean, Middle East and the Indian subcontinent in the hope of confirming the continued existence of the Slender-billed Curlew.

The Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris) is one of the four most threatened (Critically Endangered) species listed under AEWA and has the smallest population estimate amongst them with no confirmed records since 2001. [read on]

Bonn, 15-16 December 2009 - International experts, government officials and stakeholders from five of the six Range States of the Dark-bellied Brent Goose (Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom) gathered in Bonn, Germany for a two day workshop in order to decide how to proceed with the proposed AEWA Single Species Action Plan for the subspecies.

Due to the current favourable conservation status of the Dark-bellied Brent Goose (Branta bernicla bernicla) the group decided not to go through the process of drafting a full-fledged AEWA Action Plan at this stage. Instead, it was decided to gather all relevant information, recommendations, conservation objectives and activities in a conservation report for the species. [read on]

It’s official! The winners of the 2009 World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) Drawing Competition have now been selected!

The WMBD team at the Secretariats of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (UNEP/AEWA) and Convention on Migratory Species (UNEP/CMS) congratulate the winners and thank all the participants for taking action and sharing their creative and visionary artwork with us.

World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) was initiated by AEWA and CMS in 2006 to raise awareness on the need to protect migratory birds and their habitats and to inspire people to take action. [read on]

Bonn, 2 December 2009 – UNEP Executive Director, Mr. Achim Steiner has appointed Elizabeth Maruma Mrema as the new Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Secretariat, based in Bonn with effect from 1 December 2009. The announcement was made today at the 36th Meeting of the CMS Standing Committee.

In the four months preceding her appointment, Ms Mrema, the national of the United Republic of Tanzania, served as Officer in Charge of the CMS Secretariat. [read on]

Cambridge, 30 November 2009 - BirdLife International has learnt that a widely available poison is being used to kill thousands of birds illegally every month in an area of Kenya, and by game poachers in Botswana to kill vultures. The poisoning of wildlife seems to have increased across Africa recently, and BirdLife International is calling for increased concerted efforts to address this threat. [Full BLI Announcement]

Bonn, 26 November 2009 - In 2010, AEWA celebrates its 15 years anniversary. To mark the occasion, the AEWA Secretariat is preparing a small booklet describing the early history of the development of the Agreement.

Both the AEWA Secretariat and the main author, Dr. Gerard C. Boere, are already in possession of a large number of historic photos and documents; however relevant material for the period from 1985– 1995 is still missing. While most of the formal documents have been secured, we would be very interested in receiving personal notes and observations from those who were directly involved in the development of AEWA during the above mentioned period. [read on]

Bonn, 24 November 2009 - The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat is very pleased to announce that the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia will become the 63rd Party to the Agreement as of 1st February 2010. In addition, Ethiopia has also deposited its instruments of accession to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) and will become the 113th Party to CMS with effect from 1 January 2010. [read on]

Bonn, 16 November 2009 - Representatives from the Wings Over Wetlands partners BirdLife International, Wetlands International and the AEWA Secretariat came together at the UN Premises in Bonn, Germany last week (10-11 November 2009) to work out the details of an inter-agency Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) for continued collaborative flyway-level action in the AEWA region for the period following the conclusion of the Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) UNEP-GEF African-Eurasian Flyways Project. [read on]

Bonn, 11 November 2009 - The AEWA Secretariat is pleased to announce the release of its Technical Series No. 35 and its Popular Series No. 2.

Both publications can be downloaded from the AEWA website and hardcopies of the publications are now available from the Secretariat. [read on]

Nairobi / Bonn, 5 November 2009 - UNEP's Division of Global Environment Facility Coordination (UNEP/DGEF) and a number of leading organisations involved in the flyway-scale conservation of migratory birds have published a landmark issue paper entitled "The Experience of UNEP GEF and Partners in Flyway Conservation".

The paper provides an overview of the key lessons learned from both the WOW Project and the Siberian Crane Wetland Project - two flagship flyway initiatives currently being supported by UNEP GEF. [The full report is available on the WOW Website]