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Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, often shortened
to Libya, has deposited its instrument of accession to AEWA
and will become the 49th Contracting Party
as of 1st June 2005.
Its neighboring countries are Egypt in
the east, Tunisia and Algeria in the west and Niger, Chad
and Sudan in the south. Being bounded by the Mediterranean
Sea in the north Libya has a coastline of 1,770 km with
many important coastal wetlands. Away from these coastal
wetlands Libya has minimal surface water. Three quarters
of Libya's overall area of 1,759,540 kmē are covered by
sand desert, broken only by oasis and a number of isolated
mountainous regions.
317 species of birds are reported to
occur in Libya, of which a number is covered by the Agreement,
e.g. the greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber),
Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), Lesser
Crested Tern (Sterna bengalensis), Black-winged
Stilt (Himantopus himantopus), Ferruginous Duck
(Aythya nyroca), Black Stork (Ciconia nigra),
White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), Audouin's Gull (Larus
audouinii).
In the last few years Libya has ratified
the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species
of Wild Animals (CMS), the Convention to Combat Desertification
(CBD), the Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands and the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD).
The UNEP/ AEWA Secretariat is now very
pleased to welcome Libya on behalf of the Contracting Parties
to the AEWA Family and looks forward to strengthen the cooperation
between the Government of Libya and the Agreements' Secretariat.
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