Bonn, 17 July 2008 – Mr. Mark Anderson in the Individual Category and OMPO (Oiseaux Migrateurs du Paléarctique Occidental) in the Institutional Category are the winners of the 2008 AEWA Waterbird Conservation Award. The award, which recognizes contributions to the conservation, research and monitoring of migratory waterbirds, as well as support to the development of the Agreement, will be presented at the opening ceremony of the 4th session of the Meeting of the Parties to AEWA on 15 September 2008 in Antananarivo, Madagascar. [read on]

Bonn, 16 July 2008 – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon began a two-day visit to Germany on Tuesday starting with a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, with whom he discussed global issues like climate change, food security, the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and other important topics.

On Wednesday he visited Bonn, where he was received by the Lady Mayor, Bärbel Dieckmann at the old town hall. Ban Ki-moon delighted the citizens of the City of Bonn by echoing the words of President John F. Kennedy in Berlin, stating that "Ich bin ein Bonner". [read on]

Dar es Salaam, 7 July 2008 - We have received the very sad message that our colleague Miriam Zacharia of Tanzania has died tragically in a plane crash on 3 July on her way from Dar es Salaam to Loliondo. The Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) is stricken by her sudden death.

Miriam was involved in AEWA since the early days of the Agreement. She participated in all Meetings of the Parties to date, and we were already looking forward to welcoming her again at the 4th Meeting of the Parties to take place from 15-19 September 2008 in Madagascar. [read on]

Bonn, 01 July 2008 - The AEWA Secretariat is pleased to announce that the Kingdom of Norway - as third country of the Scandinavian Peninsula besides Sweden and Finland – will accede to the Agreement as of 1 September 2008. It will raise AEWA membership to 61 countries. Norway stretches over 323,759 km² and the country is dominated by mountainous or high terrain, with a great variety of natural features caused by prehistoric glaciers and varied topography, e.g. the fjords. [read on]

Bonn, 30 June 2008 - The fourth edition of “Conservation Measures for the Siberian Crane” has recently been published by UNEP and the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). The publication is an important manual for all countries involved in the conservation of the Siberian Crane and outlines the results of recent work and priorities for the future management of the species and its habitats.

The new publication is available as CMS Technical Series No. 16 and consists of five sections containing: the text of the Memorandum of Understanding concerning Conservation Measures for the Siberian Crane and Conservation Plans for the Western, Central Eastern Siberian Crane populations; a listing of activities to be carried out by each Range State; information about the Western/Central Asian Site Network for the Siberian Crane and other waterbirds; a summary report of the 6th Range State Meeting (Almaty, Kazakhstan, May 2007) and reference materials. [read on]

Bonn, 26 June 2008 - The AEWA Secretariat is pleased to announce that Cyprus will be the 60th Contracting Party to AEWA as of 1 September 2008. As the third largest Mediterranean island, Cyprus is crossed by millions of migrants every year. Nearly 200 bird species occur as regular passage migrants and 90 bird species are regular winter visitors. The island has 16 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) covering an area of 1,305 km2, which is 14% of the land area. Many of the IBAs include areas of agricultural land, scrub (maquis & garrigue) and forests, but some are also predominantly wetlands sites, others are at least partially wetland habitats. [read on]

Bonn, 13 June 2008 - Trend calculations of 34 waterbird species for the entire Wadden Sea and the four regions – The Netherlands, the Federal States of Germany, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, and Denmark have been prepared by the Joint Monitoring of Migratory Birds (JMMB) Group.

It shows that decreasing trends of several migratory waterbird species were detected in the Wadden Sea. Particularly, the trends detected for the main migration periods gave reason for concern: of the 34 species, for which the Wadden Sea represents a major stepping stone during migration, 15 species (44%) show significant decreases and 7 species (21%) show non-significant decreases. [read on]

Bonn/Brussels, 29 May 2008 - At the ninth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance of the Natura 2000 network. “We need to build on our previous efforts to implement Natura 2000, to achieve our ambitious European target to stop the decline of biodiversity by 2010”, she said in a speech at CBD COP9. Other high-ranking representatives such as Ahmed Djoghlaf, the Executive Secretary of the CBD, the EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and the Ministers of Environment of Slovenia and Germany underlined the Chancellor Merkel’s statement and stressed the unprecedented scale of Natura 2000. [read on]

Bonn, 19 - 30 May 2008 - The AEWA Secretariat and the Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) Project Partnership used the ninth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP9) as an opportunity to present the Agreement and the UNEP-GEF Flyways Project to the 5000+ international delegates attending the meeting. [read on]

Bonn, 26 May 2008 - Africa is expected to produce a relatively small but still substantial part of the global biofuel demand. Millions of hectares will be turned into large scale biofuel plantations. This will hardly take place in current agricultural areas. Especially natural areas of wetlands and rainforest – the hotspots for biodiversity - are vulnerable for this development.

These are the main outcomes of the study ‘Biofuel production in Africa’ (1), today presented by Wetlands International at the Convention of Biological Diversity in Bonn. The report describes the expected impact of biofuel production on African wetlands and their values in 2020. [read on]

Bonn, 23 May 2008 - The CMS-FAO Task Force on Avian Influenza today organised an international seminar at the Zoological Research Institute and Museum Alexander Koenig during the UN Conference on Biodiversity. Participants heard key lessons from an assessment of recent outbreaks of ‘bird flu’ or avian influenza H5N1. These conclusions were drawn from a world-wide assessment of responses to recent outbreaks of H5N1. [read on]

Bonn, 20 May 2008 - The AEWA Secretariat convened a new Committee to guide captive breeding and release into the wild of the globally endangered Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) in Fennoscandia.
Delegations of the four countries Norway, Finland, Sweden and Germany, and their scientific and conservation experts came together on 7-8 May 2008 to establish the ‘Committee for Captive Breeding, Reintroduction and Supplementation of Lesser White-fronted Geese in Fennoscandia’ [short: ‘LWfG Recap Committee’]. The Committee’s purpose is to guide the future of the small Fennoscandian population of this globally endangered species. [read on]

19 May 2008 - On the occasion of the recently celebrated World Migratory Bird Day 2008, UNEP, the AEWA and CMS Secretariats and the other WMBD Partners warned against the alarming trend of declining numbers of migratory birds globally (see WMBD press release). The now published 2008 IUCN Red List on Threatened Species of birds has further underlined this alert. According to the list, one in eight of the world’s bird species is in risk of extinction. [read on]

Bonn/Nairobi, 8 May 2008 - The theme for this year's World Migratory Bird Day: "Migratory Birds - Ambassadors for Biodiversity" draws attention to the link between migratory birds and wider biodiversity as well as the overall state of our environment. Birds are considered to be some of the best indicators for the status and trends of wider biodiversity as they connect, and are inhabitants of, virtually all ecosystems in the world.
[read on]

The Secretariat of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (UNEP/AEWA) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species (UNEP/CMS) are glad to announce the final countdown for World Migratory Bird Day 2008. This two-day awareness raising campaign will take place globally for the third consecutive year from 10 – 11 of May 2008. The theme for this year’s celebration is Migratory Birds - Ambassadors for Biodiversity. [read on]

5 May 2008 - BirdLife International: The Endangered Madagascar Pond-heron (Ardeola idae) has received much-needed attention from all its range states. Delegates from nine African countries recently came together in Nairobi (Kenya) to develop a Species Action Plan to reverse the heron’s alarming population decline. The species was considered to be common half a century ago.

It is now listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of threatened species. The Madagascar Pond-heron breeds in Madagascar, Aldabra, Europa and Mayotte - all Western Indian Ocean Islands. Outside the breeding season it migrates to mainland Africa, where it frequents small, tree-lined freshwater pools. The estimated world population of less than 6,000 birds is spread over an area of 2 million square kilometers. There are now indications that if action is not taken soon, the species may be on a fast track to extinction. [read on]

15 April 2008 - Last week BirdLife International reported the illegal shooting of a Lesser White-fronted Goose inside a protected area at lake Kerkini in Greece. The AEWA Secretariat regrets this incident which, according to BirdLife International and the EU LIFE project ‘Conservation of the Lesser White-fronted Goose on the European migration route’, represents a loss of 5% of all male birds breeding in Fennoscandia.

The AEWA Secretariat will help address the continued decline of this highly threatened population of Lesser White-fronted Geese through the establishment of a new international advisory body. This Committee will be meeting for the first time next month in Bonn, Germany. [read on]

15 April 2008 - South Africa’s national bird is going hi-tech. Like cars and cellphones, blue cranes have now been fitted with GPS tracking devices. Conservationists from the Karoo Crane Conservation Project have captured five cranes near Richmond in the Western Cape and fitted them with lightweight GPS transmitters.

The data provided by the GPS trackers should solve many of the mysteries surrounding blue cranes. “We have absolutely no idea where they go to when they migrate,” said Bradley Gibbons, regional co-ordinator for the Karoo Crane Conservation Project. [read on]

07 April 2008 - To avoid further electrocution of thousands of birds, the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (MME) signed a new “Accessible sky” agreement together with the Ministry of Environment and Water (MEW) and major electric companies in Hungary. The agreement is a voluntary commitment, forming the basis of a long-term solution until 2020 aiming to address the problem of bird electrocution in Hungary. [read on]

Bonn, 3 April 2008 - The recently-appointed Deputy Executive Director of UNEP, Ms. Angela Cropper, visited Bonn today, in order to meet with the CMS Executive Secretary Robert Hepworth, the AEWA Executive Secretary Bert Lenten and the Eurobats Executive Secretary Andreas Streit, and to familiarise herself with current CMS Family issues and conservation policy.

During her visit to the AEWA Secretariat, Bert Lenten gave a short presentation on AEWA and briefed Ms. Cropper on the preparations for the 4th Meeting of the Parties, which will take place from 15-19 September 2008 in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Mr. Lenten invited her to attend the opening ceremony of MOP4. Sergey Dereliev, Florian Keil, Catherine Lehmann and Kirsten Martin gave a concise presentation of the ongoing activities on the conservation of species, information management and project development to the Deputy Director, giving her an insight into the active role AEWA is playing regarding the conservation of migratory waterbirds. [read on]

Bonn/Cambridge/Gland/Wageningen, 2 April 2008 - Launched today, the website of the Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) Project gives a fresh insight into the many activities currently underway in the largest international wetland and waterbird conservation initiative ever to take place in the African-Eurasian region.

The new website hosted by Wetlands International gives visitors a quick overview and first impression of the different components of the project. In addition to providing information on the Critical Site Network (CSN) Tool and the Flyway Conservation Training Framework being developed under the project, the website contains pages for each of the demonstration projects being carried out in 12 countries in the AEWA region. [read on]

20 March 2008 - The International Working Group for the Red-breasted Goose (RBGIWG), met for its second workshop in Constanza, Romania, from 26 - 28 February 2008. The workshop was convened by the RBGIWG Coordinator (post funded by AEWA, RSPB, WWT and VBN in cooperation with the host organization, the Romanian Ornithological Society (BirdLife in Romania), and was co-sponsored by an EU Life project implemented locally in Romania.

The workshop had a two-fold objective: to launch the drafting of the revised Single Species Action Plan (SSAP) for the Red-breasted Goose under the auspices of AEWA and to present the results of the EU Life-funded project on the improvement of conditions for the species at Lake Techirghiol in Romania. [read on]

13 March 2008 - The 8^th Meeting of the Technical Committee of AEWA took place at the UN Premises in Bonn, Germany from 3-5 March 2008.

The meeting brought together regional representatives, experts and observers from across the AEWA region and was the final gathering of the Committee before the 4^th session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP4) –scheduled to take place in September in Antananarivo, Madagascar. [read on]

10 March 2008 - Two Sociable Lapwings (Vanellus gregarius), which were satellite-tagged in Kazakhstan have been recorded in central Sudan, where these birds spend the winter.

The birds were flying from Korgalzhin, in central Kazakhstan on 3 August 2007 and arrived at Viransehir, Turkey around 8 October. They joined a flock of over 3000 birds – the largest assembly of these bird species recorded in over a century – before leaving Turkey in late October and arriving in Sudan on 3 November. [read on]

RSPB and other organisations have produced the first maps revealing some of England’s most sensitive sites for wind farm development. They highlight important but unprotected land where thousands of birds could be at risk if wind turbines were to be built.

RSPB supports wind farm development because in this way, the impacts of climate change can be contained but also stresses the importance of avoiding the location of wind turbines along migration flyways. [read on]

During a high-level event at the Headquarters of the European Commission, the publication “A Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds” was presented to the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Stavros Dimas by one of the authors - Professor Rhys Green from the University of Cambridge.

The new Atlas predicts that during the course of the 21st century, the changing climate will force many bird species to move into new areas. For many of them this will prove difficult, especially as they are suffering from habitat destruction and unsustainable land use already. [read on]

An analysis of 124 species of Europe's common birds has revealed that over a 26-year period 56 species (45%) have declined across 20 European countries. This alarming rate of decline has fuelled fears for the future of many continents' birds, including the Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus ).

Five of ten common European species showing the greatest declines are birds of farmland habitats. A particularly worrying aspect of this development is the fact that a comparison of new and old EU member-states shows that the decline of farmland birds in the newest member-states is similar to that in longer-established EU states, where decline is caused by intensive farming. [read on]